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friends and colleagues from very different cultures, backgrounds and walks of life,
andwhichIhadonlyseenroughlyparalleledinverysimilarusesoftheQur’ānand
theIChing.Itwasfirstinthatlongpracticalandtherapeuticcontextoffrequenting
ḤāfiẓthatIbegantoappreciateandexplorethewaysthatthepeculiarintensecom-
bination of this poet’s very different voices and perspectives perfectly mirrored –
and so deeply engaged and revealed – different, often initially unconscious or
inchoate dimensions of our soul (intellect, mind, desire, inner and outer condition-
ing,personality),whichtogethershapeanddetermineeachindividual’suniqueper-
ceptionoftheworld,ofthedepthsandpossibilitiesofeachuniquesituationinwhich
wefindourselves.ComparedwiththeIChing,however,withitsrelativeemphasison
thearchetypalregularitiesandpatternsofthemorevisiblehumansocialandpoliti-
calworlds,theparticularmastery(andmystery)ofḤāfiẓclearlyliesinhisextraordi-
naryrevelationofinnerspiritualworldsandinsights–inhislong-acknowledged,but
alwaysmysterious,uniqueefficacyasthe‘voiceoftheUnseen’(lisānal-ghayb).There
isnothinglikewatchingḤāfiẓsofullyandrichlymirroredinthevaryingreactionsof
a classroom of committed students to realize how comprehensive and inclusive his
castofcharactersandarchetypaldramasreallyare–andhowpowerfullyeventrans-
lationsofhisghazalscancontinuetoengagesuchnewaudiencestoday.
CommunicatingḤāfiẓGiventhedistinctivestructuralfeaturesofthetwoghazalshighlightedinthischap-
ter,itshouldbeobviousthatstudentsofḤāfiẓinterestedintranslationsdesignedto
morefaithfullyconveytheformsandmeaningsoftheoriginalpoetictext–aproj-
ectwhichwillalwaysremainindispensableforanystudentorloverofpoetrywho
isactuallyinterestedinlearningtoreadandexploreḤāfiẓinsomethingapproach-
ing the original Persian – must pay special attention to each of the key rhetorical
and structural features illustrated above. Thus translators or teachers having that
particular pedagogical aim in mind need to preserve, note or make visible in some
waytotheirnon-Persianreadersatleastthefollowingbasicinformation:
- The essential perspectival clues and signs – key pronouns, number (singular or
plural),verbtenses,imperatives,questions,andsoforth–embeddedineachline
andhalf-lineofthispoetry. - The essential thematically unifying terms or themes, which are almost always
deeply embedded in a bilingual, widely related semantic field drawn from the
Qur’ānandsubsequentliteraryandpracticalspiritualtraditions(Sufism,philos-
ophy,theology,andsoon),whichmustbeclearlyandfullyexplainedtomodern,
non-specialistaudiences. - Those intended key alternative meanings or potential levels of understanding
(whetherofwholelinesorofkeyterms),whichshiftandtransformkaleidoscop-
icallyaseachreader’sownunderstandingandperspectiveisawakened.
ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry