dawn,summarizingthepoemandthesufferingsofthepreviousnight.Thoughit
approachestheAlbatoposfromadifferentangle–thatofatrystunmetatall,
ratherthanonethatmustcometoanendatsunrise–itneverthelessconfirmsthe
existenceoftheAlbagenre.Infact,MartíndeRiquiernotestheexistenceofaclass
ofProvençalpoemswhichcomplainatdawnaboutthepreviousnight’sseparation,
andhasdubbedthistwistonthedawn-theme,Contra-Albapoems^24 :
GīramkiSanā’īazghamatmurd/bārīsukhanashbi-ṭab‛bi-nyūsh
Ayrū-yitubūddūshtāṣubḥ/aznāla-yiūjahānpurazjūsh
Yārabbshab-ikasmabādhargiz/z-īngūnakiūgudhāshtshabdūsh.IguessthatSanā’i
diedpiningforthee;
nowdrink
hiswordsintoyourmind.(7)
Lastnight,
withoutyourface,
dusktodaylight
theworldwas
inturmoil
filledwithhislamentations:(8)
OLord,
letnooneever
passthenight
thewayhespent
lastnight.(9)Tomyknowledge,thisgenreofPersianAlbaandcontra-Albapoemshasnotbeen
previouslynoticedorstudied,orevenrecognizedassuch,withtheexceptionof
Wickens’article.
What’sHecubatoḤāfiẓ,youmaybeaskingatthispoint.Ḥāfiẓ,unfortunately,did
notcomposeanypoemslikethetwoofSanā’īabove.Infact,thewordmuezzin
(mu‘adhdhin)doesnotevenoccurinthepoeticlexiconofḤāfiẓ,sowecannotexpect
toseethesamesceneswefoundintheSanā’īAlbas.ButSa‛dī’sAlbaghazalbegin-
ning, ‘Tonight they must be beating more swiftly the unwelcome watchdrum’
(Imshabsabuktarmīzanandinṭabl-ibī-hangāmrā),didnotfeaturethemuezzinchar-
actereither,soperhapsweshouldbeginbylookingforpoemssimilartothisonein
thecorpusofḤāfiẓ.WhiletheDīvānofḤāfiẓdoespreservetwopoemsrhymingin
-āmwiththeradīfrā,neitherusesrhymessimilartothispoemofSa‛dī,nordothe
twoghazalswithoutradīfandrhymingin-āmgiveanyhintthatḤāfiẓhadhiseyeon
thispoemofSa‛dītoofferapoeticriposte(javāb).
ButthefirstlineofSa‛dī’sghazalpairsthedawnandthebirdontheroof(bām),
andwedoindeedfindsuchacollocationinḤāfiẓ(324:9):
Ḥāfiẓ’sRomanticImageryandLanguageofLove 259