272bād-iṣabā,orsimpleṣabā,isoneoftheactiveentitiesandheroesofthepoeticsof
Ḥāfiẓ’sDīvān.^38
Alwaysassociatedwiththemorning,andusuallyintandemwiththebreeze,is
themessenger,Bar ̄ıd,whichoccursthreetimes,asinbarīd-iṣubḥ(276:3),orbarīd-
i ṣabā(88:3b),andbarīd-i bād-i ṣabā.Anotherwordformessenger,Payk,occurs
morefrequently(13times),andmaybeassociatedwiththedawnbreeze,when
modifiedbyawordlikeṣabāorgovernedbynasīm,butitmayalsooccur,like
Pay ̄am(message),inothercontexts.Inthisparticularmeaningthen,wedosee
somevariationinthesemioticchargeofthevocabulary.
Whenthespeakingpersonaoftheghazalrelatessomethingthathappened‘last
night’(D ̄ush),especiallytowardstheopeningofthepoem,wecanassumethatthe
locutionaryactdepictedinthepoemissituatedtemporallyatdawnorearlymorn-
ing.Aswehavealreadyseensomeexamplesofthisabove,thereisnoneedforfur-
therexampleshere.Theappearanceofangelsoracallfromonhigh(malā’ik,ṣidā-yi
ghayb, lisān al-ghayb, etc.), the hour of prayer or recitation of scripture (du‘ā,
vird/awrād,dars)mayalsobementionedinthiscontext.
Ghazal235providesagoodexampleofapoemthatbysecondaryandtertiary
imagesevokesasettingatdawn.Thoughnowordfordawnormorningappearsin
thepoem,fourlinesconspiretoclearlyplacethepoeminanauroralambience,with
thesweetandholyfragranceofthebeloved,orperhapsevenanangel,broughtby
thebreeze;thementionoflastnightandanauguryorhoroscope;thecaravan
bellsthatrousethesleepingtravellerstodepart;andthenightingale,whosecryis
normallyheardatnightorjustpriortodawn:
Line1: muzhdaaydilkimasīḥānafasīmīāyad
kizianfās-ikhwushashbū-yikasīmīāyad.
Glad-tidings,heart,forherecomesaliving,breathingMessiah
Whosesweetbreathsareredolentwithsomeone’sarrival.Line2: azgham-ihijrmakunnālaufaryādkidūsh
zada-amfāl-īufaryād-rasīmīāyad.Donotwailandcryoverthesorrowofseparation
Forlastnight,Itookanaugury,andsomeone’scomingtoouraid.Line5: kasna-dānistkimanzilgah-ima‘shūqkujāst
īn-qadarhastkibāng-ijarasīmīāyad.Nooneknowswheretheabodeofthebelovedis
Onlythismuch–thatthesoundofcaravanbellsarecoming.Line7: khabar-ibulbul-iīnbāghbi-pursīdkiman
nāla’īmīshinavamk-azqafasīmīāyad.ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry