Askwhathappenedtothisgarden’snightingale,for
Ihearawailingcomingfromacage.Perhapsthecontra-Albaviewofdawnasrelease,whichwehavesurmisedtobe
dominantinthedawntoposofḤāfiẓ,isreinforcedbythereligioushours,with
dawnthetimeofprayersandlitanies.AstheQur’āninstructs,dawnisthetime
whenawhitethreadcanbediscernedfromablackthread,thepointatwhichfast-
ingfromfoodandsexbegininRamadan(Sura2:187).Dawnis,then,asacralandrit-
ualmoment,oneofthefixedtimesofprayer,perhapsthemostsignificantofthem
(Sura17:78–9):‘Performprayerswhenthesundeclinesuntothedarkofthenight,
andrecitationatdawn(al-fajr);verilythedawnrecitationisattested.’Morningis
seenasbreathingawaythedarknessanddispellingit(wa-ṣ-ṣubḥuidhātanaffasa,81:
17–18),anddawnisthehourwhensalvationcametoLot’shousehold(minushis
wife):najaynā-humbisaḥarinni‘matanmin‘indi-nā.Kadhālikanajzī^39 manshakara(54:
33–5).Mostimportant,perhaps,becauseḤāfiẓquotesitdirectly(shab-iqadrastutay
shudnāma-yihijr/salāmunfīhiḥatāmaṭla‘ul-fajr:246:1),istheSuratal-Qadr(97),a
nightbetterthanathousandmonths,anightinwhichtheangelsandtheSpirit
descend,asilentnightthatispeaceuntilthebreakofdawn.
Thisreligiousandspiritualdimensionofdawnandthemorningisstipulated
morethanonceintheDīvān,asforexampleintheopeninglineofghazal24:
Bijān-ikhwājavaḥaqq-iqadīmu‘ahd-idurust
kimawnis-idam-iṣubḥamdu‘ā-yidawlat-itu-st.Byyourlife,goodsir,andthebondsofold,andfaithfultroth
Mycompanionatthebreakofmornismyprayersforyourgoodfortune.Thispoemhasapoliticaldimension–prayersaidforthepatronandhisreign.But
Ḥāfiẓ’sprayersmayalsotakehimtothebeloved(237:9):
MarawbikhwābkiḤāfiẓbibārgāh-iqabūl
zivird-inīm-ishabudars-iṣubḥgāhrasīd.Donotsleep,forḤāfiẓhasattainedthiscourtofacceptance
Throughlate-nightprayerandmorningstudy(ofscripture).ThepoetmayhereintendamundaneBeloved,butthelanguageusedhassome
sacralovertones.Fortuneseemstosmileuponthepoetafterhepraysallnightlong
andthetruedawnbeginstobreak(225:4):
Gū’iyākhwāhadgushūdazdawlatamkārikidūsh
manhamīkardamdu‘āvaṣubḥ-iṣādiqmīdamīd.Ḥāfiẓ’sRomanticImageryandLanguageofLove 273