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Itseemsthatmyfortunewillopenawayformyaffairs,forlastnight
Iwascontinuallypraying,andthetruemornwasbreaking.
Recallnowthatourpoethassaid(373:6:Khandavugirya-yi‛ushshāqzijā’īdigarast/
mīsurāyam bi shab u vaqt-i saḥar mīmūyam[Thelaughterandtearsofthelovers
comesfromsomeotherquarter/Icomposeatnightandweepatdawntide])that
nightisthetimetocomposepoetry,anddawnisthetimetoweep.Here,thetem-
poralsitesseemtobereversed;ferventsupplicationsatnight,andreleaseatdawn.
Orperhapsthisisnotatotalreversal,andtheactofcomposingsincerepoemsisan
earnestformofsupplicationandprayer.Indeed,thepoetsometimesplayswiththis
notionofprayer,deliberatelyunderminingitspiousimplications,ashere,inthe
lastline(line7)ofghazal409:
Shawq-ilab-atburdazyādḤāfiẓ
dars-ishabānavird-isaḥargāh.
YearningforyourlipsmadeḤāfiẓforget
hisnightlylessons,hismorninglitanies.
ItisnotonlytheBeloved’slipsthatbringtheoblivionofforgetfulness.Winemay
driveawaythefearofthedawnofResurrectionDay(260:8):
Piyālabarkafanambandtāsaḥargah-iḥashr
bimayzidilbi-baramhawl-irūz-irastākhīz.
Bindawinechalicetomyshroud,sothatatthedawntideofResurrection
ImaywashfrommyheartwithwinethefearoftheDayofJudgement.
Ofcourse,themorninglibationmaybeanantidotetothehypocrisyofvarious
small-mindedandprosecutorialofficials,andassuchitmaybringsincerityand
thereforeauthenticityandpurity,ifnotalwaysclearanswers(280:3):
Aḥvāl-ishaykhuqāḍiushurbu’l-yahūdishān
kardamsu’ālṣubḥdamazpīr-imay-furūsh.
IaskedtheSagewine-selleratdawnabout
theShaykhandtheJudgeandtheirJewish-drinking.
Thusthewinetavernbecomesthelocus–theruinsontheoutskirtsoftown,where
the non-Muslims drink clandestinely so as not to offend public morality, the
liminal space outside society – while the dawn becomes the poetic moment
whendivineinterventionarrives,allowingwineandrelief,ormysticalintoxication
(479:1):
ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry