Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

about‘men’,Necker,asquotedbyJones,writesofhowtheymayconsider‘themselves
as an emanation from that infinite Being, the source and cause of all things ... who
pervades all nature with his divine spirit, as a universal soul’. Necker further
illustratesthat

when we presume to seek his motive in bestowing existence: benevolence is

thatvirtue,or,tospeakmoreemphatically,thatprimordial beauty,whichpre-

ceded all times and all worlds ... It may even be imagined, that love, the

brightestornamentofournature,love,enchantingandsublime,ismysterious

pledge for assurance of those hopes; since love, by disengaging us from our-

selves,bytransportingusbeyondthelimitsofourownbeing,isthefirststep

inourprogresstoajoyfulimmortality.^25

JonesthencomparesthesetwopassageswithsomeofthemaindoctrinesofEastern
mysticism:

If these two passages are translated intoSanscritandPersian, I am confident,

that theVédántisandSúfiswould consider them as an epitome of their com-

mon system; for they concur in believing, that the souls of men differ infi-

nitelyindegree,butnotatallinkind,fromthedivinespirit...thatthespiritof

God pervades the universe ... that he alone is perfect benevolence, perfect

truth,perfectbeauty;thattheloveofhimaloneisrealandgenuinelove...that

frometernitywithoutbeginningtoeternitywithoutend,thesupremebenev-

olenceisbestowinghappinessorthemeansofattainingit;thatmencanonly

attain it by performing their part ofprimal covenantbetween them and the

Creator;thatnothinghaspureabsoluteexistencebutmindorspirit...thatwe

... must attach ourselves exclusively to God, who truly exists in us, as we in

him;thatweretaineveninthis forlornstateofseparationfromourbeloved,

theideaofheavenly beauty,andtheremembranceofourprimeval vows;thatthe

sweetmusick,gentlebreezes,fragrantflowers,perpetuallyrenewtheprimary

idea, refresh our fading memory ... From these principles flow a thousand

metaphors and poetical figures, which abound in the sacred poems of the

Persians...^26

Jones’ elaboration on the central ideas of Sufism is particularly significant when
he writes about the Qur’ānic Primordial Covenant between God and created man.
Jones then introduces Ḥāfiẓ as a mystical poet and writes: ‘[a]fter his juvenile pas-
sions had subsided, we may suppose that his mind took that religious bent, which
appears in most of his compositions; for there can be no doubt that the following
distichs,collectedfromdifferentodes,relatetothemysticaltheologyoftheSufis.’^27
Inthefollowingpages,Jonestranslates22coupletsfromḤāfiẓ.
A number of the Romantic poets read very extensively and eagerly in the
literatureoftheEast;apartfromJones’translations,theyhadaccesstootherearly

Ḥāfiẓ’s Romantic Imagery and Language of Love 283