Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

Atthoughtofwhichmywholesoullanguishes

Andfaints,andhathnopulse,nobreath–asthough

Amaninsomestillgardenshouldinfuse

Richataroftherose,

Tilldrunkwithitsownwine,andoverfull

Ofsweetness,andinsmellingofitself,

Itfallonitsownthorns–ifthisbetrue–

Andthatwaymywishleadsmeevermore

Stilltobelieveit–’tissosweetathought,

Whyintheutterstillnessofthesoul

Dothquestionedmemoryanswernot,nortell

Ofthisourearliest,ourclosest-dawn,

Mostloveliest,earthly-heavenliestharmony?^60

ItisrelevanttoconsideranotherpatternofSufiimageryfrequentinḤāfiẓ,asman-
ifested in Tennyson. The image of ‘the veil’ employed by Shelley is also prominent
inTennyson:

‘Notforthee,’shesaid,

‘OBulbul,anyroseofGulistan

Shallburstherveil.’^61

Ḥāfiẓcontainsmanylineswhichprovideparallelsforthispassage;forexample:

Thesongofthebirdrisesup,whereistheflagonofwine?Thebulbulmakes

itsclamour,saying‘whohastorntherose’sveil?’^62

Inboth‘DeProfundis’(II,ll.39–56)andthelaststanzaofInMemoriam(LVI,ll.25–8),
theimageoftheveilisemployedinaverySufisticmanner(asseeninḤāfiẓ).Inthe
first poemit is thesymbolofwhatdivides theknownfrom theunknown,whereas
intheseconditoperatesverymuchinthesenseofbothSufiandPlatonicdoctrines
ofthebodyunderstoodasaveilwhichhidesthesoul,aveilwhichthesoulyearns
totearawayinordertorevealitself,asḤāfiẓsays:

Ḥāfiẓ! thou thyself art thy own veil. From its midst rise up, and attain the

beloved.^63

Thisshortsurveyhas,Ihope,shownsomethingofhowwidespreadtheemployment
oftheḤāfiẓianlanguageoflovewasintheworkofbothBritishandAmericanpoets.
As we have seen, anything like a full understanding of the implications of Ḥāfiẓ’s
poetryhasarisenonlygradually.EarlyOrientalistssuchasJonesandlaterscholars
suchasE.B.Cowellwereimportantinthisprocess;butasfarasthepoetswerecon-
cerned, perhaps the greatest influence (especially on the poetry of Tennyson and

Ḥāfiẓ’s Romantic Imagery and Language of Love 291