6
Shīrāzinspiresloveinhim;loveinspireshimtopraiseShīrāz.‘ThewoesofLoveare
allbutonesingletale,yethowstrangeitisthateveryonewhotellsitmakesit
soundsonovel!’,hesaysinoneverse,beforeimmediatelyinthenextvauntingthe
beautyofShīrāz,remindingthereader:‘DonotfaultShīrāznoritsdeliciousRukhni
watersandsweetbreeze–Thiscityisthebeauty-spotofallthesevenclimes.’^27 In
thisfashion,theearthlymetaphoroftheheavenlycityofShīrāz,thetemporal
cynosureontheearth’ssurfaceofeternalParadise,forḤāfiẓcametoillustratethe
timelessstoryofhislove:
Ourtownsarecopiedfragmentsfromourbreast;
Andallman’sBabylonsstrivebuttoimpart
ThegrandeursofhisBabylonianheart.ShīrāzandtheGalaxyofFourteenth-CenturyPersianPoetry
ToenterimaginativelyintoḤāfiẓ’stimes,wemustexamineinbriefsomeofthe
literaryfiguresandhistoricalfactorsthatgaveshapeandrealitytothisgrandvision
ofEros.TheliteraryandphilosophicalthoughtofḤāfiẓcannotbeunderstood
withoutcomprehendingsomethingofthehighcultureofPersia,itsmonumental
intellectualachievements,literary,theologicalandphilosophical,aswellasthe
localsocietyofShīrāzandcontemporarypoliticsoftheprovinceofFars.
Thepoeticcosmosoffourteenth-centuryPersiablazedwithsomeofthebrightest
luminariesinPersianpoetichistory,whoseideasḤāfiẓabsorbedandemulated,and
whoseversehefollowedandimitated.Asapoet,Ḥāfiẓwasageniusoftransforma-
tiveappropriation,supremeconnoisseurofverse-aphorismsandepigrams,who
specializedinselectingthechoicestversesfromthepastmastersofPersianand
Arabicpoetry,transcreatingtheirimagery,improvisingandimprovingontheir
ideasinhisownoriginalmanner.HardlyaverseofḤāfiẓcanbefoundwhosesound,
form,colourorsensedoesnotharkbacktosimilarlinesintheworksof‘Umar
Khayyām (d. 526/1131), Sanā’ī (d. c. 535/1140), Khāqānī (d. 595/1198), Niẓāmī
(d.598/1202),ẒahīrFaryābī(d.598/1202),‘AṭṭārofNīshāpūr(d.618/1221),Kamāl
al-Dīn Ismā‘īl Iṣfahānī (d. 635/1237), Sa‛dī (d. c. 691/1292), Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī
(d. 672/1273), Fakhr al-Dīn ‘Irāqī (d. 688/1289), Nizārī Quhistānī (d. 721/1321),
AwḥadīMarāghī(d.738/1338),orotherofthegrandmasterpoetsofclassical
Persia.^28 HisverseisalsosteepedinthepoetryofIbnFāriḍ(d.632/1235),thegreat-
estArabSufipoet.^29
ForemostamongthepoetsofhisowndaywhomḤāfiẓrespected,knewintimately
andemulatedwasKhwājūKirmānī(d.after753/1352),aSufipoetwholivedin
ShīrāzduringmuchofhislifetimewherehewasadiscipleofAmīnal-DīnKāzarūnī
Balyānī,aSufimasterdistinguishedenoughtobepraisedbyḤāfiẓinhispoetry.^30
ThespiritualizederoticismofḤāfiẓ,who‘isperhapsthefirstpoetinthePersian-
speakingworldwhoperfectlyrealizedtheunityofthemundaneandthespiritual
ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry