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*An abbreviated version of this paper was presented to a panel on Literary Theory and Middle Eastern Genres chaired by Professor Windfuhr at the 11th annual MESA meeting in New York, November 10, 1977. This paper has also been published separately in the Muslim World, (1979) and *
In the course of writing this paper I have received constructive criticism from Professor William Hanaway and the editorial board of Edebiyat, as well as encouragement from Professors M.A.R. Barker, Anwar Chejne, Caesar Farah, George Koury and David Lelyveld. I would like to also acknowledge the efforts of many who, in one way or another, have influenced this paper. This article was originally published in The Muslim World (LXIX, nos. 3 & 4, 1979). I would like to thank the editors of that journal for their permission to reprint the article. It was also published as a part ofKamal Khujandi: Epoch and its Importance in the History of Central Asian Civilization in 1996.
1With regard to the translation of Persian works such as The Blind Owl of Hidayat and the ghazals of Hafiz, it should be emphasized that a mere knowledge of medieval or modern standard Persian is not sufficient. These are works produced after many nights of vigil in the case of Hafiz, and years of research in the case of Hidayat. With regard to the ghazals of Hafiz, I said in 1974: "It will take years before the West will be able to enjoy the poetry of Hafiz the way he wrote it, the way he structured it, and the way Persians understand it." Hedayat's Ivory Tower: Structural Analysis of the Blind Owl (Minneapolis: Manor House, 1974), p. 23. I also added that a well-defined structural analysis needs to precede any attempt at a translation of these works (Ibid., p. 34). In the present article I would like to illustrate this statement by presenting an analysis as well as an interpretation of two ghazals of Hafiz.1
2Although Ghani's contribution to our understanding of tasawwuf in Iran is noteworthy, his application of this knowledge for distinguishing Hafiz' Sufic poetry from his mundane ghazals is neither analytical nor systematic, and to some extent it is even erroneous. His criterion for the identification of the dates of the ghazals is mere conjecture derived from and supported by inadequately documented events of the time. He fails to evaluate Hafiz' poetic achievement, the development of his style, increase in his Sufic awareness as evidenced in his ghazals, etc. If not to be given priority, these considerations should surely constitute the bulk of any evaluation and dating of this major poet's critical edition. See Qasim Ghani, 1942 and 1943.2
3 Qazvini and Ghani, eds., 1941 and Hillmann, 1976, pp. 151-53, n. 8.3
4 Qazvini/Ghani, KH; see also Rehder, 1974, p. 156.4
5 Qazvini/Ghani, KZff; see also Rehder, 1974, p. 147.5
6 Qazvini/Ghani, LBff; Rehder, 1974, p. 147.6
7 I am referring to Farzad's "Haafez and His Poems." a considerable portion of which is reproduced in Arberry, 1968, pp. 356-60. There, Farzad discusses the existence of unity in the ghazal in the following way: "In connection with the problem of the order of the lines, which I was perhaps the first person to stumble upon... I agree that, at first glance, some of the best Persian ghazals would seem to be of loose construction, and that many mediocre and inferior Persian ghazals, especially later ones, are so in fact. At the same time I should declare that I have not found this loose construction at all true in the case of a single one of the ghazals of Haafez... One fundamental fact seems to me to be that in the ghazal of Haafez there exists an unuttered but clearly suggested train of thought...."7
8 Boyce, 1953, p. 279.8
9 Ibid, 2829
10 Hillmann, 1976, pp. 156-57.10
11 Boyce, 1953, pp. 279-88.11
12 Hillmann, 1976, p. 153.12
13 Ibid., pp. 22, 142. Elsewhere Hillmann asserts that this ghazal is a "verse song" intended for recital with musical accompaniment; see Hillmann, 1975, p. 164. This view opens the way to a totally new view of Hafiz. It is a constructive view, even though its applicability to the "Shirazi Turk" is questionable (see below).13
14 Boyce, 1953, p. 288.14
15 Hillmann, 1976, pp. 14, 142. See also Windfuhr, 1977, pp. 62-63.15
16 Dihkhuda, 1950 p. 291.16
17 Fursat Shirazi, 1345/1967, pp. 143-81.17
18 Hillmann, 1967, p. 10; see also Sudi, 1968-69, pp. I, 34 ff.18
19 The underlined semi-circles 
indicate short vowels added to make the meter fit the hazaj.19
20 It should be mentioned that n occurs in only one instance, i.e., in bayt 3 of the seven regular bayts. It is clear that the poet has had no alternative but to use poetic license. For more detail, see below.20
21 Rehder, 1974, p. 148, gives the following reasons for the inclusion of such bayts: "A major reason for the expansion of the Divan probably was the desire of men of letters and copyists (often the same person) to fool their friends, enemies, or posterity, or to gratify their pride, and to indulge a hope of immortality, by having their own verses accepted as the work of Hafiz. Intertwined with these motives, probably, was that some of them felt that they could improve on Hafiz and correct his mistakes. This feeling still exists and is one of the perils in using some Persian editions and scholarship. There are very few, if any, of the older Persian poetic texts and divans which have not suffered in this way, but none, as far as I know, has suffered more than the Divan of Hafiz." Those poets and copyists who either could not or did not wish to include their verses in the diwan per se used the same meter and rhyme scheme as Hafiz to compose similar ghazals dealing with entirely different subjects, such as food and clothes. One such poet is Jamal al-Din Abu Ishaq, who composed many ghazals based on the ghazals of Hafiz. Here are the matla's of two of his ghazals based on the "Shrazi Turk":
zi-tabriz ar gilimi nazuk ari dar baram yara
bi-naqsh-i adiash bakhsham samarqand-u bukhara-ra
If you bring me a fine rug from Tabriz, O friend
I will bestow Samarqand and Bukhara upon the rooster-hen
figure printed on it
or
bi-pisham chun khurasani gar ari sahn-i bughra-ra
bi-bu-yi qilyiash bakhsham samarqand-u bukhara-ra
If O Khurasani (or, like Khurasani) you bring me the platter full
of bughra (quadrangular sections of paste with gravy and milk),
I will bestow the cities of Samarqand and Bukhara upon the smell
of its qilyi (fried parts).
For details see Ghani, 1974, p. 148.
The very existence of such problems, I believe, should serve as a silent alarm for us not to amplify the work on the diwan, but rather to find ways of eliminating the mistakes. These problems, I believe, should not deter us from trying new ways to retrieve what is lost in the pages of history.21
22 Bashiri, 1974, pp. 136-37.22
23 Farzad, 1969, pp. 3-4, 578-79. For a transcription of these seven bayts, see the chart on 'ishq further below in this article. The text of the two bayts deleted here, bayts 6 and 7 in Qazvini/Ghani, pp. 3-4, follows, with a transliteration:
