UNCHANGING PERCEPTION OF LOYALTY FROM RUMI TO HAFIZ: TWO SPECIFIC VERSES FROM

UNCHANGING PERCEPTION OF LOYALTY FROM RUMI TO HAFIZ: TWO SPECIFIC VERSES FROM DIVAN-I SHAMS AND DIVAN-I HAFIZ

 Menekşe TEMİZKAN

ABSTRACT

Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi and Khwaja Shams-ud-Din Muhammad Hafiz-e Shirazi are two highly influential mystic poets. Owing to their distinct ways of expressing their passions, oaths and promises with their beloved, their poems have been attracting a great number of people from different walks of life in all parts of the world for centuries. According to some scholars, they are the closest and, at the same time, the most apart poets in the Iranian literature. For Rumi and Hafiz all the roads lead to the beloved, through Aristotelian catharsis due to separation. This paper offers an analysis of the concept of loyalty in Divan-i Shams (also known as Divan- i Kabir) and Divan-i Hafiz, by focusing on two specific verses, which were written in a remarkably similar wording, even though Rumi and Hafiz lived in different centuries. Does a similar depiction of loyalty in these verses mean that the two poets had an overlapping understanding of the concept? The results of the study indicate that Rumi and Hafiz perceived loyalty in similar terms. On the other hand, considering Rumi’s spiritual framework and the mundane approach Hafiz adopted in his works, the paper also claims that loyalty was portrayed rather differently by the two poets.

Keywords: Rumi, Hafiz, Loyalty, Love, Beloved.

MEVLÂNA’DAN HAFIZ’A DEĞİŞMEYEN VEFA ALGISI: DİVAN-I ŞEMS VE DİVAN-I HAFIZ’DAN İKİ ÖZEL BEYİT 

Menekşe TEMİZKAN

ÖZ

Mevlâna Celaleddin Rumi ve Hafız-ı Şirazi etkileri oldukça yüksek olan mutasavvıf şairlerdir. Tutkularını, yeminlerini, vaatlerini ve sevilenle (beloved) ahitlerini ifade etmekte kullandıkları özgün dil sayesinde, yüzyıllardır dünyanın çeşitli bölgelerinde bulunan ve farklı yaşam tarzlarını benimsemiş çok sayıda insanı cezbetmektedirler. Mevlâna Celaleddin Rumi ve Hafız-ı Şirazi bazı akademisyenlere göre İran edebiyatının birbirine en yakın ve aynı zamanda en uzak olan şairleridir. Her ikisi için de bütün yollar, sevilenden ayrı olmadan kaynaklanan Aristocu arınma (katarsis) yoluyla sevilene çıkmaktadır. Bu bildiri Divan-ı Şems (Divan-ı Kebir olarak da bilinmektedir) ve Divan-ı Hafız’da vefa kavramını, şairleri Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi ve Hafız-ı Şirazi farklı yüzyıllarda yaşamış olmalarına rağmen, şaşırtıcı biçimde benzer kelimeler kullanılarak kaleme alınmış iki özel beyiti temel alarak analiz etmektedir. Vefa kavramının sözkonusu iki beyitte benzer şekilde tasvir edilmiş olması Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi ve Hafız-ı Şirazi’nin bu kavramı birbiriyle örtüşen biçimde algıladıkları anlamına mı gelmektedir? Bu çalışmanın sonuçları bir yandan Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi ve Hafız-ı Şirazi’nin vefa kavramını benzer şekilde algıladıklarını gösterirken, öte yandan, Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi’nin içinde hareket ettiği manevi çerçeveye karşın, Hafız-ı Şirazi’nin eserlerinde benimsediği dünyevi yaklaşımı dikkate alarak, iki şairin vefa kavramını oldukça farklı betimlediklerini de ileri sürmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Mevlana, Hafız, Vefa, Aşk, Maşuk.

Introduction

Both Divan-i Shams and Divan-i Hafiz were written in ghazal poetic form, which addresses love in either metaphorical or real fashion. Love, in other words, is the main focus for ghazal,1 which has become a commonly employed style of poem in Persian literature in the thirteenth century. By using this structure, poets have engaged in comprehensive descriptions of love, lover and beloved. Words associated with different parts of the body, such as hair, eyes and nose, as well as words from nature for instance flowers, trees and plants of different types have been used by poets to create vivid images of the beloved in the minds of the readers. Describing the agony of being separated from beloved and the joy of being united with him have been the main objective of the poets.2 To put it differently, poets have refrained from articulating emotional state of lovers directly. They have mastered in creating ambiguity by loading the intended meanings on different words, through with they have puzzled and amazed readers in their attempts to understand and associate themselves with the poetically re-created reality. In ghazals, there have also been constant references to love legends, such as Layla and Majnun, Shirin and Farhad, or Yusuf and Zulaykha to provide a well-known context to the feelings communicated.3

Jalal ad-Din Rumi and Hafiz-e Shirazi are two highly influential Iranian poets. Their poems have been attracting a great number of people from different walks of life in all parts of the world for centuries because of their distinct ways of expressing their love for and oath with their beloved. They both endured great suffering due to being separated from their beloved, purified themselves during the process through Aristotelian catharsis and proved their loyalty.

Their verses have been memorized and recited not only by the educated but also common people in every possible social setting.4 Some scholars maintain that Rumi and Hafiz are the closest and, at the same time, the most apart poets in the Iranian literature. They might be considered close in the sense that for both of them all the roads lead to the beloved. On the other hand, by looking at the paths they followed to reach their beloved, we can detect the patterns that differentiate them.

In this paper, an analysis of the concept of loyalty in Divan-i Shams and Divan-i Hafiz is offered. Loyalty here is defined as being and remaining loyal to the beloved, regardless of the hardship the whole process includes. The paper focuses on two specific verses, which were written in a remarkably similar wording, even though Rumi and Hafiz lived in different centuries to initiate and develop its arguments. Does a similar depiction of loyalty in these verses mean that the two poets had an overlapping understanding of the concept?

“I made an oath with joy. Joy will be mine.

I have a promise with the beloved. The beloved will become soul to me.”5

Rumi

“I made an oath with the beloved, As long as I have soul in my body.

I will cherish the devotees in his parish, As my own soul.”6   

Hafiz

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