Comparative Manifestations of Mysticism in the Poetry of Hafez, Rumi, and Attar

Abstract

This article comparatively examines mysticism in the poetry of Hafez, Rumi, and Attar using a descriptive-comparative method. Poetry, as one of the linguistic arts, has represented human thoughts and emotions throughout different periods of literary history. Mysticism, as a religious and philosophical field of knowledge, likewise seeks to apprehend the profound spiritual meaning of life. With the incorporation of Islamic mysticism into Persian literature, it not only expressed the spiritual states of mystics but also exerted a profound influence on the instruction and purification of the spiritual wayfarer’s soul. A reader’s unfamiliarity with mystical terminology may result in experiencing merely the literary pleasure of these works while remaining largely unable to comprehend their intellectual and mystical dimensions. Accordingly, examining mystical terms and developing a profound understanding of their meanings and concepts play an essential role in interpreting the ghazals of Attar, Hafez, and Rumi. In the ghazals of Attar, Hafez, and Rumi, both purely transcendent spiritual teachings and earthly love are frequently expressed through a shared discourse, namely the language of love and devotion. The ghazals of Attar and Rumi are mystical in orientation, although their diction and language are those of love; their poetic content is transcendent, purely spiritual, and contemplative. Hafez’s ghazals are mystically oriented, while their diction and language are likewise amorous; however, their content is simultaneously mystical and expressive of melancholic, imaginative, and composite human and supra-human reflections. Hafez’s poetry represents a culmination of the diverse amorous tendencies embedded in the ancient Persian cultural tradition: it manifests both the fervor of human love and an immersion in spiritual devotion and assurance. Hafez’s distinctive characteristic lies in his synthesis of these two realms. In some of his poems, the decoding of allusions reveals a particular form of Sufi symbolism, while at the same time presenting images, impressions, and genuine emotional responses arising from human relationships and even corporeal love. In his ghazals, which are grounded in spiritual experiences and the attainment of elevated mystical stations, Attar of Nishapur articulates his distinctive conception of the unity of being (waḥdat al-wujūd), characterized by a synthetic and intuitive mode of insight.