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surface is resolved in the unconscious. To the Arabs, and especially to mystics of all persuasions, the universe is the mirror of God, and as God contains and resolves all contradictions, so all things in Nature "live and move and have their being in God." The ghazal in this sense can be thought of as a type of meditation in writing, in which diverse trains of thought are juxtaposed to see their relation. Asian visual art, as explained by Inayat Khan and A. K. Coomaraswamy, has always been approached as a meditative process, a "creation in likeness of the Creator," by which man's nature is purified, as though it were a yogic discipline. This, in the East, is the meaning of "sacred art," and though that concept is perhaps no longer valid in the West, it must be borne in mind when considering Eastern art.
It can be seen from the above that the ghazal need not proceed along the lines of Aristotelian unity. In fact its structure, like so much of Eastern art and symbolism, is often circular, with the last couplet referring back to the first, as Indian music constantly returns to the sum, the first beat. This could be said to parallel the idea of cycles of time, perhaps, or any of a variety of Eastern ideas, but it fits in logically with the culture which produced it. The subjective conception of time in Eastern thought is an eternity in which the present moment contains all moments. Such a conception would naturally lead to the development of circular art forms, such as the arabesque and the ghazal, for the idea of linear time or linear construction is a subordinate one. One feels that many scholars in missing this basic point have erred in concentrating on the sheer decorative function of the ghazal or the arabesque, and denying it existence as the organic whole that it may represent on another level. As shall be seen, the ghazal mirrors perfectly the mystical idea that an infinite variety of individual souls are in fact manifestations of the One Oversoul, though, like the bayts of a ghazal, they appear capable of standing independently. It is only natural that Western scholars would tend to be struck by the embellishments, the florid patterns of variety, rather than perceive the latent unity so close to the Oriental heart.
The foregoing can be demonstrated by giving the explication of one of Hafiz's ghazals, in which the imagery is not difficult, as given by Avery & Heath-Stubbs.*
1) I saw the green meadow of the firmament and the sickle of the new moon
I remembered my own tillage and the time of harvest.
2) I said, "Oh Fate, you were asleep and the sun has come up.
"He replied, "In spite of all that has gone before, don't give up hope."
3) If you go pure and naked, like the Messiah to heaven
From your lap, a hundred rays will reach the sun.
4) Don't rely on your star, that night-robber, because this imposter bore off
the crown of Kaus and the belt of Kaikhushru.
5) Though the earring of gold and ruby weighs down the ear
The term of beauty is transient — listen to good advice!
6) The evil eye be far from your mole, because, on the chessboard of beauty,
it moved a pawn that beats the moon and sun.
7) Say to the sky, "Don't put this tawdry grandeur up for sale, because in love the harvest of the moon goes for a barley-grain, and the vine of the Pleiades for grains."
8) The fire of religious zeal and hypocritical zeal will burn up the harvest of religion.
Oh Hafiz, throw away this woolen habit and go!
*Avery, P., Heath-Stubbs, J. Hafiz of
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