Divine Love in Rabi'ah Adawiyya's Thought and Its Comparison with the Poems of Hafez Shirazi

Abstract

In a time when asceticism was the prevailing method among mystics, Rabi'ah Adawiyya introduced the concept of divine love and mystic recognition. Divine love has always been one of the fundamental themes in the works of mystic poets after Rabi'ah. This advanced research explores the prominent aspects of mystic love in Rabi'ah Adawiyya's poetry and then compares them with the poems of Hafez Shirazi, finding similarities. This qualitative research relies on a descriptive-analytical and comparative method. The comparative method used in the research is based on the American school of comparative literature, which focuses on similarity and parallelism. The findings indicate that the prominent features of Rabi'ah's mysticism include "pure love", "contemplation of the beauty of the beloved", "not turning away from the Creator to the creation", "preferring the friend over the world and its inhabitants", "night prayer and vigil", "weeping in the separation from the beloved", "immersion of the lover in the beloved", and "the station of solitude". These features are reflected in Hafez's poems as well, albeit in a more pleasing manner through his eloquent language and graceful poetry. However, one must recognize their origins in the thoughts of Rabi'ah.