Ḥakīm Sanāʾī’s Qalandars: Persian Antinomianism Between Metaphor and Reality

Abstract

This PhD dissertation studies the qalandariyyāt or “vagabond poetry” in the œuvre of Ḥakīm Sanāʾī, a 12th-century poet who stood at the beginning of the great Persian poetic tradition. In this poetry Sanāʾī uses the literary figure of the qalandar – a kind of vagabond who intentionally breaks social and religious rules – to raise fundamental questions about what it means to be a good Muslim. In Sanāʾī’s time the Persian-Islamic world was characterised by intense debates about matters such as sincere piety, religious authority and moral legitimacy. His poetry can be read as a response to these discussions. The study shows how Sanāʾī creates two contrasting poetic worlds: one conformist and the other nonconformist. Against outward displays of piety, he emphasises the value of inner devotion and sincere love for God. The outwardly respectable believer may turn out to be spiritually lacking and hypocritical, while the nonconformist outsider may in fact embody true faith. Two controversial themes of the qalandariyyāt – wine and homoerotic love – are discussed in detail. Sanāʾī uses these themes not simply to celebrate violations of religious norms as such, but to challenge established views of what may be considered true faith. The Persian poetic tradition on which this study focuses shows that, contrary to what is often assumed today, Islam in principle allows for internal criticism and diverse views on what it means to be a good believer, even when these go against Islamic law (the sharīʿa) and social norms and values. In this way, the study hopes to contribute to a more complete and nuanced understanding of Islam.