Text as a Site of Hermeneutical “Possibility”: The Gradational Referentiality of the Concept of ‘Ishq [Eros] in Ḥakīm Sanā’ī’s Lyrical Production

Abstract While J. T. P. de Bruijn and Franklin D. Lewis have offered foundational insights into Sanā’ī’s lyric production, this article reconsiders the classification of Sanā’ī’s love poems through the binary of sacred/religious and profane/secular. The first part of this investigation is epistemological in nature, as it attempts to provide a framework in which texts are understood as sites of hermeneutical possibilities. It posits that a text reveals its truth (aletheia) in a twofold manner, primarily via its context and pre-text: Context engages with the intricate structural and sociohistorical nuances inherent in the work, while pre-text encompasses what the hermeneutical agents or reading communities bring to the text based on their respective sociocultural and onto-hermeneutical situatedness. For the second part, Sanā’ī’s reflections on ‘ishq serve as a case study, illustrating that even when his poetic expressions appear overtly amorous or illicit because of their context, the pre-text prevents us from classifying them rigidly as profane or secular. By illustrating how readers’ sociocultural and onto-hermeneutical situatedness contributes to multilayered readings, it presents ‘ishq as an inherently gradational and modulated entity.