Hafez

Who is Hafez?

Khwaja Shams-ud-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi, known as Hafez, was a Persian lyric poet born in Shiraz in what is now southern Iran. He is celebrated above all for his ghazals, short lyric poems blending themes of love, wine, mysticism, and criticism of religious hypocrisy. Hafez memorized the Quran in his youth — the honorific 'Hafez' means one who has done so — and spent most of his life in Shiraz under the patronage of local rulers. His collected poems, the Divan of Hafez, became one of the most beloved books in the Persian-speaking world, traditionally used for bibliomancy (fal-e Hafez), where readers open the book at random for guidance. His verse is admired for its musicality, ambiguity, and layered meaning. Hafez profoundly influenced later Persian literature and, through translation, figures such as Goethe. His tomb in Shiraz, the Hafezieh, remains a major pilgrimage and cultural site.

Sources: Hafez, Divan of Hafez (14th century) · Encyclopaedia Iranica, entry 'Hafez' · Peter Avery (trans.), The Collected Lyrics of Hafiz of Shiraz, 2007