Hafiz
حافظ شيرازي
The Tongue of the Unseen
Born: ~1315
Died: ~1390
Also known as: Khwaja Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafiz-i Shirazi, Lisan al-Ghayb
Hafiz was a Persian lyric poet from Shiraz whose collected poems, the Divan-i Hafiz, are considered the pinnacle of the Persian ghazal tradition. His verse, celebrated for its beauty, ambiguity, and spiritual depth, is still used for bibliomancy (fal-e Hafez) throughout the Persian-speaking world today.
Key Accomplishments
- Composed the Divan-i Hafiz, approximately 500 ghazals considered the peak of Persian lyric poetry
- Mastered the art of ambiguous layered meaning, blending earthly and divine love in his verse
- Inspired Goethe's West-ostlicher Divan and influenced Western Romantic poetry
- Remains central to Persian culture through the tradition of fal-e Hafez bibliomancy
The Full Story
Hafiz spent virtually his entire life in Shiraz, in the Fars province of present-day Iran, composing poetry under a succession of local rulers during the politically turbulent 14th century. His pen name, "Hafiz," indicates that he had memorized the entire Quran. Relatively few details of his life are known with certainty, but his poetry reveals a man steeped in both Islamic learning and the courtly culture of Shiraz.
His Divan, a collection of approximately 500 ghazals (lyric poems), is regarded by many as the supreme achievement of Persian poetry. The ghazals are famous for their delicate ambiguity: images of wine, the beloved, and the garden function simultaneously as descriptions of earthly pleasure, metaphors for divine love, and veiled social commentary. This multi-layered quality has made Hafiz endlessly quotable and perpetually subject to new interpretation.
Hafiz's influence on Persian culture is without parallel. His Divan is found in virtually every Persian-speaking household and is used for fal-e Hafez, a form of bibliomancy in which one opens the book at random to seek guidance. Goethe was so inspired by Hafiz that he wrote his West-ostlicher Divan in tribute, calling Hafiz his "twin." Ralph Waldo Emerson also translated and championed his work in the West. Hafiz's tomb in Shiraz, the Hafezieh, remains one of the most visited sites in Iran.
Notable Words
“I have learned so much from God that I can no longer call myself a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew.”
- Attributed, from the ghazal tradition (various translations)
Connected Figures
Sa'di
The Master of Speech
Earlier Shirazi poet who established the literary tradition Hafiz perfected
Thinkers & PoetsRumi
The Master of Ecstatic Love
Earlier Persian mystical poet of complementary genius
Thinkers & PoetsJami
The Last Great Medieval Persian Poet
Later Persian poet who admired and was influenced by Hafiz
Notes
Sources
- [1]Yarshater, Ehsan, ed. "Hafez." Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2002.
- [2]Davis, Dick. Faces of Love: Hafez and the Poets of Shiraz. Penguin Classics, 2013.
- [3]Arberry, A.J. Fifty Poems of Hafiz. Cambridge University Press, 1947.