Dec 14, 2025
Regarded as the pinnacle of Persian literature, his works are a household item for Persian-speaking families and read during the Yalda winter solstice festival and Nowruz spring equinox festival. He was also widely known amongst European intellectuals, with even Engels mentioning him to Marx in a letter.
- Hafez lived in Shiraz under the waning Mongol Ilkhanate and at his death in 1390, the region was being incorporated into Timur’s empire. What more do we know about Hafez’s socio-political and cultural context?
- There are many mythical tales about Hafez. What can we know about his life?
- The influence of Hafez can’t be underestimated. Tell us about his works.
- And what translations and secondary resources do you recommend? It should be pointed out that there are wonderful illustrated versions including one owned by the Cartier family of jewellers.
- And finally let’s end with a sample and translation.
Further reading
Hafez and the Religion
of Love in Classical Persian Poetry. Edited by Leonard
Lewioshn.
Faces of Love: Hafez and the Poets of Shiraz by Dick
Davis(partial)
Poems from the Divan of Hafiz by Gertrude Bell
(partial)
The Divan-I Hafiz by Wilberforce Clarke (complete
translation)
Ali Hammoud:
https://alihammoud7.substack.com/
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