The Collected Poems of Hafez

The Divan of Hafez gathers the roughly 500 ghazals of Khwaja Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafez of Shiraz (c. 1315–1390 CE), the summit of the Persian lyric. Hafez was born, lived, and died in Shiraz, and the depth of his verse earned him the title Lisan al-Ghayb, "the Tongue of the Unseen."

His poetry fuses love, wine, and meaning with a biting critique of hypocrisy and false piety. The figure of the rend — the free spirit who rejects the sanctimony of the outwardly devout and holds instead to inner honesty — became a lasting emblem of liberty against cant.

The Divan holds a singular place in Iranian life: it is kept in many homes, and consulting it for an omen (Fal-e Hafez) is a cherished ritual at the Nowruz table and on Yalda night. His lines are so woven into everyday speech that Iranians quote him constantly, often without knowing the source.

Hafez's fame crossed Iran's borders: Goethe composed his West-Eastern Divan under his inspiration. For an Iranian abroad, opening the Divan and drawing an omen is a moment when home, memory, and mother tongue gather in the palm of the hand.