Hafez

. Khwajeh Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi (also spelled Hafiz) (خواجه شمس‌الدین محمد حافظ شیرازی in Persian) was an Iranian mystic and poet. He was born sometime between the years 1310-1326 in Shiraz, Iran, of father Baha-ud-Din.

His lyrical poems, ghazals, are noted for their beauty and bring to fruition the love, mystical, and early Sufist themes that had long pervaded Persian poetry. His work is also notable for making frequent reference to astrology and displaying a knowledge of astronomy and the zodiac.

Life

Very little credible information is know about Hafez's life, particularly its early part - there is a great deal of more or less mythical anecdote. Judging from his poetry, he must have had a good education, or else found the means to educate himself. The following is what is commonly stated by scholars:-

His father Baha-ud-Din is said to have been a coal merchant who died when Hafez was a child, leaving him and his mother in debt.

It seems probable that he met with Attar of Shiraz, a somewhat disreputable scholar, and became his disciple.

He is said to have later become a poet in the court of Abu Ishak, and so gained fame and influence in his hometown. It is possible that Hafez gained a position as teacher in a Qur'anic school at this time.

In his early 30's Mubariz Muzaffar captured Shiraz and seems to have ousted Hafez from his position. Hafez apparently regained his position after Shah Shuja took his father Mubariz Muzaffar prisoner. But shortly after, Hafez was forced into self-imposed exile when Muzaffar regained his position. Hafez fled from Shiraz to Isfahan for his own safety.

At the age of 52 Hafez once again regained his position at court, and received a personal invitation from Shah Shuja, who pleaded with him to return.

When an old man, he apparently met Tamerlane to defend his poetry against charges of blasphemy.

Hafez died at the age of 69. His tomb is located in the Musalla Gardens of Shiraz (referred to as Hafezieh).

Hafez folk tales

Many semi-miraculous mythical tales were woven around Hafez after this death. Three examples are:-

• It is said that, by listening to his father's recitations, Hafez had accomplished the task of memorizing the Holy Qur'an at an early age. At the same time Hafez is said to have memorized the works of Mevlana (Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi), Sa'di, Attar, and Nezami.

• According to one tradition, before meeting Attar, Hafez had been working in a local bakery. Hafez delivered bread to a wealthy quarter of the town where he saw Shakh-e Nabat, allegedly a woman of incredible beauty, to whom some of his poems are addressed.

• At age 60 he is said to have begun a 40 day and night vigil by sitting in a circle which he had drawn for himself. On the 40th day he once again met with Attar on what is known to be their 40th anniversary and was offered a cup of wine. It was there where he is said to have attained 'Cosmic Consciousness'.
  

  After death; collected works

Only since the 1940s has a sustained scholarly attempt - by Mas'ud Farzad, Qasim Ghani and others in Iran - been made to authenticate his work, and remove errors introduced by later copyists and censors. However, the reliability of such work has been questioned (Michael Hillmann in 'Rahnema-ye Ketab' No. 13 (1971), "Kusheshha-ye Jadid dar Shenakht-e Divan-e Sahih-e Hafez"), and in the words of Hafez scholar Iraj Bashiri.... "there remains little hope from there (i.e.: Iran) for an authenticated diwan".

After death; influence

Widely acclaimed in his own day, he greatly influenced subsequent Persian poets, and left his mark on such important Western writers as Goethe. His work was first translated into English in 1771 by William Jones. Few English translations of Hafiz have been truly successful. His work was written in what is now an archaic dialect, and teasing out the original meaning needs great care and scholarship in order to untangle each word from its modern meaning. To add further difficulty, Hafiz often uses compound phrases & allusions that assumed the reader had a (now mostly lost) cultural knowledge.

See also: Persian literature

Hafez in popular contemporary Iranian culture

Hafez's poems and works are today commonly used as an oracle to determine personal decisions, business transactions etc.

Common ways of using Hafez's poems in this way include a caged bird picking up small bits of paper with verses or chosing with closed eyes a random verse on a random page.

External links

• Hafiz, Shams al-Din Muhammad A Biography by Prof. Iraj Bashiri, University of Minnesota
• Hafiz Poems - Translated G.Bell
• Hafiz Poems - Translated D.Ladinsky
• Hafiz's Tomb in Shiraz

• Comprehensive set of scholarly entries about Hafez, on the Encyclopędia Iranica (Columbia University).