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Welcome to Mansour's Page dedicated to the Persian Poet Hafez

Part of this page is brought by permission from http://www.hafizonlove.com and Shahriar Shahriari

Birth Date: Sometime between the years 1310-1325 a.d. or 712-727 A.H. The most probable date is either 1320, or 1325 a.d. Place: Shiraz, in South-central Iran Name Shamseddin Mohammad Family

Pen-Name: Hafez (a title given to those who had memorized the Koran by heart. It is claimed that Hafez had done this in fourteen different ways).

Full Title: Khajeh Shamseddin Mohammad Hafez-s Shirazi

Other variations of spelling are: Khwajeh Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi

Father: Baha-ud-Din

Brothers: He had two older brothers

Wife: Hafez married in his twenties, even though he continued his love for Shakh-e Nabat, as the manifest symbol of her Creator's beauty.

Children: Hafez had one child.

Important Events:

Teens:

He had memorized the Koran by listening to his father's recitations of it. He also had memorized many of the works of his hero, Saadi, as wells as Attar, Rumi and Nizami.

His father who was a coal merchant died, leaving him and his mother with much debt. Hafez and his mother went to live with his uncle (also called Saadi).. He left day school to work in a drapery shop and later in a bakery.

 

Age 21 (1341 ad):

While still working at the bakery, Hafez delivered bread to a wealthy quarter of town and saw Shakh-e Nabat, a young woman of incredible beauty. Many of his poems are addressed to Shakh-e Nabat. In pursuit of reaching his beloved, Hafez kept a forty day and night vigil at the tomb of Baba Kuhi. After successfully attaining this, he met Attar and became his disciple. Early twenties to early thirties Became a poet of the court of Abu Ishak. Gained much fame and influence in Shiraz. This was the phase of "Spiritual Romanticism" in his poetry.

Age 33:

 Mubariz Muzaffar captured Shiraz, and among his various deeds, he ousted Hafez from his position of teacher of Koranic studies at the college. At this time he wrote protest poems.

Age 38:

Shah Shuja took his tyrant father as prisoner, and re-instated Hafez as a teacher at the college. He began his phase of subtle spirituality in his poetry. Early forties Falling out of favor with Shah Shuja.

Age 48:

Hafez fled Shiraz for his safety, and went into self-imposed exile in Isfahan. His poems mainly talk of his longing for Shiraz, for Shakh-e Nabat, and for his spiritual Master, Attar (not the famous Farid-uddin Attar of Neishabour - who predates Hafez by a couple of centuries - but the lesser known Attar of Shiraz). Age 52 By invitation of Shah Shuja, he ended his exile and returned to Shiraz. He was re-instated to his post at the College. Age 60 Longing to be united with his Creator, he began a forty day and night vigil by sitting in a circle that he had drawn himself.

Age 60:

On the morn of the fortieth day of his vigil, which was also on the fortieth anniversary of meeting his Master Attar, he went to his Master, and upon drinking a cup of wine that Attar gave him, he attained Cosmic Consciousness or God-Realization. Sixties In this phase, up to the age of 69 when he died, he composed more than half of his ghazals., and continued to teach his small circle of disciples. His poetry at this time, talk with the authority of a Master who is united with God. Poetry

Divan-e-Hafez Some 500 ghazals, 42 Rubaiyees, and a few Ghaseedeh's, composed over a period of 50 years. Hafez only composed when he was divinely inspired, and therefore he averaged only about 10 Ghazals per year. His focus was to write poetry worthy of the Beloved. Compiler of Divan Hafez did not compile his poetry. Mohammad Golandaam, who also wrote a preface to his compilation, completed it in 813 A.H or 1410 a.d, some 21-22 years after Hafez's death. Also another person who compiled Hafez's poetry was one of his young disciples Sayyid Kasim-e Anvar, who collected 569 Ghazals attributed to Hafez. He died in 1431 a.d. some 42-43 years after Hafez's death.

Death: Late 1388 or early 1389 a.d. or 791 A.H. at the age of 69. Place: Shiraz Tomb: in Musalla Gardens, along the banks of Ruknabad river in Shiraz, which is referred to as Hafezieh.Hafez was refused to have a Muslim burial. Yet his grass-roots support among the people of Shiraz created an atmosphere of conflict. To resolve the controversy, it wasdecided to use Hafez's poetry, by dividing his ghazals into couplets, and asking a young boy to draw a couplet. It was agreed that however the couplet directed them, they would all consent to follow.The couplet that was chosen was verse 7 of Ghazal #79. It reads:

Neither Hafez’s corps, nor his life negate, With all his misdeeds, heavens for him wait. © Shahriar Shahriari

Hafez's Tomb, Shiraz, Iran.

The Aramgah-é Hafez (Tomb of the Poet Hafez) was constructed in 1773 by Karim Khan to house the remains of Hafez, one of the two most celebrated poets of Shiraz. "Hafez" means "one who can recite the Quran by memory"--his real name was Khajé Shams-ed-Din Mohammad, which is a piece of work to recite from memory in its own right. The pavilion over the tomb was erected only in 1933, when the entryway (visible in the background) and its columns were restored afterbeing seriously damaged in an earthquake. The shrine is set among large, well manicured gardens.

Dome of the pavilion above the tomb of Hafez. The tomb is a site of pilgrimage among the young seeking advice about their love life. It's said that if one prays above the tomb, Hafez will provide sage counsel.

Hafez's tomb, a night view.

What others say about Hafez:

Goethe: In his poetry Hafez has inscribed undeniable truth indelibly ... Hafez has no peer!

Emerson: Hafez defies you to show him or put him in a condition inopportune or ignoble ... He fears nothing. He sees too far; he sees throughout; such is the only man I wish to see or be.

Edward Fitzgerald: The best musician of Words.

Gertrude Bell: It is as if his mental eye; endowed with wonderful acuteness of vision, had penetrated into those provinces of thought which we of a later age were destined to inhabit.

A. J. Arberry: ... Hafez is as highly esteemed by his countrymen as Shakespeare by us, and deserves as serious consideration.

Some sample Poems (I selected my favorite ones):

O beautiful wine-bearer, bring forth the cup and put it to my lips Path of love seemed easy at first, what came was many hardships. With its perfume, the morning breeze unlocks those beautiful locks The curl of those dark ringlets, many hearts to shreds strips. In the house of my Beloved, how can I enjoy the feast Since the church bells call the call that for pilgrimage equips. With wine color your robe, one of the old Magi’s best tips Trust in this traveler’s tips, who knows of many paths and trips. The dark midnight, fearful waves, and the tempestuous whirlpool How can he know of our state, while ports house his unladen ships. I followed my own path of love, and now I am in bad repute How can a secret remain veiled, if from every tongue it drips? If His presence you seek, Hafiz, then why yourself eclipse? Stick to the One you know, let go of imaginary trips. © Shahriar Shahriari

O wine-bearer brighten my cup with the wine O minstrel say good fortune is now mine. The face of my Beloved is reflected in my cup Little you know why with wine, I always myself align. Eternal is the one whose heart has awakened to Love This is how Eternal Records my life define. So proud are the tall beauties of the world Outshines all the others this handsome spruce of mine. O breeze if by chance you pass through friendly gardens From me to my Beloved, please give a sign; Ask why you choose to forget my name? Will come the one to whom an audience you decline. Intoxication pleases my Beloved and my Lord To the wine, they would assign, my life's design. What if on Judgement Day, no favor would be gained From eating bread and leaving a forbidden water so fine? Hafiz, let a tear drop or two leave your eyes, May we ensnare the Bird of Union, divine. The sea of the skies and the gondola of the moon With the grace of the Master, radiantly shine. © Shahriar Shahriari

For years my heart was in search of the Grail What was inside me, it searched for, on the trail That pearl that transcends time and place Sought of divers whom oceans sail My quest to the Magi my path trace One glance solved the riddles that I Braille Found him wine in hand and happy face In the mirror of his cup would watch a hundred detail I asked, "when did God give you this Holy Grail?" Said, "on the day He hammered the world’s first nail!" Even the unbeliever had the support of God Though he could not see, God’s name would always hail. All the tricks of the mind would make God seem like fraud Yet the Golden Calf beside Moses’ rod would just pale. And the one put on the cross by his race His crime, secrets of God would unveil Anyone who is touched by God’s grace Can do what Christ did, without fail. And what of this curly lock that’s my jail Said this is for Hafiz to tell his tale. © Shahriar Shahriari

At the gates of the tavern I saw the angels knock Kneaded this clay we call human, and made it talk. The residents of the Celestial Court and the heavenly bloc Drank from the Wine of Love, with me, upon our common walk. The earth and the skies could not keep this trust of the clock Yet the poor insane me was stuck with such tough luck. People find good reason for the wars in which they are stuck Since Truth they cannot see, to fantasies they would flock. In our midst, thank God, the dogs of war are put in chain and lock The angels gratefully drink, gracefully dance, from block to block. Fire is not a flickering glow that a candle flame would mock Fire is the flame of a heap of moths that lightning has just struck. None like Hafez, the mask of deceitful intellect can pluck Till the hair of Bride of Verses was brushed lock after lock. © Shahriar Shahriari

With a flood of tears, to sleep, I found my way Thinking of you, in vain, I'd long and pray To the vision of your brow I lost my cloak I'd drink to the corner of the altar, old and gray. Each thought that like a bird flies out as words The strings of your hair would pluck and play. Your face, like a vision, in my mind would form and fade I kiss the face of the moon from far away. My eyes follow the wine-bearer, ears the harp Perhaps my eyes and ears my fortune would say and sway. Till the morn, I paint the picture of your face On the canvass of the eyes, while sleepless I lay. With every song, the bearer would give me a cup I'd sing a song, then drink without delay. Happy was the time, Hafez, and good fortune In the name of long life and lovers every day. © Shahriar Shahriari