Hafiz of Shiraz

The poems of Hafiz of Shiraz celebrate love, wine, and fellowship of all creatures. An almost exact contemporary of Chaucer, his standing in Persian literature ranks him with Shakespeare and Goethe. Witty and wise, the poetry of Hafiz is at once deeply spiritual and of profound literary quality.

This volume, first published in 1952, includes an authoritative Introduction, a Glossary of Names, and copious Endnotes that provide the reader with the cultural and historical context for translations that are the most beautiful and faithful English renderings of this greatest of Persian writers. The poems of Hafiz of Shiraz celebrate wine, and the love and fellowship of all creatures. An almost exact contemporary of Chaucer, his standing in Persian literature ranks him with Shakespeare and Goethe. Witty and wise, the poetry of Hafiz is at once deeply spiritual and of profound literary quality.