Who Was Hafez? The Poet Iranians Open on Yalda Night

Who was Hafez? He was a 14th century Persian poet from Shiraz, born around 1325 and believed to have died in 1390. His name is closely associated with the ghazal, a poetic form that he brought to extraordinary prominence, and his collected works remain part of everyday Persian cultural life. A copy of his Divan can be found in many Persian homes, where it may be opened for Fal-e Hafez during Yalda Night or Nowruz. Hafez, also sometimes written as Hafiz in English, is therefore remembered not only as a major poet, but as a writer whose words still have a place at family gatherings centuries after his death.

Hafez Biography: Life in 14th Century Shiraz

Khajeh Shams-od-Din Mohammad Hafez-e Shirazi lived in Shiraz during the 14th century. Although many details of his life are uncertain, he is generally believed to have been born around 1325 and to have died in 1390, spending most of his life in the city with which his name is still inseparable.

Hafez lived during the rule of local dynasties in Shiraz, including the periods associated with Shah Abu Ishaq and Shah Shuja. His poetic career developed further during the time of Shah Shuja. Rather than surviving through a detailed chronological biography, however, Hafez is known above all through his poetry.

His writing became part of the Persian literary tradition to such an extent that the poet and his home city are still closely linked in the public imagination. Shiraz today is associated not only with Hafez’s life, but also with his resting place and the continuing practice of visiting it.

A useful Hafez biography therefore has to go beyond dates. His continuing importance becomes clearer when we look at the Divan, the poetic form he is most associated with, and the unusual way his work is still used in Persian homes.

What Does the Name Hafez Mean?

The name Hafez is a title traditionally used for someone who has memorised the Quran. In the poet’s full name, Khajeh Shams-od-Din Mohammad Hafez-e Shirazi, it became the name by which he has been remembered for centuries.

For an English reader, it is useful simply to recognise Hafez as the standard spelling used throughout this article. The form Hafiz also appears frequently in English publishing and online references.

The Divan and the Ghazal

Hafez is best known for his ghazals, lyrical poems whose language can move between love, longing, wine, separation, beauty and mystical imagery. His collected poetry is known as the Divan of Hafez.

The Divan was probably assembled after Hafez’s death rather than prepared as a final authorised collection during his lifetime. The well known Qazvini and Ghani edition contains around 495 ghazals, making the ghazal the central form through which most readers encounter him.

This also explains why discussions of individual Hafez poems can become complicated. Different editions and translations may organise, number or render the poems differently. For readers approaching Hafez in English, seeing the Persian beside a translation can make it easier to understand what belongs to the original text and what belongs to the translator’s interpretation.

Readers who want both languages together can see the Divan of Hafez in Persian and English. Another option for multilingual readers is the Hafez book in four languages. Our wider collection of Persian poetry books also places Hafez alongside other works from the Persian literary tradition.

How Iranians Use Hafez Today

Hafez remains unusually present in everyday Persian culture. His Divan is not treated only as a book to study. It may be kept in the home, opened during family gatherings, consulted through Fal-e Hafez and visited symbolically through Hafezieh in Shiraz.

Fal-e Hafez, Step by Step

Fal-e Hafez is the practice of opening the Divan to seek a poetic response to a question, hope or uncertainty. It is especially associated with gatherings such as Yalda Night and Nowruz, although people may take a Fal-e Hafez at other times as well.

1. Think about a question, wish or matter that is important to you.
2. Hold the Divan and focus on that intention.
3. Some people address Hafez with a familiar traditional line before opening the book.
4. Open the Divan at random.
5. Read the ghazal on the page and consider how its imagery or mood might relate to the question.
6. Discussing the poem with family or friends is often part of the experience, especially at gatherings.

A familiar line that many people say before taking a reading is:

ای حافظ شیرازی، تو محرم هر رازی

A literal rendering by Persis Collection is: O Hafez of Shiraz, you are the confidant of every secret.

The opening of the first ghazal in the Divan begins:

الا یا ایها الساقی ادر کأساً و ناولها / که عشق آسان نمود اول ولی افتاد مشکل‌ها

The first half of the opening line is Arabic. A literal rendering by Persis Collection is: O cupbearer, turn the cup and pass it around. Love seemed easy at first, but difficulties appeared.

For those who want a copy kept specifically for reading at home, the Divan of Hafez is one of the editions in the Persis Collection range.

Yalda Night and Nowruz

Yalda Night and Nowruz are two of the best known occasions for Fal-e Hafez. At a family gathering, the Divan may be opened after people have formed an intention or question, turning poetry into a shared part of the evening rather than a solitary reading exercise.

Our separate guide to fortune telling on Yalda Night looks at the wider place of fortune telling in the celebration. Readers interested in another Persian tradition can also explore Fal-e Varagh and fortune telling with playing cards.

Hafez also appears naturally in Yalda gifting. Persis Collection currently includes the Divane Hafez Gift Set, Khatam and Ghalamzani Stationery and the Hafiz Reading Yalda Night Gift Set. The connection works because the Divan already has an established place in the evening’s cultural traditions.

For more background on the language and customs associated with the celebration, our guide to Persian proverbs for Yalda Night explores another part of the same cultural setting.

The Hafezieh in Shiraz

Hafezieh is the memorial garden and tomb complex of Hafez in Shiraz. The Hafez tomb stands in the Musalla Gardens, making the site one of the most direct physical connections between the poet and the city where he lived.

The present structure was designed by the French architect André Godard in the late 1930s. For visitors interested in Hafez, Hafezieh gives the biography a geographical centre. The poet who appears in books, family traditions and readings is also firmly connected to a real place in Shiraz.

National Hafez Day

National Hafez Day is observed on 20 Mehr in the Persian calendar, corresponding to 12 October. It provides an annual occasion to return to Hafez’s poetry, literary influence and connection with Shiraz.

The date is useful for readers discovering him for the first time, but Hafez is not a poet whose cultural presence depends on one commemorative day. His Divan remains part of family traditions throughout the year and becomes especially visible again around Yalda Night and Nowruz.

Hafez Beyond Persian

Hafez has influenced readers far beyond Persian speaking culture. One of the best known examples is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose engagement with Hafez helped inspire his West Eastern Divan, published in 1819.

English readers have also encountered Hafez through many different translators. Established English translations include work by Gertrude Bell from 1897, Peter Avery from 2007, Dick Davis in a Penguin Classics edition from 2012, and Elizabeth T. Gray Jr.

Translation matters particularly with Hafez because the meaning of a ghazal can depend on tone, ambiguity, imagery and associations that do not move neatly from Persian into English. A translation can provide access to the poem, but no single English version should automatically be treated as the only possible reading.

This is one reason bilingual editions can be useful even for readers who know only some Persian. They allow the translated poem to remain visibly connected to its original text rather than appearing as an independent English poem.

Real Hafez or Not? A Note on Popular Quotes

Not every English quotation shared online under the name Hafez is a direct translation of Hafez. This distinction matters for readers who discover the poet through social media, quotation websites or English language collections.

Daniel Ladinsky’s books are an important example. Ladinsky has described his work using terms such as renderings and poems inspired by Hafiz. Scholars have pointed out that these texts should not be treated as direct translations of Hafez’s Persian poems.

This does not require dismissing the value readers may find in Ladinsky’s writing. It simply means that someone looking for Hafez’s historical poetry should distinguish between a translation made from the Persian text and a modern poem inspired by Hafez.

A practical approach is to check the translator’s name and look for editions that identify the Persian source clearly. Gertrude Bell, Peter Avery, Dick Davis and Elizabeth T. Gray Jr. provide useful starting points for readers specifically seeking translated Hafez rather than modern writing associated with his name.

Our Experience at Persis Collection

Hafez is the poet our visitors search for most, and most of them are looking for a copy of the Divan itself. That pattern helps explain why we keep different formats rather than treating the Divan as a single type of book.

Our current range includes a large Persian and English edition, a four language edition, an ornate edition and gift sets that incorporate the Divan into a Yalda setting. These products are held in our London warehouse and are available for worldwide delivery.

Current prices are listed together below so they can be updated in one place if the range changes.

For readers comparing Persian poets more broadly, our guide Who Was Rumi? The Life of the Poet Behind the Masnavi offers a similar introduction to another major figure in Persian literature.

Conclusion

Hafez was a 14th century poet of Shiraz whose reputation rests principally on his ghazals, yet a simple biography explains only part of his importance. His Divan still sits in Persian homes, is opened for Fal-e Hafez at Yalda Night and Nowruz, and draws visitors to Hafezieh in Shiraz.

For English readers, understanding Hafez also means knowing the difference between translations from the Persian and later poems inspired by his reputation. That distinction makes it easier to approach the original poet rather than only the modern image built around his name.

If you want to read Hafez in a physical edition, explore our collection of Persian poetry books, including multilingual and Persian and English editions of the Divan.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Hafez known for?

Hafez is best known for his Persian ghazals and for the Divan that collects his poetry. He is also closely associated with Fal-e Hafez, the custom of opening his Divan for a poetic reading during occasions including Yalda Night and Nowruz.

What does Hafez mean in Farsi?

Hafez is a title traditionally used for someone who has memorised the Quran. It became the name by which Khajeh Shams-od-Din Mohammad Hafez-e Shirazi is known.

What is Hafez’s most famous poem?

There is no single universally agreed answer because Hafez is known through hundreds of ghazals rather than one poem that clearly outranks all the others. The opening ghazal of the Divan is particularly familiar because it begins with the famous line starting الا یا ایها الساقی.

What was Hafiz’s original language?

Hafez wrote primarily in Persian. Some lines and phrases within his poetry also use Arabic, including the first part of the opening line of the first ghazal in the Divan.

Was Hafez a Sufi?

Hafez’s poetry contains extensive mystical imagery, but scholars do not agree that he belonged to a specific Sufi order. It is safer to describe the mystical character of parts of his poetry than to assign him a definite institutional affiliation.

What is Hafiz’s most famous quote?

Many English lines circulated as famous Hafez quotes are difficult to trace directly to his Persian poetry. Some widely shared texts come from Daniel Ladinsky’s writings, which he has described as renderings or poems inspired by Hafiz rather than direct translations. Readers looking for Hafez’s own poetry should check the named translator and the connection to a Persian source.