author
active 14th century Ḥāfiẓ
A towering voice in Persian poetry, these luminous ghazals weave together love, longing, wit, and spiritual wonder. Written in 14th-century Shiraz, they have been cherished for centuries and are still read for comfort, insight, and delight.
4 Audiobooks
The Persian Literature, Comprising The Shah Nameh, The Rubaiyat, The Divan, and The Gulistan, Volume 1
by Firdawsi, active 14th century Ḥāfiẓ, Omar Khayyam
Sonnets from Hafez & Other Verses
by Elizabeth Bridges Daryush, active 14th century Ḥāfiẓ
Songs of Hafiz
by active 14th century Ḥāfiẓ
Poems from the Divan of Hafiz
by active 14th century Ḥāfiẓ
About the author
Very little about his life can be pinned down with certainty, but reliable reference sources agree that Ḥāfiẓ — properly Ḵᵛāja Šams al-Dīn Moḥammad of Shiraz — lived in the 14th century and is among the most celebrated lyric poets in Persian literature. He is closely associated with Shiraz, where he was born and died, and tradition holds that his title "Ḥāfiẓ" reflects his knowledge of the Qur'an by heart.
He is best known for the Divān, especially its ghazals: compact, musical poems that move with ease between earthly love, wine, beauty, grief, irony, and mystical suggestion. Part of his lasting appeal is that the poems resist a single fixed meaning, so readers have long found in them both intimate human feeling and deeper spiritual resonance.
His influence has been extraordinary. For centuries, Persian speakers have memorized his lines, quoted them in daily life, and turned to his poetry for reflection and consolation. That rare blend of emotional immediacy, verbal artistry, and mystery is a big reason Ḥāfiẓ remains not just a classic author, but a living presence in literary culture.