The forty-three poems contained in this collection include some of the best-known work of Hafiz and serve as an excellent introduction to the writer who continues to be the most popular poet in Iran. Hafiz was a Sufi and wrote primarily lyric poetry, or ghazals, a style well suited for expressing the ecstasy of divine inspiration, often called “the beloved.” His themes include love, faith, and protest, and he employs irony and satire to trat topics such as hypocrisy. His settings often include wine and taverns, which portray the pursuit of ecstasy and freedom in the physical world as a metaphor for the realm of divine love. The first English translation of his work appeared in 1771 and influenced writers such as Thoreau, Goethe, and Emerson, who called him “a poet’s poet”. There is no definitive version of his collected works (or Divan). Published editions range from to 573 to 994 poems. His poems are found in the homes of most Persian-speaking people and are often committed to memory and used as proverbs and sayings.

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