The Persian poet Hafez (1320-1389) is best known as a Sufi mystic who incorporated elements of Sufism into his verses. The state of God-Realisation is symbolised through union with a Beloved, and drinking the wine of spiritual love.
This compact version of the Divan of Hafez is a facsimile illuminated manuscript, complete with beautiful Persian calligraphy and miniature illustrations. There are 43 ghazals, translated into English by classical scholar Gertrude Bell. It is a truly beautiful introduction not only to the works of this beloved Sufi mystic, but also to the artistry of Mahmoud Farshchian. It is like getting two books in one: poetry and art.
“Hafiz has no peer.” — Goethe
Poetry is the greatest literary form of ancient Persia and modern Iran, and the fourteenth-century poet known as Hafiz is its preeminent master. Little is known about the poet’s life, and there are more legends than facts relating to the particulars of his existence. This mythic quality is entirely appropriate for the man known as “The Interpreter of Mysteries” and “The Tongue of the Hidden,” whose verse is regarded as oracular by those seeking guidance and attempting to realize wishes.
A mere fraction of what is presumed to have been an extensive body of work survives. This collection is derived from Hafiz’s Divan (collected poems), a classic of Sufism. The short poems, called ghazals, are sonnet-like arrangements of varied numbers of couplets. In the tradition of Persian poetry and Sufi philosophy, each poem corresponds to two interpretations, sensual and mystic.
This outstanding translation of Hafiz’s poetry was created by historian and Arabic scholar Gertrude Bell, who observed, “These are the utterances of a great poet, the imaginative interpreter of the heart of man; they are not of one age, or of another, but for all time.”
دیوان حافظ شیرازی به اهتمام محمد رستمی
خواجه شمس‌ُالدّینْ محمّدِ بن بهاءُالدّینْ محمّدْ حافظِ شیرازی (زادهٔ ۷۲۷ هجری قمری – درگذشتهٔ ۷۹۲ هجری قمری در شیراز)، نامدار به لِسان‌ُالْغِیْب، تَرجُمانُ الْاَسرار، لِسان‌ُالْعُرَفا و ناظِم‌ُالاُولیاء، شاعر سدهٔ هشتم هجری ایران است. بیش‌تر شعرهای او غزل هستند که به غزلیات شهرت دارند. گرایش حافظ به شیوهٔ سخن‌پردازی خواجوی کرمانی و شباهت شیوهٔ سخنش با او مشهور است. او از مهم‌ترین اثرگذاران بر شاعران پس از خود شناخته می‌شود. در سده‌های هجدهم و نوزدهم میلادی، اشعار او به زبان‌های اروپایی ترجمه شد و نام او به گونه‌ای به محافل ادبی جهان غرب نیز راه یافت. هرساله در تاریخ ۲۰ مهرماه مراسم بزرگداشت حافظ در محل آرامگاه او در شیراز با حضور پژوهشگران ایرانی و خارجی برگزار می‌شود. مطابق تقویم رسمی ایران این روز روز بزرگداشت حافظ نامیده شده‌است.
