Hafez Shirazi — the poet who gave voice to spiritual wisdom

🔴 What is Hafez Shirazi’s most famous work?

🔴 What spiritual values did the poet’s creativity promote?

🔴 Which work did Goethe write inspired by him?

In the history of Islamic culture, among the thinkers who promoted spiritual perfection, enlightenment, and love through poetry, Hafez Shirazi occupies a special place. This Sufi poet, who lived and created in the 14th century in the city of Shiraz, became the pride of Persian-Tajik literature.

His most famous work, the Divan of Hafez, consists of nearly 500 ghazals, rubaiyat, and qit’as. The creativity of Hafez Shirazi is not limited to artistic beauty; it represents a profound intellectual and spiritual wealth that promotes lofty morality, Sufi thought, and Islamic ethics. In his ghazals, he expressed concepts such as Divine love, the journey from annihilation (fana) to eternity (baqa), purity of heart, humanity, justice, and gratitude in an elevated and unique style.

In his poetry, Sufi themes such as the apparent and the hidden, reason and heart, the shaykh and the lover, the intoxicated and the sober are interpreted with great subtlety. Each of his ghazals is a source of moral education and spiritual nourishment.

The works of Hafez Shirazi were highly valued not only in Iran, but also in Turan, India, the Caucasus, and even Europe. His ghazals were translated into various languages and became a source of inspiration for Western thinkers as well. The German poet Goethe, inspired by him, wrote the Eastern Divan.

The Center of Islamic Civilization regards the study, research, and application of the heritage of figures such as Hafez Shirazi who promoted high spirituality and knowledge as one of its top priorities in enriching the moral life of society.