Ḥāfiẓ de Chiraz

Auteur

Khwāja Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad, known as Ḥāfiẓ, was born in Shiraz, Iran, around 1325, and died there around 1390. His nickname, Ḥāfiẓ, designates someone who knows the Quran by heart, which he had accomplished since his youth, with, it is said, his various readings. A life in Shiraz Ḥāfiẓ lived almost all of his life in Shiraz, in a turbulent period of successive dynasties. He was a teacher of religious sciences and a court poet, experiencing favor and then disgrace according to the sovereigns. The Dīwān His collection of poems, the Dīwān, contains around five hundred ghazals, short lyrical poems. Ḥāfiẓ uses the images of wine, the tavern, the beloved and the rose to evoke love, the spiritual quest, sincerity and criticism of religious hypocrisy. His verses can be read on several levels, human and mystical. A living poet In Iran, almost every household has its Dīwān, and many open it at random to seek advice (fāl-e Ḥāfiẓ). His work inspired many poets, including Goethe, who dedicated his Western-Eastern Divan to him. His tomb, in Shiraz, is a very visited place. Photo: manuscript of the Dīwān of Ḥāfiẓ (Iran, 19th century).