Come to the tomb of Hafez in Shiraz and ask someone there to read and translate some verses from this great Iranian poet.  

Shiraz and Hafez are tied together in the pathway of history and in Iran when talked about Shiraz, Hafez is reminded too.

The majority of his poems are Ghazal, mostly composed with love themes beside moral and theosophical themes.

The significance of the poetry of Hafez is so great that in most Iranian houses his book is kept next to Quran and all Iranians go to his tomb and murmur his poems next to him when they travel to Shiraz even if they do not have much time. This significance made him and his poems to be entitled the Discoverer of the Mysteries. This title was granted to him based on the power latent in his poetry. He used theosophical and social themes in Ghazal which had been used only for love themes until then and mixed them together. So his poems might have different interpretations.

Iranians generally put the book of Hafez next to Quran on the tablecloth they set in Nowruz (New Year) or at Yalda Night (21st December each year which in Persian Calendar has the longest night) it is read in family gatherings with a special method called faal (fortune telling or divination) that is popular among the public and lots of people conceptually believe in it. Usually an older member of the family holds the book in his or her hands and others contemplate about something they wish to happen to them in near future. Then the book of Hafez is opened on a random page and the poem is read aloud for others. They believe the poem will tell their fortune, i.e. if the event will happen or not.  

The most important idiosyncrasy of Hafez is his equivocality. Equivocality means using some words that can have explicit meanings and at the same time convey hidden and farfetched meanings to the audience.

Today the poems of Hafez are translated to different languages and Goethe and Nietzsche are among western poets and philosophers who loved him and his poetry very much.

• Visit hours: 8 – 21.30
• Visit days: 7 days a week