Faces of Love: Hafez and the Poets of Shiraz

Recommended by Khaled El-Rouayheb, James Richard Jewett Professor of Islamic Intellectual History, FAS

The 14th-century poet Hafez is revered throughout the Persian-speaking world. Most English translations are much too literal, ignoring Hafez’s careful attention to meter and rhyme. Dick Davis gives a poetic rendering that conveys some of the power, beauty, and musicality of the original. He also includes selections from two of Hafez’s contemporaries. The first is the daughter of a provincial ruler and one of the few premodern Persian women poets. The second is a famously bawdy and satirical poet whose work is a healthy antidote to the stereotype that premodern Muslims only had eyes for religion and spirituality.