HAFIZ, hafflz ( 1-e.1399). A Persian poet of Shiraz. and one of the world's greatest names in lyrical poesy. The time when he flourished corresponds to the period of (lamer's fame in the West; but it was not in the field of narrative poetry that Ilafiz was great; he poured forth his spirit in the song of the nightingale and the rose, springtime and love, wine and delight. The date of his birth is not precisely known, but it must have been about the first quarter of the fourteenth century of our era. Hafiz's full name is given as Shams-ud-Din Muhammad, or Mohammed, the Sun of Religion; added to this is his title Hafiz, of retentive memory, given to one who knows the Koran and its interpretation by heart. His pro ficiency in various branches of knowledge brought him under the notice of the reigning House of Muzaffer, and not only was he appointed teacher in the house of the royal family, but a special college was founded for him. His spirit of in dependence, however, stood in the way of his worldly advancement, and notwithstanding many offers of princely favor, he remained during his whole life in the humble condition of a dervish. Although the burden of his poetical compositions is beauty in every form, we occasionally find also the praise of Allah and the Prophet, and re flections upon the instability of life and its joys; through all of them runs, however, a withering contempt of all professional piety and mock humility. These poems are of such sweetness that the poet has also received the name of Shakar lab (Sugarlip) ; and his contemporaries speak of his having drunk from the fountain of life, a draught of which was brought to him by Khizr (the Mohammedan Elijah) himself.
Hafiz was married, and appears to have reached a happy old age. The time of his death is va riously given, but A.D. 1389 is the date now gen erally assigned. The enmity, however, which had been provoked by the freedom of his manners, and his more than Sufistic contempt for the outward forms of godliness, broke out undisguisedly at his death. The ministers of religion refused to re peat the usual prayers over the dead body, and after long altercations between the members of his family and his enemies, it was agreed that the question, according to the usual customs of the East, should be decided by lot. Verses se lected at random from Hafiz's own handwriting were thrown into an urn, and one drawn out by a child to settle the question. The result was fa vorable, whereupon he was buried with great honor. Hence, perhaps, arose the custom, com mon in Persia, of consulting verses from Hafiz at random as an oracle. His tomb, situated about two miles to the northeast of Shiraz, has been adorned_with the greatest sumptuousness by princes and nobles, and is still resorted to by pilgrims from all parts of Persia.
How far some of the odes or Ghazals (q.v.) of
Hafiz are intended as an allegorical and mystical revelation of things divine in the manner of Sufism (q.v.), as is declared by Hafiz's admirers, is a question which has at different times been raised before ecclesiastical and critical courts. No doubt there is much in them that is Anacreon tic; but it is equally certain that considerable weight must be given also to the Oriental inter pretation of them as symbolic and mystical. The language and imagery of human love were largely employed in the East for the expression of union with the soul and the Spirit Divine. The two passions often commingled in the expression of ecstasy ; and parallels, for example, in the early seventeenth - century English poets, like Donne, Vaughan, and Crashaw, might be no ticed with profit in regard to this much-mooted problem. A style brilliant yet clear, imagery gorgeous yet clothed in pure and unaffected die tion, undulating melody and classical harmony— these are the chief characteristics of Hafiz's Ana creontic lyrics, which have not only become the national poetry of his country, but are even ap pealed to as an oracle on most important ques tions of peace and war. The number of their commentators is legion; the most valuable notes, however, are those of Shamii, Suru, Sidi. The Divan, or collection of the writings of Hafiz, was first made after his death, by his friend Moham med Gulandam. The Divan, in Hammer-Purg stall's translation, inspired many of the poems in Goethe's Westostlicher Diwan. Lithographed editions abound, e.g. Calcutta, 1826; Bombay, 1828, 1841, 1883; Cawnpore, 1831; Bulak, 1834 and 1840; Constantinople, 1841; Lahore, 1888; Tashkend, 1895. The best early edition, printed by Abu Talibkhan, appeared at Calcutta, 1795 (reprinted 1826). The most valuable edition is by H. Brockhaus (Leipzig, 1854-56), with a part of Sudi's Turkish commentary. Consult also Rosenzweig (with German metrical translation, 3 vols., Vienna, 1856-64). Notice also the Nami Press Hafiz with a Glossary (Lucknow, 1899). Of older translations into European tongues, mention may be made of Rewitzki in Latin (Vi enna, 1771) ; Richardson, Jones, Ouseley, Hind ley, Rousseau, Bicknell (1876) in English; and by Hammer-Purgstall and Daumer, in German. Easily obtainable are McCarthy, Uhazels of Hafiz (New York, 1893) ;' Bell, Poems from the Divan of Hafiz (London, 1897) ; Leaf, Versions from Hafiz (London, 1898) ; Payne (London, 1901). But most important is the valuable translation, with extensive commentary and bibliography, by H. Wilberforce Clarke (London, 1891). Addi tional biography, critical and bibliographic ma terial will be found in Ouseley, Persian Poets (London, 1846) ; Ethd, in Grundriss der iran ischen Philologie (Stuttgart, 1896) ; Horn, Ge schichte der persischen Littcratur (Leipzig, 1901).