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Your Lover’s Beloved: 51 Ghazals by Hafez
Translated by Mahmood Karimi Hakak & Bill Wolak
Hafez is Iran’s most beloved, most highly revered, and most frequently quoted lyric poet. He was born in Shiraz circa 1320 and died around 1390. Not much is known about his life except the most general facts. Son of a merchant, Hafez was well educated, married, and had a son. After his talent for poetry became apparent, Hafez became the court poet for most of the rulers of Shiraz during his lifetime. The poetry of Hafez is a pleasing, magical wine that allows you to become exactly as drunk as you desire every time you taste it. Whether the transport you seek is the frenzy of wild intoxication or merely the slightest unleashing of inhibitions, Hafez is the master of magnanimity, tamer of tensions, initiator of intimacy, and mentor of the unconventional. But always Hafez is the poet who investigates the confusing contingencies of human relationships. He understands how desire urges us along an uncertain path, “The heart wants a pearl beyond the shell of this world/From nomads lost on a path to the sea”. The quest seems unachievable. Yet each poem offers a provisional answer to the stages of the journey, “From the instant I met love I’ve become one of the blessed”. Like an experienced guide, Hafez maps the emotional terrain each must travel.
These translations are designed to attract the general poetry enthusiast who would appreciate an introduction to one of the world’s greatest love poets. The translators have rendered Hafez’s poems of ecstasy, protest, and regret into a colloquial English which is readable while preserving the startling imagery and intent of the originals. The poems contain footnotes to explain the mythical, historical, and cultural allusions contained in the text. More specifically, the book could be used for teachers or classes involved in world literature, for those who would like to deepen their knowledge and appreciation of Persian poetry and culture. Because the text is bilingual, it could also be targeted to Iranian-Americans who might like to share Hafez with English speakers or as a gloss to understand the Farsi. College classes that specifically teach Hafez in Farsi or English, or focus on World Literature or Non-European World Literature would also be interested in this book.
