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There is no definitive version of his collected works (or diwan); editions vary from 573 to 994 poems. In Iran, his collected works have come to be used as an aid to popular divination.
Only since the 1940s has a sustained scholarly attempt - by Mas'ud Farzad, Qasim Ghani and others in Iran - been made to authenticate his work, and remove errors introduced by later copyists and censors. However, the reliability of such work has been questioned (Michael Hillmann in 'Rahnema-ye Ketab' No. 13 (1971), "Kusheshha-ye Jadid dar Shenakht-e Divan-e Sahih-e Hafez"), and in the words of Hafez scholar Iraj Bashiri.... "there remains little hope from there (i.e.: Iran) for an authenticated diwan".
Not much acclaimed in his own day and often exposed to the reproaches of orthodoxy, he greatly influenced subsequent Persian poets, and left his mark on such important Western writers as Goethe. His work was first translated into English in 1771 by William Jones. Few English translations of Hafiz have been truly successful. The figurative gesture for which he is most famous is ambiguity, and interpreting him requires care and scholarship, the search for his words' literal and symbolic meanings. Indeed, Hafez often uses images, metaphors and allusions that assume fields of knowledge shared between poet and reader.
The history of the translation of Hafez has been a complicated one. Most recently, 'The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master' a collection of poems by Daniel Ladinsky and published in 1999, has been both commercially successful and a source of controversy. Although Ladinsky does read Persian, critics such as Murat Nemet-Nejat [1], a poet, essayist and translator of modern Turkish poetry, have asserted that his translations are largely inventions, that is to say, Ladinsky's own inventions.
In a study inspired by Edward Said's work on 'orientalism' the critic Julie Meisami has commented on the history of Hafez translations. She remarks on how the investment of the western scholars, in seeing the east in particular ways, necessitated by their historical moment noted by Said, is exemplified in the changes made in the image of Hafez through European translations that have answered both to cultural needs and profit considerations.
Ladinsky's is a perfect case in point. Meisami's article was written before its publication. His work very accurately represents the new-age genre of literature that delights in exotic tender sages fantastically involved in self-adoration. However, Ladinsky's poems are made of objects, situations, terms, terms of thought, and descriptions utterly alien to Hafez and the entire corpus of classical Persian literature.
The question arises as to what are the combinations of market calculations and insufficient education that lead to the publication of a book mispresenting a world poet of the stature of Hafez, in the same environment where the same mistake would be unimaginable with respect to Goethe or Shakespeare.
Though Hafez’s poetry is influenced by his Islamic faith, he is widely respected by Hindus, Christians and others. The Indian sage of Iranian descent Meher Baba, who syncretized elements of Sufism, Hinduism and Christian mysticism, would recite Hafez's poetry until his dying day. Baba's British follower Pete Townshend would use Hafez's imagery on his solo album Empty Glass.
Only since the 1940s has a sustained scholarly attempt - by Mas'ud Farzad, Qasim Ghani and others in Iran - been made to authenticate his work, and remove errors introduced by later copyists and censors. However, the reliability of such work has been questioned (Michael Hillmann in 'Rahnema-ye Ketab' No. 13 (1971), "Kusheshha-ye Jadid dar Shenakht-e Divan-e Sahih-e Hafez"), and in the words of Hafez scholar Iraj Bashiri.... "there remains little hope from there (i.e.: Iran) for an authenticated diwan".
Not much acclaimed in his own day and often exposed to the reproaches of orthodoxy, he greatly influenced subsequent Persian poets, and left his mark on such important Western writers as Goethe. His work was first translated into English in 1771 by William Jones. Few English translations of Hafiz have been truly successful. The figurative gesture for which he is most famous is ambiguity, and interpreting him requires care and scholarship, the search for his words' literal and symbolic meanings. Indeed, Hafez often uses images, metaphors and allusions that assume fields of knowledge shared between poet and reader.
The history of the translation of Hafez has been a complicated one. Most recently, 'The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master' a collection of poems by Daniel Ladinsky and published in 1999, has been both commercially successful and a source of controversy. Although Ladinsky does read Persian, critics such as Murat Nemet-Nejat [1], a poet, essayist and translator of modern Turkish poetry, have asserted that his translations are largely inventions, that is to say, Ladinsky's own inventions.
In a study inspired by Edward Said's work on 'orientalism' the critic Julie Meisami has commented on the history of Hafez translations. She remarks on how the investment of the western scholars, in seeing the east in particular ways, necessitated by their historical moment noted by Said, is exemplified in the changes made in the image of Hafez through European translations that have answered both to cultural needs and profit considerations.
Ladinsky's is a perfect case in point. Meisami's article was written before its publication. His work very accurately represents the new-age genre of literature that delights in exotic tender sages fantastically involved in self-adoration. However, Ladinsky's poems are made of objects, situations, terms, terms of thought, and descriptions utterly alien to Hafez and the entire corpus of classical Persian literature.
The question arises as to what are the combinations of market calculations and insufficient education that lead to the publication of a book mispresenting a world poet of the stature of Hafez, in the same environment where the same mistake would be unimaginable with respect to Goethe or Shakespeare.
Though Hafez’s poetry is influenced by his Islamic faith, he is widely respected by Hindus, Christians and others. The Indian sage of Iranian descent Meher Baba, who syncretized elements of Sufism, Hinduism and Christian mysticism, would recite Hafez's poetry until his dying day. Baba's British follower Pete Townshend would use Hafez's imagery on his solo album Empty Glass.
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