Hafiz, the renowned Iranian poet of the eighth/fourteenth century exalted tolerance to the point of saying: "In these two expressions lies peace in this world and the next / With friends, magnanimity; with enemies, tolerance". Hafez knew well that, in a religious society, inviting people to exercise tolerance would fail to have any impact or captivate hearts unless it was accompanied by an insightful theory of human nature and religion. This is why he astutely tried throughout his works to use the language of poetry and allusion to elucidate a theory of this kind and to persuade his audience that his recommendation was not just a case of well-intentioned sermonizing but that magnanimity and tolerance were sound philosophical notions that rested on solid foundations.[18]