What is Hafez?
[[File:Aramgah-e-hafez nuit shiraz.jpg|thumb|right|Hafiz's tomb at night.]] '''Khwajeh Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi''' (also spelled '''Hafiz''') (born between 1310 and 1337, believed to have died at age 69) ({{lang-fa|خواجه شمس الدین محمد حافظ شیرازی}}) or '''Hafez''' is a [[Persian people|Persian]] [[poet]]. Hafez was born in [[Shiraz]], [[Iran]]. Hafez learnt the [[Quran]] by heart at an early age. His poems are collected in [[Divan e Hafez]]. [[William Jones]] translated his work into English in 1771. ==Life== [[File:Mohammad Shams al-Din Hafez.jpg|thumb|right|Hafez, detail of an illumination in a Persian manuscript of the Divan of Hafez, 18th century]] Despite his profound effect on Persian life and culture and his enduring popularity and influence, few details of his life are known, and particularly about his early life there is a great deal of more or less mythical anecdote. Some of the early tazkeras (biographical sketches) mentioning Hafez are generally considered unreliable.<ref>[[#reflhp|Lit. Hist. Persia]] III, pp. 271-73</ref> One early document discussing Hafez' life is the preface of his Divān, which was written by an unknown contemporary of Hafez whose name may have been Moḥammad Golandām.<ref name=ei-hafez-ii>[[#refeihafez|Hazez (EI)]] B. Khorramshahi and et al., ''II. Hafez's Life and Times''</ref> The generally accepted modern edition of Hafez's Divān is known as ''Qazvini-Ḡani'', edited by Moḥammad Qazvini and Qāsem Ḡani. ==Legends of Hafez== Many semi-miraculous mythical tales were woven around Hāfez after his death. Four of them are: * It is said that, by listening to his father's recitations, Hāfez had accomplished the task of learning the [[Qur'an]] by heart, at an early age (that is in fact the meaning of the word ''Hafez''). At the same time Hāfez is said to have known by heart, the works of [[Rumi|Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi]], [[Saadi (poet)|Saadi]], [[Attar Neyshapuri|Farid ud-Din]] and [[Nezami Ganjavi|Nezami]]. * According to one tradition, before meeting [[Hajji Zay