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Hāfez was a Persian mystic and poet. He was born sometime between the years 1310 and 1337 in Shiraz, Medieval Persia. John Payne, who has translated the Diwan Hafez, regards Hafez as one of the three greatest poets of the world.

His lyrical poems, known as ghazals, are noted for their beauty and bring to fruition the love, mysticism, and early Sufi themes that had long pervaded Persian poetry. Moreover, his poetry possessed elements of modern surrealism.

This picture was sent by a friend of mine in Iran – quite unusual to see one of Hafez’s poems on a wall somewhere in the west.