Hafez's explanation

Western scholars have been studying and arguing whether Hafez's works should be interpreted as literature or mysticism, or both. On the one hand, some scholars (such as william jones) regard Hafez as a traditional lyric poet similar to European love poets (such as Petrarch). On the other hand, some scholars (such as Henry wilberforce-Clark) think that Hafez is a mystic poet who preached with Rumi, but modern scholars do not fully agree with this view.

In the early history of Persian literature, mystics believed that poetry was more suitable for conveying unspeakable things than prose, and they dominated the language of poetry at that time. When writing poems with mysticism, they permeated mysticism in every word and every image, so that lyric poetry and mysticism merged into a unified tradition. Due to the influence of this poetic language tradition, there is not a lyric poem written by Persian poets in the14th century without the brand of mysticism. Although some poets (such as Ubed Zaccagni) tried to get rid of this tradition of combining mysticism and lyricism by writing satirical poems, Hafez accepted this integration and achieved great success. Wheeler saxton once said that Hafez "sang the polyphony of humanity and mysterious love in such a balance" ... it is difficult to separate them. "

Because of this blending, Hafez's translation history becomes complicated, and few works translated in western languages can be completely successful, generally focusing on artistic conception or rhythm.