Hafiz & the Lover Divine

Hafiz has been called "the master of the erotic ghazal," and much of the sexuality in his work is homoerotic. Hafiz' ghazals are infused with same-sex mysticism that startles many Western minds because of the expression of male-male love as not only approaching but actually reaching a state of divinity. Hafiz believes one can see an image of the creator in the face of one's beloved. His religious fervor is matched by his intense carnal desires, and he sees no contradiction in the two. It has often been written by Western scholars studying Persian literature that the Persians (Iranians) quote Hafiz more frequently than Westerners quote Shakespeare. Many scholars in both the East and the West consider him the greatest lyric poet of all time.