The reception of Hafiz / druk 1

"For us non-Iranian readers of Hafiz's 14th-century ghazal poems, Iranian

attitudes toward the premier lyric poet in the 1,000-year history of Persian

literature, are almost as intriguing as Hafiz's poetry itself. First is the

inclination of Iranian readers to find deep, spiritual meaning in that poetry.

Second is their personal identification with what they perceive as Hafiz's

philosophy. Third is their linking of Iranian cultural identity with Hafiz's life and works to the point where some educated Iranians define part of their

Iranianness by referencing Hafiz and even consider him a relevant political

voice. These features of Iranian appreciation of Hafiz come alive on page

after page in The Reception of Hafiz in Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century

Persia, while author Bahman Solati himself epitomizes Iranian love of and

identification with the poet's stances and themes in his poems."

Michael Craig Hillmann, The University of Texas at Austin

-Bahman Solati is Assistant Professor in Persian Language. He is the author

of several publications, including Rubaiyyat-i-Hakim Umar Khayyam, and

Persian Proverbs in three volumes.