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.
"In his poetry Hafiz has inscribed undeniable truth indelibly ... Hafiz has no peer!"
- Goethe
"The best musician of Words."
-Edward Fitzgerald
"Hafiz is the prince of Persian poets."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Persian Poetry
"[Hafiz is] by far the greatest singer of the soul of man. In him we can find all the strivings, all the sorrow, all the victories and joys, all the hopes and disappointments of each and every one of us."
- Sir Sultan Mahomad Shah Aga Khan III, Imam
"In Iran they say there are two books in every household - the Quran and Hafez. One is read, the other is not.... Small wonder the people of Iran comfort themselves with the poetry of Hafez. Even the mullahs cannot ban their own national poet."
- Diana Dark, BBC News
"The beauty of these verses baffles praise."
- Hafiz
Watersgreen House is an independent international book publisher with editorial staff in the UK and USA. One of our aims at Watersgreen House is to showcase same-sex affection in works by important gay and bisexual authors in ways which were not possible at the time the books were originally published. We also publish nonfiction, including textbooks, as well as contemporary fiction that is literary, unusual, and provocative. watersgreen.wixsite.com/watersgreenhouse
