Hafez’s tomb was first constructed in 1452, around sixty years after his death by the Timurid governor of Shiraz, and has been renovated and expanded many times since, often in response to divination performed with his Divan. The tomb is adorned with calligraphic renditions of these ghazals of his, which happen to be among my very favorite:

Translation:

Tell me of your arrival, from this life to you I’ll rise!

I am heaven’s bird and from this world’s snare I will rise

For your friendship, if you should want me as a slave

from the rulership of the whole cosmos I will rise

O Lord, may your cloud of guidance rain down upon me

before, as scattered dust, into the air, I rise

Beside my dust, with wine and song, come and take a seat

drawn by your scent, dancing from my tomb, I will arise

Rise up, o sweet idol, and show your stature’s grace

and from this soul and world, with clapping hands I will rise

though I am old, hold me close all night long in your embrace

then in the morning, young and fresh, from your side I will rise

The day I die, with my last breath, let me see your face

So that like Hafez, from this world and place, I will arise

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Original:

مژده وصل تو کو کز سر جان برخیزم

طایر قدسم و از دام جهان برخیزم

به ولای تو که گر بنده خویشم خوانی

از سر خواجگی کون و مکان برخیزم

یا رب از ابر هدایت برسان بارانی

پیشتر زان که چو گردی ز میان برخیزم

بر سر تربت من با می و مطرب بنشین

تا به بویت ز لحد رقص کنان برخیزم

خیز و بالا بنما ای بت شیرین حرکات

کز سر جان و جهان دست فشان برخیزم

گر چه پیرم تو شبی تنگ در آغوشم کش

تا سحرگه ز کنار تو جوان برخیزم

روز مرگم نفسی مهلت دیدار بده

تا چو حافظ ز سر جان و جهان برخیزم

 

 

This poem was most likely written as a tribute to Hafez by a later Shi’ite author, but it still adorns his tomb (thanks to N.A. for help with the translation):

Translation:

O heart be the servant of the King of the world and be a king yourself

and always remain under the protection of divine grace

From a foreigner, they won’t buy a thousand for a penny

Let from peak to peak be full of the army of hypocrisy

when Ahmad is my intercessor on the day of resurrection

Say to this blasted body of mine, “be sinful”

The one who is not a friend of ‘Ali is veiled

whether he is the ascetic of his time or a Master of the way

O Ali, I am alive today with your friendship/sanctity

tomorrow I will be a witness to the pure spirit of the Imams

The grave of the eighth Imam, the Sultan of religion, Riḍa,

Kiss it from your soul and be a companion of that court

If your hand cannot reach a flower from that branch

be a plant at the foot of their flower-stem

The man of God who seeks piety

it does’t matter whether his cloak is white or black

Hafez, take the path of servanthood to the king

and then be like the men of the way on the path

 

Original:

ای دل غلام شاه جهان باش و شاه باش

 پـیـوسـتـه در حـمـایـت لطـف اله باش

از خارجـی هزار به یک جو نمی خرند

 گو، کوه تا به کـوه منـافق سپـاه بـاش

چون احمدم شـفـیع بود روز رسـتخیز

 گو این تن بـلاکش مـن پـرگنـاه بـاش*

آن را که دوستی علی نیست کافر است

 گـو زاهـد زمانـه و گو شـیخ راه بـاش**

امـروز زنـده ام بـه ولای تـو یا عـلی

 فـردا به روح پـاک امامان گـواه بـاش

قبر امام هشـتم و سـلطان دیـن رضـا

 از جان ببوس و بر در آن بارگاه باش

دستت نمی رسد که بچینی گلی زشاخ

بـاری به پـای گلبن ایشـان گیاه بـاش

مرد خـدا شـنـاس که تـقـوی طلب کند

 خواهی سپید جامه و خواهی سیاه باش

حـافظ طریـق بـنـدگی شـاه پـیـشـه کن

وانگاه در طریق چـو مـردان راه بـاش

 

 

 

Translation:

The garden of eternity is in the retreat of the dervishes

the very essence of grandeur is the service of the dervishes

The treasury of glory that is sealed by the talisman of wonders

opens at the merciful glance of the dervishes

The castle of paradise for which Rezwan is the doorkeeper

is but a view from the lawn of the dervishes

That which by its radiance turns black hearts to gold

is the alchemy that is the company of the dervishes

That before which the sun lays down its crown of glory

is the greatness that comes from the grandeur of the dervishes

The power/state (dawlat) whose decline need never be feared

without exaggeration, is the power/state of the dervishes

The kings are the qiblah to which we direct our needs

and this is because they are the slaves of the dervishes

That which kings seek to achieve in their prayers

is manifested in the mirror of the countenance of the dervishes

From shore to shore is the army of tyranny,

but from beginningless eternity to eternity without end is the time of the dervishes

O rich man, don’t sell us so much vanity

for your health and wealth are in the hands of the will (himmat) of the dervishes

Korah’s treasure, which still is still sinking from heaven’s severity

is an effect of the wrath of the dervishes

Hafez, if you’re seeking the eternal water of life

its spring is the dust of the retreat of the dervishes

I am the slave of the Asaf of my time

because he has the looks of a nobleman and the character of the dervishes.

 

 

Original:

روضه خلد برین خلوت درویشان است

مایه محتشمی خدمت درویشان است

گنج عزلت که طلسمات عجایب دارد

فتح آن در نظر رحمت درویشان است

قصر فردوس که رضوانش به دربانی رفت

منظری از چمن نزهت درویشان است

آن چه زر می‌شود از پرتو آن قلب سیاه

کیمیاییست که در صحبت درویشان است

آن که پیشش بنهد تاج تکبر خورشید

کبریاییست که در حشمت درویشان است

دولتی را که نباشد غم از آسیب زوال

بی تکلف بشنو دولت درویشان است

خسروان قبله حاجات جهانند ولی

سببش بندگی حضرت درویشان است

روی مقصود که شاهان به دعا می‌طلبند

مظهرش آینه طلعت درویشان است

از کران تا به کران لشکر ظلم است ولی

از ازل تا به ابد فرصت درویشان است

ای توانگر مفروش این همه نخوت که تو را

سر و زر در کنف همت درویشان است

گنج قارون که فرو می‌شود از قهر هنوز

خوانده باشی که هم از غیرت درویشان است

حافظ ار آب حیات ازلی می‌خواهی

منبعش خاک در خلوت درویشان است

من غلام نظر آصف عهدم کو را

صورت خواجگی و سیرت درویشان است

 

 

Translation:

The dust of my body is the veil of the face of the beloved of my soul

happy is the moment when from off this face, I cast the veil

Even so, this cage is no good for a sweet singer such as me

I will go to the rose garden of paradise, for I am a bird of that field

It is not clear why I came where I went

my regret and pain is that I have been heedless of my own affair

Oh how I circumambulate in the space of the holy world

but in this flat, compounded abode, I am bound to my body

If the scent of musk issues from my heart’s blood

do not wonder, my friend, for I am the musk gland of Khotan

Do not look at the golden embroidery of my cloak like a candle

for there is burning hidden within this cloak

Come and take Hafez’s existence from him

so that by your being, none will hear from me that I am

 

 

Original:

حجاب چهره جان می‌شود غبار تنم

خوشا دمی که از آن چهره پرده برفکنم

چنین قفس نه سزای چو من خوش الحانیست

روم به گلشن رضوان که مرغ آن چمنم

عیان نشد که چرا آمدم کجا رفتم

دریغ و درد که غافل ز کار خویشتنم

چگونه طوف کنم در فضای عالم قدس

که در سراچه ترکیب تخته بند تنم

اگر ز خون دلم بوی شوق می‌آید

عجب مدار که همدرد نافه ختنم

طراز پیرهن زرکشم مبین چون شمع

که سوزهاست نهانی درون پیرهنم

بیا و هستی حافظ ز پیش او بردار

که با وجود تو کس نشنود ز من که منم

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLBs-iUKGxQ