“HAFEZ” was the pen name of Shams Al-Din Muhammad (ca. 1325–1389, Persia, now Iran). He was an early master of the form. He wrote over 400 ghazals, most of them short love lyrics that can be read as missives to an earthly lover or to the divine. Their language is intense, passionate, and ecstatic, often bearing multiple layers of meaning. Hafez despised religious hypocrisy, expressing the idea that salvation is impossible without sin and that sin makes possible the wisdom that leads to salvation.