The sublime 14th century Persian poet Hafiz is known for using a poetic form usually devoted to the pleasures of the flesh, the ghazal, and turning its imagery of inebriation toward spiritual ecstasy. Deeply revered in much of the Islamic world, he is becoming more familiar to Western audiences and is widely quoted on social media.

The topic here is Love, from the carnal to the divine. The poems will describe an arc, a spiral shaped by love in all its forms. The book includes full poems, short verses, and brief prose pieces that unpack Hafiz’s loaded metaphors, as well as an informative afterword on the poet himself.