Born in 1315, Shamseddin Mohammad, known as Hafiz, grew up in the city of Shiraz where he studied Qur'anic sciences. In his youth he learned the Quran rigorously and assumed the epithet 'Hafiz' which means the one who knows the Quran by heart.

Also known as the 'Tongue of the Hidden' and the 'Interpreter of Secrets', Hafiz utilizes grand religious ideas and mingles them with Sufistic teachings, thereby creating a kind of poetry which baffles interpretation.

An undisputed master of ghazal, Hafiz brought the poetic form to perfection in Persian literature. “Ghazal” in Arabic means talking to women, philandering, narrating about youth, and praising women.