Who was Hafez?

Hafez is one of the greatest poets in the history of Persian literature. A Hafez anthology is found in any Iranian house. His legacy goes beyond the Persian language and borders of Iran to influence poets in all the other Persian-speaking countries. Translations of his work have always been popular among the readers, and some…

The Duomo Is the World's Fifth Largest Christian Church

The city's main icon is outdone by only St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil, Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, and the cathedral of Seville, it covers 109,641 square…

Rūmī, in full Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, also called by the honorific Mawlānā, (born c. September 30, 1207, Balkh [now in Afghanistan]—died December 17, 1273, Konya [now in Turkey]), the greatest Sufi mystic and poet in the Persian language, famous for his lyrics and for his didactic epic Mas̄navī-yi Maʿnavī (“Spiritual Couplets”), which widely…