Persian lyric poet Hafiz (born Khwāja Šamsu d-Dīn Muḥammad Hāfez-e Šīrāzī) grew up in Shiraz. Very little is known about his life, but it is thought that he may have memorized the Qur’an after hearing his father recite passages. When his father died, he left school to work at a bakery and as a copyist. Hafiz became a poet at the court of Abu Ishak and also taught at a religious college. He is one of the most celebrated of the Persian poets, and his influence can be felt to this day. As the author of numerous ghazals expressing love, spirituality, and protest, he and his work continue to be important to Iranians, and many of his poems are used as proverbs or sayings.

Thomas Rain Crowe is an internationally-published and recognized author, editor and translator of more than thirty books, including the multi-award winning nonfiction nature memoir Zoro’sField: My Life in the Appalachian Woods (2005) and an internationally acclaimed anthology of contemporary Celtic language poets entitled Writing the Wind: A Celtic Resurgence (The New Celtic Poetry). He has translated three volumes of Sufi-related poetry including the poet Hafiz (Drunk On the Wine of the Beloved) and the poet Kabir (Painting from the Palette of Love) both published by Shambhala Publications. He lives in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.