Garden of Mystery, the 'Gulshan-i Raz', holds a unique position in Persian Sufi literature. It is a compact and concise exploration of the doctrines of Sufism at the peak of their development that has remained a primary text of Sufism throughout the world from Turkey to India. It comprises a thousand lines of inspired poetry taking the form of answers to questions put by a fellow mystic. It provides a coherent literary bridge between the Persian 'school of love' poetry and the rapidly growing number of metaphysical and gnostic compositions from what had come to be known as the school of the...

H?fiz is honored as the greatest lyric poet of Iran and the D?v?n-i H?fiz, his collected poetry, is without doubt one of the world's greatest literary achievements. Translated here from the edition of Parv?z N?t?l Kh?nlar?, the 486 poems have been rendered as literally as possible while trying to convey some sense of the original poetry to the reader who lacks knowledge of Persian. The ghazals are introduced and presented with extensive annotation by one of today's most eminent scholars of Persian literature.