In Shiraz, Iran, poet Hafez composed ghazals blending erotic and divine love during Timurid era. His Divan reflects Sufi-inspired altered states of intoxication and union. Revered for oracular use, his work endured political and religious shifts. It mattered by humanizing mysticism through accessible, witty verse.

Hafez influenced Goethe's West-Eastern Divan and Emerson, bridging Persian ecstatic poetry to European Romanticism. His style shaped ghazal traditions and modern translations inspiring global poets to explore sensual mysticism.