October 12 on the Iranian calendar is dedicated to its great poet, Hafez, who lived in the 14th century. A ceremony is held every year on this day in his honor at his Hafezieh mausoleum in Shiraz with Hafez researchers from Iran and elsewhere.

On this occasion, Hafezieh hosted 18,360 tourists at the commemoration yesterday.

Celebrating Hafez is not confined to Iranian borders. “A night with Hafez” was also held in Belgrade at the Iranian Cultural Center here for scholars of Persian poetry and literature.

The Iranian Embassy in the Bosnia and Herzegovina capital, Sarajevo, also celebrated. The Iranian Ambassador here also honored the late Dr Bashir Jaka who translated the collection of Hafez poetry into Bosnian.

The Iranian Cultural Center in Belarus celebrated with students of the Persian language at the Iranian Studies Center at the Teacher Training University of Minsk.

Khawaja Shams-e-Din Mohamed Hafez Shirazi is the national poet of Iran who lived in the 14th century and is well-known around the world. He is famous for his sonnets. He is one of the most important influential poets on his successors. His works were translated into European languages in the 18th and 19th centuries and his name found its way into Western literary circles.

The West–östlicher Divan (West–Eastern Diwan) by the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was inspired by the Persian poet Hafez. He has dedicated the second chapter to praising Hafez.

The mausoleum of Hafez is in Shiraz, southern Iran; it is called the Hafezieh. It was registered as a National Heritage site in 1975 and is an important tourism attraction of the country.