The Influence of Hafez on Ralph Waldo Emerson Tracing Persian Mysticism in American Transcendentalism
Kunduz University International Journal of Islamic Studies and Social Sciences June 22, 2026 Khalilullah Tawhidyar, Sayyed Bashir Aalemy, Malang Jan Momand
This study examines the influence of the Persian Sufi poet Hafez on Ralph Waldo Emerson and explores Hafez’s role in shaping American Transcendentalism. When Emerson encountered Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s West-Eastern Divan in 1838, he developed a sustained interest in Hafez and subsequently studied Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall’s German translation, Der Diwan von Mohammed Schemsed-din Hafis....