Hafez - Iranian poet - worshiped??

[drfuzzy]

A question for our literary and Muslim members (and anyone else who knows of this guy's work!): what do you think of Hafez? 
I heard a report on NPR this morning that people make yearly pilgrimages to his grave; they read his works for inspiration; they pray at his grave and believe he is guiding their lives; they use his works for fortune-telling.  (They use them in the same way that some believers use the Bible - they pray for guidance, close their eyes, open the book, tap their finger on the page, and whatever verse they chose is a message that god wants to give them that day.  It's a ouija board with a proper godly twist.)  Some bookstores in Iran sell special 2-book sets, one of Hafez's work, one Koran.

From Wikipedia: (since I had never heard of him) Khwāja Shams-ud-Dīn Muhammad Hāfez-e Shīrāzī, known by his pen name Hafez (1325/26–1389/90) was a Persian poet who "lauded the joys of love and wine but also targeted religious hypocrisy".  His collected works are regarded as a pinnacle of Persian literature and are to be found in the homes of most people in Iran, who learn his poems by heart and use them as proverbs and sayings to this day. 

It sounds to me like they're treating this guy as more than a brilliant poet. They are treating him like he was a prophet. Can anyone tell me more about this?

[Mister Agenda]

He wasn't more than a brilliant poet. Now that he's dead, he can be anything people want him to be. In a less repressive country, I would expect a new religion to come out of this, but under current circumstances, this is probably as far as it will go.

[Minimalist]

I heard a report on NPR this morning that people make yearly pilgrimages to his grave;

What is it with muslims and these fucking pilgrimages?  Fuckers are always lining up to visit some dusty old "shrine" and getting blown up by the other side or trampled when they do.  Seems to me that a few less pilgrimages and a few more days at work might help them make something of themselves.

[abaris]

Can't say to have more than a passing knowledge of his work, but at least he didn't seem abstinent. Wine features prominently in his work. But it goes to show how diverse muslim cultures were when he lived and all through the Middle Ages.

[downbeatplumb]

I like his most popular poem:

There was a young girl from Tehran
Who once saw a Christian and ran
When it came to Jihadis
she liked their tight bodies
and cooked them all goat in a pan.

[abaris]

Oh well, obviously one can also take a dump in a cultural thread.

[downbeatplumb]

Oh well, obviously one can also take a dump in a cultural thread.

Any excuse for a limerick.