Goethe and Hafiz, one in the West and the other in the East, lived in two distinct cultural eras, yet thanks to the affinities embedded within their social and private lives, and beyond the inconsistencies in the mistranslations, the two share such affinities that, bridging the gap of centuries in between, have aspired the genius of Goethe to reach the core of Hafiz's (The Tongue of the Veiled) words far more profoundly than any of Hafiz's own contemporaries, compatriots, and fellow-Farsi speakers could ever comprehend.The Eastern Divan (Bulk) is regarded as the most appealing and significant work of Goethe's, one which creatively combining the West and the East creates a melange of the genius of Goethe's and Hafiz's. It is in fact Goethe's admiration of Hafiz, one that epitomizes the Western intellectual awe towards the genius of the East.Studying The Eastern Divan, one can understand Goethe's consideration of the East, his general perspective towards the Orient and of Hafiz in particular, and the close relation between the two.