Research Objective:The main purpose of this article is to examine lateral music (mūsīqī-ye kenārī) in the lyric poems of Hafez. Accordingly, the study analyzes rhyme-series (radīf), ḥājib, i‘nāt, return to the opening hemistich (radd-e matla‘), systematic repetitions, the semantic compatibility of the radīf with the poem’s content, the blending of rhyme with radīf, rhyme letters, rhyme repetition, counter-rhyme (radd-e qāfiya), double rhymes (dhaw-qāfiyatayn), identical rhymes, and other related features in Hafez’s ghazals.

Research Method: Using a descriptive-analytical approach, this article elucidates the aforementioned principles and instances within Hafez’s lyric corpus. The statistical samples consist of techniques and elements pertaining to radīf and rhyme. The statistical population comprises the ghazals of Hafez as edited by Mohammad Qazvini and Qasem Ghani.

Findings: Hafez’s enduring popularity stems from his attentiveness to every dimension of poetry. He paid as much attention to the formal and musical aspects of verse as he did to meaning and conceptual depth. In Hafez’s ghazals, rhyme and radīf contribute significantly to the poem’s elevation; thus, the radīf he employs are not redundant or ornamental words inserted merely to complete the meter or create superficial harmony.

Conclusion: Sixty-four percent of Hafez’s ghazals contain a radīf—an outcome that contradicts the statistical results of previous research. Out of 315 ghazals with a radīf, 259 feature radīf forms that are simple, short, positive in tone, and structured in the present or future tense. These characteristics contribute to fluency, dynamism, expansion of meaning, and closeness to the standard spoken language in Hafez’s lyric style.