The idea of dividing the collection into books was suggested by the fact that two of H̱āfiḍ's longer poems bear the titles مغنی نامه، ساقی نامه, i.e. "book of the cup-bearer" and "book of the minstrel," as well as by the seven-fold division which Sir William Jones had made of Oriental poetry.[103] For the heroic there was no material, nor were some of the other divisions suitable for Goethe's purpose. So only the _Buch der Liebe_ and the _Buch des Unmuts_ (to correspond to satire) could be formed. Other books were formed in an analogous manner until they were twelve in number. The poet originally intended to make them of equal length, but this intention he never carried out, and so they are of very unequal extent, the longest being that of _Suleika_ (53 poems) and the shortest those of Timur and of the Parsi (two poems each).
The great majority of the Divan-poems are not in any sense translations or reproductions, but entirely original compositions inspired by the poet's Oriental reading and study. The thoroughness and earnestness of these studies is attested by the explanatory notes which were added to the _Divan_ and were published with it in 1819,[104] and which show conclusively, that, although Goethe could not read Persian poetry in the original, he nevertheless succeeded admirably in entering into its spirit.
We have mentioned Hammer's translation of H̱āfiḍ as the direct impulse to the composition of the _Divan_. It was also the principal source from which the poet drew his inspiration for the work. A single verse would often furnish a theme for a poem. Sometimes this poem would be a translation, e.g. "Eine Stelle suchte der Liebe Schmerz," p. 54 (H̱. 356. 8); but more often it was a very free paraphrase, e.g. the motto prefixed to _Buch Hafis_, a variation of the motto to Hammer's version (H̱. 222. 9). As an example of how a single verse is developed into an original poem we may cite "Über meines Liebchens Äugeln," p. 55, where the first stanza is a version of H̱. 221. 1, all the others being free invention. Other Persian poets besides H̱āfiḍ also furnished material. Thus the opening passage of Saʻdī's _Gulistān_ was used for "Im Athemholen," p. 10, where the sense, however, is altered and the line "So sonderbar ist das Leben gemischt" is added. A number of poems are based on the _Pand Nāmah_ of ʻAṭṭār, e.g. pp. 58, 60,[105] and two are taken from Firdausī, namely "Firdusi spricht," p. 75 (Sh. N. i. p. 62, couplet 538; Mohl, i. 84; Fundgruben. ii. 64) and "Was machst du an der Welt?" p. 96 (Sh. N. i. p. 482, coupl. 788, 789; _Red._ p. 58). But it was not only the poetical works of Persia that were laid under contribution; sayings, anecdotes, descriptions, remarks of any kind in books of travel and the like were utilized as well. Thus Hammer in the preface to his version of H̱āfiḍ relates the _fatvā_ or judgment which a famous _muftī_ of Constantinople pronounced on the poems of the great singer, and this gave Goethe the idea for his "Fetwa," p. 32.[106] In the same preface[107] is related the well known reply which H̱āfiḍ is reported to have given to Timur, when called to account by the latter for the sentiment of the first couplet of the famous eighth ode, and this inspired the poem "Hätt' ich irgend wol Bedenken," p. 133. Similarly "Vom heutigen Tag," p. 94, is based on the words of an inscription over a caravansery at Ispahan found in Chardin's book. The story of Bahrāmgūr and Dilārām inventing rhyme[108] gave rise to the poem "Behramgur, sagt man," p. 153. And so we might cite poems from other sources, _Qurān_, Jones' _Poeseos_, Diez' _Buch des Kabus_, etc., but the examples we have given are sufficient to show how Goethe used his material.