Initially he pursued a legal career and had associated with Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

He is now best known for his translations of Boccaccio's Decameron,[2] The Arabian Nights and the Diwan Hafez.

After completing his translation of Omar Khayyam, Payne returned to the rendition of Hafez that was eventually published in 3 volumes.

Payne argues that Hafez takes the "whole sweep of human experience and irradiates all things with his sun-gold and his wisdom".

[1] Papers of John Payne are held at the Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham.