A Dutchman dubbed the “Indiana Jones of the art world” has recovered a famed 15th century Persian book of poems after an “international race against time” that saw him allegedly pip the Iranian secret service to the coveted work in London.

Art detective Arthur Brand said the find sealed a tense denouement to a decade long-hunt for one of the oldest surviving copies of the Divan of Hafez - dubbed “the Prince of Persian poets” and who remains a household name in Iran.

Worth around €1 million (£850m), the gold-leafed volume of collected works was found to be missing from the collection of an Iranian antiques dealer after his death in Germany in 2007.

Along with Rumi, Hafez - full name Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafiz Shirazi - is one of the best known mystical bards who inspired artists around the world.