Persian Language & Literature: Hafez Shirazi
In Iran, A Poet's 700-Year-Old Verses Still Set Hearts Aflame
The 14th century Persian poet Hafez is buried in Shiraz, the city where he lived almost 700 years ago.There is no way for a Persian to hear Shiraz’s name and doesn’t immediately think about Hafez. To Persians, he is nothing less than a prophet. The prophet of love, art, and beauty inside. Hafiz is an inseparable item of any Persian celebration and ceremony such as Nowrouz and Yalda Night. He is one of the poetry geniuses from all times, whom Goethe, the great German poet, wished to be one of his disciples. The chances of not finding a Hafiz book in any Persian house are zero. Hafiz Shirazi is beloved among Iranians, and anyone, from children to the elderly enjoys reading his smart, beautiful, and involved poems. Every year, on 22nd October, people show their respect to him on national Hafez day by his tomb, Hafezieh. Hafes tomb is lcated in his home city of Shiraz, Hafez's tomb lies in the Musalla Gardens, inside an open pavilion encircled by eight columns. The tomb is open from 8 a.m. to between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., depending on the season. The entrance fee is about $5 USD.
Tomb of Hafez (Hafezieh) is where young people gather and lose themselves in the poetic atmosphere of the garden surrounding the tomb of Hafez, the great Persian poet who was from Shiraz. At nights, don’t forget to walk in between the trees and try Hafez fortune-telling cards that are collected poems from his poetry book, the Divan. Hafez poems are like old Persian wines that go to your head and leave you alone with your intriguing thoughts, just like how these magical verses enchanted Goethe — spending some time in this beautiful place grants the perfect feeling of serenity to your soul.
Here's one of his beautiful poems:
The book of Hafez is very precious to Iranians. Many Iranians use
Divan-e Hafez for fortune-telling. Every Iranian family has it in their
house, and when they get together during the Nowruz or Yalda Night, they
open the Divan to a random page and read the poem on it, which they
believe to be an indication of things that will happen in the future or
it shows how a person feels at the moment. In the Persian tradition,
whenever one faces a difficulty or a fork in the road, Or even if one
has a general question in mind, one would hold that question in mind,
and then ask the Oracle of Shiraz Hafiz for guidance. More often than
not, Hafez, in his own enigmatic way would sing to the questioner and
through the song, would get the questioner to look in the mirror of
his/her soul. Upon reflection in the mirror of Hafez's Ghazal one would
be inspired with an answer, a guidance or a direction. Traditionally,
the first line upon which the eyes of the reader fall, would give the
answer to the direct question, and the rest of the Ghazal would give
further clarification.
To try the guidance of the oracle of Shiraz, Hold a question in your
mind & Click on the button below to have your Fal:
Coded by
Elham Kaviyani 💻