\u2014 Third and last Part \u2014<\/p>\n
Nasser Kanani (Berlin)<\/strong><\/p>\n In 1875 the British politician Sir Arthur Arnold (1833-1902) traveled through Persia and rendered his observations on H\u0101fez\u2019s tomb into following words:<\/p>\n \u201cWe were at liberty to look at the grave of Hafiz, which is placed about the middle of the square inclosure. The ground is thickly beset with tombs, mostly flat, like that of Hafiz, but none so exquisitely carved, nor, like his, of marble. Hafiz\u2019s tomb is covered with a single block of the beautiful marble of Yezd, of which about eighteen inches appear above the ground. The upper surface of this fine slab is nine feet long by two feet nine inches in width. In the centre there is an ode, written by Hafiz himself. Raised in low-relief, this ode, in the beautiful letters of the Persian alphabet, occupies the centre only of the slab. Round the edges, in a band about four inches deep, appears another ode. The tomb is probably not yet two hundred years old.\u201d1<\/sup><\/p>\n Persian alphabet, occupies the centre only of the slab. Round the edges, in a band about four inches deep, appears another ode. The tomb is probably not yet two hundred years old.2<\/sup><\/p>\n Farh\u0101d Mirz\u0101<\/strong><\/p>\n 1878, an iron railing was built around the tomb of H\u0101fez by another governor of F\u0101rs by the name of Farh\u0101d Mirz\u01013<\/sup>. He was an ardent admirer of H\u0101fez and his poetry.<\/p>\n Ten years later, in 1887, the famous British Iranologist Edward G. Browne (1862-1926), who spent the year 1887\/8 in Persia, paid a visit to the shrine of H\u0101fez and noted:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Hafiziyye (Tomb of Hafiz), far more popular and better cared for, rendered conspicuous by its tall dark cypresses and white walls. The tomb of Hafiz occupies the centre of an enclosed garden beautifully planted with cypresses and orange-trees. It is marked by a simple oblong block of stone, engraved with inscriptions consisting for the most part of quotations from the poet\u2019s works. At the top is the following sentence in Arabic:<\/p>\n \u201cHe (i.e. God) is the enduring, and all else passeth away<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Beneath this is the ode beginning\u2012\u2012<\/p>\n Where is the good tidings of union with Thee? <\/em><\/p>\n For I will rise up with my whole heart;<\/em><\/p>\n I am a bird of Paradise, and I will soar upwards from the snare of the world.<\/em><\/p>\n Round the edge of the stone is inscribed the ode beginning\u2012\u2012<\/p>\n O heart, be the slave of the King of the World, and be a king! <\/em><\/p>\n Abide continually under the protection of God\u2019s favour!<\/em><\/p>\n Written diagonally across the two triangular spaces formed by the upper corners of the tombstone is the couplet\u2012\u2012<\/p>\n When thou passest by the head of our tomb, invoke a blessing, <\/em><\/p>\n For it will be the place of pilgrimage of (all) the libertines of the world. <\/em><\/p>\n The corresponding spaces at the lower end of the tablet bear the well-known lines composed to commemorate the date of the poet\u2019s death:\u2012\u2012<\/p>\n That Lamp of the mystics, Master Hafiz, <\/em><\/p>\n [Who was a candle of light from the Divine Effulgence, <\/em><\/p>\n Since he made his abode in the Earth of Musalla] <\/em><\/p>\n Seek his date from \u201cthe Earth of Musalla.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n The unequalled popularity still enjoyed by Hafiz is attested by the multitude of graves which surround his tomb. What Persian, indeed, would not desire that his ashes should mingle with those of the illustrious bard from whom contemporary fanaticism would fain have withheld the very rites of sepulture?\u201d4<\/sup><\/p>\n In 1889 the British statesman and Viceroy of India George N. Curzon (1859-1925) visited Persia and spent little more than three months there. While staying in Shiraz he photographed the tomb of H\u0101fez.<\/p>\n On his return to London Curzon wrote his magnum opus<\/em> \u201cPersia and the Persian Question<\/em>.\u201d<\/em> The following is an excerpt of his detailed account on his visit to H\u0101feziyeh:<\/p>\n \u201cNearer the city, and on the outskirts of its northern suburbs, the tomb of Hafiz stands in a cemetery crowded with Moslem graves. The enclosure, known as the Hafeizieh, consists of an upper and a lower path, i.e. the graveyard and a garden, separated by a summer-house. The cemetery is of comparatively modern growth; for ancient authors described the poet\u2019s tomb as surrounded by trees, the last survivor of which, a cypress, said to have been planted by himself at the head of his grave, was cut down about 1811 A.D. The copy of the poet\u2019s works that was once chained to his tomb was carried off by Ashraf the Afghan. But the original marble slab on which was said to have been sculped a cypress, was taken down by Kerim Khan, who built it into the tank in the Jehan Nemah [\u062c\u0647\u0627\u0646 \u0646\u0645\u0627: Displayer of the World], and replaced it by the present sarcophagus. This is made of yellow Yezd marble, and has two odes from the Diwan, or collection of the poet\u2019s works, beautifully chiseled in relief in a number of elegant panels upon lid. Of that which is sculpted on the centre panels I have made a translation in elegiacs, a metre that seems to me to do least offence to the structure and spirit of the original:\u2012\u2012<\/p>\n Tell the glad tidings abroad that my soul may arise in communion, <\/em><\/p>\n I, with celestial wings, rise from the snares of the world. <\/em><\/p>\n Didst thou but call me to come and wait s a slave on thy bidding, <\/em><\/p>\n Yet should I rise in esteem over the lords of the world <\/em><\/p>\n Lord, may the cloud of Thy mercy descend in raindrops upon me, <\/em><\/p>\n Now ere my body arise, scattered as dust on the wind <\/em><\/p>\n Sit on my tomb, ye friends, with mirth of minstrel and flagon, <\/em><\/p>\n So shall I rise from the grave dancing, aglow with desire. <\/em><\/p>\n Though I be old, one night do thou lie in my loving embraces, <\/em><\/p>\n Then from thy side in the morn fresh in my youth shall I rise. <\/em><\/p>\n Image of deeds that are lovely, on high shine forth, that as Hafiz <\/em><\/p>\n I from the grave may arise, soar above life and the world. <\/em><\/p>\n A frail iron railing now surrounds the tomb, which is visited by bands of admiring pilgrims, on devotional or festive aim intent; but I confess I think that in any other country in the world a greater distinction would encompass the last resting-place of a national hero and the object of adoration to millions. It is interesting to contrast the grave of the Persian poet with that of his European contemporary, Dante, whose sepulchre is not less an object of pilgrimage at Ravenna.\u201d5<\/sup><\/p>\n In 1891 Henry Wilberforce Clarke (1840-1905), a British Captain with the Bengal Engineers, who translated the complete Div\u0101n of H\u0101fez for the first time into English, described the burial site of the poet as follows:<\/p>\n \u201cHe [Hafez] is buried at a spot two miles north-east of Shiraz in the centre of a small cemetery, whereof the rest is laid out as a flower-garden with an avenue of cypress trees of grear size and age. The tomb of Hafiz is placed at the foot of one of the cypress trees which he himself planted. The cemetery is separated from the garden by an ornamental wall with a central portico. This site is called the Hafiziya.\u201d6<\/sup><\/p>\n In 1892 Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), the well-known British political officer, archaeologist and translator, traveled to Persia and while staying in Shiraz she paid a visit to the burying place of H\u0101fez. She wrote:<\/p>\n \u201cThe garden contains the tombs of many devout Persians who have desired to rest in the sacred earth which holds the bones of the poet [H\u0101fez], and his prophecy that his grave should become a place of pilgrimage for all the drunkards of the world has been to a great extent fulfilled.7<\/sup> A very ancient cypress, said to be of Hafiz\u2019s own planting, stood for many hundreds of years at the head of his grave, and \u201ccast its shadow o\u2019er the dust of his desire<\/em>.\u201d8<\/sup><\/p>\n In 1894 and in 1898 Ella Sykes (1863-1939), a British traveler and writer, paid two visits to Persia and spent nearly three years. After her visit to Shiraz she noted the following about the shrine of H\u0101fez:<\/p>\n \u201cThe handsome tomb of Hafiz at Shiraz, planted round with tall cypresses, is constantly visited by all classes, the pleasure-seekers coming to pay homage to a master who understood the joie de vivre <\/em>[joy of living], and who loved art for art\u2019s sake; while the religious look upon the poet as a mystic, whose most apparently material utterances have an esoteric meaning for the elect. Hafiz has thus the somewhat remarkable fate of being adored by both saints and sinners after his death, and his tomb is surrounded by the graves of countless admirers.\u201d9<\/sup><\/p>\n Khosrow Shah Jah\u0101n<\/strong><\/p>\n In 1899, a Zoroastrian philanthropist by the name of Khosrow10<\/sup>, who was a Parsi11<\/sup> from India, succeeded in obtaining permission from the ulema<\/em>12<\/sup> of Shiraz to build a new shrine of iron and wood around the grave of H\u0101fez.<\/p>\n His decision to do so was based on an omen taken from the Div\u0101n<\/em>. However, before the construction work was completed, an influential religious authority of Shiraz known as Ali-Akbar F\u0101l Asiri13<\/sup> encouraged his followers to destroy the building. He argued that a Gabr<\/em>14<\/sup> should not be allowed to raise a building over the grave of a Muslim. When the people of Shiraz protested the destruction and the government led by Nez\u0101m-ol-Molk15<\/sup> ordered the rebuilding of the monument, F\u0101l Asiri again threatened to destroy the building.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Malek Mansur Mirz\u0101<\/p>\n The burial site of H\u0101fez remained in ruins until 1901 when Prince Malek Mansur Mirz\u010116<\/sup> secured the necessary funding and commissioned his painter Ali-Akbar Mozayyen-ol-Dowleh17<\/sup> to make a decorative iron Latticework around the tomb. The Latticework with little metal flags decorating its top was inscribed with verses and the names of its patrons. Thus, H\u0101fez\u2019s memorial was turned into a mausoleum.<\/p>\n During the Q\u0101j\u0101r dynasty (1779-1925) numerous Europeans from all walks of life traveled to Persia, each one following his own business. Some of them took a trip to Shiraz to pay a visit to the tomb of H\u0101fez, the most famous son of that city.<\/p>\n In 1903 Abraham Valentine Williams Jackson (1862-1937), an American specialist on Indo-European languages, made a journey to Persia and while visiting the shrine of H\u0101fez he took a photograph from his mausoleum and noted:<\/p>\n \u201cThe tomb of Hafiz stands in the middle of the garden and is surrounded by a number of graves, since burial near the poet\u2019s dust is now a special privilege. A handsome oblong block of marble covers the grave and takes the place of the original slab, which Karim Khan is said to have placed in the Jahan Namah [\u062c\u0647\u0627\u0646 \u0646\u0645\u0627] Garden when he replaced the stone by the present sarcophagus.<\/p>\n The block is beautifully carved with verses from the poet\u2019s writings and at the top is an Arabic inscription, the tenor of which is the transitory character of human things and the eternal nature of God; while at the bottom is added the date of the poet\u2019s death, which is given as the year 1389 (A.H. 791).<\/p>\n The present governor of Shiraz has taken pains to have the sepulchre protected by a large iron grating which is more imposing than the old metal cage that formerly enclosed it, and the scroll-work and design show some artistic taste. The stanchions and corner-posts, however, are iron telegraph poles, received from the Indo-European Telegraph Company, and the Shirazis seemed to be almost as proud of these and of the little metal flags that decorate the top, as of the inscribed slab over the poet\u2019s dust.\u201d18<\/sup><\/p>\n In 1925, Alphonse Marie Tracey Woodward (1876-1938), a British philatelist, traveled to Persia and in 1928 published an article titled \u201cNotes on a Journey across Persia<\/em>\u201d reporting on his experiences during his journey.<\/p>\n The photograph shows the badly damaged overall status of the shrine only twenty year after Williams Jackson had visited the shrine in almost acceptable condition.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Andr\u00e9 Godard<\/p>\n In 1931, the orange grove (N\u0101renjest\u0101n<\/em>) was restored and a large stone portal was erected in the south wall of the H\u0101feziyeh by the then governor-general of Isfahan and F\u0101rs Faraj-All\u0101h Bahr\u0101mi19<\/sup>. Further plans for renovation were postponed until 1935. In this year, the French architect and archeologist Andr\u00e9 Godard (1881-1965) was commissioned by the Minister of Education Ali-Asqar Hekmat (1893-1980) to draw up an appropriate design for a completely new mausoleum for H\u0101fez. The Execution of the project was delegated to Ali Ri\u0101zi (1893-1957), the head of the Department of Education of F\u0101rs, and the Iranian scholar and archeologist Ali S\u0101mi (1910-1989) was appointed as the project supervisor.<\/p>\n Andr\u00e9 Godard, who had been granted the technical directorship of the Iranian Antiquities Department in 192820<\/sup>, designed<\/strong> \u2013 probably in cooperation with another French architect and archeologist by the name of Maxime Siroux (1907-1975) \u2013 an octagonal pavilion<\/strong> for H\u0101fez\u2019s mausoleum, which was then erected in an elaborately verdant garden.<\/p>\n Hafez\u2019s tomb was elevated one metre above the ground level and surrounded by five circular steps. Eight columns, each ten metres tall, support a copper dome shaped like a dervish\u2019s hat.21<\/sup> The interior of the copper dome sheltering the tombstone is covered in polychrome glazed tile work; eight distiches (beyt<\/em>) of the ghazal<\/em> beginning<\/p>\n \u062d\u062c\u0627\u0628 \u0686\u0647\u0631\u0647\u0654 \u062c\u0627\u0646 \u0645\u06cc \u200c\u0634\u0648\u062f \u063a\u0628\u0627\u0631 \u062a\u0646\u0645<\/p>\n \u062e\u0648\u0634\u0627 \u062f\u0645\u06cc \u06a9\u0647 \u0627\u0632 \u0622\u0646 \u0686\u0647\u0631\u0647 \u067e\u0631\u062f\u0647 \u0628\u0631\u0641\u06a9\u0646\u0645<\/p>\n The dust of my body is becoming the veil in front of the face of the soul.<\/p>\n O happy the moment when from off that face I cast the veil aside!22<\/sup><\/p>\n are inscribed in Thuluth<\/em> (\u200e\u062b\u064f\u0644\u064f\u062b) script, one on each eight fa\u00e7ades.<\/p>\n The modern tomb of H\u0101fez has become the most popular pilgrimage site in Shiraz, and ever since it was erected it has been the pantheon of literates, scholars, poets and artists from all over the world. During the last decades many prominent foreign poets and literary figures as well as a large number of famous personalities from all walks of life have attended the modern mausoleum.<\/p>\n The famous verse, in which H\u0101fez had envisaged that his tomb would once become a place of pilgrimage for rendan<\/em>23<\/sup> from all over the world turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. When the English novelist and historian Robert Payne (1911-1983) said he thought the best thing about Persia was Persepolis, the British poet Basil Bunting (1900-1985) replied that he was wrong and reminded him of the inscription on the tomb of H\u0101fez:<\/p>\n When thou passest by the head of this tomb, invoke a blessing, <\/em><\/p>\n For this is a place of pilgrimage for all the libertines of the world.24<\/sup> <\/em><\/p>\n While visiting H\u0101fez\u2019s shrine in April 1932 the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), the winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913, touched and intrigued by H\u0101fez\u2019s poetry and his mystic lyrics made the following remark in his travelogue: \u201cSitting beside the tomb of Hafiz, a bright glint from Hafiz eyes passed through my mind; like the spring sunlight shining now. I feel very clear. Although centuries have passed and many have come and gone, sitting beside Hafiz\u2019s tomb means conducting accompany him.\u201d25<\/sup><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/sup><\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u0628\u0631 \u0633\u0631 \u062a\u0631\u0628\u062a \u0645\u0627 \u0686\u0648\u0646 \u06af\u0630\u0631\u06cc \u0647\u0645\u062a \u062e\u0648\u0627\u0647 \/ \u06a9\u0647 \u0632\u06cc\u0627\u0631\u062a\u06af\u0647 \u0631\u0646\u062f\u0627\u0646 \u062c\u0647\u0627\u0646 \u062e\u0648\u0627\u0647\u062f \u0628\u0648\u062f<\/p>\n \u2014 Third and last Part \u2014 Nasser Kanani (Berlin) In 1875 the British politician Sir Arthur Arnold (1833-1902) traveled through Persia and rendered his observations on H\u0101fez\u2019s tomb into following words: \u201cWe were at liberty to look at the grave of Hafiz, which is placed about the middle of the square inclosure. The ground is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-phart"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["fa","en"],"languages":{"fa":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102766"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102768,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102766\/revisions\/102768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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