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Tomb of Sa'adi
interfering with the rehearsal of actors Have you ever been to the UN building's Hall of Nations in New York? I've fortunately had the opportunity to visit it for free since i'm a penniless college kid in Manhattan improving ramen recipes. But anyway, if you have gone there you may have noticed the plaque marked with the following lovely passage:
بنى آدم اعضاء يك پیکرند، که در آفرينش ز يك گوهرند
چو عضوى به درد آورد روزگار، دگر عضوها را نماند قرار
تو که از محنت دیگران بیغمی، نشاید که نامت نهند ادمی
"Of one Essence is the human race,
Thusly has Creation put the Base;
One Limb impacted is sufficient,
For all Others to feel the Mace."
This is the work of the famous Persian poet, Sa'adi. Iran's produced a number of fantastic writers who're popular amongst both Iranians and westerners today. I've been told that every single Persian household has copies of works by Sa'adi and Hafez. Due to their popularity, the garden/tomb complexes are always packed with people either there to pay their respects or to merely take pics with their cell phones.
I had the chance to check out the tombs of Hafez and Sa'adi in
Statue of Ferdousi
see the spite he has in his eyes for being underpaid???? their native Shiraz, and the huge tomb complex of Ferdousi at Masshad. All three are remarkable, full of unique architectural highlights and historical significance - hey, they also have fun teahouses and quite a sight to see as you're smoking a cigarette or two!😉
Sa'adi was about three B's - booze, birds and beautiful bitches. he lived a long life full of travels from Egypt to India. He lived in troubled times, when the bloody Monguls embarked on their violent expedition to destroy every urban center they came across (no joke, they swiped entire populations with their swords, even crushing aristocrats to death by tying them up in sacks, covering them with heavy shields and carpets, and raping their wives on top of all that - ouch). He was present when the Mongul barbarians killed majority of the residents of Baghdad. As a traveller, he would chill with all kinds of people who suffered from the Mongul invasions, whether it be a villain or prince. From this experience, he wrote poetry centred upon personal anecdotes and human compassion. Much can be learned from his 'Gulistan' and 'Bostan' even today, and many of his phrases are still used in everyday
Ferdousi's tomb
dramatic sculptures of scenes from the Shahnameh... conversation between Iranians.
He was probably a follower of Sufism (think whirling dervishes - religious muslims with tall hats and long white skirts - and nomads into creative writing) - hence a well-knowledged preacher of Islam but in an obscure esoteric way. His poetry is a little tough to comprehend...but it can be easily applied to daily thoughts. I do recommend you pick up a few of his writings!
While I was at his tomb, there was a bunch of actors preparing for a performance held there - i'm sorry, but would you remember your days as a college/highschool kid dealing with theater majors? True, not all performance majors are self-centred and ego-tripping, but you do know the ones who used to come into your classroom being so dramatic and uber-confident you wanted to spit scotch at them and light them on fire? all right, i admit the ones i saw at Sa'adi's tomb gave me that bloody impression indeed. ugh, too much.
Secondly, is Hafez. Compared to Sa'adi, he's a bit more chill and easier to comprehend. He too was supposedly a Suufi poet. He was somewhat like the Roman poet Horace who wrote about humanity
Tomb of Sa'adi
voila! flowers! and earthly experience...but at the same time he knew the Qu'ran like the back of his hand and is heavily influenced by Islamic thoughts. He has more of a commoner's approach to life and writes a great deal about love. So gentlemen, if you are motivated to seduce a woman, you may like to recite a sexy verse from Hafez's 'Divan'! (for one thing, i'd fall for it....hahaha). he was a bit of a womanizer after all, getting into a fair bit of trouble for his ladies.
When Tamurlane invaded Persia, Hafez defended his poetry by approaching the prince and succeeded. Well, he even got the new ruler to start a fan club for him.
Lastly (before I bore the hell out of you - sorry), is Ferdousi. i'm sure you have heard of an epic poem called the 'shahnameh', meaning the 'tale of kings'. Ferdousi was a native of Tus, by modern Masshad. He wrote before the times of Hafez and Sa'adi, when the Persian language was oppressed by Arabic - it is said that without his great literary contribution, Farsi wouldn't be used today. For patriotic reasons he decided to compose his great epic in his
Sa'adi's gravestone
apparently, the way to pay respects at a tomb is to stand at its base and place your hand upon the stone and recite a verse of the Qu'ran Persian tongue. He's still considered an important writer because he tells the tale of Zoroastrian beginnings.
Sadly he was only given one-tenth of his promised commission, and hence he writes something along the lines of 'stingy king, bastard!' quite cleverly in his verses😉 His tomb complex is huge and includes a beautiful collection of flora - furthermore, you have the opportunity to hear an actor perform a dramatic reading of one of the verses...it's fantastic, as he booms out his speech in front of the stone reliefs depicting scenes from the 'Shahnameh'.
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Francois
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i like your pics
i am a hobby photographer and i like your photographs very very much. please continue your hard work! thank you