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Shiraz did not seem to me to have as many historical buildings as Esfahan,
but its being the home town of Sa'di and Hafiz Shirazi, the great Persian
poets, was more than enough for me. I had longed to visit Shiraz and roam
through the narrow alleys and bazaars that Hafiz and Sa'di perhaps had once
frequented. I wished to see the rose gardens of Sa'di's poetry and the
meadows and cypress trees I knew from Hafiz, or the beautiful Shirazi and
Turke-Shirazi girls whose beauty made Hafiz ever drunk and filled his
imagination and poetry with energy and inspiration.
Creative imagination or poetic genius in man can be used as a weapon against
dogmatism and social injustice. Hafiz attacked those hypocrites who condemn
their progressive and creative opponents as being irreligious or
unbelievers. He was not against Islam, in fact he knew the Quran by heart;
he opposed the mullahs who used religion (in this case, Islam) as a means of
negation, domination and exploitation of the people. Those who did not fast
during Ramadan and did not go to the mosque were regarded by such people as
unbelievers. Hafiz, satirizing such religious leaders, wrote:
Ramadan has passed. The day of Festivity (Id) has arrived and hearts rise.
We must call for wine. The turn of the leaden-hearted hypocrite is over. The
time for freedom and enjoyment for freedom-lovers has arrived.
Drinking, which has no hypocrisy or cunning in it, Is better than piety
based on hypocrisy or cunning. What does it matter if you and I drink a few
cups of wine? Wine |