TEHRAN – Iran plans to celebrate Hafez Day in the Indian city of Hyderabad by organizing an art exhibition, which will open on Wednesday at the Salar Jung Museum.

A collection of photos of Shiraz, Hafez’s hometown, calligraphy and wood inlay works will be showcased at the exhibition, which will be organized by the Shiraz Municipality and the Consulate General of Iran in Hyderabad.

As the central part of the cultural program, the photo exhibition will put on view a collection of pictures of fascinating religious, cultural, historical and tourist attractions of the southern Iranian city, the Shiraz Municipality announced on Tuesday.  

Several calligraphers have been invited to inscribe live poems from Hafez, one of the finest lyric poets of Iran who lived all his life in Shiraz during the 14th century. 

Three rare manuscripts of the Divan of Hafez are scheduled to be showcased at the exhibition, which will run until October 22.

Secretary to Government of Telangana Youth Advancement, Tourism and Culture Department and a large number of Indian cultural figures and literati have been invited to attend the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

Syed Ainul Hasan, a professor of Persian and Central Asian Studies School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, is scheduled to deliver a speech.

The Siasat Daily, a leading English newspaper in Hyderabad, will provide full coverage of the exhibition.

As home to the mausoleums of several poets, including Hafez and Sadi, and numerous cultural heritage sites, Shiraz has been seeking to achieve the title of Iran’s cultural capital over the past few years.

Hafez Day, which fell on October 12 this year, is celebrated at Hafezieh, Hafez’s mausoleum, and other Iranian cultural centers every year by organizing poetry sessions and musical performances.

Hafez is most famous for his divan and among the many partial English translations of this work are those by Gertrude Bell and H. Wilberforce Clarke.

Hafez received a classical religious education, and lectured on Quranic and other theological subjects. “Hafez” designates one who has learned the Quran by heart. He also wrote commentaries on religious classics. As a court poet, he enjoyed the patronage of several rulers of Shiraz, which was Iran’s 2020 Book Capital.

Shiraz has applied for the title “World Book Capital” in 2022.

Every year, UNESCO convenes delegates from the International Publishers Association and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) to grant the title of the World Book Capital to one city.

The Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur was named World Book Capital for the year 2020, and the Georgian capital Tbilisi was confirmed as World Book Capital 2021.

Photo: Mausoleum of Persian poet Hafez, Shiraz.

MMS/YAW