TEHRAN – On Thursday, over 20,000 travelers paid visits to Hafezieh, a major tourist spot in Shiraz where the illustrious Persian poet Hafez is laid to rest.

More than 20,000 people visited Hafezieh on the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, Fars province’s tourism chief has said.

“Moreover, Persepolis and many other touristic sites of the province hosted crowds of tourists during the holiday,” Seyyed Mo’ayed Mohsennejad stated.

Some 200,000 passengers toured Fars province during the past two days, the official said on Wednesday.

Experts believe that Hafezieh delicately intertwines the beauty of a well-manicured Persian garden with a spiritual atmosphere that stems from the 14th-century poet.

Set in a charming orchard, his tomb is surmounted by an octagonal dome supported by eight stone columns. The internal side of the tomb bears elaborate tilework.

The current marble tombstone that is engraved with a long verse from the poet has placed monarch Karim Khan in the 18th century.

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.

Encyclopedia Britannica comments that the extraordinary popularity of Hafez's poetry in all Persian-speaking lands stems from his simple and often colloquial though musical language, free from artificial virtuosity, and his unaffected use of homely images and proverbial expressions.

The poetry of Hafez is soaked in a deep sense of humanity and echoes ranging from historical events, biographical descriptions, and details of life in his hometown, Shiraz.

AFM