Hafez and the Opportunity of Life; Lessons from Esmaeil Azar at Toranj Poetry Night in Kerman
According to the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) in Kerman, simultaneously with the 33rd Book Week, Toranj Book Café in Kerman hosted a literary gathering. In this program, the Director-General of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Kerman Province, a group of cultural managers, poets, and writers were present. This event was held with the slogan ‘Let’s Read for Iran’ and supported by the General Directorate of Culture and Islamic Guidance, with Hamed Hosseinkhani and Vahid Yousefzadeh as its executors.
At the beginning of the program, Hamed Hosseinkhani, a poet and faculty member of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, referring to Esmaeil Azar’s academic and media activities, said: ‘He has also utilized media for literature, which is a valuable event that many of us have memories of his programs in recent years.’
Referring to Azar’s background in music and comparative literature, he added: ‘Dr. Azar’s presence among Kerman’s poets, especially the youth, is invaluable.’
Hosseinkhani then spoke about Hafiz’s influence by Khajoo Kermani, saying: ‘Hafiz is the inheritor of all cultural assets of Iran preceding him, and he presented them in the most beautiful form, namely the ghazal. The question is, how can we benefit from this intellectual, artistic, and emotional heritage without falling into imitation? The same thing that Hafiz did.’
Continuing the session, Esmaeil Azar, by reading poems from Hafiz and other poets, said: ‘Nothing in literature is separate from life.’
He read a short poem about Kerman and added: ‘We must be mindful of modernity and artificial intelligence, which are transforming everything.’
This researcher then, referring to Goethe’s familiarity with Hafiz, stated: ‘When Saadi’s poems were translated, they quickly spread throughout Europe.’
Azar announced: ‘I am going to present a hundred points about Hafiz that have not been heard before, and they will be broadcast on television.’
Azar, referring to the words of Amir al-Mu’minin (AS) and reading examples of poems by Saadi, Khayyam, Jami, and Nizami, added: ‘The golden point is not to accept everything in the world; this messes with our minds and destroys happiness.’
He emphasized: ‘From any angle you look at Hafiz, he is life. To understand Hafiz, one must read the Quran; these two are intertwined.’
In the final section, young poets recited their poems, and Azar described their poems as ‘extraordinary’; however, he reminded: ‘No work lasts without support. Poetry must contain myth, culture, society, and emotion; Hafiz has all of these in abundance. Today, whoever writes poetry must know their background, read the Quran, understand Western literature, and be aware of what is happening in the world. A poet is someone who goes into the darkness and sees things that others do not.’
