Report Two, Part 1: Introduction, Thank You Letter to the Vice President, and Shiraz
FOR's Peacemaking Delegation to Iran: March 2007
Introduction by Ross MacDonald, Editor
This, the second of three reports from the March 2007 Iran delegation, tells of our three days in Shiraz, a relaxed city of poets and love. After our first few days in Tehran, where we met with the Vice President of Culture and Tourism and victims of the Iran-Iraq war, Shiraz offered an opportunity to focus on Iranian culture and spontaneous interactions with Iranian people.
The “thank you” letter (below) to the Vice President caps our experience in Tehran, and we hope re-confirms the Vice President’s stated willingness to assist this and future delegations with gaining access to Iranian officials, sites, and institutions. In consultation with the entire group, delegate Ed Kinane authored the letter. FOR Iran Coordinator Leila Zand then collaborated with her husband to translate the letter into Farsi and ensure its delivery.
As we begin this second phase of our trip, several people again share their experiences, which Phyllis Davies and I have gathered into a narrative of events. The first report, fittingly enough, is from Phyllis, a peace activist, agriculturalist, and teacher from the Central Coast of California. She shares her perspective of the group mood and experiences.
While in Shiraz, we visited the tombs of the poets. Our guide’s knowledge was wonderfully augmented by New Jersey delegate Bill Wolak, who has years of experience translating and teaching Iranian poetry. Bill tells us of this experience and translates a symbolically important poem by Sa’di, one of Iran’s most revered literary figures.
Our presence at important cultural sites also put us side by side with everyday Iranians – tourists, locals, merchants, and school children – who were visiting the same sites. Ymani Simmons from North Carolina, deeply involved in her Native American heritage, shares her encounter with an Iranian youth. While each encounter is unique, Ymani’s experience is included here to suggest any number of other encounters we had with the Iranian people.
We visited beautiful and unique mosques, as reported on by Priscilla Zimmerman, who, along with her husband Andrew, lives in an intentional religious community in New York State. Priscilla’s narrative captures the impressive visual spectacles of two mosques. Finally, Danny Postel, e-magazine writer and editor, tells of Iranians’ deep interest in world philosophy, reminding us that they highly value education, love a lively exchange of ideas, and are indeed quite worldly.
The following is the English version of the thank you letter sent to E. Rahim Mashaee, Vice President for Culture and Tourism of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with whom we visited the evening before departing to Shiraz. It is included here as a way of capping our Tehran experiences.
Delegation Letter to V.P. Esfandiar Rahim Mashaee
Dear Vice President Mashaee:
We, the members of the Fellowship of Reconciliation February 2007 Delegation, want to convey to you our deep appreciation for your gracious hospitality to us at your office on March 5.
We very much value the generous time – out of what must be an extremely busy schedule – which you allowed us.
Not only did you and your staff “make us feel at home,” but also you created an atmosphere that encouraged dialogue between us. Your courtesy and openness to us is especially remarkable given the difficulty between our two nations.
We believe that our exchange with you could serve as a model for more frequent and more extensive exchanges with you, with other members of your government, and with the people of Iran.
We believe that, given the diplomatic vacuum between Iran and the United States, such exchanges are essential if a just, symmetrical peace between our two nations is to be achieved.
We were gratified to hear of your willingness to meet with future peace delegations.
Please be assured that when we return to the United States we will widely share our impressions of the respect and good will we have received from you and, indeed, from the people of Iran in general.
As we now approach the last few days of our project here, our only regret is that our tight schedule did not allow us to get even better acquainted with Iran and its peace-seeking people.
Respectfully,
(Signed by all delegates)
Bill Wolak: "Hafez Day" (March 6)
The delegation checked out of the Ferdoosi Grand Hotel in Tehran early to catch our morning flight to Shiraz. Since the downtown traffic was not as congested as expected, we arrived at the airport an hour and a half early. The delegation passed through security quickly and spent an hour and a half in the airport waiting for the flight to Shiraz. The flight lasted just a little over an hour.
When the delegation arrived in Shiraz, the first thing we noticed was the change of temperature. We had left behind the snows of northern Tehran and were greeted by spring in Shiraz. The city of poets and gardens, Shiraz’s relaxed and companionable pace is a popular vacation destination for many Iranians seeking escape from the metropolitan bustle of Tehran.
The afternoon included two cultural activities: visits to the tombs of the most famous Iranian poets – Hafez and Sa’di. At the Hafez tomb, we saw the Hafez memorial, the Hafez Reading Room, and the Tea Room. This visit was particularly important to me because I have been so fascinated by this and other Iranian poets for several years that I have been translating their poems into English.
Hafez, the famous fourteenth century poet of love, tolerance, and integrity, is an important figure in Iranian culture. We are told that every Iranian owns two books: the Divan of Hafez (collected works) and the Qu’ran. Hafez’s tomb, garden, and teahouse represent a very special space in Iran. Like other gardens throughout Iran, Hafez’s tomb is a place where couples can meet, talk, and spend intimate time without the fear of being disturbed. At once sensuous, intellectual, and spiritual, Hafez’s poetry touched us all – including a Sufi dervish circumambulating Hafez’s tomb.
Sa’di is a very important poet in the Iranian tradition as well. As a matter of fact, the following lines by Sa’di are inscribed in the doorway of the United Nations building in New York City:
Every human being is a limb supporting the same body
Created from exactly the same substance.
If one limb aches because of old age or accident,
The others feel that same pain and find no relief.
Anyone who sees a person suffering and just doesn’t care
Is no longer worthy of the name human.
On the jet from Shiraz to Esfahan, as I reworked these lines from Sa’di, FOR Iran delegate Phyllis Davies comforted Maria, a burka-clad, English-speaking, Saudi Arabian mother. Shaking and sobbing, Maria nursed her baby. Maria was on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Mohammad’s wife Fatima, for whom her sleepily nursing daughter was named. Between her body-trembling sobs, Maria recurringly referred to Phyllis as “an angel who has come to me.” As Maria calmed, she and Phyllis talked briefly until we landed.
At the tomb of Sa’di, our guide provided us with a sight translation of a ghazal that appeared on one of the walls. A ghazal is a genre of love poetry, containing all of the central Sufi themes including the beloved, the Saki, and the wine of love. Like a sonnet, a ghazal is a lyrically metered work of eight to 20 lines. Each line is of two parts, each part a hemi-stitch. The convention of a ghazal calls for the poet to name himself somewhere in the last two lines. In fact, the poetic meter is so lyrical that there is a one-to-one correspondence between meter and musical scale, enabling the poem to be sung very easily. An underground stream and small teahouse are near Sa’di’s tomb. Several of us ordered tea and talked with ourselves and Iranian visitors while observing the variety of fish and the children who were delighted to see them. Many of us also enjoyed Shiraz’s most famous desserts – saffron and rosewater ice cream.
Go to Part 2 of the Second Report
