The shrine of Sa'di in Shiraz, Iran (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
The way of love is not a subtle argument.
The door there is devastation…
— Rumi
“When you go to Iran, just be prepared,” my professor warned me, “because even the taxi drivers can quote long passages of Rumi and Hafiz by heart.” Preparing to go to Iran, I realized, was going to require more than just packing a suitcase–I’d have to brush up on my Persian poetry too…
While the “death of poetry” in America has been debated for years by academics and public intellectuals, the power of poetry never seems in jeopardy in places like Iran and Russia (where heated arguments over the superiority of poetry or prose can even lead to murder). In Iran, Persian speakers often use poetry as the foundation of a political or philosophical argument. Because poetry in Iran is a popular way to start a debate or frame an attack, it makes sense that opponents of the Geneva nuclear accord would turn to poetry to disseminate their dissent…
