May 1, 2021 • 54M

The Septembers Of Shiraz

Tea, poetry, revolution, spies and fortune telling!

 
1×
0:00
-54:18
Open in playerListen on);
    Substack App
    Download MP3
    Get a private RSS link for listening
    Subscribe to this podcast to get a private link for listening in your favorite podcast player. Learn about RSS.
Episode details
Comments

The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer

Buy This Book

city of Shiraz, Iran

  •  Known as the city of poets, literature, wine (despite Iran being an Islamic republic since 1979), and flowers.

  • Two famous poets of Iran, Hafez and Saadi, are from Shiraz.

  • Home to many Iranian Jews, although most have immigrated to the United States and Israel in the last half of the twentieth century, particularly after the Islamic Revolution (1979)

Characters
Isaac (Amin) - Gemologist / Jeweler
Farnaz - Wife
Shirin - Daughter
Parvaz - Son
Moshen - Revolutionary Guard Interrogator
Habibeh - Housekeeper
Shah - Leader of Iran overthrown in coup during islamic revolution
Reza - fellow prisoner

Timeline

  • 1951 - Iran nationalizes Anglo-Iranian Oil which was owned by Britain

  • 1953 - CIA backed coup overthrows Iran’s democratically elected PM Mohammad Mosaddegh

  • 1978 - Protests against the Shah's rule erupts

  • 1979 - Shah forced into exile by islamic revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini

  • 1979–1981 Iran hostage crisis diplomatic standoff between the US and Iran

Iran national flag
Mohammad Mosaddegh (1951)
Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh is being taken after arrest in August, 1953
On March 8, 1979, over 100,000 women gathered on the streets of the Iranian capital to protest against the new Islamic government’s compulsory hijab ruling, which meant that women would henceforth be required to wear a headscarf when away from home. The protest was held on International Women’s Day
Shah flees Iran as the Islamic Revolution seizes power (1979)
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran to lead the new Islamic Revolution (1979)
mypersiancorner.com
Hot tea served in kamar bârik with sugar cubes.
la tarjeta de la muerte tambien el numero trece (the death card..number 13)

Symbolises the end of a major phase or aspect of your life that you realise is no longer serving you, opening up the possibility of something far more valuable and essential. The old version of you needs to 'die' to allow the new you to be created.

Hafiz verse

Give thanks for nights spent in good company,
And take the gifts a tranquil mind may bring;
No heart is dark when the kind moon doth shine,
And grass-grown river-banks are fair to see.
The Saki's radiant eyes, God favouring,
Are like a wine-cup brimming o'er with wine,
And him my drunken sense goes out to greet,
For e'en the pain he leaves behind is sweet.

References:

mypersiancorner.com/iranian-culture-boot-camp-tea-etiquette

sacred-texts.com/isl/hafiz.htm

Hafez

democracynow.org/2010/5/6/history_of_bp_includes_role_in

daliasofer.com

Corrections:

BP was formerly known as Anglo-Iranian Oil Company

Music

lostandshelfless.com