What Does Love to Do with it?
How love became a language of resistance in Iranian literature
This being almost Valentine’s day, and with politics everywhere, we like to talk about the connection of love and politics—defiance against rigidity and oppression—in Iranian literature.
Also included are the latest happenings and the upcoming events. Please share your views with us, and Gohar Nameh with other kindled spirits.
Love and Politics in Iranian Literature
The poem, Blue. Grey, Black, by Hamid Mosdeq, starts with the lamentation for his beloved’s indifference, but goes on to become social commentary, mourning the destruction of friendship”, and “the futility of joyful message of love,” and reaches its climax with a call to rally:
If I rise, if you rise, all will rise.
If I sit, if you sit,
Who will rise?
Who will fight the enemy we despise?
Love in a rigid and autocratic society like Iran is often intertwined with defiance and thus social commentary and ultimately politics. Linking freedom to love with freedom to act and think dates way back to at least Rumi—in the twelfth century—and Hafez, a century later. Hafez, e, g., readily professes that:
Prosperity is choosing begging in the beloved’s alley to ruling a kingdom
For his part, Rumi talks about love breaking the confines of rigid devotion:
Beloved came out of the garden, unaware and drunk, last night
The flood took away my repentance last night
This tradition was especially prevalent in Iran in the 1950s-1970s as the country became more socially permissive—at least in the expression of love—but remained politically restrictive. One interesting story is that of the poem Kiss Me (Mara Bebus), by Haydar Ali Raqabi, a nationalist poet who spent time in jail and was forced into exile for his fervent support of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosadeq. The legend has it that he wrote the poem immediately before leaving Iran, asking the composer Vafadar to set it to music. He dictated the last verses over the phone from the airport. The poem, about a man asking his sweetheart for a kiss for the last time before leaving forever, became a popular song, popularized first by the traditional singer Golnaraqi. But it reached a much larger audience when performed by popular singer Viguen, also known as “King of Iranian pop” and the “Sultan of Jazz,” with a pop beat. The song became a sensation, enjoyed by generations of Iranians who had no idea about its political origins.
In restrictive societies, love and politics have another common trait: both are kept secret, leading to hypocrisy. Forouq Farokhzad, the Queen of contemporary Iranian poetry, knew a thing or two about that. In the poem “The Conquest of the Garden,” she explores the parallel between the openness in expression of a forbidden love and the society’s transparency.
The talk is not of a frightened whisper in the dark
It is about daylight, and open windows
And the fresh air
And the oven to burn all useless objects
And the earth, pregnant with new seeds
And birth and growth and dignity
It is about our loving hands
That has built a bridge of fragrant message, light, and breeze
Over the darkness
We wish solace for all lovers separated by walls, barriers, barbed wires, surveillance drones, bureaucracies, oceans, rivers, continents, and mountains on Valentine’s Day. May Hafez, the patron saint of lovers, aided by a glass of wine, keep the grief away.
If sorrow raises an army to spill the blood of lovers
The wine server and I will join to raze its bases
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, March 11th, 2026 @ 5:30 PM - Author talk at Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Sq, Portland, ME
Saturday, April 11, 2026 @ 11 AM- Author talk at Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT., 1 Public Library Plaza, Stamford, CT 06901
The series “Library Talks” offers something fresh each time on Iranian modernization, its relevance today, and how my novel, Silenced Whispers, portrays this pivotal era. This format encourages returning guests to discover new insights at every talk. The event will conclude with a Q&A session and book signing. We would love to extend this to other communities. Please contact us if your local library is interested.
Until next time;
-Afarin & Team