The city of Shiraz from the beginning until this day has been the seat of religion and especially of poetry because these two eminent poets, Sahdi and Hafiz, were born, lived, wrote and died here. Their tombs are visited annually by thousands of pilgrims. They are dead but their influence still lives and it has much effect on Persia and especially on the inhabitants of the city of Shiraz. Many students are enrolled at the great cathedral mosque in the city, where some of the ablest professors of the country are instructors. Professor Yooseph, a graduate of this institution, told me that the air and the very dust of that city has in it the spirit of poetry. Even the small boys who sell grapes, apples, etc. in the streets sing some very charming poems about their fruits, though they themselves may never have learned to read.
THE SWEETNESS OF PERSIAN LANGUAGE FOR POETRY.
The Persians have one poem about the sweetness of their language for poetry, as follows:
"The original language was the language of Arabs. The Turkish language is hard. But the Persian language is honey comb." In comparison with the other Asiatic languages many scholars think it is indeed honey-comb and the sweetest of Asiatic languages, if not also of European languages, for the expression of poetry.
PART II. RELIGION.
CHAPTER I.
PARSEE RELIGION.
This was the prevailing religion of Persia in ancient times. Zerdush was either the founder or a reformer of that religion. The general belief is that he was the founder, since the religion and its followers are called by his name. Some suppose that this religion, the religion of Hindoo, were originally the same and that they were divided by some political affair between the Iranians and the Aryans. The Hindoo branch took the name Brahminian. The doctrines changed somewhat after the separation, but the fundamental principles remained the same.