From Pariz to Paris

This is the account of Bastani Parizi’s travels, a travelogue proper, to Shiraz, Tabriz,
Mashhad, Iraq, Pakistan, and Romania, and his last visit to Europe, an eponymous chapter
with the book itself. His account is a detailed image of places he visited, things he saw and
beheld; of his ‘seven cities with seven hues and seven mingles,’ of edifices and monuments
and spectacular things; in the mirror of those monuments he beholds the spirit of history and
its tumultuous events; in all these visits, not only he sees the obvious, but also sees the
unseen, when in visit to Shiraz, in the middle of the dark, he sees the spirit of Hafez, in
circumambulation of the stout pine tree of his tomb, praising the reciter of his own verses. Or
in Babylon, Bastani lavishes praise upon princess Amitis, the Iranian lady – who decreed the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon – in a manner as if Bastani saw the lady, while gardens are
irrigated by her unending tears. Bastani pursues more than introducing the cities and
attractions or their histories and cultures; and he achieves this truly. The opening part of the
book is his account of visit to Iraq, ‘On the Shores of Euphrates,’ which includes his notes
from March 21 to March 25 1968 when he was to do a pilgrimage of the Shrines of Shi’ite
Imams. A different chapter is dedicated to Shiraz visit and a report of his participation in
‘The Shiraz-Persepolis Festival of Arts’ held in Shiraz (1967-77). ‘In Pure Soil,’ is his
account of visit to Pakistan, and the title of his fourth chapter, ‘Tabriz, the Rose Garden,’ is
his account of Tabriz visit and a memorial of Khajeh Rashiduddin Fazlollah
Hamadani (1247-1318). ‘Acts from the Interlude,’ is Bastani’s notes during October and
November 1970 visit to Romania. His Mashhad section, ‘Millennia of Beihaghi,’ is a report
of his Khorasan travel and attending a congress on Persian historian and author Abolfazl
Beyhaghi (995-1077). His eponymous ‘From Pariz to Paris,’ is Bastani’s Europe visit report
and notes made during his stay in the continent, October 1970 to October 1971 and during
other visits. The ending chapter of the book, ‘An Oxford Congress,’ is his account of
participation in the Sixth International Congress on History of Iran’s Art and Archaeology.
‘From Pariz to Paris’ is an autobiographical sketch of Bastani, beginning with his departure
from his beloved hometown of Pariz, Sirjan in Kerman. For Bastani, this piece serves as short
sketches preparing the stage for yet greater and more distant departure, which is at the same
time a spiritual journey; “the journey about which this has been said: the wayfarers always
travel within their own territory.” Bastani Parizi has been in a lifelong travel, as if searching
for a valuable gem he once lost.