Hafez in Bosnia

Before 1989, the Divan of Hafez had never been rendered into Bosnian — until the martyred Leader, then President of the Islamic Republic, traveled to Sarajevo and urged his translator to take on the task. What followed was years of work that brought the verses of the great Persian poet into a language they had never known, beginning with a handwritten dedication on the opening page of a gifted copy. 

The story is not only one of translation; it reveals a leader's commitment to the Persian language and its place beyond Iran's borders — a man who took pride in his identity, in the dignity of his heritage, and in the civilization that had produced voices like Hafez. On National Hafez Day, KHAMENEI.IR presents that story.