Explore Iranica

GOETHE, JOHANN WOLFGANG von (1749-1832), and the influence upon him of the Persian poet Ḥāfeẓ (q.v.; ca. 1320-90 C.E.). Goethe, the most renowned poet of German literature, was already from his youth deeply interested in the East and in Islam. He planned to write a drama about Moḥammad, as witnessed…

ḠOJDOVĀN (also Ḡojdavān, Ḡajdovān), town and district in the oasis of Bukhara. The modern town (Ḡejdovān) is located at 253 m above sea level, 49 km north-northeast of Bukhara, at 40° 6’ N and 64° 41’ E. The district is irrigated by the Pirmast canal that branches westward off the…

GOL (gul), rose (Rosa L. spp.) and, by extension, flower, bloom, blossom.   ROSES I. Etymology. Mid. Pers. gul (< *wṛda-) “rose, flower,” non-Persian *ward ( Pers. sorḵ, Av. suxra-, all meaning “red”), probably to avoid confusion with gol “flower” in general or to stress redness (because not all roses...

GOL ḴĀNĀN MORDA (Gul Khanan Murdah), an archeological site in the Eyvān plain, Ilām province (Poštkuh, Lorestān; FIGURE 1). The Belgian Archeological Mission in Iran, directed by Louis Vanden Berghe, excavated a section of a large plundered graveyard at Gol Ḵānān Morda in 1978 and discovered eighty stone lined tombs…

GOL O BOLBOL, rose and nightingale, a popular literary and decorative theme. i. In Persian literature. ii. As a decorative theme in Persian art.   I. IN PERSIAN LITERATURE Individually, both the rose (gol; qv.) and the nightingale (bolbol; q.v.) are important motifs in Persian literature, and in the imagery…

GOL-ĀQĀ, a weekly satirical magazine founded by Kayumarṯ Ṣāberi which first began publication on 23 October 1990. The circulation of Gol-āqā soon reached over “100,000 copies a week; a remarkable success” (Geraldine Brooks, “Hot New Satirical Magazine Reflects a New Glasnost: Judge Blood Not Amused,” The Wall Street Journal October…

GOL-E ZARD, literary, socio-satirical newspaper, published from 27 Šaʿbān 1336/7 June 1918 until 19 Ḏu’l-qaʿda 1342/ 22 June 1924, first every ten days, then biweekly, and, from the third year, weekly. It was suspended on two occasions, once for seventeen days and again for forty days, without the reason being…

GOL-GOLĀB, ḤOSAYN, botanist, musician, poet, scholar, and member of the Farhangestān (born Tehran, 1274/1895; d. Tehran, 22 Esfand 1363 Š./13 March 1985; Figure 1). Born in a family of music connoisseurs, Gol-golāb received his first education in music at an early age from his father, Abu Torāb Khan Mahdi Moṣawwer-al-Molk,…