This site was the only second Iranian Web site on the Internet, dating back to 1994. (The first site was The Iranian Cultural and Information Center of Stanford University). This site was designed to introduce the Persian and Iranian art and literature to the world. The history of Persian art and literature goes back to many thousands of years before Islamic era. A goal is to bring the many years of work of Persian poets and writers as close as your finger tips. The pages are designed to emulate and convey artistic messages and aesthetism while keeping up with the contents and quality of the presentation. Original and translations of some of the most famous Persian classics, such as Robaiyyat (Quatrains) of Omar Khayyam, Gulistan of Saadi, Bustan of Saadi and Ghazal (Sonnets) of Hafez, are now available on-line. You can download and distribute them freely. The Persian history of the pre-Islamic era is covered by my detailed history of Iran page which includes the ancient history of the Mesopotamia and Elam, Acheamenian Empire, Alexander and the Seleucids, Parthian (Arsacid Dynasty), Zoroastrianism and Sassanian Empire. Also my Persepolis page describes the history of the Acheamenian Empire along with the details of the ancient city of Persepolis, and a brief introduction to 23 nations including, Sagartians, Parthians, Egyptians, Aryans, Arachosians, Elamites, Medes, Sogdians, Gandharians, Scyths, Cilicians, Babylonians, Armenians, Indians, Bactrians, Lydians, Cappadocians and Assyrians, which were member nations of the Great Persian Empire. There is also a collection of articles, images and other documents compiled from the travel guides, newspaper articles and articles submitted to the soc.culture.iranian newsgroup. I've arranged and compiled this material in order to answer to many questions I've been asked, related to Iranian culture and customs, as well as introducing a few interesting sites to visit. Please notice that the material presented here is not related and has nothing to do with the Iranian government and her political viewpoints. Only links from sites discussing Iranian culture and literature are welcome.

	Introduction		Religion		Principal Sites to Visit
	History		Pilgrimage Centers		Food
	Economy		Art and Literature		Writing System
	Agriculture		Architecture		Behavior Rules
	Handicrafts		Calligraphy		Laws and Rules

	"Which city, among the many you have visited abroad," Asked the Beloved from her Lover one day, " Have you found more enjoyable?" " It is the city", he answerd "where resides one's true love." (Rumi)
	Tehran		Yazd		Tabriz
	Isfahan		Hamedan		Qom
	Shiraz		Gilan and Mazandaran		Kerman
	Persepolis		Mash-had
	Please notice this site is not located in Iran and no information other than those presented here is available. Please refrain from asking questions related to travelers guide, airlines, sites, locations, schools, etc.

	These are the first, original and non-commercial pages of my Online Library of Persian Art and Literature. If you are interested in Persian classic literature, please visit Robaiyyat (Quatrains) of Omar Khayyam (in Persian). Also come and enjoy Ghazal (Sonnets) of Hafez (in Persian) and Couplets of Parvin Etesami (in Persian). English translation of Gulistan of Saadi, Bustan of Saadi, Masnavi-e-Ma'navi (spritual couplets of Rumi), Robaiyyat (Quatrains) of Omar Khayyam and Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, famous Persian poems are also available. There is also a new collection of Robaiyyat of Hafez New! which is presented in Persian with English translation. Please visit Picture Gallery and The Persian Art of Visual Poetry (Miniature) for a collection of pictures of various places in Iran and an exhibition of Persian paintings. If you have got a Java enabled browser (i.e., Netscape 3.x, MSIE 3.x or better) You may want to use my FREE Java applet JavAneh which is designed to display Persian text on the Web. Give it a try!! These are some example documents using JavAneh: JavAneh: Robaiyyat (Quatrains) of Khayyam Part 1 JavAneh: Robaiyyat (Quatrains) of Khayyam Part 2 JavAneh: Ghazal (Sonnets) of Hafez: [Part 1] --- [Part 2] --- [Part 3] --- [Part 4] [Part 5] --- [Part 6] --- [Part 7] --- [Part 8]		(Click on a button opens the document in a new window and resizes it. Click on a text link on your left opens the document in a new window with the default window size. If you have a Java enabled browser use the buttons.)

And a wish: I've a dream of having a world wide and freely accessible Online Library of Persian Art and Literature including classics and contemporary poetry, fine arts, etc., all in Persian. Why not leaving those treasures on-line for our children to read and enjoy? Why not telling our kids where did we come from and how our ancestors contributed to the human culture? Is there anyone else feeling the same? If so, we should work together. I've already taken the first steps and seek help from all of you on volunteer basis. A way that you can contribute to implement this and make it more fruitful is to send me books related to Persian literature in any language, Persian, English, Japanese, French or German. Your contribution to introducing our culture to the world will be highly appreciated. My mail address is given at the bottom of this page. Thank you.

	Not satisfied yet? Well, try other pages and other sites. You may even find some sites inside IRAN.

		Would you like to add your home page to our guests record? (for Netscape 3.x or MSIE 3.x) This is a FREE message board for those who visit this page. Please give us your comments, if you want.

This service was accessed by clients from the following countries/domains during July 2001: United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Azerbaidjan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Bulgaria, Bahrain, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Bolivia, Brazil, Belarus, Canada, Switzerland, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Egypt, Spain, Ethiopia, Finland, Fiji, France, Great Britain (UK), Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Hong Kong, Croatia, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, India, Iran, Iceland, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Japan, Kenya, Kirgistan, Cambodia, Korea (South), Kuwait, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Sri Lanka, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Morocco, Moldavia, Mauritania, Malta, Maldives, Mexico, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Norway, Nepal, Niue, New Zealand, Oman, Peru, Papua New Guniea, Philippines, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Sweden, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Soviet Union, El Salvador, Thailand, Tonga, Turkey, Trinidad and Tobago, Taiwan, Tanzania, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Virgin Islands (US), Vietnam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, US Commercial, US Educational, US Government, International, US Military, Network, Non-Profit, Old style Arpanet.

		ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
		This work could not be done without the help of those who prepared the original documents in the form of newsgroup articles, images, etc. I express my gratitude and dedicate this work to the anonymous writers and thinkers who helped me put these pages together. DISCLAIMER: The opinions presented here are my own and may not reflect the opinions of Saitama University.

	This page was created by B.H. Far. Please contact far@enel.ucalgary.ca for any suggestions or comments.	A top ranked 4 Star Magellan Site
	Mail Address: Dr. Behrouz Homayoun Far Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Calgary 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 1N4

IMPORTANT NOTE. THIS DOCUMENT, ITS ENTIRE CONTENTS AND THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF ONLINE LIBRARY OF PERSIAN ART AND LITERATURE ARE COPYRIGHT 1995 BY B.H. FAR. COPYING, REPUBLISHING AND DISTRIBUTING ANY DOCUMENT BELONGING TO THIS SERVICE, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IS PROHIBITED BY LAW. IF YOU DESIRE TO MIRROR OR REPUBLISH PARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT IN ELECTRONIC FORM, PLEASE CONTACT THE AUTHOR . Last Modified: