H.E. Professor Dr. M Abdus Sobhan, Honorable Vice Chanceller of Rajshahi university, Excellencies, Professors, intellectuals, Dear guests, Ladies and gentlemen  السلام علیکم  and good morning (شوبا شاکال)   In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful   Tagore and Hafiz, prophets of whiteness and symbols of purity   Mr. Chairman, Please accept the most intimate gratitude of me as the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran because the high will and passion of Your Excellency and your valuable colleagues in the department of Persian language and literature in holding today’s precious seminar is a turning point in the cultural ties of the two wisdom-seeking and literature-loving peoples of Iran and Bangladesh and even the Indian subcontinent. Without a doubt the bonds of friendships and fraternity of our two countries will become further strengthened by holding such literary meetings. Once in a meeting with H.E. Sheikh Hasina the Honorable Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, she said she was proud of the fact that her mother used to recite the poems of Hafiz to her when she was a teenager. Therefore praising Hafiz and his heart-felt connection to Tagore is an invaluable move  in this country . More than anything, this indicates that the spiritual link between Hafiz and the post-Tagore generations is still going on in this great land. Moreover, I deem it worthy to thank Your Excellency for the special attention you pay to the Department of Persian language and literature of this university for the great responsibility of expanding Persian. Undoubtedly, the unsparing blessings from you in hosting and housing a university professor coming from the Islamic Republic of Iran , Dr.Hamedani, is in continuation and reminiscent of accepting Dr. Pour Davood by Tagore in the Visva-Bharati university of India. Therefore it needs to be said that by doing this you made the spirit of Tagore blissful. Many Thanks! Distinguished Guests, Dear Scholars With utmost pleasure I would like to announce that I have chosen Rajshahi and its symbol of science i.e. this university as my first destination for my trips in my second home, Bangladesh. I am very much thankful to the Almighty God for granting me the privilege to be able to be present in this intimate gathering comprised of the culture-loving people and Prof. Abdul Sobhan who is a respectable and valuable personality and speak about two luminaries in the history who have done so much to bring closer the peoples of Iran and Bangladesh and at the same time listen to the deliberations by other professors and scholars here. History can bear whiteness that the cultural bonds of the nations of Iran and Bangladesh have been interwoven since old times , in a way that the amazing mutual  impacts of these cultures on each other may not be ignored and denied. That is why delving into the thoughts of Rabindranath Tagore will guide us towards the ideas of the renowned Iranian poets especially Hafiz. The reason is that Tagore believes the culture of Iran and the subcontinent have many common cultural roots. The truth is that these two are exceptional figures because they have played a major role in lay the foundation of the exalted edifice of Persian and Indian Literature.  Besides, Hafiz and Tagore as the righteous well-wishers, have transnational and global ideas too. Thus not only the two great and cultural people of Iran and Bangladesh but also the whole humanity and people of the world will be forever in debt of the lofty spirit and free-thinking ideas of Hafiz and Tagore.   Distinguished Professors, As the introduction I need to say that the people of my country, Iran, are well-familiar with the name of Tagore and his works and consider him as freedom-loving poet, a cultured artist and an unworldly human being who was adept in all areas of art. 69 years ago (i.e. 9 years before his demise) he traveled to Iran and celebrated his 71st birthday in Tehran amongst the culture and literature lovers of my country.  In his two speeches in Iran he made mention of his being Iranian and his love for the land of Persia. He said: “I am Iranian and my ancestors emigrated from this land to India. I am happy to have come to the motherland of my forefathers and it is because of this shared cultural and racial origin that  this much kindness is expressed to me. And I took the trouble of travelling to Iran despite all my old age problems and physical weakness because I have heart  -felt emotions for Iran and nothing else”.   Distinguished Scholars, At the outset I deem it necessary to mention some general views on expanding the artistic personality and thoughts of these two eternal legends. Hafiz as the great Iranian poet of the 14th century has a special brilliance and status among the eloquent Persian speakers because they believe he is the prime example of the pinnacle of this language. Hafiz’s influence on not only the Persian Literature but also the literature of other countries is unparalleled. Actually, the scholastic ideas of Hafiz have brought him so much universal acclaim that many of the great thinkers of the world  such as Tagore and Goethe  have been inspired by them and strived to create similar works. This shows the enormity of Hafiz who had leaned the Holy Quran by the age of 15 and used to read this Holy Book in 14 interpretations and this is the secret to the eternity of the name and memory of the Persian poet whose poetry is among the most fresh, most beautiful and most meaningful poems of all time even after the passage of 7 centuries. Tagore is also a multi-faceted personality. He is a poet and at the same time a great writer, painter, philosopher and artist who is adept at all the dexterities of his time. He is the creator of memorable works such as more than 2000 songs, the national anthem of India and Bangladesh, various literature books, hundreds of paintings and he is the sole Asian winner of Nobel Prize for literature. However the interesting part about him is that Tagore refers to himself as only a poet and nothing else. He said the following when he was nearing his death: “Now that I look back on my past I realize that what is certain about me is that I am a poet. I don’t claim I am a language expert or a political leader or and ethical scholar or a religious leader but I say I am a poet …” .This great poet created more than 60 volumes of books of poems.   Honorable Audience, Tagore without a doubt is the greatest poets from the Bengal and will forever be a brilliant star in the sky of the subcontinent literature. The literature of India and Bangladesh are indebted to his works and writings. He is also not only the connecting link between the Iranian culture and the culture of the subcontinent but also the shared link between the culture of the subcontinent and the whole world. I would to quote Albert Schweitzer the Nobel Prize winner: “Tagore belongs to not only his people but to the whole humanity”. The secret to Tagore’s success lies in the fact that with his vision he concentrated all his the facets of his resolve on the reforming and changing the people of the subcontinent and that is why he decided to establish schools and universities. Hence one can claim that today India is more indebted to Tagore’s resolve that it is the Gandhi’s independence-seeking. Gandhi was right to call him “the Guardian of the East”.   Ladies and Gentlemen, In expounding the connection between spirituality and the bonds between Hafiz and Tagore we must correctly identify their diverging and converging points. The converging points: the thoughts of Hafiz  are so close to Tagore in many ways. Such as seeking God, serving the people, belief in ethics, philosophical views, love for freedom, love and hope. For example pay attention to their shared concepts of love and hope: 1- love: Tagore refers to love as something that is liberating and free from any dependence. He says: “love is the ultimate freedom”. Hafiz also says: I speak frankly and that makes me happy I am the slave of love; I am free of both worlds 2- hope: being hopeful in life is another notable component they have in common in their thoughts. Hafiz has used the word “Hope” (امید),  72 times and did not made use of its opposite that is “despair” (یأس) not even for once. He says: Me, hope of union with You keeps alive If not, from separation from you a hundred ways, fear of destruction is mine Tagore has also used the word hope many times. For instance when he said: “the birth of every child shows that God has not yet been disappointed in the creation of man”. Their diverging points are solely caused by generation gap and national identity. However they are really convergence because: 1- Generation gap (about 470 years) is not a sign of divergence but the criterion for thoughts identity. 2- Tagore himself said “I am an Iranian and my ancestor’s emigrated from the land of Persia to India”. As a matter of fact in my studies of the works of Hafiz and Tagore I found no real point of divergence. It is as if Tagore and Hafiz, despite their langue, culture, society and time differences, are one soul living in one body. Yes .. for the richness of the poems of Hafiz and his precedence, we may claim that Tagore was obsessed with Hafiz and knew him as his mentor and inspiration because as a teenager he became familiar with him through his father  (Debendranath)’s whispering of Hafiz poetry and gradually he memorized the Divan of Hafiz and whenever he woke up in the morning he would whisper to himself one Ghazal of Hafiz. Therefore it may be claimed that Tagore spent his life with love and in the vicinity of Hafiz.   Respectable Professors, Honorable students, The deep impacts of Hafiz’s thoughts in the Poetry of Bengal are undeniable. The   poems of  Rabindranath Tagore and  Kazi Nazrul Islam are founded upon the poetic style of Hafiz. The 700-year-old rule of the Persian-speaking Muslims in the Indian subcontinent made Persian the official language of these lands and, as a result, many of the Bengali poems have come up with poems in Persian too. Al-Mahmoud the great contemporary Bengali Poet believes that: “ the Iranians have never ruled this region but have always rules the hearts of the people of this region”. Dear Audience, In conclusion, I would like to mention that the sweet gift of Hafiz Shirazi to Sultan Qiayasuldin was that famous “Persian sugar”. I, too, could not find a more valuable gift to present to you in this great gathering of men and women of knowledge. Therefore I conclude by saying: شکر شکن شوند همه طوطیان هند How happy in their sugar-packing these indian parrots all زین قند پارسی که به بنگاله می رود Who banquet on this Persian candy transmitted to Bengal And let’s not forget Tagore’s usual prayer: “grant me strength to take my thoughts and spirit beyond the mundane trivialities” At the end I would like to once again express my appreciation for holding this valuable seminar and for the  generous hospitality extended to us by Prof. Abdul Mannan the honorable chairman of Rajshahi University and his distinguished colleagues and pray to God Almighty to grant to all good health and ever-increasing success in the their endeavors to expand the culture of their forefathers.   Long live the deep cultural bonds of Iran and Bangladesh. ایران زنده باد بنگلادش زنده باد ؛ جوی بنگلا آپنادر شافلاتا کامونا کوری والسلام علیکم و رحمه الله و برکاته