Source: French to English Tester Published on: 2026-05-10
Source: The Conversation – France in French (3)– By Firouzeh Nahavandi, Emeritus Professor, Free University of Brussels (ULB)
In Iran, the verses of the great classical poets are not only a cultural heritage: they allow to say, suggest, and share political meanings without stating them explicitly.
In a context marked, for several years, by a tightening of repression in Iran —thousands of protesters killedby the law enforcement forces,tens of thousands of arrests,increased surveillanceof public speech, increase incase of application of the death penalty—, expressing oneself explicitly is becoming increasingly dangerous.
In this context, certain forms of expression acquire a particular function. This is the case with poetry, which is not only a part of cultural heritage: it constitutes a living social practice and a structuring mode of expression. Even today, the verses of great classical poets continue to circulate, be quoted, and reinterpreted — not only for their literary value, but also because they offer a way to say things differently.
Aesop’s Language
This centrality of the implicit is not only due to the current situation: it corresponds to an already available resource, which becomes particularly central in a context of constraint. It is part of a longer history of the relationships between power and expression in Iran, where indirect speech has often been a privileged mode to say what could not be openly expressed. It is also found in other forms of social interaction, such asta’arof, this set of relational codes based on politeness, the gap between what is said and what is meant, and the implicit management of social positions. It also appears, in other forms, in negotiation practices, where indirect wording allows for margins of interpretation. This has been observed, for example, in contemporary diplomatic practices, when Iran can declare itself ready for negotiation while constantly shifting the conditions, thus maintaining a margin of interpretation.
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Realpolitik and reliability: the dilemma of negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran
From this perspective, the use of poetry does not constitute a one-off workaround but represents a sustainable mode of expression. Thus, in an environment where speaking directly amounts to exposing oneself to danger, poetry appears as a specific discursive resource: it allows one to suggest, evoke, and share political meanings without stating them explicitly. The symbolic density and polysemy of classical Persian poetry enable multiple readings, adapted to the contexts. This plasticity makes it a particularly effective tool of expression in contexts of coercion. In theShahnameh, Ferdowsi (10th–11th century)eThe 16th century) stages figures of sovereignty whose trajectories — justice, drift, fall — offer as many implicit models for evaluating power. These narratives do not directly evoke the present, but they provide frameworks for its interpretation.
AtSaadi(XIIIeIn century), some maxims more directly formulate the conditions of political legitimacy:
“The king who oppresses his people himself digs the foundations of his downfall.”
Their generality is their strength: they can be mobilized without explicitly designating a given situation.
On the contrary,Hafez(XIVeThe 16th century favors ambiguity. Its verses allow for multiple interpretations, never fitting into a single register. This indeterminacy facilitates their circulation in contexts of surveillance. These different registers — exemplary narrative, normative maxim, poetic ambiguity — make up a repertoire of available expressions. They offer several ways to depict power, to judge it, or to distance oneself from it, without resorting to direct speech.
Reading between the lines: a shared skill
The effectiveness of this mode of expression relies on a widely shared competence: the ability to recognize references, interpret allusions, and read between the lines. Because, in Iran, classical poetry is not reserved for literary circles. It is known, quoted, and mobilized in daily exchanges as well as in public speeches.
“The sons of Adam are the limbs of one body, created from the same essence. If one limb suffers, the others cannot remain at rest.”
This passage from Saadi,inscribed on the front of the United Nations headquarters, illustrates the universal scope of this tradition. But in the Iranian context, it can also be mobilized as an indirect way to remind that in the face of injustice, no one can remain indifferent. This competence is not limited to knowledge of texts. It involves an ability to situate statements, to adjust their interpretation according to the situation, and to recognize what is suggested without being explicitly expressed. It is acquired progressively, more through familiarity than formal learning, and constitutes an ordinary dimension of socialization.
Understanding a verse is not just about grasping its literal meaning. It is recognizing an allusion, catching an implication, situating a reference. This skill, acquired over a long period, becomes in a surveillance context a social and political resource. In a surveillance environment, it allows implicit communication, where meaning circulates without being fully articulated.
Ancient directories, current usages
The strength of classical poetry also lies in its distance from contemporary situations. Produced in distant historical contexts, the verses ofOmar Khayyam(11th–12theTo the century), of Saadi or Hafez do not refer to a specific situation. This distance facilitates their reappropriation. Thequatrains of Omar Khayyam, which emphasize the fragility of existence and the value of the present moment, can thus resonate with contemporary contexts marked by uncertainty and violence, by proposing a different hierarchy of values. This capacity for actualization rests on a productive tension between historical distance and contemporary relevance. The further the texts are from their original context, the more they can be reinvested in new configurations, without being immediately assignable to an explicit political position.
Today, these directories are being reconfigured through new media.On social networks, the verses are fragmented, transformed, sometimes anonymized. They circulate in the form of quotes, images, or slogans. These digital circulations change the modes of dissemination without altering their logic. The fragmentation of the verses, their illustration, or their anonymization sometimes enhance their ability to circulate, while maintaining their function of allusion. The digital does not erase tradition: it reconfigures its uses.
During the mobilizations that followed the death of Mahsa Jina Amini in 2022, many messages explicitly or implicitly drew on motifs from classical poetry — notably very present in Hafez — such as the night, waiting, and dawn, to express expectations or criticisms without using explicitly political language.
In a restricted public space, this circulation allows maintaining a common language.
Another way of saying the political
The use of poetry can be understood as a sign of a mismatch between the forms of expression available in society and the constraints imposed on public speech. This mismatch does not mean absence of speech, but transformation of its forms. It reveals a tension between social expectations of expression and the limits imposed on their explicit formulation. In this constrained space, poetry appears as one of the places where this tension can be expressed — indirectly, but intelligibly.
When direct expression becomes risky, indirect forms do not disappear: they persist, transform, and sometimes strengthen. Poetry, in Iran, constitutes a specific modality of the political, based on allusion, polysemy, and the sharing of common references.
In a context where speaking can lead to sanctions up to death, this form of expression does not eliminate the risk, but it modifies the conditions. It allows meaning to circulate without being entirely fixed. Understood this way, poetry appears less as a refuge than as a resource: not an outside to the political, but a way of formulating it under constraints.
Firouzeh Nahavandi does not work for, advise, hold shares in, receive funds from any organization that could benefit from this article, and has declared no affiliation other than her research institution.
–ref. In Iran, poetry as a clandestine political language –https://theconversation.com/en-iran-poetry-as-clandestine-political-language-282181