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Safavid Wine Poetry: Taverns and the Divine in Isfahan
In 17th-century Isfahan, wine flowed freely in Safavid taverns despite official Islamic prohibitions. This episode explores the paradox of wine in Twelver Shi‘i Persia through the lens of Persian poetry—especially the works of Hafez and the Safavid poet Vahshi Bafqi. Lucas and Luna discuss how Safavid shahs like Tahmasp and Abbas I navigated piety versus pleasure, the role of Christian Armenian vintners from New Julfa, and the famed 'Shah's tavern' at Naqsh-e Jahan. They also trace the concept of the mystical 'tavern' (kharabat) in Sufi poetry, where wine symbolized divine intoxication. The…
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