'Travels in Assyria, Media, and Persia, including a journey from Bagdad by Mount Zagros, to Hamadan, the ancient Ecbatana, researches in Ispahan and the ruins of Persepolis, and journey from thence by Shiraz and Shapoor to the sea-shore. Description of Bussorah, Bushire, Bahrein, Ormuz, and Muscat, narrative of an expedition against the pirates of the Persian Gulf, with illustrations of the voyage of Nearchus, and passage by the Arabian Sea to Bombay.' [‎301] (332/582)

TOMB OF HAFIZ. 3qj
tally along the slabs in close order, changing the general colour of
white by its variation of shades to a cloudy yellowness. The
upper slab, which is laid fiat on these sides and ends, is free from
such veins, and may be called perfectly white. Around its edges
is a small rope moulding, neatly cut; and the body of the interior
contains the Ode of Hafiz, in the letter Sheen, beautifully exe
cuted in high relief; the letters large, and of the finest possible
forms. This ode occupies the whole face of the stone, except
just leaving room for a small border round it; and this border is
formed by a succession of certain sentences and sayings of the
poet, in separate compartments, going all around the edge of the
tomb. The marble is said to be that of Tabreez, which is in
general described to be formed of a combination of light green
colours, with here and there veins of red, and sometimes of blue ;
but in this instance the upper stone is perfectly white, and the
sides and end ones only streaked horizontally by a close succes
sion of cloudy and waving lines, thus differing from any other of
the Tabreez marbles that I had elsewhere seen.
Like the tomb of Saadi, that of Hafiz was said to have been
placed on the spot which he frequented when alive ; and his grave,
it is believed, stands at the foot of a cypress planted by his own
hands. It is only six months since that this sacred tree had fallen
down, after having stood so many years; and though it was sawed
off, the trunk is still preserved above ground, to be shown to vi
sitors. Had such an event happened in England, every fibre of
it would have been preserved with as much care as the mulberry
of Shakspeare, but here it was generally disregarded. The first
constructor of the tomb of Hafiz was one of his contemporaries.
Nadir Shah, however, on the occasion of his being at Shiraz,
having visited it, and opened the copy of his works, always kept
here for inspection, found a passage so applicable to his own case,
that he embellished the whole place, and restored the tomb, which
was fast falling to decay. The present structure is, however, a
still more recent work, and is ascribed to the munificence of Kur-