For his new book ‘Shirin and Farhad’, Shafiei has rewritten and simplified the namesake love story written by Persian poet Vahshi Bafqi (1532-1583).
The encounter between Shirin and Farhad is part of a longer and more tragic tale of Khosrow and Shirin by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209). The stories are believed to be partially based on real events.
Farhad was a humble artist and craftsman famed for his skill at carving rock, who served Shirin, the queen of Armenia. Farhad fell in love with Shirin. In order to dissuade Farhad from his love for Shirin, Sassanid king Khosrow II Parvēz, who was also in love with Shirin, set him the impossible task of carving a tunnel through Mount Behistun (in today’s Kermanshah Province).
When the king learns that the impossible mission had become possible, he sends Farhad the false news of Shirin’s death. In his despair, Farhad falls from the rocks and dies.
Source: Financial Tribune