Madness - The Majnun Tree in Winter

December, 2004
The Garden of Paradise "Bagh-e-Eram"
Shiraz, Iran

The weather was getting extremely cold and I was forced to paint in a hooded coat with gloves. The hours of admittance to the garden were less because of the winter schedule. I loved to paint the sun shining on the structure of this magnificent tree, which had dropped most of its leaves. My favorite birds, the Zaghi flew overhead and alighted in the trees calling to each other with their mischievous, cackling laugh.

When I had arrived at Hafez's Tomb in October during this third trip to Iran and second day in Shiraz, I met the Dervish again and he told me he had a message for me: "You have come to the right place and you are on the right path. If you use your heart to increase your love," he said, "you will gain the goal and succeed in everything you set out to do, but, if you use your mind, you will lose it and you will lose everything!"

By the end of my trip I experienced the meaning of his words while painting Madness and then I was given an exhibit of my paintings at the Tomb of Hafez.

My favorite story for which the Majnun tree was named is Layla and Majnun, written by the great Persian Sufi Master-Poet Nizami. Majnun means mad. The Weeping Mulberry Tree is called the Majnun Tree in Iran.

Please contact Laurie Blum for details.