Ganj e Hozour (translated as Treasure of Presence) is a long-running spiritual broadcast that hosts the study and contemporary interpretation of Persian mystical literature. Founded and hosted by Iranian-born scholar Parviz Shahbazi, the program presents the teachings of Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi, also known as Rumi, within a psychological and philosophical context.
Since its launch in late 2004, more than 1,040 live episodes have been recorded and broadcast to date. Ganj e Hozour was aired to connect the Persian poetry mysticism and the emotional, moral, and psychological questions that define daily life in the modern era.
Shahbazi, who holds an academic background in engineering and philosophy, established the program to make classical mystical texts accessible to a general audience. This approach situated the program as a literary reading and a space where poetry, reflection, and guided conversation come together.
The broadcast went live when Persian mystical traditions, particularly Sufi writings, were gaining international interest, but were often presented through fragmented or translated quotations online. Shahbazi’s initiative sought to counter this trend by offering full contextual readings and interpretations with continuity, clarity, and structured dialogue.
Each episode of Ganj e Hozour has a run time of several hours and ends with a reading of poetry by Rumi and other mystics, including Hafez, Attar, and Omar Khayyam. Instead of sharing separate excerpts, the program points at how verses connect to philosophical systems, human behavior, and self-awareness.
The show hosts live call-in sessions and discussions with listeners worldwide. Participants actively share philosophical thoughts or personal questions, and verbally interact with Shahbazi to deepen understanding.
In addition to the broadcast itself, the teachings of Ganj e Hozour have been expanded into written form. Three Farsi-language volumes have been published based on selected episodes, which offer a structured presentation of Rumi’s philosophy and the core concepts of what is broadly referred to as the Treasure of Presence movement.
For non-Farsi audiences, English translations covering the first 100 episodes have been made available, offering international readers access to core teachings and discussions. Across its two-decade evolution, Ganj e Hozour has adapted to changing communication technologies. What began as a single television broadcast is now accessible through five live and archived channels.
Rather than shortening complex teachings into fragments, Ganj e Hozour maintains a multi-hour lecture-and-dialogue format, suggesting that understanding and transformation require sustained engagement. From a Persian culture point of view, the program exhibits a continued effort to circulate classical poetry as an active, lived tradition rather than a literary archive limited to history.
The broadcast also relates to a renewed attention to Sufi writings in a global context, where individuals actively search for frameworks of meaning that connect introspection, ethics, and emotional awareness. Ganj e Hozour brings the continuity of an intellectual line by preserving interpretive traditions and distributing them through modern age platforms.
More than twenty years since its creation, Ganj e Hozour still serves centuries-old poetry and modern psychological inquiry. With over 1,040 episodes and expanding written and digital archives, the program has become a continuous body of work documenting interpretations of Rumi and other mystics in a manner suited to current audiences.
