A Persian Listening Lesson about Rudaki and Ferdowsi

Adapted from P e r s h Listening (2009)

Chapter 7
Persian Poems

Poetry Vocabulary
towsifl
+
,
[dencnption - descriptive] A&- &+-& #&> [Poenl. pocky1 J u j

[lyricism - lyrical] j
lii - J'* A& [poet]

[panegyric (n) panegyrist] I e_?s. - +s. (to composepoelryl

[narration, narrative (n) - narrative (adj)] - +I3;)

,I [versdpoelry following traditional rules of prosody] &>p
I I
,+
[didactic. instruciive - didacticism] ijPr - 6i poetry - clusical poetry]
,,
yY. +
, - &&- , ,

,+
a ,
p e w " poetry. modernist poetry]
&
[ p i c u e , image] x ; r J 2
-
~ .c 1 (free verse] J j 1, +,

[to imagine] l :>: I

[imaginary] 1ghAyl;e ...I ,>,J &.
el2 [prose (n) - prose (adj), in prosel J- -$

[imagination] &,aJ- ' !

[ V ~ T S C - versifier - versifidin veael r& - +L - +
[imaginative] [narrative v e a e composilion] b&

[imaginative, having a strang imagination]

[real,acmal-reality] aklg.cw13-eIj 0 "

[singinglcomposing lave poems; pre-ghazal love poem]
Jeg
,,
,,
. *,, ,,
[realistic] LJ G I 33
[lovePoern, sonnet-like h a d i t i o n a ~ ~ l ~ - I- J> - J>
, I
[hislorical - history] f?Jk-&J' 1 lyric verse form - ghazal p o e ~ g h a z a poctry
l production1
0 ,

[myth - fable, mylh] G L L ~- .c &Jgkri [quatrain verse form] A d J "PLJ

[song, tune, ballad, quatrain: lylics (song)] GI>

, e
b- - I~ .+A- &+.i
[ode-lke ~ w e g y i cverse form - qaside poet - qaside verse production]
 314 .P e r s i a Listening

, ,
[alliteration] LFilSr ,-& [closed couplet verse farm] i s 6

[simile -metaphor] llashblhi o J h l - a&,i

, ,
[epic (n) - epic (ad;)] eL - LL
[exagg~ation,hyperbole] j '4d & I
[shorl descriptive sketch (modernist verse form)]
,J
[symbalsymbolic] - & ,JL
%<&JL
[paradox] &-d&,16;6 [rhythm] &p ;, j9 '&i
0 ,

[allegory - allegorical] -@ [meter - metered, in meter] lmo(w)nini jp -; i3

Ij>j . ;
[suecinetners, concision]

[ambiguity ambivalence]
j&

r k l - -rk!-
l
~ [end rhyme (syllable beginning differently and ending the same)] CL6G

[rhymed] ImoqaffW

[repeated syllable(s) precedhlg rhe rhyming syllable] +JJ

[style] [beat1 b>

[method] [(heart) beat] (4)
>L>
[tone] [rhythm] +Jc(u+-~) -9
&IJ? [rhythm, meter] (+)
..
- , 'UJS
[meaning - interpretation]

[message - heme]

[carpe diem]
 Chapter 7: Persian Poems. 315

7.1. A Lyric by Rudaki

The 10th-century Persian poet Rudaki (d. 94011) is the first major poet in the Neo-Persian or New Persian language
L(JL)J~ flJL6] which emerged in the 10th century, after two centuries in which Middle Persian (or Pahlavi)
gradually disappeared and Arabic held sway in writing on the Iranian plateau in the aftermath of the Arab Muslim
invasion of the region and their defeat of the SPsPnid Empire (226651 CE). The New Persian language first became
important in the SPmPnid kingdom centered in BokhPrP. Rudaki served as a poet in the SPmPnid court in his native
city of BokhPrP and reportedly composed upwards of 100,000 verses of poetry. Only a hundred or so couplets
remain. Despite differences in vocabulary, word forms, and phrase and sentence patterns, Rudaki's poems are not
difficult for literate native speakers of Persian to read today, nearly 1,100 years later.

97.1 . I . Read this free translation of a Rudaki poem and then listen to the recording of the poem on PL-Track 102
without looking at the translation or its Persian transcription on the next page.

1 Be happy with black-eyed beauties, really happy,

because this world offers nothing but fantasy and wind.
2 Be happy with what you have,
and don't think about the past.
3 That curly-haired musk-scented beauty and I,
that angelic beauty and I . . .
4 The person who gives and receives is the lucky one,
while unlucky is the person who gets nothing as a result of giving nothing
5 How unfortunate that this world is no more than wind and clouds.
So. bring me some wine. Whatever will be will be!

97.1.2. Read the following list of words which exhibit prefixes, suffixes, or compounded elements, and then listen to
Rudaki's poem again for such words. Check any words in the list (8)which you hear in the poem.

[(the) past1 [moon-faced (a face as perfect and shlming as the moon)] ~~9
h 0
[ghazal p e l ] [musk and amberglls smelling1 G 0
[(the) fulurel [curly hairedl GF)~ILY O
..
[pessimistic] [unfonunatel CLU-L: 0

[happy, glad.joyful1 [ill-fawd, unlortunate] &J& O

IPIUSpROus, happy1 Ifmate]

[cloudy] [black-eyed (person)] ;I-+6&=;<& 0

[carpe diem] [of the "houri" race]
316 .Persian Listeninn

57.1.3. Differences in vocabulary, verb forms, and pronunciation exist between pre-modern and contemporary
literary Persian languages. Moreover, slight differences exist between forms in prose and verse because poets
sometimes change customary forms for the sake of patterns of rhyme and meter. Listen to the poem again for forms
shortened through poetic license and for pre-modern equivalents in it for these modem prose forms:

JJs; .o 2s j AL. \b
, ,

&.& jj ; .5 aLi+i jl .Y

.v Js:*L: . r
;IA&+ .A J$J& .T

57.1.4. Check your answers in the following transcription of the text. Resolve remaining language issues in the text
by reading it in tandem with the literal translation which appears to its left.
1 * y &>W&
T)o not look at this text until directed to d o so.

Live happily with black-eyed ones, happy, \

Because the world is nothing but fantasy and wind.

One must be happy with what has come. Y Js, G kj h J k bLi;

,,
- . J&
- LL
<

One must not think about the past. .JL cd&jS

That ewly-haired musk-scented one and I, Y ~ S S : ~ ~ I S J C O ~ ~ ~ J ~

l b a l moon-faced and fairy-race one and I . . . J~>J*

1 5 ir.
~ ji9 9 ~
Fommate is Ule person u,ho gives and receives, T l ~ J & J ~ J d 4 ji- , -
1 Unlucky the person who has not received or given. .JIL JJ- J~ d ji +J& 1
Alas, this world is wind and cloud only. 0

Bring wine, whatever will be will be. . J L I J L 4 t - e 'Jf &~ J L

57.1.5. Listen to the poem again (PL-Track 102) while reading the foregoing Persian text.

57.1.6. Read the text above aloud to verify W) its embodiment of these features of pre-modern Persian verse.
0 The basic rhetorical and syntactical unit in traditional Persian verse compositions is the couplet
a ,
1- (= 2 verses).
0 Pre-modern Persian verse compositions consist of verses [el-] of apparently equal length
(=number of syllables).
0 The most typical end rhyme [+U] scheme in traditional Persian lyric verse is 'aabacada ....'
0 Images depict a stylized or ideal, rather than real, world.
0 Traditional Persian verse compositions exhibit a consistent pattern of rhythm, verse by verse.
 Chapter 7: Persian Poems 317

The 'aabacada ...' rhyme scheme in Rudaki's poem intimates that the basic unit in traditional Persian verse [&I (as
*,
opposed to prose [$I) is a couplet [-I, consisting of two lines or verses [e'-
- I-].
. , Each verse in a
couplet often constitutes a complete statement. If that is not the case, each couplet almost always comprises a
complete statement. Each verse also seems to exhibit almost the same number of syllables with the same rhythm.

57.1.7. Here follow descriptions of three kinds of organized rhythm in verse, which people usually call "meter"
;[ j;]. Listen again to a reading of Rudaki's poem while reading along and check the statement ( X ) which you think
best describes the verse meter in the poem.
0 Each line of the song exhibits a similar pattern of stressed or accented and unstressed syllables, as
in English verse; e.g., "0,bealitiful for spacious skies, for amber wives of grain ..."
0 Each line of the song exhibits a similar pattern of long and short syllables, as in Arabic verse.
0 Lines of the song exhibits a rhythm based on a similar number of syllables, as in French verse.
Rudaki's poem may exhibit a qualitative or accentual rhythm consisting of a pattern of stressed (accented) and
unstressed (unaccented) syllables. However, the conventional, traditional basis of rhythm in Persian verse is quantitative,
consisting of patterns of conventionally long and short syllables. That quantitative metrical system in traditional
Persian verse observes the following basic conventions or rules.

'The vowels I%/, lil, and Iul are long [dl

by nature, as in the word cc 4 ..

.
1.
2. The vowels I d , /el, and lo1 are short [al;&] by nature, as in the word , j l r. But, kasre-ye ezdfe and the
coordinating conjunction w ,D,usually pronounced l...ol. can be long or short.

.
3. The vowels I d , /el, and lo1 are long when followed by two consonant sounds other than I d . Examples
from the text are the words L+ >,and ,C +
, n. Such consonant clusters can include a consonant in a
following word, as in the case of the phrase IJ* +L I+ which scans 'short-long-long' (u - -).
4. Naturally long vowels followed by a consonant and short vowels followed by two consonants other
than lul are considered over-long [jl,:], which results in the calculation of an unpronounced short syllable
between the syllable in which the long vowel occurs and the next syllable or word. For example, the
phrase .is,+ h ,, scans as 'long-short-long' (- u -).

Even without familiarity with Persian prosody or even without being able to scan traditional Persian verse, one may
be able to hear something of the pattern of long and short syllables in Rudaki's poem. For example, the last syllable
in each verse is (over-)long. As another example, the first words in both verses of Couplet 3, which exhibit an initial
over-long syllable (= - u), scan as 'long-short-long' (- u -), which suggests a basic pattern for the first three syllables
in all verses. The fourth syllabus in all verses is also long.

57.1.8. In order to create a consistent pattern of rhythm, traditional Persian poets often use alternate or shortened
forms of words to achieve a regular metrical result. (All verses in a traditional Persian verse composition should
exhibit exactly the same metrical pattern.) Here are four such changes in Rudaki's poem.
ifasPne/l G U ~= d+

I
[tale, my&] [black] = eY,
,,
[and from] /"ad jl. = j~ [(that which) has come] IrimadCi] a b r j1 = a b r j

57.1.9. Persian verses with a quantitative metrical pattern exhibit three or four metrical feet [Iu;', .c ,$;I.
318 Persian Lisrening

Here follow a handful of names of Persian meters [ .c J& 41

and the most common foot associated with
each. Other meters combine feet from these meters or add or delete a syllable from a foot's beginning or end.

97.1.lo. Here follows a list of scanned and translated verses, one each from each of the seven medieval texts in
this chapter.

- u - -Iu - u -1 - - V d l ,j+& I -1 ?I g JL . \
bid-o abr
U -

agar marg
-1 U
ast in jahin afsus

- -1u --I"
-
did as1 bidad chis1
-
[It's too bad that this world is just wind and clouds.]

- v
~ 1 % -1 JIJ ilp JI
[If death is justice, then what is injustice?]
.T

- - U u - ( u - u -1-UU- &.L;j p L e = jA jl: 2 J

-
';p .r
mishad-o biz bar zamin mi ranadash [The secret to melmy secret is not far from my moaning.]
- - U -1 - - u u ( -u u <<) J .T
hlli khosh blsh-o 'omr ba bid makon [Be happy now, and don't throw your life away.]
- - u -1 -,, - - UJ-U- d j g J ;P hlk j l -
*? .b
sen-e man az nile-ye man dur nist [The secret to melmy secret is not far from my moaning.]
- - - ,, - 1 - -,, -I---,, - -ds;92&1;2gpj+j~~4~J J~ f
dar raftan-e jPn az badan guyand har now'i sokhan
[About the depanure of the soul from the body, they say all kinds of things.]
- u- -1
u U - - u U - -1- - +~;C.hilfL:+&~~l.+i .V
hche u rikht be paymh6-ye ml nushidim [What he poured into our cup we drank.]

Note the following about the scansion of foregoing verses.

2. In three instances in Verse #2 appears an unpronounced but calculated short syllable after an overlong
syllable [ j lJ, &+I:, lmarg ...I, ldldast...I, and /bidid ...I
,,
3. In Verse #3, the word Izamid, the second syllable of which exhibits consonant+long vowel+consonant
does not end with an overlong syllable because the consonant in question is In/.
5. In Verse #5, the two instances of & L I 6 4 , which could scan 'short' or 'long', are 'long'.

17.1.1 1. The handiest guide to the subject of meter and rhyme in Persian poetry is Finn Thiesen's A Manual of
Classical Persian Prosody (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. 1982). Thiesen suggests that such information on
Persian meters, as the foregoing discussion summarizes, is enough for readers to "ascertain the rhythm of any
Classical Persian poem" (p. 89). For advanced students of Persian not intending to specialize in Persian
literature, the foregoing information should suffice in sensitizing them to the existence and nature of quantative
rhythms in most Persian verse compositions. Readers should listen for such rhythms in studying lessons in this
chapter as a means of increasing their appreciation of poetic texts, in which sound effects play significant roles.
 Chapter 7: Persian Poems 319

7.2. horn The Exordium to Ferdowsi's Story of Soh.r&b

Ferdowsi's verse epic called S\dhlhime [Book of Kings] (1010) tells the story of Iran through episodic, self-contained
narratives treating kings, their families, and their warrior-heroes in mythological, legendary, and quasi-historical
dynasties. The narrative proper begins with the reign of Kiyomars, the first king, whose son SiyPmak is killed by a
demon. SiyPmak's son avenges his father's death and rules as Kiyomars's successor. He in turn is succeeded by his
son Tamuras, whose son Jamshid is the greatest of the earliest group of kings called PishdBdi. The Persian name for
the famous Achaemenid ruins north of ShirBz called Persepolis is "takht-e jamshid" [throne of lamshid], intimating
association in the popular Iranian imagination of epic myth with national history. But Jamshid succumbs to ambition
and pride and consequently loses divine blessing. This enables the devil-controlled ZahhBk, son of the Arab king
MardPs who was a victim of pah.icide, to conquer Iran and ascend the throne. That ZahhPk, an embodiment of evil,
is Arab is significant in the ethnic self-identity of Persian Iranians who are Indo-Europeans and in the popular view
that Ferdowsi showed sensitivity to his Persianness by allegedly avoiding Arabic loanwords in his Shrihnhime.
Meanwhile, an Iranian youth called Faridun, destined to overcome ZahhPk, is hidden from the evil king. Faridun
receives the support of a warrior-blacksmith called Klveh. Together they overwhelm Zahhlk. Faridun eventually
divides the world among his three sons. He gives Iran to his youngest son Iraj, while Western lands go to the oldest
son called Sllm, and Central Asia and China to the middle son Tur. The latter region came to be known as TurBn.
But SPlm and Tur become jealous of Iraj and kill him. Faridun prays for vengeance, which comes through Manuchehr,
the son of Iraj's daughter and a relative of Faridun. During Manuchehr's reign, his leading warrior-hero, a man called
SBm who ruled a region called ZBbolestln, fathers an albino son. Embarrassed at his son. Sam abandons him on a
mountain where he is raised by a phoenix-like bird called Simorgh. SBm later accepts his son, now a handsome
warrior, and calls him Z2I. Zl1 falls in love with Rudlbeh, the daughter of Mehrlb, the king of KBhol and a
descendant of the Arab Zahhlk. Their child, born through Caesarean section assisted by Simorgh, is the chief
Iranian legendary hero Rostam, who protects the Iranian throne for hundreds of years. Meanwhile, after Manuchehfs
death, his son Nowzar is to succeed him, but, while still a prince, is killed by the Turlnian ruler AfrlsiyPb. Nowzar's
son Z l v rules Iran briefly thereafter. Nowzar's death renews the bitter strife between Iran and Turin. Lacking a
prince of royal blood after Z v ' s death, kingless Iran faces chaos and Afrlsiylb launches a great attack against it.
Z 1 , however, learns of a prince living in the mountains and sends Rostam to bring him back to ascend the Iranian
throne. The prince is Kavaobld. the founder of the Kavlni dvnastv. KavaobPd is succeeded by his son KaykBvus.
2 . g
withThen comes the story of Kayklvus's son Siylvosh. SiyPvosh's murder
at the hands of AfrPsyPb's warriors Garsivaz and Gerui is partly the result of his father's bad judgement and the
machinations of his father's consort Sudlbeh. Consequently, Rostam curses Klvus, kills Queen SudPheh, and takes
an oath to destroy Turln, which has renewed its longstanding feud with Iran after SiyPvosh's death. Rustam
conquers Turln, but its leader Afrlsiylb escapes to China. The Iranian court discovers that Siylvosh has a son
named Kaykhosrow living in TurPn. The warrior Giv finds him and brings him back to Iran where he takes over the
throne from his grandfather KaykPvus, who had grown incapable of ruling in old age. Kaykhosrow sees avenging
his father SiyBvosh's death as his royal mission, but such events as the romance of Bizhan and Manizheh and
Rostam's combat with the demon called AkvBn also take place during Kaykhosrow's reign. The king himself spends
years in war against Turjn, finally seeing to it that Afrzisiylb is put to death. Kaykhosrow then decides to abdicate
the Iranian throne and takes up the life of a dervish. He names a prince called Lohrlsp to succeed him and forsakes
320 Persian Listeninn

the court for the wilderness. At his death, he ascends into the heavens. Lohrisp's son Goshtisp tries to persuade his
father to abdicate in his favor. Failing in that, Goshtisp goes into self-exile in Rum and there, his identity a secret,
participates in various adventures and marries the princess of Rum. He reveals his true identity and leads an army
back to Iran to demand the throne. Lohrisp abdicates. During LohrLp's reign, the prophet Zoroaster appears and
converts the monarch to Zoroastrianism. A grandson of Afrisiyib called ArjLp attacks Iran because of the change
in religion. Goshtisp's son Esfandiyir leads the Iranian army to victory over the Turinians. Esfandiyir asks his
father, who was as ill-suited to kingship as Kaykhus, to abdicate in his favor. Goshtisp refuses and has the crown
prince imprisoned. This encourages Afrisiyib's grandson Arjisp to attack Iran again. This time he kills the retired
monarch Lohrbp, destroys many Zoroastrian temples, and abducts Esfandiyir's two sister-wives. Again promised
the throne by his father Goshasp, Esfandiyir undertakes the defeat of Arjisp and the rescue of his sister-wives. But
back in Iran, Goshasp refuses to relinquish the throne to Esfandiyk unless the latter brings the hero Rostam back to
the Iranian court in chains. Esfandiyir marches against Rostam who tries to dissuade the Iranian prince from a
confrontation. That failing, the two warriors meet in one-on-one combat. The mythical bird Simorgh, invoked by
Rostam's father 211, reveals that the otherwise invincible Esfandiyir can he killed if shot through the eyes with a
special two-pronged arrow. Rostam kills Esfandiyir after again entreating him to abandon his attempt to take him
away in chains. On his deathbed, Esfandiyir entrusts his son Bahman to Rostam. Back in Iran, Goshtisp makes
Bahman his successor. Rostam himself dies shortly thereafter, tricked by his half-brother Shaghid. After ascending
the Iranian throne, Bahman attacks Ziholest2n and destroys Rostam's family in vengeance for the death of his father
Esfandiyir. At Bahman's death, his daughter Homiy, pregnant with her father's son, succeeds to the Iranian throne.
Engrossed in ruling, Homiy abandons her infant son in a chest in water. Called Dirih, the child is rescued and given
his rightful place as king. At this point in Ferdowsi's Shdhnhnk, the quasi-historical narrative section begins. D&ib
is succeeded by his son Diri, both of them presumably figuring as parallel to the historical Achaemenid dynasty
(559-330 B.C.E.). Alexander then invades and conquers Iran and kills Dirt. After a very brief recounting of
Parthian times, the Shiihnrimitakes up the story of the Sisinid dynasty (224-652 C.E.). Among the narratives in this
section of the Shiihnrjmk, the stories of Ardashir Pipskin, Bahrim Gur, and Bahrim Chubin in China are thought to
have the literary appeal of the more famous earlier stories. Otherwise, the latter half of Ferdowsi's Shdhnrimkhas not
appealed greatly to Iranian or foreign readers. The book ends with an account of the Arab Moslem invasion and
conquest of Iran, which brought the SBsBnid monarchy to an end.

$7.2.1. As the preceding plot summary of Ferdowsi's Sh&nrimk states. The Story of Sohrdb ends in the tragic death
of a son at the hands of his father. In the exordium to his version of an already famous story, Ferdowsi prepares his
readers for what they know will happen at the end of the story. Listen to this lesson's text the first time on PL-Track
103 for any statements about the justice of death as part of nature's law, regardless of one's age. Also listen to verify
that the end rhyme scheme of the text is 'aabbccd ...' (=closed couplets).

$7.2.2. After studying the following vocabulary list, listen to this lesson's text again. This time listen for images
which the poet uses to communicate his ideas or buttress his argument.
[inordinate desile(s)l ji [patliarchyl G J ~ ~ J $

[secret] jl , [filicide] d&

[awareness - aware] .KT - &Ei [fate] 2s
 Chapter 7: Persian Poems. 321

,,
[cause] [cruelty -- appressarl J&-
, r;-
[battle] [world] b;; '$1.L;&, ,&
[battle, fight, combat] bustice - justice-giver - injustice] JI- - j J IJ - J I J

[horse - cinch] &I+- [to find peacelcalmirepase] (4>J r1J T

[wind - sharp, harsh, shong] J i - J L [to lmocWstrike (down)] (&I) ;&I
[earth, din, soil, land] A G. [to open (vi)] (2)
;& j'+
[clamor, shout(ing), scream(ing)] J&$ '&L ' JIJ [to emerge, to arise] (7) ;hi2
[citron - unripe] b+ JL - +> [to search, to seek] (*) d
[tears] +4 [Lo pull, to drag, to tighten] (3)
h e
[comer] &
[abode - caravanerai] I - ( 1 [death] x>
[transience - permanence)
k-6
[ifl /Agar/ 1 3 '$1 [old age- youth- young pcaonl ;Igt - >Igt - c;*

[perhaps] /magad & [hesitation,delay, pause]

boy, pleasure] -'A
,, , ,,
[endowed with artistry; experienced, wise, shrewd unwise, unskilled] 9 -L L ~

57.2.3. As a medieval text, Ferdowsi's "Exordium" to The Story ofSohrab naturally exhibits premodern word forms
and patterns. Here follows a list of words and phrases illustrating typical differences between medieval Persian
forms and patterns (to the right) and contemporary Persian forms (to the left) and differences between forms which
exigencies of verse (eg., length of syllables in a rhyme scheme) call for and everyday forms.

Shortened word or ~ h r a s eform: [from] ji + j

ji ; j~

ji 6 S
31 6 3K
[ifl j i >I ' j
6
- e
[that pman who] &i Aii
L i &&;I @;~+ .W

Omission of a lmi ...Iprefix with present tense. indicative mood verbs:

 [I want] PIS; P

[hdshe doesn't understand] JJ

[heishelit semheslseeks ...] *St P

[it becomes cloudyia cloud] J ~ Lp
: 6 2I
[hehhdit brings] J'J>id

:-

[they have lam...] &I

Alternate verb forms:

[I have came] +oL.I

[it ~ C I I I J mi
[...should be deshoyedlnot exist] !J&+ !JLd

[they don't want to answer]

[hdshdit can't see]

[noonelif& hisherheadup] A
LA*

-
+&

IJ
id+'+

.L;lS;'+

GY ,/i d$dJ$
' 4
?

2
. A
P

Y&
%J

[tell hi&r to go]

m ,
9< 4: 9J 4
Uses of t h e ~ o s t - ~ o s i t i oarticle
n a IJ. .. I, other than as a s i e n a l f o r a s ~ e c i f i or
c d e f i n i t e direct verb o b i e c t :

[you have no access] -4 s; pi1* blJ @ & I > I&

[you have no access to that place] 6J1-L; e-~ s; d+

[you have no choiceiway out] 6 ~ 0 ~~

4si~ 6 ~

[la sec friendsicomadcs] a1J4~ L ? 6J ' 2 IJ ~ J & , J ~ ~ J

J J IJJ+
~ 27
~ &J9 f+ = -4 _)+
&G 9 f+ 6l2 -4 J+hi IJ &J9 h

[ e m and eyes lack the light (to understand it)]

[But the tongue has no customer exccpt for the ez.1 / m i = particle without
meaning used prior to
vcrb objccu
Use o f a ~ o s t - ~ o s i t i owno r d functioning as a preposition:
[loifodon a person] 4-2&%
[(with)in this cunain] &I 4 'ad* &I (;>)JJ bJ* &+
[in which] 27 JJ & J.L;K

57.2.4. Read t h e f o l l o w i n g translation (but not t h e P e r s i a n original). Then listen to t h e text again (PL-Track 103).
 Chapter 7: Persian Poems ,323

Do not look at this text until directed to do so. bjb;l&

!*I"
1 Now listen to the story of the battle between Sohrib and Rostam. \ $ ~ J > U ' W , j J & & ~
You've heard about other battles, hear this one as well. $+;?I ISL~F
L P ) ~ J
It's a story full of tears-

sensitive hearts will become angry at Rostam.

If a harsh wind springs up from some comer of the world

and knocks an unripe citmn to the ground,

shall we call the wind tyrann~calor just?

Should we consider it right or wrong ?

If death is just, then what possibly could be unjust?

If it's just, then what is all this clamor and screaming?

Your soul knows nothing about this mystery-

You cannot see beyond this veil.

All have approached desire's door,

but to no one has this door to secrets opened.

Perhaps in depanure from this world, you'll find a better place

when you rest in peace in another abode.

Why should youth take pleasure in the world,

when old age is not the cause of death

In this place for passing through, not a place for tarrying,

should death tighten rhe cinch on the horse of transience,

know that it is just and not unjust. \ d~ 1 % 3 t u l JIJ ( j l ~(jk

When justice visits you, there is no reason to cry out. CYY
- J&>
9
&L JIJ 4t
Now I'll recount the story of Sohrib's warring, \Y -JJ ,Yd+I* ,jJ &&
how he came to do battle with his father. - & * J J : ~ > I * & ~ & ~ ~ '

57.2.5. Listen to this lesson's text again (PL-Track 103) while reading along. Add short vowel marks to the printed
text to indicate pronunciation o f short vowels and the presence of kasri-ye ezrifC. You can check your notations with
the Latin transcription of the text o n the next page.
324 Persian Lisrenir~g

57.2.6.The following Latin transcription of the foregoing text identifies and describes the quantitative meter which
Ferdowsi uses in his Shdhnrimt!. That meter, combining long and short syllables in an unvarying pattern of four feet
in each verse, exhibits this pattern: IJ- d-
, 4 and consists of three identical feet
(short-long-long = u - -) in each verse, with a shorter fourth foot (u -). Compare the ,<J + + Li, ,> paradigm

,
presented here in tandem with the first verse in this lesson's text:

u -
degarh2 shenida sti in ha
"-- u -i u -
sheno
u . .u. . u . . U - u . . u . . u . . U -
2. yaki d b t i n ast por 2b-e chashm del-e n2zok az rostam iyad be khashm
u . . U . . U . . u . u . . u . .u.. u.
3. agar tond b2di bar iyad ze konj be kh2k afkanad nirasid6 toronj
u . . u . . U - - U -
honarmand guyimash ar bihonar
u - . u - . u . . u . u . u . - U - - U -
5, agar marg d i d ast bidid chist ze did in hamt biing-o faryiid chist?
u . .,,--u.-u. u . . u . . u . . u .
6, az in r2z j2n-e to ig2h nist bedin parde andar to-ri r2h nist,
, . . , ..,. . u . u - . u - - u . . , .
7, hamt t i dar-e 2z raftt far22 be kas bar nashod in dar-e r2z biz.
u . . u . . u . . U - u . . u . . , , . . u .
8. be raftan magar behtar 2yadt j2y cho ir2m giri be digar sar2y
u . - u - . -,,..,, u . . u. . u . . u .
9. jav2n-ri che biyad be giti tarab ke ni marg-r2 hast piri sabab
u . - u . . U - - u - , . . u . . u . - U -

to. dar in j2-ye raftan na jCye derang bar asb-e fan2 gar kashad marg tang
u . u . . U - -u- u . . u . . U - -U -
I I. chonin d i n ke d2d ast-o bed2d nist cho d i d imadat b2ng-o farygd chist
u . . , . . u .. u - u - . u . . , . . u .
12. konun razm-e sohr2b guyam dorost az i n kin ke u b i pedir chon bejost

57.2.7.Listen to the text again (PL-Track 103) with an ear to rhythm and its effects on statements.

57.2.8. The Persian language has a variety of words denoting "fate." Some Iranians argue that fatalism is a core
orientation in their culture. Expecting to hear references to and images of "fate" and "fatalism" in Persian poems
may facilitate listening. In this context. compare the Ferdowsi text in this lesson with the Khayy2mic quatrain in the
next. Here follows a list of Persian words on the subject of fate. For distinctions among these words (e.g., connotations
and associations), one can consult a Persian-Persian dictionary.
[fate] ,&'LA+>
,,
,*k
[falalisl-fatalistic- fatalism] -~ blJ*k - lJ*k

[pessimist- pessimism] &+-&++

 Reading Lesson on "Nationality and Language"
adapted from Reading Iran Reading Iranians: 2nd Ed.Rev. (2002)

32 Nationality and Language.This lesson presents an

Iranian view of Iranianness and suggests differences behveen American and Iranian notions
of what accounts for nationality and nationalism.
e ( \ q q Y svL?J&)[ , ; 1 L j 3&,,y~
,,
edMJ31iSh& j l yJ~;r?I ;r"
& ,
+@ JJ @jb 4 ;r".-I DL& Y& ~'JAL:,&
, ,
j&I*I jI t+- &I .J>IJ* ,
:;l&lAl [national identity] &
, ,
$ 5 , r

.-I c+a i;L ,

L &;
;
,,
[identxty]

.+&?I;J+,& &&
,, J~e4LLL;;3s>3e
YY.\
r Y \

[belonging to1
+ [ n a t i o n a l i ~ m ] ~ l $ & 3 & + A ~ ~ ~ U jlLF?LO~jJ2j JJ fY.Y
,, s. , ,
~ J . & ~ ; @ ~ ~ > J A ~ ~ L ; , ~ I ~j J + & d 2 j . ~ J J - i p
.J++ -@ I J J + , ~ ~ ~
, .

032.3. Check words and phrases in this list (X) which are specifically relevant to the
subject of national culture &>I. [A
Discuss choices.
,
,
[alienation] c u . 6 0 [environment] LUU .
-J,
60 6; O
[ s m a l order] & 7Uij
k;l a I
,.f.
Uij 0 0
, ,
.,
@L--G@'A 0 jLj 0 j 0 ;t;i 0
532.4. Read this dictionary definition of history. Then look over the text in Section 532.5
(below) to find answers to these two questions: (1) Which of the four given denotations
of .+,L. applies to the text? (2) To which of the four given periods of history does the
text belong?

Y as. &I I,+

I L 'jt--t-sJslel L+- 3 r e ;I
- 1 ~ 1 @
~ J J . . . s~s'l-1 TI; +s k .VJ? jl3-l &LYI J +&& JJ 2 9
&I &k p& 'J? 0JjJf *-\ ,1 1 9 Jx~B J ~ j lI x l rJy
<A. &> r+ J &,w L j&LL L- ci *La- .J* g:JL
... ~ L ; Y I J ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ J ~ LG; L J~& T&J & J
>L ~ J

JJ J s; o+:, &A>J AJJ rLL 4 4 j l x l d +!J .J* rig

, ( e L L , , .d++
+j +. J ~ I ~ & J & > J>JJ<&&~ eU;;
,137 x j j I ci i;"~
t L r J + & Y ~ J JJ ! J ~ 6j L L & h J ~ J ~ J !

,*J>LLZTL;-.& + j Y , ~I, &J$ ojl;,+ J& ,I> L r b T

+ b : ~ ~ . ~ : + + & I g i b ~ ~ ~ > ; r l ~ ,~J &l ~~- - ~

T- U
; JrJ l ~

se$ 4 +I; .L: -+IxI 6 ~ JJ-&

4 -7 .J& Y j l ,1 3 - d ; J

sb$.i jL j l G J ~~ J S . I ~ ~ J I >;I+I .L: G J+ j f jl L& J ~

J cL$ rP J jLj ' c L I $4 &JxIj l & JJ JJJj-9

jl+ e .+ ,I$ 'LIJI L
l&
,l L
,,. ..Ljs; j T sb o+Ljl
352
ESE
532.8. Skim the text for a specific notion about the period of history the writer is talking
about. Refer to the following chart to identity specific eras cited.

532.9. Look at this chart of some famous, pre-twentieth century dynasties which ruled
over Iran.
&,LL l,l; G- c A + & & J L I & yl;
, ,
I I
G9,& 3 I r ; bbf
I ;I ij+L

932.9. The following chart gives patterns for important forms of Arabic loanwords in
Persian. Part 3 of Persiarz Vocabulap Acquisition: Secorld Edition (2003) and Chapters
53 to 64 of Persiarz Grammar and Verbs (2009) describe in detail the Arabic element in
contemporary Persian.

To the left of the following chart is a list of Arabic loanwords mostly from this chapter
and Chapter 3 1 which exhibit cited patterns. Write each word listed in the appropriate
box in the chart.
[beginning] +l+l
, ,

[contemporary]

[memory1
.,
4 .,
[prejudice, fanaticism]

[in control, dominant] ktJ;uI.

[exile] J++

[danger s
[belonging (to)] &

[dictatorship] ~1-1
, ,

[different]
&

[obsalele, annulled] tgYL;n

5 ,,
[at fault, culpable] 4

[implemmtation] +,!I

[difference]
-;,&
355
 After the onslaught of the Arabs [in the 640s C.E.] and the eollapse of the Sasanian
Empire [mled 224-6511. we Iranians were in a state of consternation, numbness, and
psychological listlessness for at least two centuries. The grand structure of that empirc or,
in other words, its heavy corpse that had collapsed on the people of Iran, would appear to
have brought the population to its knees. It was as if the back of a nation had broken
beneath the load, especially becausc the collapse of the Sasanians was linked to a military
invasion by another people with an alien religion, language, and culture, and with military
and social violence. Thc relationship betwccn the Iranian nation and one governmental
and cultural order was severed. And Iran became part of another social, governmental,
and cultural system. The Iranian environment changed. The Sasanian administrative and
economic order cmmbled. With a thousand hardships and dangers, when lran emerged
from beneath the rubble, it found itself in an unfamiliar, alien land.
It took two hundred years of consternation at this homelessness and alienation before
lran was able gradually to revive and resume its life. I am talking about Iranians as a
single nation, as a people with an identity of their own, and not as separate and scattered
individuals. For, from the end of the seventh century. a great many individual lranians
sought to participate in the expansion of Islam and Arabic language and culture, and
became representatives of these phenomena. Be that as it may. I repeat that, in order to
survive and to pursue their life as a single people, Iranians took different paths . . . .
In order to survive, Iranians, up to the founh century, here and there, fought against
the Arabs and revolted against them . . . . In the period in which we Iranians emerged
from defeat and consternation to the time when we could again stand on our own legs, we
persevered as a people in two ways, one indirect and the other direct, or, in orher words,
culturally and militarily. And after four hundred years we achieved two results: defeat
and victory. We suffered defeat in direct confrontation, in direct opposition and stmggle
for political and social goals, for separation from the Arab victors, from the Baghdad
caliphate, and from the religion of Islam. But we achieved victory in the preservation of
nationality and language. We preserved one nationality or, perhaps better put, our national
identity, our iranianness, through the blessing of language, by means of the vitality of
Persian as our refuge.
This lesson's Persian text and this English translation have been adapted
from imniat Narionaliry and rhe Persia Longuoge by Shahrokh Meskub
(Washington. D.C.: Mage Publishers, 1992).