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Introduction to Persian Literature Introduction to Persian Literature Introduction to Persian Literature Introduction to Persian Literature Introduction to Persian Literature 11111

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IIIIINTRODUCTIONNTRODUCTIONNTRODUCTIONNTRODUCTIONNTRODUCTION TOTOTOTOTO PPPPPERSIANERSIANERSIANERSIANERSIAN LLLLLITERATUREITERATUREITERATUREITERATUREITERATURE

Persian literature spans two and a half millennia, thoughmuch of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sourcesoften come from far-flung regions beyond the borders of present-day Iran, as the Persian language flourished and survivesacross wide swaths of Central Asia.

For instance, Rumi, one of Persia's best-loved poets, wrotein Persian but lived in Konya, now in Turkey and then thecapital of the Seljuks. The Ghaznavids conquered large

territories in Central and South Asia and adopted Persian astheir court language.

There is thus Persian literature from areas that are nowpart of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Central Asia. Not allthis literature is written in Persian, as some consider workswritten by ethnic Persians in other languages, such as Greekand Arabic, to be included.

Surviving works in Persian languages (such as Old Persianor Middle Persian) date back as far as 650 BCE, the date of the earliest surviving Achaemenid inscriptions. The bulk of thesurviving Persian literature, however, comes from the timesfollowing the Islamic conquest of Persia circa 650 CE. After the

Abbasids came to power (750 CE), the Persians became thescribes and bureaucrats of the Islamic empire and, increasingly,also its writers and poets. Persians wrote both in Arabic andPersian; Persian predominated in later literary circles. Persianpoets such as Sa'di, Hafiz, Rumi and Omar Khayyam are well

known in the world and have influenced the literature of manycountries.



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"My Beloved's Face"

Every moment my Beloved's face

in a new look shows itself; Under each twist of her curls

she has a thousand tricks!

With one coquettish glance

she traps a thousand hearts;

That is why in this world

lonely are the hearts of lovers.

If my heart is gone and lost,

tell it be gone and lost forever,

For, instead of heart, I have in my hands

the musky curls of my Beloved.

Since a Beauty from the Tavern

robbed my heart from me,

I have been all, nothing but a desire

for the Tavern, Wine and the Harp.

With the wine of love I am

so far away from soberness and reason

That no care is left in me

for the wonders of name and fame.

Bring, O cup-bearer,

a goblet of that wine for me That with the reflection of Your face

it takes a new colour every moment!

Shed Iraqi's blood in the dust

but renew our friendship,

For, now and always, friendship is

and will be better than separation.

"Kamal-od-Din Khajoo Kermani"

A 13th Century AD poet and a contemporary of Hafez. Hewas influenced by other poets such as Sana'i, Attar, Mowlavi,and Saadi. In addition to a collection of ghazals (lyrical poems),

he wrote five narrative poems (stories in verse), similar toNezami's Khamsa, of which "Homay and Homayoon" is themost famous.

"The Gem and The Mine"

Of thee I tell thee secrets

in a wordless language;

From thee I ask the way to thee

on a traceless trace.

In vain thou concealest thyself

from the eyes, for thy sun-like face

Beams through heavenly veil

like the light of day.

What a delicate concept thou art,

far above reasoning! What a divine Verse thou art,

needless of interpretation!

How can I close my eyes to thee?

Thou art the lamp inside the eye.

How can I part with thee?

Thou art the resident in the soul.

We are all rays and thou art the candle;

We are all substance and thou art the spirit;

We are all raindrops and thou art the ocean;

We are all gems and thou art the mine.

I have never seen a face like thine,

so graceful point by point;

I have never seen a scripture like thee,



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By Thy Grace I keep fixed on eternity my amorous gaze,

Except, O King, the pomps that perish lead me astray.

The favour of him who brings glad tidings of Thee,

Even without Thy summons, is sweeter in mine ear thansongs.

If the never-ceasing Bounty should offer kingdoms,

If the Hidden Treasure should set before me all that is,

I would bow down with my soul, I would lay my face in thedust,

I would cry, "Of all these the love of such an One for me!"

From the Ruba'iyyat From the Ruba'iyyat From the Ruba'iyyat From the Ruba'iyyat From the Ruba'iyyat

(Translation by: A.J. Arberry) (Translation by: A.J. Arberry) (Translation by: A.J. Arberry) (Translation by: A.J. Arberry) (Translation by: A.J. Arberry)

Be just: confess

In love is ample righteousness;

The fault lies in

Thyself, that thou art prone to sin.

If thou dost claimFor human lust Love's holy name,

Then know, and prove

The way is far from lust to Love.

***

Down a flowing stream

A barque borne fast.

To the mind it may seem

The rushes hurry past.

Every moment thus

From this world we fly,

And it seemeth to us

The world goes by.

***

We are the treasury

Of God's great mystery;

The sea wherein doth dwell His pearl incalculable.

From end to farthest end

Of being we extend,

Yea, we sit upon

God's imperial throne.

***

The heart is a secret garden

Its trees unseen;

A hundred hues it blossoms

Unchanged, serene.

The heart's a boundless ocean

Illimitable;

Its waves break unnumbered In every soul.

***

I am drunk with the love of Thee,

Not with wine, or opium;

I am mad; dost Thou look to see

In a madman decorum?

A hundred torrents rise

From the surge my soul within;

The heavens in glad surprise

Stand still to behold me spin.

***

Of the book of God

Thou art a copying,



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CCCCCONTENTSONTENTSONTENTSONTENTSONTENTS

Preface

1. Introduction to Persian Literature 1

Merchant, 76, 191, 200, 208,268.

Merciful, 122, 147, 163.Minority, 110.Modernist Poetry, 52, 53, 54.Moses, 193, 252, 267.

Mughal, 7.

OOOOOOfficial Language, 7, 95.Omar, 1, 3, 9, 36, 59, 112.

PPPPP

QQQQQQazi, 152, 172, 225, 226, 227,

228, 229, 234, 250, 251,274.

RRRRRReligion, 23, 24, 31, 50, 68,

72, 73, 86, 94, 95, 103,110, 111, 118, 124, 125,129, 130, 180, 197, 212,249, 252, 253, 259.

Religions, 119.Rituals 43



2. The Development of Persian Literatures 23

3. Persian Literature and Early Inscriptions 94

4. The Gulistan of Sadi 122

Bibliography 277

Index 279

Pagan, 23.Persian Language, 1, 14, 18,

24, 33, 35, 42, 45, 68,

69, 73, 84, 85, 94, 95,99, 113, 117, 222.

Persian Phrases, 6.Pharaoh, 188, 197, 267.Pilgrimage, 82, 83, 84, 93,

100, 112, 114, 116, 141,158, 179.

Poetics, 97.Poetry, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10,

11, 12, 13, 19, 20, 21,

22, 27, 31, 32, 33, 34,35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41,42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48,49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55,57, 59, 60, 62, 71, 73,74, 77, 81, 83, 84, 86,88, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98,99, 101, 112, 113, 131,158, 222.

Politics, 95, 107.

Prominence, 40, 95.Promotion, 108.Punishment, 157, 158, 159,

163, 178, 188, 220, 228,229, 238, 246, 253, 256,271.

Rituals, 43.

SSSSSSaba, 102.Sadi, 3, 40, 43, 46, 47, 51,

59, 122.Scholar, 3, 9, 71, 82, 83, 98,

134, 182, 183, 200, 208,209, 217, 234, 235, 238,252, 263, 264, 265, 267.

Shaikh, 44.Society, 10, 16, 18, 30, 32,

45, 50, 80, 106, 125,129, 136, 144, 165, 167,200, 219, 224, 269.

Sufi, 3, 5, 7, 9, 14, 33, 44,47, 62, 73, 81, 82, 83,84, 85, 86, 87, 96, 98,99, 101, 111, 120, 208.

TTTTTTheology, 34, 43.

V V V V V Violence, 120, 138, 143, 202,

205, 232, 235, 242, 250,253, 256.

WWWWWWriting System, 117.



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