Questions tagged [persian-language]
Use this tag for questions about any works of literature that were originally created in the Persian or Farsi language, regardless of where they were published. Please use with the appropriate author and work tags as well.
34 questions
1
vote
1
answer
82
views
In Sadi's Bustan, is sweet wormwood Korean worm wood?
The Bustan, Persian: بوستان, translated as "The Orchard", is a book of poetry by the Persian poet Sadi of Shiraz (سعدی شیرازی), completed in 1257 of the current era.
A translation is ...
13
votes
1
answer
738
views
English translation of a quatrain from the "Rubaiyat" of Omar Khayyam
Is there an English equivalent of this quatrain from the Russian version of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam?
В этом мире глупцов, подлецов, торгашей
Уши, мудрый, заткни, рот надежно зашей,
Веки плотно ...
- 239
4
votes
1
answer
289
views
Rumi quotation on how dancing is not painless
Please help me to find where Rumi says that:
Dancing is not getting up painlessly like a speck of dust blown
around in the wind.
Dancing is when you rise above both worlds, tearing your heart to
...
- 41
3
votes
1
answer
66
views
Retrieving Beckman (1982) rendering of the Zoroastrian Avesta
I'm currently reading Drakon by Ogden which is a monograph on serpent cults and mythological accounts of serpent-related happenings in ancient Greece. In the introduction, Ogden briefly overviews ...
- 845
1
vote
0
answers
42
views
When and where was the Shahnameh printed for the first time?
According to the Wikipedia article about the Shahnameh, the Persian poet Ferdowsi wrote this epic "for Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni between c. 977 and 1010 CE". This was long before the ...
- 51.1k
1
vote
0
answers
41
views
How long has the Shahnameh been considered the national epic of Greater Iran?
According to the Wikipedia article about the Shahnameh, this work by the Persian poet Ferdowsi "is the national epic of Greater Iran". The article adds that
Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, ...
- 51.1k
1
vote
0
answers
77
views
Meaning of "with no why to how it keeps its mystery"
What is the meaning of the following quote from Rumi? I was reading his The Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing and came across this quote:
Love is an open secret, the most obvious thing in ...
- 111
6
votes
1
answer
121
views
What is the Persian story that Rabindranath Tagore summarises in a letter from June 1894?
In Glimpses of Bengal, a selection of Rabindranath Tagore's letters included in The Definitive Tagore (Rupa Publications, 2017), Tagore summarises the following story (letter from 24 June 1894):
...
- 51.1k
4
votes
3
answers
390
views
What is a Pehliva?
The word "Pehliva" is used several times in the third part of the Shahnameh (Helen Zimmern translation), particularly to refer to Sam/Saum, apparently a ruler in Seistan (which I thought ...
- 76.7k
3
votes
1
answer
316
views
What is "the seventh sphere"?
In the second part (Helen Zimmern's translation) of the Shahnameh, the youngest son Irij is killed by his brothers, who send his head back to their father Feridoun:
Now when they were come to the ...
- 76.7k
1
vote
1
answer
215
views
Significance of the names Silim, Tur, and Irij for the sons of Feridoun?
In the second book of the Shahnameh, King Feridoun tests his three sons by appearing to them as a dragon. The eldest son runs away, the middle one takes up arms against the monster, and the youngest ...
- 76.7k
1
vote
1
answer
76
views
What do the cypress, rose, and wild herb symbolise in this description of Feridoun's rule?
From the second part of the Shahnameh:
Five hundred years did Feridoun rule the world, and might and virtue increased in the land, and all his days he did that which was good. And he roamed ...
- 76.7k
2
votes
0
answers
50
views
Which parts of the Shahnameh were the original work of Ferdowsi?
The word Shahnameh usually refers to the Persian epic poem written by Ferdowsi in 977-1010 CE, although this versification was mostly a rewriting of existing mythological and historical stories of the ...
- 76.7k
1
vote
1
answer
205
views
Earliest known manuscripts of the Shahnameh?
The classical Persian epic poem the Shahnameh was written over a millennium ago, 977-1010 CE, compiled in verse form from traditional mythology and history by the poet Ferdowsi. Wikipedia tells us ...
- 76.7k
3
votes
1
answer
87
views
Which part of the Shahnameh is the work of Daqiqi?
The classical Persian epic poem the Shahnameh (a compilation and retelling of previous mythological and historical Persian literature) is mostly credited to Ferdowsi, who spent over thirty years (977-...
- 76.7k
4
votes
0
answers
56
views
How could Zohak's advisors deduce the name Feridoun from his dream?
In the first part of the Shahnameh, "The Shahs of Old", the Deev-influenced king Zohak has a dream in which he foresees his own downfall at the hands of Feridoun and his cow-headed mace:
...
- 76.7k
3
votes
0
answers
744
views
Source of the quote "Life is a balance between holding on and letting go" from Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī
There is a quote in the Internet which says: "Life is a balance between holding on and letting go". People cited it to Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī (Rumi). My question is that:
What is the ...
- 131
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Rumi's "In a slaughterhouse of love..." meaning
What is the meaning of the following quote from Rumi?
In the slaughterhouse of love, they kill only the best, none of the weak or deformed. Don't run away from this dying. Whoever's not killed for ...
- 143
6
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Did Rumi actually say "Silence is the language of God; all else is poor translation"?
Silence is the language of God; all else is poor translation.
I found this quote, like many, attributed to Rumi (one, two, three non-verifiable sources). Since Rumi quotes are notoriously often ...
- 76.7k
2
votes
0
answers
510
views
Where can I find the original Persian version of these Rumi poems from "The Essential Rumi"?
I am looking for the original Persian version of the following poems of Rumi. These poems are from "The Essential Rumi" by Coleman Barks. The numbers refer to the Furuzanfar's edition of Kulliyat-e ...
- 61
4
votes
1
answer
637
views
What is original Persian text of Rumi for the following English translation?
Dance, when you're broken open.
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance when you're perfectly free.
- 61
6
votes
2
answers
3k
views
In what literature does Rumi say "You are the Soul of the Soul of the Universe. And your name is Love?"
In what literature does Rumi say, "You are the Soul of the Soul of the Universe. And your name is Love?"
Any slight modification of the verse, e.g. "The soul of the soul of the universe is love" can ...
- 163
7
votes
0
answers
268
views
Is there a full copy of the original manuscript of "Mantiq al-Tayr" (The Conference of the Birds) by Attar of Nishapur?
I have came across notes about "The Conference of the Birds", and I have seen images of the cover of the manuscript, as well as random pages from it, as can be seen from the Wikipedia entry.
...
- 171
5
votes
1
answer
202
views
Why did Avicenna write his medical textbook in verse?
Avicenna (980-1037) was a Persian writer and scientist who is regarded as one of the founders of modern medicine. I found it interesting to discover that his textbook on medicine was written in the ...
- 76.7k
2
votes
1
answer
116
views
Symbolism in "The Jewel of the Secret Treasury"?
The poem "The Jewel of the Secret Treasury" by the famous Persian poet Hafez reads very much like a love poem, but I'm failing to pick up on the precise details of the metaphor:
The jewel of the ...
- 76.7k
3
votes
1
answer
297
views
What does "rushy bed" mean in this context?
The poem 'The Song of the Reed' by Rumi includes the lines:
Hearken to this Reed forlorn,
Breathing, even since 'twas torn
From its rushy bed, a strain
Of impassioned love and pain.
(From ...
- 103
4
votes
1
answer
2k
views
What is original Persian poem of Rumi for "The garden of the world has no limits, except in your mind"?
Does anyone know the Persian text for the below poem of Rumi?
The garden of the world has no limits, except in your mind.
Source: Quotable Quote on GoodReads.
- 111
7
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Which original Persian poem of Rumi does this refer to?
Does anyone know which is the Persian text for the below poem by Rumi ?
I choose to love you in silence…
For in silence I find no rejection,
I choose to love you in loneliness…
For in loneliness no ...
- 111
2
votes
1
answer
658
views
Meaning of Rumi's quote "Lo, for I to myself am unknown, now in God's name what must I do?"
I really like this quote but didn't get its correct meaning.
My deduction is - One is asking God that what should he do when he didn't know himself at first.
What is the meaning of Rumi's quote "Lo, ...
- 155
12
votes
1
answer
466
views
Why was My Uncle Napoleon banned in Iran?
The satirical novel My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad was briefly banned in Iran in the 1970s. Presumably this was because some aspects of its portrayal of Iranian society were considered ...
- 76.7k
9
votes
1
answer
390
views
Was FitzGerald the first to collect the poems of the Rubaiyat together?
According to Wikipedia:
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his translation of a selection of poems, originally written in Persian and numbering about a thousand, ...
- 76.7k
10
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What's the "Tower of Darkness" in the Rubaiyat referring to?
Stanza 26: (from the English version by FitzGerald)
A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries
"Fools! Your reward is neither Here nor There!"
What's the "Tower of Darkness" referred to?
I'm ...
user72
5
votes
0
answers
103
views
Did the author base this element on the Rubaiyat?
In a non-fiction history book, Millennium: A History of the Last Thousand Years, a (temporarily) recurring element is "The Tower of Darkness".
Chapter 3 is even titled that, and it's fairly clearly ...
user72
12
votes
1
answer
192
views
Why did "Some Answered Questions" get re-translated?
Some Answered Questions was first published into English in 1908, but was "extensively retranslated" in 2014. Why was a retranslation needed?
I assume it has to do with the dual origin of the English ...
- 5,062