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Ferdowsi's four personas
Patriot, Humanist, Director and Litterateur
by Ali-akbar Dehkhoda
Abolghasem Ferdowsi, (b.
03-Jan-940, d. c1021) Iran's greatest epic writer, is considered
to be amongst world's most distinguished poets. He was born
in village of Bâjh.
Nezami Aroozi
wrote that "… Ferdowsi's family were land owners [Deghân]…"
Few writers
such as Masoud Marvazi, Daghighi Toosi, Abu-Mansur Moamari, Abu-Moayad
Balkhi and Abu-Ali Mohamad ebn Ahmad Balkhi had attempted to compose
Shahnameh.
At forty,
Ferdowsi started Shahnameh by compiling stories of Iranian epic
from Kârnâme-ye Ardeshir Pâpakân, Yâdgâr
zarir, Bahrâm choobin, Rostam o Esfandiyâr, Pirân
veyseh, Peykâr, Pandnâme-ye bozorgmehr, Andarz khosro
son of Ghobâd, Mâdigân shatranj, âyinNâme,
Gâhnâmeh and KhodâyNâmeh. He also documented
the stories through interviews:
Be porsidam az har kasi bishomâr
Neveshteh man in nâme-ye pahlavi - be nazd to âram
magar beghnavi
He was fifty-eight
when Mahmood Ghaznavi came to power:
Bedângah ke bod sâl panjâh-o hasht - Javân
boodam o chon javâni gozasht
Khorooshi shenidam ze giti boland - ke andisheh shod pir o man
bi gazand
Be peyvastam in nâmeh bar nâm ouy - hameh mehtari
bâd farjâm ouy
Cho boodam javân bartaram dâshti - be piri marâ
khâr bogzâshti
While Ferdowsi
was a born Moslem, he detested Arab domination:
Cho zin bogzari dor Omar bovad - sokhan goftan az takht o manbar
bovad
Ferdowsi was
sixty five when his son died:
Javân râ cho shod sâl bar siyo haft - na bar
arezoo yâft giti o raft
Marâ shast o panj o ve râ siyo haft - naporsid az
in pir o tanha beraft
Ferdowsi the
patriot: Embodies the Iranian patriotism for he was the first
poet to dedicate his life to document our glorious heritage.
Ze bahr bar o boom o farzand khish - zan o koodak o khord o peyvand
khish
Hame sar be sar tan be koshtan dahim - az ân beh ke keshvar
be doshman dahim
Ferdowsi the
humanist: He documents people's ceremonies, customs and ethical
values:
Ze khâkim bâyad shodan soo-ye khâk - ham-e jây
tars ast o timâr o bâk
Jahân sar be sar hekmat o ebrat ast - cherâ bahre-ye
mâ ham-e gheflat ast
Ferdowsi
the director: His focus on details brings scenes live on stage
before us. In the story of Giv adventure to bring Khosro back
from Tooran, in a part Khosro begins: Verâ goft ey Giv shâd
âmadi - kherad râ cho shâysteh dâd âmadi
Chegooneh sepordi bar in marz râh - ze Toos o ze Goodarz
o Kavoos Shah
Che dâri khabar, jomleh hastand shâd? - Hami dar del
az Khosro ârand yâd?
Jahânjooy Rostam goo piltan - chegoon ast o dâstân
ân anjoman?
Ferdowsi the
litterateur: He is masterful in arrangement of verses and makes
the poetry accessible by re-ordering words within the verse. In
the story of Mehrab's daughter Roodâbeh and her admirer
Zâl:
Ze sar tâ be pâyash be kerdâr âj - be
rokh chon bahâr o be bâlâ cho sâj
Do chashmash besân do narges be bâgh - mojheh tiregi
bordeh az par-e zâgh
Agar mâh jooyi hameh rooy-e oost - va gar moshk booyi hame
moo-ye oost
Beheshti ast sar tâ sar ârâsteh - por ârâyesh
o râmesh o khâsteh
Ferdowsi died
at the age of eighty-one.
In 1934, Reza
Shah Pahlavi ordered a mausoleum built for Ferdowsi which was
inaugurated by His Majesty in Toos. The first Ferdowsi commemorative
millennial was hosted in Iran.
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