Persiana/literature

Wings of the Eagle

From the page:
One day an eagle surfed the Winds being prepared for a delicious bait. Looking at the rightness and magnificence of his wings, eagle said to himself:

"Today the entire world is under my surveillance, flying on the sky zenith and observing even a living spot under the deep seas. I will clearly witness if a little gnat moves in the straws and motes."

He admired himself haughtily without having any foresightedness and providence. But finally, the kismet defeated him and suddenly a pungent shaft had been shot to his wings causing him unimaginable heart-rending and pain.

He felled on the ground and wallowed as a moribund fish flouncing and writhing. On that dying state, he said to himself astonishingly:

"Wow! How tapered and irascible was the arrow! Of course it is made of wood or iron!"

But... he looked on his wounded wings and found his feathers forming the shaft unbelievably.

"Nobody has to be rebuked. It is made of me and comes to me at last!"


Adapted from the Divan of Nasir Khusraw (1004 - 1088 CE)

*******
Winds of Autumn

Have you heard? A Squash vine grew beneath a towering Chenar tree.
In only twenty days it grew and spread and put forth fruit.
Of the tree it asked: 'How old are you? How many years?'
Replied the tree: 'Two hundred it would be, and surely more.'
The squash laughed and said: 'Look, in twenty days, I've done
More than you; tell me, why are you so slow?'
The tree responded: 'O little Squash,
Today is not the day of reckoning between the two of us'
'Tomorrow, when winds of autumn howl down on you and me,
Then shall it be known for sure which one of us is the most resilient!


~ Nasir Khusraw *

Saadi of Shiraz (and of the world), ~ 1200-1292 AD

Once again, April 21 is the national Saadi day in Iran.

A calligraphic art of his poem.
(Translated below)


Of one Essence is the human race,
Thusly has Creation put the Base;
One Limb impacted is sufficient,
For all Others to feel the Mace.

(Saadi's call to humanity graces the entrance to the Hall of Nations in New York.)

Another translation of the same poem:

The human race is a single being
Created from one jewel
If one member is struck
All must feel the blow
Only someone who cares for the pain of others
Can truly be called human

more.. :
A story concerning humility, and a story illustrating the noble-mindedness by Saadi.





UN Poster commemorating the birth of the 13th-century Iranian poet & philosopher Saadi,
designed for UNESCO by Shiva Ghobad, 1984. Saadi's best known works are
the Bostan (The Orchard) and the Golestan (The Rose Garden).

"Saadi distinguished between the spiritual and the practical or mundane aspects of life. In his Bostan, for example, spiritual Saadi uses the mundane world as a spring board to propel himself beyond the earthly realms. The images in Bostan are delicate in nature and soothing. In the Golestan, on the other hand, mundane Saadi lowers the spiritual to touch the heart of his fellow wayfarers. Here the images are graphic and, thanks to Saadi's dexterity, remain concrete in the reader's mind."

Shahnameh* - "The Epic of Kings" by Ferdowsi (935-1020)

Excerpt from the page:
The Shāhnāma's message

Ferdowsi's style is that of a superb poet. His epic language is so rich, moving and lavish that it truly enchants the reader. Personal touches in the Shahnameh prevent it from falling into a dry reproduction of historical narratives. No history has been so eagerly read, so profoundly believed, and so ardently treasured in Iran, as has the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi. If a history were ever to influence its readers, the Shāhnāma has done and still does so in the finest way.

Thus, to such an extent, the Master is righteously confident of his masterpiece's endurance and immortality that he versifies in the following exhilaratingly magical couplets:

بناهاى آباد گردد خراب
ز باران و از تابش آفتاب
[...]

Banāhāye ābād gardad kharāb
ze bārānō az tābeshē āftāb

pay afkandam az nazm kākhī boland
ke az bādō bārān nayābad gazand

namiram az īn pas ke man zenda am
ke tokhme sokhan rā parākanda am

"Prosperous buildings are ruined
By rainfall and exposure to sunlight"

"Ergo, I established a towering palace of verse
That sees no harm of neither gusts nor rainfall"

"I shall not demise as I am alive, henceforth
For I have disseminated the seeds of discourse"

Ferdowsi did not expect his reader to pass over historical events indifferently, but asked him to think carefully, to see the grounds for the rise and fall of individuals and nations; and to learn from the past in order to improve the present, and to better shape the future.

The Shahnameh stresses that since the world is transient, and since everyone is merely a passerby, one is wise to avoid cruelty, lying, avarice, and other evils; instead one should strive for justice, truth, order, and other virtues which bring happiness, ease, and honor.


(More about the Shahnameh and Ferdowsi on my previous pages.)