An Introduction to Persian PoetryI. Rubaiyyat of Baba Taher "Oryan"

By: M. S. Tajar, Ph. D. Ed. D.Former Lecturer, University of the Philippines

“The aesthetic and intellectual delight of mankind has been greatly enhanced by Persian literature, the poetry especially.”

“…New Persian, whose emergence as an incomparable vehicle of poetry maybe in 900 A.D. Poems of Hamzala Baad-ghisy.”

(Avery, P.W. of the Kings College / Cambridge / U.K. “Persia:History and Heritage” Henry Melland, London. 1978 / p.65)

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Since 1859, when the first Persian Rubaiyyat of Omar Khayyamwas translated into English, by Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1883A.D.), the world of Poetry has never been so delighted tosee another Rubaiyyat translation into English language, butthis time even sweeter, softer and touchier, i.e. theRubaiyyat of Baba Taher “Oryan,” the Persian Sufi-poet (990A.D).

While the great Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyyat appear to besomewhat hedonistic, Epicurian and worldly (“Eat, drink andbe merry, for tomorrow you will die,” and that’s probablybecause the poet himself was a philosopher, mathematicianand an astronomer, in other words, a scientist, and thus hewas more “physical” and he was looking at the world from thepoint of view of a scientist,) the great Baba Taher was aSufi, a spiritual lover, and an “Oryan” (“Naked!” from allthe worldly possessions) and his poems flow like a spirit,and they are ethereal, like the air itself, or the "morningbreeze," if you please.

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Look at this Rubaiyyat of him, for example. While talkingto the Beloved, he says:

“My eye-socket, O’ my love, is your own very home!My forehead, O’ my life, is your entry gate!My eyelids, O’ my darling, could hurt your lovely feet,Be careful, coming in, honey, before it’s just too

late!”

Even though, like Omar Khayyam, Baba Taher also talks aboutthe Love, about the lover, about wine, about roses andnightingales, etc. as almost all the Persian poets do, yet,while Khayyam is denying the future, (and he is seeking the“now” and the “here,”) Baba Taher is longing for, andactually looking for It! In other words, he has just onepurpose and only one love, and that is the love thatsurpasses all other loves, - the Beloved Himself.

That’s why he says, and I quote:

“Some folks love happiness, some prefer the “pain!”1

Some join the lover, some run in disdain!I, just prefer the whims of my lover,Whatever it is - - sunshine or the rain!”

Another interesting thing about the Baba is that, while hispoems talk about the loftiness of the spiritual world, yetthey are so down to earth that even the humble shepherds ofPersia could understand them, and they have been singingthose Rubaiyyat on the hills, in the valleys and the fields,for almost a thousand years.

(As did the Chinese sailors with the Persian poems of Sa’di,some 600 years ago, while discovering America, almost 70

1 Like the Iranian lady poetess Forugh Farrokh-Zaad, who during the 60's used to praise the "pain" and suffering, until she died in a car accident almost like James Dean, and became well known, for the "live fast, die young" form of life and poetry.

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years ahead of Columbus (1451-1506 A.D.) under theleadership of a Chinese Muslim Admiral from Central Asia, bythe name of Zhang Ha a.k.a.. Ma Ha (1330 – 1450 A.D.). Seethe Discovery Channel “February 20, 2005 also “The PersianLetters,” Tehran, 2002, p. 20, and “The International HeraldTribune,” July 21, 2005).

Going back to the Rubaiyyat of Baba Taher, while they arealmost a thousand years old, yet they are still being sungby the pop singers of Persia, today, as if they werecomposed in the “Tin Pan Alleys of Tehran,” just yesterday!(The most interesting version of the Baba Taher songs that Ihave heard so far, is the one sung by the well-known Iranianlady singer --- Seema Beena).

Technicaly speaking, The Rubbaiyat of Baba Taher “Oryan” arethe best examples of a type of poetry in the Post-IslamicPersia, which are known as “Fahlaviyyaat” (of Pahlavilanguage) – seehttp://www.tebyan.net/literary_criticism/2009/3/5/86926/.html.

How Did I Come to Know Baba Taher?

Actually, I am from the City of Baba Taher --- Hamadan, theancient summer capital of Persia, under King Darius theGreat, some 2,500 years ago. (Hamadan or Hagmataneh orEkbatan, was one of the four capitals of the Persian Empire;the other three were the Persepolis, Susa and Baghdad inIraq today. The name Baghdad comes from two Persian wordsof Bagh, meaning God, like Baghwan in Sanskrit, and Dad,meaning "given," "the God-given City" or Diosdado inEuropean languages).

Since my early childhood, I had heard the poems of BabaTaher, used as moral advices, by the parents, teachers andpreachers. I had also seen his Divan (Persian book ofPoetry) on sale everywhere, in the bookstores, or even on

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the sidewalks or in any library. I had even visited hisbeautiful “Blue-domed” shrine, on the outskirts of my cityof childhood. But, it took me some 30 years of livingabroad, to fully recognize, and to appreciate thosebeautiful songs of Baba Taher (sung by Ms. Beena) and tosuddenly realize, what a sweet language, and what animaginative Sufi style, existed in Baba Taher’s Rubaiyyat.

From then on, I started repeating his Rubaiyyat, as a songin my mind, and I would imagine my “Admirable townmate” froma far away country, the Philippines. Until one day, when Iwas caught up in the traffic jam of Manila, suddenly I got arhyme of Baba Taher’s Persian poems, but this time, it wasin English version, running through my mind. I found itquite interesting! So, I jotted it down, right there andthen, among hundreds of noisy cars (while Baba Taher used tocompose the originals on top of the hills and mountains withall that serenity and peace).

From that day on, started my new “daily routine” --- i.e.the translation of Baba’s poems in the traffic jam! Then, Iknew what a blessing those pestering traffic jams could be!You could turn them into poetry! While many people cursethe traffic, I have learned to appreciate its good side,too. Someone once said, “It’s better to light a candle thanto curse the darkness.” Or as Dale Carnegie rightfullyadvised: "When the nature gives you a lemon, turn it into alemonade!"

In fact, Baba Taher himself also looks at the bright side ofthe “darkest moments” in his life:

“Worry is my worry, and a part of my heart!Partner in my life, with no plans to depart!Worrying over you, won’t just go away,Wonderful this worry, from the very start!”

Persian Poetry

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Persian is probably the richest language of poetry in theworld, not only for its un-equalled number of great poetslike Omar Khayyam, Hafiz, Sa'di, Firdausi, Rumi, Attar,Nizami, Baba Taher, Jaami, etc. (whom, unfortunately, someforeighners mistook as Arabs just because they were Muslimsand had "Arab" sounding names, as all Muslims do), but alsofor its un-matched volumes of Divans, as well. For example,the Shahnamah of Firdausi (930 – 1020 A.D.) is three timeslarger than Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, combined, and morespectacular in its presentations; while Rumi's "Mathnavi ofSufism" (1207 – 1273 A.D.) is still the best seller in theU.S.A. today, some 700 years after his death; and it is alsothe "All-time best seller" book of poetry in history!

(Note: Paul Coehlo of Brazil's best selling book "TheAlchemist" was inspired by Rumi's poems. Ref. BBC,Hardtalk, Extra. August 20, 2005)

On the other hand, the Rose Gardens (Golestan and Boostan)of Sheikh Sa'di (1213 – 1292 A.D.) have never been matchedin their beauty and elegance, in any other language; andHafiz's (1325 – 1390 A.D.) Divan is a "Holy Book" to G. W.Goethe and many other scholars of the world. Meanwhile, theRomanticism and the drama in the poems of Nizami (1141 –1217 A.D.) like the "Shirin and Farhad" are much morespectacular than say, the "Romeo and Juliet" by Shakespeare(1564 – 1616 A.D.) and those are considered as thepioneering works in the fields of Romanticism and poetry.

That's why, Sir Seyyed Ahmad Khan, a towering figure and areformist scholar and educator, during the British ColonialRule in India, very clearly stated, that:

"The Greatest Greek and Latin Poets are no match for theMaster Poets of Persia" (see "The Persian Letters," Sum.2002, p. 129). (By the way, this great Indian scholar wasof Persian origin, too. So were the great Pakistani poets

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Iqbal and scholar Abul A'la Maududi. So, they knew wellwhat they were talking about! Their Persian ancestry).

And Professor Akhtar Mahdi of the Jawaher La'l NehruUniversity in India, seconded the motion, by saying:"Persian language possesses the richest literary heritage inthe world today." (Ibid).

It's also very interesting to note that, two of the greatest"Persian Prophets" i.e. Zoroaster (551 – 628 B.C.) and Maani( of the Manicheans --- 300 A.D.) both were great poets,too. (Maani was a miniaturist painting artist as well whoeven invented a new alphabet). Zoroaster composed theGathas or the religious hymns, while Maani came up with"Artang" or "Arzhang" and "Shapur-gaan." (See PersianLetters, Summer 2002, pp. 80-85).

Persian Rhymes

As far as the art of rhyming is concerned (which is the mostdistinguished characteristic of poetry, that separates itfrom a mere good prose) no other Eastern language, much lessany western tongue, comes even close to that of the Persianpoetry, with its more than 500 different rhythmic styles!(While in English and other western languages, there are nomore than a dozen poetic styles, only). Ref. to G. Mateen,Prof. of Social Sciences, University of Bishkik, Republic ofQirqizistan. Also "The Persian Letters," Tehran, Iran,1995, p. 152.

Not even Arabic, with its eloquent poetry, has such a richrepertory of Divans, as Persian. Besides, when it comes torhyming perfection, still Persian is much ahead of Arabic;Because in Arabic, while the sound in the ending may be thesame in every line, yet the spelling and the writing is notalways so. (That's why, Obeid Zakani, the most famousPersian Satirist poet, in his "Dictionary of Satires" underthe word "Rhymeless/Rimeless" puts: The "Arabic Poem!") Butin the Persian style of poetry, sometimes the last two,

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three or even four syllables at the end are exactly matched,not only in their sounds, but even to the last letter oftheir spelling. (And that's what a good poem is all about.For more details, I would like to refer you to the"Formalism" school of poetry, which started in the early19th century Russia).

Probably, the closest rival of the Persian poetry in theEast is Urdu (Hindi) language in India, Pakistan, etc. Butthen, even the Urdu poetry is not "as sweet and as rich" asthe Persian.

In fact, the Father of the Urdu Poetry, Ghaleb of Delhi(1797 – 1869 A.D.) used to compose a big part of his ownpoems in Persian, and once he even said, and I quote:

"Look at Persian, to see all that glamour and beauty,Forget the Urdu, which is a colorless collection of

mine!"

(Note: Ghaleb and his outstanding student Mr. Hali, bothgreat Indian poets, had their own masterpieces composed inPersian language).

Indeed, Ghaleb or "Mr. Urdu" himself was so fascinated withthe Persian poetry that, not only he composed his ownmasterpieces in Persian language, but he went so far as todeclare himself "a Persian" (like a true Sufi who becomesone with his own beloved).

Once, this blessed Ghaleb of Delhi announced:

"Ghaleb was indeed,A lovely nightingale,Of Persian Rose-Gardens;I, mistakenly,Called him, parrakeet,Of the Indian soil!"

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(Note: Ghaleb's ancestors were also migrants from CentralAsia - ancient Persia).Not only Ghaleb and many other earlier Indian poets were soin love with Persia and anything Persian, especially withits poetry and romance, but even the contemporary Indianpoets are very much fascinated with it, too. For example,the late Dr. Mohammad Iqbal, the greatest poet-philosopherof the 20th century Indian subcontinent, and later on theNational Poet of Pakistan, whose major part of poems (70%)are composed in Persian, rather than in his own mothertongue (Urdu or Hindi), once said:

"Although Hindi is as sweet as the sugar, Yet, the Persian language is even sweeter!"

M. Iqbal, "Persian Letters" p. 203

And one day, when somebody asked Dr. Iqbal, why his poemswere mostly in Persian, rather than in his own nativelanguage, he replied: "I don't know, I just receive theseinspirations in Persian!" (see "The Persian Letters" Sum.2003/p.133) Then, Dr. Iqbal added: "Actually, my soul isPersian!" (Ibid).

On another occasion, Dr. Iqbal, writing a letter to anIranian scholar, confessed: "My highest self expressions,and my greatest satisfaction in life, come from my Persianpoetry." (Ibid).

Another great foreign scholar, but this time, a Roman, thewell-known Italian Orientalist, Juan Bautista Reymondi,says:

"Persian is the sweetest language in the world, and ithas a magical power in poetry!" (Ibid).

Such a confession, coming from a Roman (our rivals forthousands of years) who is so used to the "La Dolce Vita"and all those great Italian poetry, songs and literature,

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says a lot about the Persian language, and especially aboutits poetry.

No wonder the great Rumi (another Roman? No, not really. Hewas a Persian Sufi living in the Eastern part of the ancientRome – today's Turkey) once said (and his poem is also inPersian, I might add!):

"Oh, how sweet it is,To hear those praises,From our own "rivals"About our beloved!"("Khosh bo-vad gar vas-fe haa-le Del-baran")("Gofteh aa-yad dar hadi-se digaraan!")

Another European scholar, once said: "Persian is the Frenchof Asia (in sweetness)" (Ibid)

According to the British researcher and Iranologist Prof. P.W. Avery: “British scholars… have been fascinated by thebeauty of Persian language and Poetry, the art of Persianminiaturists…” (see: Persia:History and Heritage”. p.10)

Now, going back again to the Urdu (Hindi) language, asprobably the only formidable rival of the Persian language,in poetry, one should not forget the fact that Urdu languageis actually a "second generation Persian," with almost 60%of its words coming either directly from Persian, or fromthe "Arabic, which has filtered through the PersianChannel." (In fact, the Urdu alphabet is derived fromPersian, which is a modified from of the Arabic letters).The rest of the Urdu (around 30% to 40%) is Sanskrit (with afew Turkish and Mongul words, like the word "Urdu" itself,which in Turkish means "soldier" because Urdu started as thelanguage of the soldiers in the Moghul Army, who were mostlyTurkish, Persians, Arabs, etc.). But, then again, if youlook at the Sanskrit itself very closely, you will find outthat Sanskrit was the original language of theAryans/Caucasians of Iran, some 10,000 years ago, before itwas transferred to the Indian subcontinent.

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So, it is not very difficult to see why the Urdu (Hindi)language is so good in poetry, that it could even rival the"champion of poetry in the world" i.e. the Persian language.You may even call Urdu a hybrid Persian.

That's why, the good Indian professor Dr. Mahmood Shiranialso confirms this view by saying: "Urdu is the beautifuldaughter of the Persian language." (see "The PersianLetters" Summer 2000 p. 199)

Therefore, like mother, like daughter. In the same mannerthat the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the worldwas a Persian creation (designed by the Master Architect,Ustad Eisa Shirazi) and just as the Queen Mumtaz Mahal, thePersian Beauty, who conquered the Indian Hearts, and now sheis resting in peace in the Taj Mahal, the Persian poetry andart also have influenced the art and culture and even thelanguage of the Indian subcontinent, immensely, and theywill live forever, in the Indian subcontinent (includingPakistan, Bangladesh and also Afghanistan, the countries ofthe Central Asia up to China on the one hand, and Turkey,Armenia up to Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia of theformer Yugoslavia in the Balkans, on the other) as a richcultural heritage.

Knowing this well, the first Prime Minister of India,Jawaher La'l Nehru (whose first name is also Persian) awell-read author, and an intellectual-statesman, once quotedthe French scholar Mr. Greuze, as saying:

"Taj Mahal is the soul of Persia, in the soil of India"(see "The Persian Letters" Summer 2002, p. 198.)

Just to realize how much influence the Persian arts,language and particularly its poetry have had in the Indiansubcontinent, (especially on the Urdu and Hindi Poetry) it'senough to note that within the 1,000 years of the presenceof the Persian Poetry in India, more than 10,000 (ten

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thousand) Indian (Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, included)poets and writers, have composed their poems, and they havecreated great Divans or other forms of literature in Persian(rather than in Indian) or together with their works intheir own native tongues.

Almost every Indian (Pakistani, Bengali) poet, past orpresent, could somehow read or write in Persian, or wouldrecite many Persian poems from memory. Many of them evenhave great compositions of their own, in Persian, untiltoday.

In fact, as we have seen before, the greatest poet of the20th century India, who later on (after the partition ofIndia and Pakistan in 1947) was declared as the nationalpoet of Pakistan, and "the Poet of the East" is Dr. MohammadIqbal, who has composed more poems in Persian, than in hisown mother tongue (i.e. Urdu / Hindi) because, as he put it:"Farsi Shakar Ast!" or "Persian is Poetry" (or Persian issugar) Ref. "Divan of Iqbal" Tehran, Iran, 1990, p. 12.

And that brings us to another interesting, and very uniquephenomenon in the world literature--- that more Persianpoems (in quantity, though may not always be in quality)have been composed outside Persia, by the "foreigners" thanin Persia, by the Persians themselves!

Persian Poetry Outside Persia

The most interesting fact about the Persian poetry is thatthousands of the non-Persians (Indians, Turks, Armenians,Central Asians, East Europeans, etc.) from far away lands,races, cultures, and religions (like the Armenians andHindus) for many centuries, have composed their poems in thePersian language, either exclusively or together with theirown native tongues (we might as well call them "the Persico-Philes").

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Aside from the Indians, Pakistanis, and Bengalis (whoconstitute the largest number of those "foreigners"composing in Persian), a substantial number of the Turkishand the Eastern European poets and writers also have joinedthis phenomenal cultural and artistic race.

A great number of the Albanians (the only Muslim country inEurope) and many poets and writers from the formerYugoslavia, like Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, etc. (mostlyMuslims) have composed their great poems, in Persian.

Also many great Turkish poets, like 1) Naf'iy, 2) Touqati,3) Fozuli, 4) Lame-iy Gorgani, 5) Baaqi, etc. have their ownDivans in Persian. Even some of the great Ottoman Emperorsof Turkey, who were the political enemies of the Persians,and they even fought against them in the battle fields,could not "resist the temptations" of composing their ownpoems, not in Turkish language, but in Persian (the languageof their political nemesis).

Several of the well-known Turkish Emperors, and PrimeMinisters, as well as politicians, who have manycompositions (and even a Divan) in Persian language, are thefollowing:

1. Sultan Ildrom Bayazid2. Sultan Solaiman Qanuni3. Sultan Salim Othmani4. Sultan Mohammad Fateh5. Mahmoud Pasha (the Ottoman Prime Minister), etc.

etc.

(Indeed, for several centuries, the official documents inthe Ottoman Empire, were recorded in Persian, many of whomare still on display in various Turkish libraries andmuseums).

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And today, in Konya (Iconium) Turkey, lies the remains ofthe greatest Sufi-poet of all time, the magnificent Master,Rumi (1207 – 1273) whose "Mathnavi" is still called the"Holy Qur'an of the Persian Version" among Muslims of theCentral Asia, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, theKashmir, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China, Turkey, Albania, etc.and as we mentioned before, it is still on the bestsellercategory in the United States, and some other Englishspeaking countries. (Rumi, is the "All time best-sellingPoet," in the world history).

And yet, this Grand Master was not even Turkish (even thoughthe CNN reporter says so!), but a Persian Jewel from Balkh,a town in Central Asia (now part of Uzbekistan).

What Makes Persian Poetry so Alluring?

Well, the answer to this question is very easy and veryobvious, to those who are familiar with the world literaturein general, and poetry, in particular.

As the great non-Persian poets like Ghaleb of Delhi and Dr.Mohammad Iqbal of India (and now Pakistan) and Juan BautistaReymondi of Italy and many other "Foreigners" have alreadyattested, there is a certain charm and beauty and sweetnessand power in Persian language, and especially in its poetry,that inspires poetry, even among the non-Persian speakingpoets, or the poetry lovers. (As the late Dr. Iqbal used tosay: "I get my inspirations in Persian!")

That's why the number of the non-Persians, composing theirpoems in Persian, is the highest in Persian literature, thanin any other language in the world.

The great Persian poet, Nasser Khosro Qabadiani has abeautiful observation about non-Persian speaking poetscomposing good poems in Persian language.

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He says and we quote:

“In Tabriz (the capital of the Turkish province of Iran,near Azirbaijan) I met a poet, name, Qatrau; he used tocompose poetry (in Persian) well. Only he did not knowPersian well. He came to me…” (Prof. P. W. Avery: “Persia:History and Heritage” p.70)

Another interesting fact to consider here is that in Persia,there have always been, and still there are, so many greatpoets and master poets of the world caliber, that no singlecountry (not even Iran, the Persia proper) could claim anyone of them as exclusively its own national poet.

For instance, while Russia appropriately has declaredAlexander Pushkin (1799-1837), the great, great-grandson ofan African slave, as its own national poet, Pakistan on theother hand, rightfully prides itself in Dr. Mohammad Iqbal(1875-1938) as its national poet (although the great Dr.Iqbal wa more at home with the Persian poetry, than with theUrdu, actually); the Bangladeshis have declared Qazi NazarulIslam (1899-1976) as the National Poet of Bangladesh ( Healso used to compose some of his poems in Persian); and theGermans have chosen W. Goethe (1749 -1832) as their NationalPoet (although Goethe, himself was a great admirer of thePersian Sufi-poet, Hafiz of Shiraz), and many othercountries also have their own national poets, as well…

Yet, Iran, "the Land of a Thousand Poets," doesn't have anyofficial national poet, (though some say it is Firdausi).The reason is that there are so many of them, who are sogreat, that they are actually the "Poets of the World" andtherefore, they could not be limited to any singlenationality, race, religion, culture, creed or color.

And there are virtually thousand of masterpieces of poetryin Persian language, called "Divans," (a big number of whichare composed by the Persian speaking poets, outside theboundaries of Iran, like in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan,

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Afghanistan, etc. Besides, there are also a lot of Divans,created by the non-Persian speaking poets or the"foreigners" in other countries, like in India, Pakistan,Bangladesh, Turkey, Armenia, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina,etc.).

The latest studies show that there are at least 1,000 (athousand) well known Persian Divans (Books of Poetry) fromaround the world, stretching as far as India, Pakistan,Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, Central Asian Republics,Turkey up to Bosnia-Herzegovina (the former Yugoslavia)Macedonia and Albania in Eastern Europe. In fact, Mr. NaimFrasheri (1846-1905) the national poet of Albania, and hisbrother (Shamsud-Din Saami) and many other Albanian poetshave composed a big part of their own poems in a foreignlanguage, i.e. Persian. According to a Bosnian scholar bythe name of Mohammad Khanjich, from the 15th century up tothe 18th, there were many well-known Balkan poets andauthors, who composed their poems in Persian, and they wrotetheir books in that "foreign" language. (see "The PersianLetters" Summer 2002, p. 6)

Some of the greatest poets/writers in the Balkan region, whohave composed their own poems in Persian, are as follows: 1)Fauzi Mostari, 2) Nasib Tahir Baba, 3) Kazim Baba, 4)Shahedi, 5) Shamsud Din Saami, 6) Na-im Farasheri, 7)Mahmood Pasha, 8) Darvish Pasha, 9) Ajiz Baba, 10) DarvishSolaiman Mazaki, 11) Haji Baba, 12) Soodi Bosnavi, 13) TalibAhmad, 14) Rashid Mohammad, 15) Ali Zaki, 16) Ahmad Roshdi,17) Haji Mostafa, 18) Ahmad Yosri, 19)Ledoni, 20) KhosroPasha, 21) Ahmad Sabahi, 22) Tawakkoli Dada, 23) AhmadAfandi, 24) Mohammad Pasha, 25) Ahmad Khatam, 27) BayazidAagich, 28) Mohammad Bushinich, 29) Mohammad Ameen, and manyother less known, yet great poets and writers of Balkan, whocreated some masterpieces in Persian language.

As far as the Indian Subcontinent is concerned, there arevirtually thousands (both Muslims and Hindus) who have alsocomposed their poems in the Persian language, rather than in

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their own native Hindi or Urdu, or together with their ownnative tongues. One can easily say that the IndianSubcontinent (which includes Pakistan, Kashmir andBangladesh) has been the greatest "home" of Persian poetry,outside Persia. Some of the best-known Indian (Pakistani,Kashmiri, Bangladeshi) poets who are considered as themasters of the Persian poetry are as follows: 1) NizamulMulk Aasif, 2) Imam Bakh'sh Sahbayi, 3) Dara Shokooh, 4)Maulana Fasihi, 5) Mohammad Mo'min Khan, 6) Nawab MustafaKhan, 7) Sadrud Din Dehlavi, 8) Hamid Lahori, 9) MorshidBoroojerdi, 10) Jamshid Kashani, 11) Sa'ib Tabrizi, 12)Zohoori Naishaboori, 13) Bidel, 14) Ghaleb of Delhi, 15)Hali, 16) Mas-ud Saad Salman, 17) Amir Khosro Dehlavi, 18)Moghul Emperor Babor, 19) Hasan Dehlavi, 20) Faizi, 21)Hasrati, 22) Shebli Nomani, 23) Khosh-goo, 24) Toghrayi, 25)Dr. Mohammad Iqbal, 26) Qazi Nazarul Islam, 27) MohammadBaqer Tabatabai, 28) Mo-in Nezami, 29) Ovais Kashmiri, 30)Mahdi Kashmiri, 31) Saalem Kashmiri, 32) Ghani Khashmiri,33) Sah'ba Dehlavi, 34) Shiri Lahori, 35) Mohib Belgrami,36) Mira Maani, 37) Weqaari, 38) Handal, 39) YaadegarHalati, 40) Obeidi Sahrevardi, 41) Abdul Razzaq Isfahani andvirtually hundreds of other lesser known, yet equally greatmasters of the Persian poetry, in the Indian subcontinent.

National Poets of Other Countries Composing Persian Poems:

Another interesting phenomenon about the Persian Literatureand especially its poetry, is the fact that not only theMoghul Emperors of India, the Pashtun kings of Afghanistan,the rulers of the Central Asian kingdoms and the OttomanEmperors in Turkey and the Balkans, adopted the Persianpoetry as their own highest form of artistic expressions,and thus they composed many quality poems in that language,which was "foreign" to them, but also several topinternational poets from foreign lands, in fact the nationalpoets of those countries, too, have composed lots of Persianpoems "as a Baptismal of fire" so to speak, in order toprove their metals in the world of poetry, plus their love

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for the Persian art of poetry. (It also proves how Persianis synonymous with poetry, internationally).

The following are the national poets of other countries whohave composed the whole, or a part of their poetry inPersian:

1. Nezami Ganjavi (1141-1217 A.D.), the national poet ofAzerbaijan

2. Bayazid Ansari (17th Century A.D.), the national poetof Afghanistan

3. Amir Ali Shir Navai (1470-1506 A.D.), the national poetof Uzbekistan

4. Na'im Frasheri (1846-1905), the national poet ofAlbania

5. Dr. Mohammad Iqbal (1875-1938) the Indian-born nationalpoet of Pakistan

6. Qazi Nazarul Islam (1899-1976) the Indian-born nationalpoet of Bangladesh

7. Sadrud Din Ayni (1875-1951) the national poet ofTajikistan

8. Makh-toom Qoli Faraghi (1733-1783) the national poet ofTurkministan.

Persian Poets "in Exile" or the Diaspora

Another fascinating aspect of the Persian poetry is thepresence of many Persian poets in some foreign lands. Therehas not been a very specific study on this topic yet, butoff-hand, we may say that probably hundreds or eventhousands of Persian poets migrated to India, Pakistan,Bangladesh, Turkey, Iraq, Indonesia, China, and in manyparts of Europe for many centuries. Here is the list of themost well known Persian poets in the Diaspora:

1. Jalalud Din Rumi (the Master of the Whirling Dirvishesin Turkey, Albania and some parts of Eastern Europe).He was born in Balkh city, Ancient Persia, in 1207 A.D.but lived most of his life in Konya, Turkey. He died

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in 1273 A.D. and is now buried in a shrine in thatcity. According to the renowned British Iranalogist,Prof. P.W. Avery: “Rumi… composed in distant Anatolia(Now Turkey) the great text of Persian Mysticism.”(see: Persia: History and Heritage, p.7) He then goeson to say: “The mode of Turkish literature wasthoroughly imbued with the Persian taste”. Ibid.72.

2. Sa-ib of Tabriz (16th Century A.D.) in India3. Kalim Kashani (17th Century A.D.) in India4. Rokni Kashani (17th Century A.D.) in India5. Naziri Neishaboori (17th Century A.D.) in India6. Zohoori (17th Century A.D.) in India7. Bahaud Din Ouchi (17th Century A.D.) in India8. Ali Mahmoodi (17th Century A.D.) in India9. Zia Wajezi (17th Century A.D.) in India10. Mohammad Kateb Balkhi (17th Century A.D.) in India11. Fazli Bokharayi (17th Century A.D.) in India12. Ali Koofi (17th Century A.D.) in India13. Farid Isfahani (17th Century A.D.) in India14. Khaja Qotbud Din Bakhtiar (17th Century A.D.) in

India15. Mohammad Bokharayi (17th Century A.D.) in India16. Saraji Khorassani (17th Century A.D.) in India17. Ahmad Jaami (17th Century A.D.) in India18. Menhaj Lahori (17th Century A.D.) in India19. Hakim Roohani (17th Century A.D.) in India20. Qa-neyi Toosi (17th Century A.D.) in India21. Morshed Borujerdi (17th Century A.D.) in India22. Laa-mei Gorgani (18th Century A.D.) in Turkey23. Sayyid Mohammad Baqer Tabatabai (1841-1909) in

Bangladesh.

And many other great poets who should be studied by thefuture researchers.

But, most spectacular are the cases of three Persian migrantpoets, each becoming one of the greatest, if not thegreatest poet of the Chinese, Arabic and European

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literatures, of all time! (It seems that poetry runs in thePersian blood).

Here they are:

24. One of the best poets (if not the best) of theChinese literature is Doh-Fu, a migrant Persian fromCentral Asia--- circa 600 A.D. (As was another Persianscholar, who first translated the Bhuddist scripturesfrom Sanskrit into Chinese, and thus he introducedBhuddhism in China for the first time, in 148 A.D. Hewas a Persian prince or a Magi, from the Ashkan Dynastyof Persia, by the name of "An-xi Guo" (the Persian Guy)see the "Iran-China Cultural Magazine," April 7, 2004

25. Some other "mestiso" Persians in China, duringTang Dynasty (618 – 907 A.D.) also have composed poemsin Chinese (as well as in Persian). The name of thewell known "Persian poets of China" (aside from MasterDoh-fu, that we mentioned earlier) are as follows:1. Anfu Goh2. Lee Yuan Lee-an3. Shee Shu Win4. Lee She-wan, and his sister5. Miss Lee See Yun (885 – 930 A.D.) who is the most

popular amongst this group. (See Prof. Jang Huevy,the well known Chinese Iranologist. "Sokhan Eshq"Magazine, Tehran, Iran, Summer 2007, p. 175)

The father of the last two brother and sister poets of"China" was an Iranian pharmacist/herbalist, by thename of "Lee Su Sha."

No wonder the International Herald Tribune's Souren Melikiansays: "China's Iranian connection is only beginning tounravel!" see IHT, p. 11, Art Section, April 9-10, 2005.

26. Abu Nuwas or "Nawaz" (Hasan Bin Hani) the greatestpoet of love and romance in Arabic language (756-814A.D.) He was a half Persian from the city of Ahwaz,

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Iran. (Note: Nuwas is probably the Arabic pronunciationof "Nawaz" which in Persian means "singing,""chanting," etc.) “The Iranians so cleverly masteredArabic, that soon they were adding luster to the Arabicpoetry of Abbasid Baghdad” (Avery P.W.” Persia: Historyand Heritage p.66).

27. Ali Zaryab (D. 852 A.D.), the greatest musician ofAndalusia in Spain, during the Dark Ages of Europe. Hestarted what we know today as the "Latin music" fromthe Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) up to LatinAmerica- Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, etc., etc. Although AliZaryab is known more for his music, fashion designingand etiquette of fine dining and fine arts in Europe,during the Age of Ignorance, yet his poetry is also oneof his greatest contributions to humanity and arts.Most of his poetry works were in Arabic (the linguafranca of the time) therefore, many people mistook himas an "Arab" and even changed his name to "Ali Zarib"to sound more Arabic (see "The History Channel's" AmaniZain report, August 14, 2009). But the truth is thatAli Zaryab and his master teacher Abu Ishaq Museli wereboth Persian artists (musician-poets). In fact, anyonewho knows a little Persian, will also know that hissurname "Zar-yab" means "Gold-miner" or "Gold-smith."(How many more times we have to correct this kind of"errors" in history? Even Omar Khayyam was called an"Arab" poet, and Rumi as a Turkish poet, (CNN, 2007)while the entire Divans of these two gentlemen is inPersian, for the whole world to see! And none of themhas a single line of poetry in Turkish or Arabic;although Rumi has a few lines in Arabic, interwovenwith Persian, too. The same goes for the so-called"Arabian horse" which is actually Persian in origin, aswell as the 1,001 Persian Stories called "ArabianNights" while its main character "Shaharazad" isPersian, the list goes on and on. Sometimes you wonderhow does a desert breed horses? And how could thosemagic palaces exist within the Bedouin tents?).

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Characteristics of a Good Poetry

The characteristics of a good poetry are two very importantand fundamental elements:

1. What is being said2. How is it being said

In other words, poetry, just like the prose (or even morethan the prose) consists of two very essential parts, i.e.:

1) The subject matter of the composition, and 2) Howelegantly and imaginatively it has been expressed, oractually, vice versa, because how well it is being said,in poetry, is even more important than what is beingsaid. (Take note that in every country or culture, youcan find some beautiful pieces of poetry or words ofwisdom. What makes some poetry more superior to theothers is not much about what they say, but rather moreabout "How well they say" it).

In that regard, Persian language, with 537 different stylesin its repertory, has an "in-born" advantage over otherlanguages and an ability, more than any other language onearth, to express itself in many forms of excellent poetry,compared, say, with English, which is limited to less than adozen styles, only.

Sometimes when I read the English or other European poems(Spanish, French, Russian, Japanese, etc.) I really wonderwhether to categorize them as a poem or a prose or none ofthem at all. (In other words, "neither rhyme, nor reason").

Don’t' tell me that there could be a poem without any properrhyme! Even the so-called free verse has a certain rhyme,otherwise it's just a prose. Those who tell us that withouta proper rhythmic ending, they could still have a "poem,"might as well claim that "They have seen a fish in the

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Sahara that was flying!" Remember that the magic of poetrylies in its rhyme, thus no rhyme, no poetry!

I think these guys just don't get it! Or they don't have thetalent of making good poems, and they use the argument tojustify their own inabilities! Otherwise, if you were atrue poet then the rhymes would come naturally, and easily.

(Just like the Great Grand Master, the Sheikh Sa'di ofShiraz, who was described by his biographer and admirer, Mr.Mohammad Ali Forooghi, the late Iranian Scholar, as such:"Sa'di was truly a Master, both of the Poetry and the Prose!His poems flow so easily and so naturally, that they soundlike a Prose! And his prose is so sweet and so melodious,that they sound like a poem!). See "Persian Letters" Sum.2003, p. 28.

Once, in my early youth, I used the same argument with anIranian poet. He said: "Well, to rhyme or not to rhyme,that's the question! And that is exactly the differencebetween a poet and a non-poet!" Here, a Persian poemexplains everything:

"If you heard a song,That you didn't understand,Don't call it worthless!Maybe it's your heart,My sweet darling,And your understanding,That's really at fault!"

Hafiz of Shiraz (1325 – 1390 A.D.)

In Persian language, the two main ingredients of anexcellent poetry, i.e. the rhyme and the wise sayings(beautiful expressions) in other words, both rhyme andreason, and form and substance, are very much abundant. Thesweetness of the Persian language is another bonus. Allthese elements exist, very richly, in a language and aculture, full of colorful traditions, belonging to the

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oldest human civilization (the Eilam/Jiroft Civilization.Some 10,000 years old!).

Persian Master Poets

Majority of the educated citizens of the world are very muchfamiliar with the Persian Master Poets, like the Great OmarKhayyam, Firdausi, Rumi, Saadi and Hafiz (who according tohis American translator, Mr. Daniel Ladinsky, "was thegreatest poet who walked this earth" and was "adored andidolized" by G.W. Goeth, himself the greatest poet-philosopher-writer of Germany and Europe, as a whole. Someother scholars consider Hafiz as one of the three greatpoets of all time, the other two being Dante andShakespeare. But, knowing very well that Hafiz was muchahead of the two, both in time and in the style of poetry,it is not difficult to see who is really the first among therest, or the "Primus inter pares").

But then, there are hundreds of other excellent Persianpoets who are equally great, if not even greater than thosealready mentioned, whom the outside world doesn't knowmuch, just because there has not been enough goodtranslations of those masters available in the Englishlanguage.

Consider, for example, the following great Persian poets: 1)Attar, 2) Nezami, 3) Baba Taher, 4) Sa-ib of Tabriz, 5)Jaami, 6) Shahidi Balkhi, 7) Rudaki, 8) Lady Parvin, 9) LadyMahasti, 10) Lady Ra-bia, 11) Lady Fatimah Khatoon Mash-hadi, 12) Lady Saffari, 13) Lady Simin, 14) Lady ForooghFarrokh-zaad, 15) Onsori, 16) Khaqani, 17) Wahshi Kermani,18) Qa'ani, 19) Zakani, 20) Ibn Yamin, 21) Sanai, 22)Manuchehri, 23) Khajawi, 24) Farrokhi, 25) Amir Ali Shir,26) Naser Khosro, 27) Amir Khosro, 28) Salman Savaji, 29)Anvari, 30) Asjodi, 31) Asadi, 32) Moh-tasham, 33) IrajMirza, 34) Eshqi, 35) Shahriar, 36) Bahar, 37) Nezaam Wafa,38) Sohaili, 39) Nima Yushij, 40) Sadeq Sarmad, 41) Rahi Mo-ayyery, 42) Rashid Yasami, 43) Farrokhi Yazdi, 44) Yaghma

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Jandaqi, 45) Auhadi, 46) Daqiqi, 47) Kasayi, 48) RoknayeKashi, 49) Wasal Shirazi, 50) Naziri, 51) Orfi Shirazi, 52)Iraqi, 53) As-ad Gorgani, 54) Zohoori, 55) Qetran Tabrizi,56) Mo'ezzi, 57) Mak-tabi Shirazi, 58) Sowdaye Jandaqi, 59)Shaukat Bokhari, 60) Homam Tabrizi, 61) Taleb Aamoli, 62)Baba Faghan Shirazi, 63) Hakim Gilani, 64) Malek Qommi, 65)Fayiz Dashtestani, 66) Nadem Gilani, 67) Wah-shi Yazdi, 68)Walah Daghestani, 69) Sheikh Bahayi, 70) Azar Big-deli, 71)Abul Qasem Lahooti, 72) Nazari Qahestani, 73) Amir HosainiHarawi, 74) Sohrab Sepehri, 75) Tawalloli, 76) AhmadShamloo, 77) Maj'd Khawfi, 78) Aref Qazwini, 79) Kompani,80) Nasim Shemal, 81) Aahi Shirazi, 82) Deh-Khoda, 83) GhaniZadah, 84) Isma-il Isfahani, 85) Mas-oud Sa'ad Salman, and ahost of other lesser known, yet great poets, each one morethan qualified to be a national poet. Probably, the onlyway to describe them appropriately is to call them "thepoets of the world." (In the city of Tabriz, Iran, there isa Persian Poets' Cemetery, with over 400 poets, buriedthere. Once, a poet from the Republic of Tajikistan, whohad visited the "Shrine of Poets in Tabriz," said: "InTabriz City, even the trees sing songs!")

Some Words About This Translation

Many of my friends, and even some readers, have asked meabout the method I have used in translating these Rubaiyyat,from the original Persian into English (and also intoFilipino, by my good co-translators); Did I use "word forword" method, or was it a "free fall" or what?

My answer to them always has been "the Moderation Method."By moderation here I mean, it was not a word for wordtranslation (which is never good and sensible, even in thetranslation of the ordinary texts, much less in poetry, withits unique language and style). It was not also a "Freefall," in the sense that it could have damaged, totally orpartially, the original meaning, intended by the poet,himself.

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I have adopted a middle way, by keeping alive the spirit ofthe poems, and the intentions of the poet, without alsodamaging the rhyming in English as well, which is asimportant as the contents of the poems themselves. Once ina while, I have used my poetic license, too. Remember thesaying: "You can never translate a poem!"

Regarding the delicate job of translation, especially thetranslation of poetry, a Pakistani writer (who is also agood poet, and very much familiar with the Persian poetry)by the name of Elias Eshqi, once made a funny, but veryaccurate observation. He said, and I quote:

"Translation is like a woman, if it is beautiful, it isnot faithful, and if it is faithful, then it is notbeautiful!"

Well, in this translation I have tried to "keep her bothbeautiful and faithful;" but, whenever a conflict arosebetween beauty and faithfulness, I decided that "she ratherbe beautiful!"

The reason for this was that we were coming up with a bookof poetry (even in English and in Filipino) and it was aboutrhyming, art, love, beauty and entertainment, not much aboutsome literal accuracies, historical facts and figures orlegal documents or a Holy Book, that could not be altered abit (just like the "Laws of the Medes and the Persians" ofthe olden days).

We were more interested in the poetic form of the Rubaiyyatrather than in their literal translation, but we have alsodone our best not to deviate from the spirit of the poemsand the noble intentions of the Great Baba Taher.

We hope and pray that we have succeeded in this endeavor.Now, it's up to our well qualified readers and the critiques(who will always be "critiquing" anyway!) to judge forthemselves, whether we have done a good job or not.

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It is indeed a great honor to present, very humbly, ourlittle services, to one of those great masters of the worldpoetry, who expressed his thoughts in the Persian language,with this new translation of the Rubaiyyat of Baba Taher.His themes and his language are universal, and theytranscend any nationality, culture or creed.

Also it is very interesting to note that while Baba Taherwas from the ancient Persian capital of Ecbatana(Hagmataneh) or present-day Hamadan, and his poems are amixture of Kurdish and Hamadani dialects, yet throughout thePersian speaking world (Iran, Afghanistan, the Central AsianRepublics, parts of China and even Kashmir, which is called"The Little Iran") every ethnic group sings his poems intheir own peculiar accents—Mazandarani, Gilaki, Lori,Tehrani, Dari, etc. Truly he was something to everyone!

With this new translation into English and Filipino, we hopethat his great wisdom, spirituality and sweet style ofpoetry, will be appreciated by all those who love poetry andthe art of human expressions, in any language.

References:

1. "Persian Letters" (Nameh Parsi) Tehran, Iran. Seriesfrom 2000 – 2008

2. Dr. Mohammad Iqbal, "The Divan" Tehran, Iran. 19903. The International Herald Tribune Series of Issues, 2003

– 20084. BBC TV and Radio Series of Reports/Documentaries (from

2000 upward)5. CNN World Report – 2000 up to present6. Aljazeera – Documentaries7. History Channel8. Discovery Channel, etc.9. "Danesh" Persian Quarterly, Pakistan/ 2003

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10. "Parsi Names" by Maneka Gandhi and Prof. OzairHosain, India, 1994

11. "Rubaiyyat of Baba Taher," by Elizabeth Cortis-Breton, Farrhang Sara Book Co., Tehran, 1995.

12. "Baba Taher" by Edward Heron-Allen (Venice, 1901A.D.) Reprinted by Padideh Publications, Tehran, Iran2002.

13. P. W. Avery of Kings College / Cambridge / U.K.“Persia: History and Heritage” Henry Melland, London,1978.

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