Rudaki - Persian Language Online (2024)

رودکیRudaki

Biography

Abu Abdollāh Rudaki (858-940 AD) is known as the ‘Father of Persian poetry’, as he was one of the earliest poets to write in the Modern Persian language. He was born in the village of Panjrud, in present-day Tajikistan, and became the court poet for Nasr II, the Amir of Bukhara and ruler of the Samanid dynasty between 914 and 943 AD. During this time he composed thousands of verses, including many قصاید qasāyed ‘odes of praise’, as well as a beautiful retranslation of the South Asian Kalileh va Demneh fables into Modern Persian.

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'Ode for the Amir of Bukhārā' - Rudaki excerpt 1

Recited by Nasrin Ahmadi

‘Juye-Muliyān’s scent drifts my way,

As do memories of a kind friend.

The Āmuy is hard to cross, but its stones

Feel silken soft beneath our feet.

Thrilled to see a friend, the Jayhun’s waves

Leap halfway up our horses’ flanks.

O Bukhārā, be happy, live long:

The cheerful Amir is returning to you.

The Amir is the moon, Bukhārā, the sky;

The moon is returning to the sky.

The Amir is a cypress, Bukhārā, the garden;

The cypress is returning to the garden.’

(Translated by Sassan Tabatabai)

Bu-ye ju-ye Muliyān āyad hami

Yād-e yār-e mehrabān āyad hami.

Rig-e Āmu-yo doroshti rāh-e u

Zir-e pāyam parniyān āyad hami.

Āb-e Jeyhun bā neshāt-e ru-ye dust

Kheng-e mā rā tā miyān āyad hami.

Ey, Bokhārā, shād bāsh-o dir zi

Mir nazdat shādmān āyad hami.

Mir māh ast-o Bokhārā āsemān

Māh su-ye āsemān āyad hami.

Mir sarv ast-o Bokhārā bustān

Sarv su-ye bustān āyad hami.

بوی جوی مولیان آید همی

یاد یار مهربان آید همی

ریگ آموی و درشتی راه او

زیر پایم پرنیان آید همی

آب جیحون با نشاط روی دوست

خنگ ما را تا میان آید همی

ای بخارا! شاد باش و دیر زی

میر نزدت شادمان آید همی

میر ماه است و بخارا آسمان

ماه سوی آسمان آید همی

میر سرو است و بخارا بوستان

سرو سوی بوستان آید همی

Notes:

This poem is thought to have been recited by Rudaki to the Emir of Bukhara, in order to encourage the Emir to return home to Bukhara after a long stint away. According to legend, upon hearing Rudaki’s verse the Emir immediately mounted his horse and returned to Bukhara in haste.

Vocabulary:

آمودریاĀmudaryāThe Amu Darya river, sometimes known by its Greek name, the Oxus, is an important river of Central Asia. It is referred to twice in Rudaki’s poem, with both its native Persian name, (آمو(دریا Āmu(daryā) and its Arabic name جیحون Jayhun. In the first line of the poem, the river مولیان Muliyān is also mentioned: the Muliyān is a stream which flows through the city of Bukhara.
درشتDorosht‘Coarse’
پرنیانParniyān‘Silk’ (a synonym of ابریشم abrisham)
خنگKheng‘A horse with a white mane’ (although it’s important to mention here that خنگ kheng primarily has the meaning of ‘stupid’ or ‘dense of mind’!).
سروSarv‘Cypress tree’

'See this world with eyes of wisdom' - Rudaki excerpt 2

Recited by Narguess Farzad

‘See this world with eyes of wisdom,

Not with those eyes which see the everyday,

Such is this sea of charity,

That we build a boat to cross its breadth.’

In jahān rā negar be chashm-e kherad

Ney be-dān chashm k-andar u negari

Hamchu daryā-st v-az nekukāri

Keshti-i sāz tā be-dān gozari

این جهان را نگر به چشمِ خرد

نِی بدان چشم کاندر او نگری

همچو دریاست وَز نکوکاری

کِشتیی ساز تا بدان گُذری

Vocabulary:

خِرَد/خَرَدKherad or kharad‘Wisdom, reason, intellect’
بِدان/بَدانBedān or badānA literary form of به be + آن ān, meaning ‘thereto, thereunto’ and used by the earlier Classical poets such as Rudaki and Ferdowsi.
نکوکاریNekukāri (sometimes spelled نیکوکاری nikukāri)‘Philanthrophy, charity, doing a good deed’
کِشتیKeshti‘Ship, vessel’

Rudaki excerpt 3

Recited in Tajik dialect by Mehroj Muhiddinov

Chahār chiz mar āzādarā zi gham bikharad:

Tan-i durust-u khū-i nek-u nām-i nek-u khirad.

Har ān ki ezidash in har chahār rūzi kard,

Sazad, ki shād ziyad jāvidān-u gham nakhwarad.

Tajik-Persian transcription (this poem has been recited in Tajik dialect)

Chahār chiz mar āzāde rā gham bekharad:

Tan-e dorost-o khu-ye nik-o nām-e nik-o kherad.

Har ān ke izad-ash in har chahār ruzi kard,

Sezad, ke shād ziyad jāvedān-o gham nakharad.

چهار چیز مر آزاده را ز غم بخرد

تنِ درست و خوی نیک و نامِ نیک و خرد

هر آن که ایزدش این چهار روزی کرد

سزد که شاد زید جاودان و غم نخورد

‘There are four elements which liberate us from sorrow:

A healthy body, a gentle disposition, a kind name, and wisdom.

Anyone who is bestowed these four things by the Creator,

Is worthy of living in eternal merriment without sorrow.’

Vocabulary:

مَرMarThis is a tricky and rarely used pronoun which is best translated as وی را vey rā or او را u rā ‘he/she/one is’.
غَم خوردنGham khurdan‘To be sad, to be sorrowful’
خوKhu‘Disposition, temper’
نیکNik‘Well, good, kind’
ایزدIzad‘the Creator’
روزی کردنRuzi kardan‘to bestow’
سِزیدنSezidan‘To be worthy’ (Synonyms include شایسته بودن shāyeste budan and سِزاوار بودن sezāvār budan)
زیدZiyadA literary form of بزاید bezāyad ‘may he/she be born’, the third person present subjunctive form of زادن zādan ‘to be born’
جاوِدانJāvedān‘Eternal’

Rudaki excerpt 4

Recited by Narguess Farzad

‘If you’re the king of your own self, you’re a good man,

If you don’t fault the deaf and blind, you’re a good man,

If you don’t kick a fallen one whilst he’s down,

And support him instead, you’re a good man.’

Gar bar sar-e nafs-e khod amir-i, mard-i

Bar kur-o kar ar nokte nagiri, mard-i

Mardi nabuvad fet āde rā pāy zadan

Gar dast-e fetāde-i begiri, mard-i

گر بر سر نفس خود امیری، مردی

بر کور و کر ار نکته نگیری، مردی

مردی نبود فتاده را پای زدن

گر دست فتاده‌ای بگیری، مردی

Vocabulary:

گرGar‘If’ (a shortened form of اگر agar often used in poetry)
نَفسNafs‘The self, one’s soul, spirit, psyche, ego’ (a word of Arabic origin, from the same tri-consonantal root as نَفَس nafas ‘breath, breathing’. A native Persian synonym would be جان jān ‘soul’, خود khod ‘self’, or خویس khish ‘self’.)
امیری (امیر هستی)Amir-i (amir hasti)‘You are the Amir’ (The word امیر amir means ‘ruler, leader, commander (of an army)’, but has been translated in the above poem as ‘king’)
نُکته گرفتنNokte gereftan‘To nitpick, to fuss over’
نَبُوَدNabuvad‘He/she/one is not’, a third person present negative form of بودن budan : a rather uncommon synonym of نیست nist.
پا(ی) زدنPā(y) zadan‘To kick’

Rudaki excerpt 5

These are arguably Rudaki’s most famous lines of poetry, taken from his translation of the کلیله و دمنه Kalileh va Demneh stories, and are written above the door to his mausoleum in Panjrud, Tajikistan.

Recited by Nasrin Ahmadi

‘There is no happiness in this world,

Greater than meeting with a dear friend.

There is no bitterness more bitter upon the heart,

Than separation from a dear friend.’

Hich shādi nist andar in jahān,

Bartar az didār-e ru-ye dustān.

Hich talkhi nist bar del talkhtar,

Az farāq-e dustān-e por-honar.

هیچ شادی نیست اندر این جهان

برتر از دیدار روی دوستان

هیچ تلخی نیست بر دل تلخ تر

از فراق دوستان پر هنر

Notes:

Thankfully, Rudaki’s most well-known poem is also one of his easiest to understand for Persian learners. Let’s go through the vocabulary together.

Vocabulary:

شادیShādi‘Merriment, happiness’
هیچ … نیستHichnist‘There is no …’
اندرAndar‘In’ (an archaic form of در dar)
برترBartar‘Superior, better’ (a more formal synonym of بهتر behtar)
دیدارDidār‘A visit’
تلخیTalkhi‘Bitterness’
فراقFarāq‘Separation, parting’
پرهنرPor-honar‘Virtuous, skilled, artistic’ (translated here simply as ‘dear’)

Rudaki excerpt 6

Recited in Tajik dialect by Mehroj Muhiddinov

Zulf-e turā jim ki kard? Ān ki ū

Kh āl-i turā nuqta-i ān jim kard

V-ān dahan-i tang-i tu guyi kase

Dānagake nār ba du nim kard

Tajik-Persian transcription (this poem has been recited in Tajik dialect)

Zolf-e torā jim ke kard? Ān ke u

Khāl-e torā noqte-ye ān jim kard

V-ān dahan-e tang-e to guyi kasi

Dānagaki nār be do nim kard

زلف ترا جیم که کرد ؟ آن که او

خال ترا نقطۀ آن جیم کرد

وآن دهن تنگ تو گویی کسی

دانگکی نار به دو نیم کرد

‘Who curled your hair into a “j”?

He who made your mole the dot of that “j”.

And your mouth is so small, as if someone

Has split a pomegranate seedlet in half.’

(translated By Sassan Tabatabai)

Notes:

This poem is making reference to the fact that the letter jim (ج) resembles a curled lock of hair. Luckily, this simile translates well into English, as the letter j in the Latin script also has the same curved features. The dot on the letter ج is used to further extend this simile, as Rudaki makes reference to the dot being like a mole or a beauty spot.

Vocabulary:

کهKeAn archaic form of کی ki ‘who’.
زُلفZolf‘A curl or lock of hair’
خالKhāl‘Beauty spot, mole’
گوییGuyi‘Resembling, as if, like’
دانگکDānagak‘A small seed/grain’
نارNārAn alternative form of انار anār ‘pomegranate’

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Rudaki - Persian Language Online (2024)

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