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 Khayyam was translated into English, by Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1883 A.D.), the world of Poetry has never been so delighted to see another Rubaiyyat translation into English language, but this time even sweeter, softer and touchier, i.e. the Rubaiyyat of Baba Taher “Oryan,” the Persian Sufi-poet (990 A.D).

While the great Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyyat appear to be somewhat hedonistic, Epicurian and worldly (“Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you will die,” and that’s probably because the poet himself was a philosopher, mathematician and an astronomer, in other words, a scientist, and thus he was more “physical” and he was looking at the world from the point of view of a scientist,) the great Baba Taher was a Sufi, a spiritual lover, and an “Oryan” (“Naked!” from all the worldly possessions) and his poems flow like a spirit, and they are ethereal, like the air itself, or the "morning breeze," if you please.

Look at this Rubaiyyat of him, for example. While talking to 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 about the Love, about the lover, about wine, about roses and nightingales, 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, and actually looking for It! In other words, he has just one purpose

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and only one love, and that is the love that surpasses 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 his poems talk about the loftiness of the spiritual world, yet they are so down to earth that even the humble shepherds of Persia could understand them, and they have been singing those 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 years ahead of Columbus (1451-1506 A.D.) under the leadership of a Chinese Muslim Admiral from Central Asia, by the name of Zhang Ha a.k.a.. Ma Ha (1330 – 1450 A.D.). See the Discovery Channel “February 20, 2005 also “The Persian Letters,” Tehran, 2002, p. 20, and “The International Herald Tribune,” July 21, 2005).

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

Technicaly speaking, The Rubbaiyat of Baba Taher “Oryan” are the best examples of a type of poetry in the Post-Islamic Persia, which are known as “Fahlaviyyaat” (of Pahlavi language) – see http://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, the ancient summer capital of Persia, under King Darius the Great, some 2,500 years ago. (Hamadan or Hagmataneh or Ekbatan, was one of the four capitals of the Persian Empire; the other three were the Persepolis, Susa and Baghdad in Iraq today. The name Baghdad comes from two Persian words of Bagh, meaning God, like Baghwan in Sanskrit, and Dad, meaning "given," "the God-given City" or Diosdado in European languages).

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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Since my early childhood, I had heard the poems of Baba Taher, used as moral advices, by the parents, teachers and preachers. I had also seen his Divan (Persian book of Poetry) on sale everywhere, in the bookstores, or even on the sidewalks or in any library. I had even visited his beautiful “Blue-domed” shrine, on the outskirts of my city of childhood. But, it took me some 30 years of living abroad, to fully recognize, and to appreciate those beautiful songs of Baba Taher (sung by Ms. Beena) and to suddenly realize, what a sweet language, and what an imaginative Sufi style, existed in Baba Taher’s Rubaiyyat.

From then on, I started repeating his Rubaiyyat, as a song in my mind, and I would imagine my “Admirable townmate” from a far away country, the Philippines. Until one day, when I was caught up in the traffic jam of Manila, suddenly I got a rhyme of Baba Taher’s Persian poems, but this time, it was in English version, running through my mind. I found it quite interesting! So, I jotted it down, right there and then, among hundreds of noisy cars (while Baba Taher used to compose the originals on top of the hills and mountains with all 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, I knew what a blessing those pestering traffic jams could be! You could turn them into poetry! While many people curse the traffic, I have learned to appreciate its good side, too. Someone once said, “It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” Or as Dale Carnegie rightfully advised: "When the nature gives you a lemon, turn it into a lemonade!"

In fact, Baba Taher himself also looks at the bright side of the “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

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

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

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

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

"The Greatest Greek and Latin Poets are no match for the Master Poets of Persia" (see "The Persian Letters," Sum. 2002, p. 129). (By the way, this great Indian scholar was of Persian origin, too. So were the great Pakistani poets Iqbal and scholar Abul A'la Maududi. So, they knew well what they were talking about! Their Persian ancestry).

And Professor Akhtar Mahdi of the Jawaher La'l Nehru University in India, seconded the motion, by saying: "Persian language possesses the richest literary heritage in the 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 who even invented a new alphabet). Zoroaster composed the Gathas or the religious hymns, while Maani came up with "Artang" or "Arzhang" and "Shapur-gaan." (See Persian Letters, Summer 2002, pp. 80-85).

Persian Rhymes

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

Not even Arabic, with its eloquent poetry, has such a rich repertory of Divans, as Persian. Besides, when it comes to rhyming perfection, still Persian is much ahead of Arabic; Because in Arabic, while the sound in the ending may be the same in every line, yet the spelling and the writing is not always so. (That's why, Obeid Zakani, the most famous Persian Satirist poet, in his "Dictionary of Satires" under the word "Rhymeless/Rimeless" puts: The "Arabic Poem!") But in the Persian style of poetry, sometimes the last two, three or even four syllables at the end are exactly matched, not only in their sounds, but even to the last letter of their spelling. (And that's what a good poem is all about. For

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more details, I would like to refer you to the "Formalism" school of poetry, which started in the early 19th century Russia).

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

In fact, the Father of the Urdu Poetry, Ghaleb of Delhi (1797 – 1869 A.D.) used to compose a big part of his own poems 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, both great Indian poets, had their own masterpieces composed in Persian language).

Indeed, Ghaleb or "Mr. Urdu" himself was so fascinated with the Persian poetry that, not only he composed his own masterpieces in Persian language, but he went so far as to declare himself "a Persian" (like a true Sufi who becomes one 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!"

(Note: Ghaleb's ancestors were also migrants from Central Asia - ancient Persia).Not only Ghaleb and many other earlier Indian poets were so in love with Persia and anything Persian, especially with its poetry and romance, but even the contemporary Indian poets are very much fascinated with it, too. For example, the late Dr. Mohammad Iqbal, the greatest poet-philosopher of the 20th century Indian subcontinent, and later on the National Poet of Pakistan, whose major part of poems (70%) are composed in Persian, rather than in his own mother tongue (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 poems were mostly in Persian, rather than in his own native language, he replied: "I don't know, I just receive these inspirations in Persian!" (see "The Persian Letters" Sum. 2003/p.133) Then, Dr. Iqbal added: "Actually, my soul is Persian!" (Ibid).

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

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

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

Such a confession, coming from a Roman (our rivals for thousands of years) who is so used to the "La Dolce Vita" and all those great Italian poetry, songs and literature, says a lot about the Persian language, and especially about its poetry.

No wonder the great Rumi (another Roman? No, not really. He was a Persian Sufi living in the Eastern part of the ancient Rome – today's Turkey) once said (and his poem is also in Persian, 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 French of Asia (in sweetness)" (Ibid)

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

Now, going back again to the Urdu (Hindi) language, as probably the only formidable rival of the Persian language, in poetry, one should not forget the fact that Urdu language is actually a "second generation Persian," with almost 60% of its words coming either directly from Persian, or from the "Arabic, which has filtered through the Persian Channel." (In fact, the Urdu alphabet is derived from Persian, which is a modified from of the Arabic letters). The rest of the Urdu (around 30% to 40%) is Sanskrit (with a few Turkish and Mongul words, like the word "Urdu" itself, which in Turkish means "soldier" because Urdu started as the language of the soldiers in the Moghul Army, who were mostly Turkish, Persians, Arabs, etc.). But, then again, if you look at the Sanskrit itself very closely, you will find out that Sanskrit was the original language of the Aryans/Caucasians of Iran, some 10,000 years ago, before it was 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 Shirani also confirms this view by saying: "Urdu is the beautiful daughter of the Persian language." (see "The Persian Letters" Summer 2000 p. 199)

Therefore, like mother, like daughter. In the same manner that the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world was a Persian creation (designed by the Master Architect, Ustad Eisa Shirazi) and just as the Queen Mumtaz Mahal, the Persian Beauty, who conquered the Indian Hearts, and now she is resting in peace in the Taj Mahal, the Persian poetry and art also have influenced the art and culture and even the language of the Indian subcontinent, immensely, and they will live forever, in the Indian subcontinent (including Pakistan, Bangladesh and also Afghanistan, the countries of the Central Asia up to China on the one hand, and Turkey, Armenia up to Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia of the former Yugoslavia in the Balkans, on the other) as a rich cultural heritage.

Knowing this well, the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaher La'l Nehru (whose first name is also Persian) a well-read author, and an intellectual-statesman, once quoted the 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 Indian subcontinent, (especially on the Urdu and Hindi Poetry) it's enough to note that within the 1,000 years of the presence of the Persian Poetry in India, more than 10,000 (ten thousand) Indian (Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, included) poets and writers, have composed their poems, and they have created great Divans or other forms of literature in Persian (rather than in Indian) or together with their works in their own native tongues.

Almost every Indian (Pakistani, Bengali) poet, past or present, could somehow read or write in Persian, or would recite many Persian poems from memory. Many of them even have great compositions of their own, in Persian, until today.

In fact, as we have seen before, the greatest poet of the 20th century India, who later on (after the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947) was declared as the national poet of Pakistan, and "the Poet of the East" is Dr. Mohammad Iqbal, who has composed more poems in Persian, than in his own mother tongue (i.e. Urdu / Hindi) because, as he put it: "Farsi Shakar Ast!" or "Persian is Poetry" (or Persian is sugar) Ref. "Divan of Iqbal" Tehran, Iran, 1990, p. 12.

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

Persian Poetry Outside Persia

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

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

A great number of the Albanians (the only Muslim country in Europe) and many poets and writers from the former Yugoslavia, like Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, etc. (mostly Muslims) 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 own Divans in Persian. Even some of the great Ottoman Emperors of 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 own poems, not in Turkish language, but in Persian (the language of their political nemesis).

Several of the well-known Turkish Emperors, and Prime Ministers, as well as politicians, who have many compositions (and even a Divan) in Persian language, are the following:

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 in the Ottoman Empire, were recorded in Persian, many of whom are still on display in various Turkish libraries and museums).

And today, in Konya (Iconium) Turkey, lies the remains of the 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 the Central Asia, Afghanistan,

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Iran, Pakistan, India, the Kashmir, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China, Turkey, Albania, etc. and as we mentioned before, it is still on the bestseller category in the United States, and some other English speaking countries. (Rumi, is the "All time best-selling Poet," in the world history).

And yet, this Grand Master was not even Turkish (even though the 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 very obvious, to those who are familiar with the world literature in 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 Bautista Reymondi of Italy and many other "Foreigners" have already attested, there is a certain charm and beauty and sweetness and power in Persian language, and especially in its poetry, that inspires poetry, even among the non-Persian speaking poets, or the poetry lovers. (As the late Dr. Iqbal used to say: "I get my inspirations in Persian!")

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

The great Persian poet, Nasser Khosro Qabadiani has a beautiful observation about non-Persian speaking poets composing good poems in Persian language.

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 to compose poetry (in Persian) well. Only he did not know Persian 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 great poets and master poets of the world caliber, that no single country (not even Iran, the Persia proper) could claim any one of them as exclusively its own national poet.

For instance, while Russia appropriately has declared Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), the great, great-grandson of an African slave, as its own national poet, Pakistan on the other 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 the Urdu, actually); the Bangladeshis have declared Qazi Nazarul Islam (1899-1976) as the National Poet of Bangladesh ( He also used to compose some of his poems in Persian); and the Germans have chosen W. Goethe (1749 -1832) as their National Poet (although

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Goethe, himself was a great admirer of the Persian Sufi-poet, Hafiz of Shiraz), and many other countries also have their own national poets, as well…

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

And there are virtually thousand of masterpieces of poetry in Persian language, called "Divans," (a big number of which are composed by the Persian speaking poets, outside the boundaries of Iran, like in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, 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 (a thousand) well known Persian Divans (Books of Poetry) from around 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. Naim Frasheri (1846-1905) the national poet of Albania, and his brother (Shamsud-Din Saami) and many other Albanian poets have composed a big part of their own poems in a foreign language, i.e. Persian. According to a Bosnian scholar by the name of Mohammad Khanjich, from the 15th century up to the 18th, there were many well-known Balkan poets and authors, who composed their poems in Persian, and they wrote their books in that "foreign" language. (see "The Persian Letters" Summer 2002, p. 6)

Some of the greatest poets/writers in the Balkan region, who have 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) Darvish Solaiman Mazaki, 11) Haji Baba, 12) Soodi Bosnavi, 13) Talib Ahmad, 14) Rashid Mohammad, 15) Ali Zaki, 16) Ahmad Roshdi, 17) Haji Mostafa, 18) Ahmad Yosri, 19)Ledoni, 20) Khosro Pasha, 21) Ahmad Sabahi, 22) Tawakkoli Dada, 23) Ahmad Afandi, 24) Mohammad Pasha, 25) Ahmad Khatam, 27) Bayazid Aagich, 28) Mohammad Bushinich, 29) Mohammad Ameen, and many other less known, yet great poets and writers of Balkan, who created some masterpieces in Persian language.

As far as the Indian Subcontinent is concerned, there are virtually thousands (both Muslims and Hindus) who have also composed their poems in the Persian language, rather than in their own native Hindi or Urdu, or together with their own native tongues. One can easily say that the Indian Subcontinent (which includes Pakistan, Kashmir and Bangladesh) has been the greatest "home" of Persian poetry, outside Persia. Some of the best-known Indian (Pakistani, Kashmiri, Bangladeshi) poets who are considered as the masters of the Persian poetry are as follows: 1) Nizamul Mulk Aasif, 2) Imam Bakh'sh Sahbayi, 3) Dara Shokooh, 4) Maulana Fasihi, 5) Mohammad Mo'min Khan, 6) Nawab Mustafa Khan, 7) Sadrud Din Dehlavi, 8) Hamid Lahori, 9) Morshid Boroojerdi, 10)

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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) Mohammad Baqer 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) Yaadegar Halati, 40) Obeidi Sahrevardi, 41) Abdul Razzaq Isfahani and virtually hundreds of other lesser known, yet equally great masters of the Persian poetry, in the Indian subcontinent.

National Poets of Other Countries Composing Persian Poems:

Another interesting phenomenon about the Persian Literature and especially its poetry, is the fact that not only the Moghul Emperors of India, the Pashtun kings of Afghanistan, the rulers of the Central Asian kingdoms and the Ottoman Emperors in Turkey and the Balkans, adopted the Persian poetry 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 top international poets from foreign lands, in fact the national poets of those countries, too, have composed lots of Persian poems "as a Baptismal of fire" so to speak, in order to prove their metals in the world of poetry, plus their love for the Persian art of poetry. (It also proves how Persian is synonymous with poetry, internationally).

The following are the national poets of other countries who have composed the whole, or a part of their poetry in Persian:

1. Nezami Ganjavi (1141-1217 A.D.), the national poet of Azerbaijan2. Bayazid Ansari (17th Century A.D.), the national poet of Afghanistan3. Amir Ali Shir Navai (1470-1506 A.D.), the national poet of Uzbekistan4. Na'im Frasheri (1846-1905), the national poet of Albania5. Dr. Mohammad Iqbal (1875-1938) the Indian-born national poet of Pakistan6. Qazi Nazarul Islam (1899-1976) the Indian-born national poet of Bangladesh7. Sadrud Din Ayni (1875-1951) the national poet of Tajikistan8. Makh-toom Qoli Faraghi (1733-1783) the national poet of Turkministan.

Persian Poets "in Exile" or the Diaspora

Another fascinating aspect of the Persian poetry is the presence of many Persian poets in some foreign lands. There has not been a very specific study on this topic yet, but off-hand, we may say that probably hundreds or even thousands of Persian poets migrated to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Iraq, Indonesia, China, and in many parts of Europe for many centuries. Here is the list of the most well known Persian poets in the Diaspora:

1. Jalalud Din Rumi (the Master of the Whirling Dirvishes in 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 in 1273 A.D. and is now buried in a shrine in that city. According to the renowned British

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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 goes on to say: “The mode of Turkish literature was thoroughly 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 the future researchers.

But, most spectacular are the cases of three Persian migrant poets, each becoming one of the greatest, if not the greatest poet of the Chinese, Arabic and European literatures, of all time! (It seems that poetry runs in the Persian blood).

Here they are:

24. One of the best poets (if not the best) of the Chinese literature is Doh-Fu, a migrant Persian from Central Asia--- circa 600 A.D. (As was another Persian scholar, who first translated the Bhuddist scriptures from Sanskrit into Chinese, and thus he introduced Bhuddhism in China for the first time, in 148 A.D. He was a Persian prince or a Magi, from the Ashkan Dynasty of 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, during Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 A.D.) also have composed poems in Chinese (as well as in Persian). The name of the well known "Persian poets of China" (aside from Master Doh-fu, that we mentioned earlier) are as follows:

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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 the name of "Lee Su Sha."

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

26. Abu Nuwas or "Nawaz" (Hasan Bin Hani) the greatest poet of love and romance in Arabic language (756-814 A.D.) He was a half Persian from the city of Ahwaz, Iran. (Note: Nuwas is probably the Arabic pronunciation of "Nawaz" which in Persian means "singing," "chanting," etc.) “The Iranians so cleverly mastered Arabic, that soon they were adding luster to the Arabic poetry of Abbasid Baghdad” (Avery P.W.” Persia: History and Heritage p.66).

27. Ali Zaryab (D. 852 A.D.), the greatest musician of Andalusia in Spain, during the Dark Ages of Europe. He started what we know today as the "Latin music" from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) up to Latin America- Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, etc., etc. Although Ali Zaryab is known more for his music, fashion designing and etiquette of fine dining and fine arts in Europe, during the Age of Ignorance, yet his poetry is also one of his greatest contributions to humanity and arts. Most of his poetry works were in Arabic (the lingua franca of the time) therefore, many people mistook him as an "Arab" and even changed his name to "Ali Zarib" to sound more Arabic (see "The History Channel's" Amani Zain report, August 14, 2009). But the truth is that Ali Zaryab and his master teacher Abu Ishaq Museli were both Persian artists (musician-poets). In fact, anyone who knows a little Persian, will also know that his surname "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 in Persian, for the whole world to see! And none of them has a single line of poetry in Turkish or Arabic; although Rumi has a few lines in Arabic, interwoven with Persian, too. The same goes for the so-called "Arabian horse" which is actually Persian in origin, as well as the 1,001 Persian Stories called "Arabian Nights" while its main character "Shaharazad" is Persian, the list goes on and on. Sometimes you wonder how does a desert breed horses? And how could those magic palaces exist within the Bedouin tents?).

Characteristics of a Good Poetry

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

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

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

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

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

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

Don’t' tell me that there could be a poem without any proper rhyme! Even the so-called free verse has a certain rhyme, otherwise it's just a prose. Those who tell us that without a proper rhythmic ending, they could still have a "poem," might as well claim that "They have seen a fish in the Sahara that was flying!" Remember that the magic of poetry lies in its rhyme, thus no rhyme, no poetry!

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

(Just like the Great Grand Master, the Sheikh Sa'di of Shiraz, 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 sound like 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 an Iranian poet. He said: "Well, to rhyme or not to rhyme, that's the question! And that is exactly the difference between a poet and a non-poet!" Here, a Persian poem explains everything:

"If you heard a song,That you didn't understand,

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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 an excellent poetry, i.e. the rhyme and the wise sayings (beautiful expressions) in other words, both rhyme and reason, and form and substance, are very much abundant. The sweetness of the Persian language is another bonus. All these elements exist, very richly, in a language and a culture, full of colorful traditions, belonging to the 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 much familiar with the Persian Master Poets, like the Great Omar Khayyam, Firdausi, Rumi, Saadi and Hafiz (who according to his American translator, Mr. Daniel Ladinsky, "was the greatest poet who walked this earth" and was "adored and idolized" by G.W. Goeth, himself the greatest poet-philosopher-writer of Germany and Europe, as a whole. Some other scholars consider Hafiz as one of the three great poets of all time, the other two being Dante and Shakespeare. But, knowing very well that Hafiz was much ahead of the two, both in time and in the style of poetry, it is not difficult to see who is really the first among the rest, or the "Primus inter pares").

But then, there are hundreds of other excellent Persian poets who are equally great, if not even greater than those already mentioned, whom the outside world doesn't know much, just because there has not been enough good translations of those masters available in the English language.

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) Lady Mahasti, 10) Lady Ra-bia, 11) Lady Fatimah Khatoon Mash-hadi, 12) Lady Saffari, 13) Lady Simin, 14) Lady Foroogh Farrokh-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) Iraj Mirza, 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 Jandaqi, 45) Auhadi, 46) Daqiqi, 47) Kasayi, 48) Roknaye Kashi, 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,

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72) Nazari Qahestani, 73) Amir Hosaini Harawi, 74) Sohrab Sepehri, 75) Tawalloli, 76) Ahmad Shamloo, 77) Maj'd Khawfi, 78) Aref Qazwini, 79) Kompani, 80) Nasim Shemal, 81) Aahi Shirazi, 82) Deh-Khoda, 83) Ghani Zadah, 84) Isma-il Isfahani, 85) Mas-oud Sa'ad Salman, and a host of other lesser known, yet great poets, each one more than qualified to be a national poet. Probably, the only way to describe them appropriately is to call them "the poets of the world." (In the city of Tabriz, Iran, there is a Persian Poets' Cemetery, with over 400 poets, buried there. Once, a poet from the Republic of Tajikistan, who had visited the "Shrine of Poets in Tabriz," said: "In Tabriz City, even the trees sing songs!")

Some Words About This Translation

Many of my friends, and even some readers, have asked me about the method I have used in translating these Rubaiyyat, from the original Persian into English (and also into Filipino, by my good co-translators); Did I use "word for word" 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 word translation (which is never good and sensible, even in the translation of the ordinary texts, much less in poetry, with its unique language and style). It was not also a "Free fall," in the sense that it could have damaged, totally or partially, the original meaning, intended by the poet, himself.

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

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

"Translation is like a woman, if it is beautiful, it is not faithful, and if it is faithful, then it is not beautiful!"

Well, in this translation I have tried to "keep her both beautiful and faithful;" but, whenever a conflict arose between beauty and faithfulness, I decided that "she rather be beautiful!"

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

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We were more interested in the poetic form of the Rubaiyyat rather than in their literal translation, but we have also done our best not to deviate from the spirit of the poems and 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 for themselves, whether we have done a good job or not.

It is indeed a great honor to present, very humbly, our little services, to one of those great masters of the world poetry, 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 they transcend any nationality, culture or creed.

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

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

References:

1. "Persian Letters" (Nameh Parsi) Tehran, Iran. Series from 2000 – 20082. 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/ 200310. "Parsi Names" by Maneka Gandhi and Prof. Ozair Hosain, India, 199411. "Rubaiyyat of Baba Taher," by Elizabeth Cortis-Breton, Farrhang Sara Book Co.,

Tehran, 1995.12. "Baba Taher" by Edward Heron-Allen (Venice, 1901 A.D.) Reprinted by Padideh

Publications, Tehran, Iran 2002.13. P. W. Avery of Kings College / Cambridge / U.K. “Persia: History and Heritage”

Henry Melland, London, 1978.

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