Shahnameh, in itself, is the entire mythical history of the Iranians in verse. It begins with the reign of the first human king, Gayomart (the first human in Iranian mythology) and goes on until the reign of Yazdgerd III, the last Sassanid ruler of Iran.

Traditionally, Shahnameh is divided into three parts: mythical, epic and historical. The language of all three parts is overall devoid of Arabic borrowings, which constitute only a small part of the vocabulary of this book. In contrast to other poets, Firdawsi has used an excessively high percentage of Iranian (now archaic) words, which may make the reading and understanding of this book a little bit difficult.

Reading - Firdawsi, Rustam and Sohrab (رستم و سهراب).

Read the following excerpts from the tragic story of the famous Iranian hero Rustam and his son, Sohrab, found in the Shahnameh of Firdawsi. Here you will find two excerpts from the story (Part 1, Part 2). Make use of the vocabulary above for clarifying the meaning of the difficult words and expressions.

Here you can find the summary of the story of Rustam and Sohrab.

Listening - The summary of the story of the 7 heroic feats of Rustam (شرح مختصر داستان هفت خوان رستم).

Here you will be able to find the text of the short summary of the story of the 7 heroic feats accomplished by Rustam on his way to Mazandaran. By clicking the button above the text you will be able to listen to the recording of the text.

Subject of conversation - The influence of Shahnameh for the development of Persian literature (تاثیر شاهنامه بر تحول ادبیات فارسی).

Each student will prepare materials on the topic given above beforehand and later present his/her arguments on the importance of Firdawsi and his Shahnameh for the Persian literature. Creative and original approaches will be encouraged and taken into account when assessing the success of each student.

Vocabulary

دهقان	dehqān	a small landlord in post-Islamic Iran
پیوندن	peyvandan	compose
بامداد	bāmdād	morning
بد (= بود)	bod (= bud)	was
ساز چیزی کردن	sāz-e čizi kardan	to prepare something
نخچیر	naxčir	game (hunting)
کمر	kamar	belt
ترکش	tarkeš	quiver
روی نهادن	ruy nehādan	to set for
دژاگاه	dožāgāh	merciless (here)
گور	gur	onoger (wild ass)
برافروختن	bar afruxtan	to light up
رخ	rox	face
تاج بخش	tājbaxš	an epithet for Rustam (lit. the one who appoints kings, i.e. gives them crowns)
کمند	kamand	lasso
خاشاک	xāšāk	broken and small pieces of wood and leaves
آتش بر فروزیدن	ātaš bar foruzidan	to kindle a fire
از در	az dar-e	useful for something
بابزن	bābzan	spit
بریان	beryān	roasted
خفتن	xoftan	to sleep
بر آسودن	bar āsudan	to rest
چمان و چران	čamān o čarān	grazing
مر noun را	mar … rā	expresses accusative meaning
باره	bāre	horse
دستکش	dastkeš	gentle, obedient
گرد	gord	hero, warrior
تهمتن	tahmtan	the epithet of Rustam (lit.: having a strong body)
بدین سان	badin sān	in this manner
سلیح	salih	weapon
اندوه	anduh	sorrow
عنا	‘anā	pain
گو	gav	hero
زو (از او)	zu	from him
رمیدن	ramidan	to be frightened
پذیره شدن	pazire šodan	to accept
یارستن	yārestan	to dare
ستاده (ایستاده)	setāde	standing
ارجمند	arjemand	worthy; a noble
آن کسی بودن	ān-e kasi budan	to be that of someone
گمان	gomān/gamān	suspicion
لگام	legām	bridle
ار (< اگر)	ar	if
ایدونک (= ایدون)	idunak	like this, this
بسی	basi	many
سزاور	sezāvar	worthy
سزا دیدن (= روا داشتن)	sezā didan	to deem acceptable
خان	xān	house
مژده	možde	a good news
گسارندۀ باده (ساقی)	gosārande-ye bāde (sāqi)	cupbearer; someone who pours the wine during a feast

Exercise (choose the right word).

چو نزدیکی مرز توران رسید - بیابان سراسر پر از .... دید (شیر، خر، گور، هیون).
چو آتش پراگنده شد پیلتن - درختی بجست از در … (بابزن، سیخ، لگام، ترکش).
چو … شد از هم بکند و بخورد - ز مغز و استخوانش برآورد گرد (ایدونک، بریان، ارجمند، پخته).
.... و برآسود از روزگار - چمان و چران رخش در مرغزار (برفت، بگفت، ببافت، بخفت).
بدو گفت شاه سمنگان چه بود - که … با تو نبرد آزمود (یارست، توانست، پذیره آمد، نشست).

Day 17 - The Beginnings of Persian literature 2: Ferdowsi