Baba Taher
Encyclopedia
Baba Tahir, was an 11th century poet in Persian literature
and mystic.
. Most of his life is clouded in mystery. He was born and lived in Hamadan
, the capital city of the Hamedan Province in Iran
. He was known by the name of Baba Taher-e Oryan (The Naked), which suggests that he may have been a wandering dervish
. Legend
tells that the poet, an illiterate woodcutter, attended lectures at a religious school, where he was not welcomed by his fellow-students. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. One source indicates that he died in 1019. If this is accurate, it would make Baba Tahir a contemporary of Ferdowsi
and Pour Sina (Avicenna
) and an immediate precursor of Omar Khayyam
. Another source reports that he lived between 1000 and 1055, which is most unlikely. Reliable research notes speculate that Baba Tahir lived for seventy-five years. Rahat al-sodur of Ravandi (completed 603/1206), describes a meeting between Baba Tahir, and the Saljuq conqueror Togrel (pp. 98–99). According to L. P. Elwell-Sutton: He could be described as the first great poet of Sufi love in Persian literature. In the last two decades his do-baytis have often been put to music.
Legend has it that Baba Tahir was a very simple and innocent man whom everyone mocked and made fun of in his town. He was not a poet to begin with. One very cold winter day, people of the town decided to make a fool out of him just for fun. They brought him to a frozen fountain and told him if he swim in the icy water, he will become a poet. Being innocent, he believed them. He took off his clothes and entered the icy water. Everyone started laughing at him as he was swimming in the cold water. He realized he was made fun of and was heart broken. He came out and, to everyone's surprise, a "true poet" was indeed born out of the icy water on that day. Hence, he is called "the naked". His poetry has touched many souls.
accompanied with setar
(in Persian: Seh Tar), three stringed viol or lute. They say Pahlaviat
to these kinds of poems and they are very ancient. Baba Tahir songs were originally read in Pahlavi (Middle Persian), as well as Luri and Hamadani dialects, taking their present form in the course of time. The quatrains of Baba Tahir have a more amorous and mystical connotation rather than philosophical. Baba Tahir's poems are of the do-bayti style, a form of Persian quatrains, which some scholars regard as having affinities with Middle Persian verses. Classical Persian Music
is based on Persian literature
and Baba Tahir's poems are the weight that carries a major portion of this music. Baba Tahir's poetry is the basis for Dastgahe Shoor and in particular Gooshe of Dashtestani, Choopani and Deylaman.
خداوندا که بوشم با که بوشم
مژه پر اشک خونین تا که بوشم
همم کز در برانن سو ته آیم
تو کم از در برانی واکه بوشم
Translation:
Lord! who am I, and of what company?
How long shall tears of blood thus blind mine eyes?
When other refuge fails I'll turn to Thee,
And if Thou failest me, whither shall I go?
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
مو آن بحرم که در ظرف آمدستم
مو آن نقطه که در حرف آمدستم
بهر الفی الف قدی بر آیه
الف قدم که در الف آمدستم
Translation:
I am that sea and have come into a bowl;
I am that dot and have come into a letter;
in every thousand one straight-as-an-alef (alef-qadd) appears;
I am that straight one, for I came in a thousand
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
دلم از درد ته دائم غمینه
به بالین خشتم و بستر زمینه
همین جرمم که مو ته دوست دیرم
ز هر کت دوست دیره حال آینه؟
Translation:
Grieving for thee my heart is ever sad,
A brick my pillow, and my couch the earth:
My only sin is loving thee too well:
Surely not all thy lovers suffer so?
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
مگر شیر و پلنگی ای دل ای دل
به مو دایم بجنگی ای دل ای دل
اگر دستم فتی خونت وریژم
بوینم تا چه رنگی ای دل ای دل
Translation:
Art thou a lion or leapoard, O Heart, O Heart,
That thou warres ever with me, O Heart, O Heart?
Fall thou into my hands; I'll spill thy blood,
To see what colour it is, O Heart, O Heart!
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
هزارت دل بغارت برده ویشه
هزارانت جگر خون کرده ویشه
هزاران داغ ویش از ویشم اشمر
هنی نشمرده از اشمرده ویشه
Translation:
More than a thousand hearts has thou laid waste,
More than a thousand suffer grief for thee,
More than a thousand wounds of thine I've counted,
Yet the uncounted still are more than these.
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
سیه بختم که بختم سرنگون بی
توه روژم که روژم واژگون بی
شدم خار و خس کوه محبت
ز دست دل که یارب غرق خون بی
Translation:
Black is my lot, my fortune's overtuned,
Ruined are my fortunes, for my luck is brought low;
A thorn, a thistle I, on the Mountain of Love,
For my heart's sake. Drown it in blood, O Lord!
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
نگارینا دل و جونم ته دیری
همه پیدا و پنهونم ته دیری
ندونم مو که این درد از که دیرم
همی ذونم که در مونم ته دیری
Translation:
My Beautiful! thou hast my heart and soul,
Thou hast mine inner and mine outer self;
I know not why I am so very sad,
I only know that thou hold'st the remedy.
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
دلی نازک بسان شیشه ام بی
اگر آهی کشم اندیشه ام بی
سرشکم گر بوه خونین عجب نیست
مو آن دارم که در خون ریشه ام بی
Translation:
My heart is dainty as a drinking cup,
I fear for it whene'er I have a sigh;
It is not strange my tears are as blood,
I am a tree whose roots set in blood.
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
مسلسل زلف بر رو ریته دیری
گل و سنبل بهم آویته دیری
پریشان چون کری اون تار زلفون
به هر تاری دوی آویته دیری
Translation:
Thy tangled Curls are scattered o'er thy face,
Mingling the Roses with the Hyacinths;
But part asunder those entangled strand
On ever hair thou'lt find there hangs a heart. (Translation by: Edward Heron-Allen
)
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
دلا راه تو پر خار و خسک بی
گذرگاه تو بر اوج فلک بی
گر از دستت بر آیو پوست از تن
بیفکن تا که بارت کمترک بی
Translation:
Briar and thorn beset thy way, o Heart
Beyond the Dome of Heaven is thy road;
If thou art able, then thy very skin
Cast off from thee, and lighten thus thy load
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
ز دست دیده و دل هر دو فریاد
که هرچه دیده وینه دل کنه یاد
بسازم خنجری نیشش ز پولاد
زنم بردیده تا دل گرده آزاد
Translation:
Beneath the tyranny of eyes and heart I cry,
For, all the eyes see, the heart stores up:
I'll fashin me a pointed sword of steel,
Put out mine eyes, and so set free my heart
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
دلت ای سنگدل بر ما نسوجه
عجب نبود اگر خارا نسوجه
بسوجم تا بسوجونم دلت را
در آتش چوب تر تنها نسوجه
Translation:
O heart of Stone, Thou burnest not for me,
That stone burns not, is not, indeed, so strange
But I will burn till I inflame thy heart.
For fresh-cut logs are difficult to burn alone.
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
بی ته اشکم ز مژگان تر آیو
بی ته نخل امیدم بی بر آیو
بی ته در کنج تنها شو و روز
نشینم که تا عمرم بر سر آیو
Translation:
When thou’rt away, mine eyes o’erflow with tears,
Barren the Tree of Hope when thou’rt away:
Without thee, night and day, in a solitary corner,
I sit, till life itself come to an end.
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
به گلشن بی تو گل هرگز مرویا
وگر رویا کسش هرگز مبویا
بی شادی بی تو هرکس لو گشایه
لوش از خون دل هرگز مشویا
Translation:
Without-Thee in the Garden, Lord, may no rose bloom,
Or, blooming, may none taste its sweet perfume,
So, should my heart expand when Thou art not nigh,
T were vain! my heart's grief nought could turn to joy
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
چو مو یک سو ته دل پروانه ای نه
جهان را همچو مو دیوانه ای نه
همه مارون و مورون لانه دیرن
من بیچاره را ویرانه-ای نه
Translation:
What blundering Moth in all the World like me?
What madman like me in the Universe?
The very Serpents and the Ants have nests,
But I—poor wretch - no ruin shelters me.
His tomb
is located near the northern entrance of the city of Hamadan
in Western Iran
, in a park, surrounded by flowers and winding paths. The structure consists of twelve external pillar
s surrounding a central tower
. It was reconstructed in 1970.
Persian literature
Persian literature spans two-and-a-half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources have been within historical Persia including present-day Iran as well as regions of Central Asia where the Persian language has historically been the national language...
and mystic.
Biography
Baba Tahir is known as one of the most revered and respectable early poets in Iranian literatureIranian Literature
Iranian literature is a term that has been used mainly in reference to Persian literature, but the term has other meanings as well:*Literature in any other Iranian language , such as the Avesta, or those written in:...
. Most of his life is clouded in mystery. He was born and lived in Hamadan
Hamadan
-Culture:Hamadan is home to many poets and cultural celebrities. The city is also said to be among the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities.Handicrafts: Hamadan has always been well known for handicrafts like leather, ceramic, and beautiful carpets....
, the capital city of the Hamedan Province in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. He was known by the name of Baba Taher-e Oryan (The Naked), which suggests that he may have been a wandering dervish
Dervish
A Dervish or Darvesh is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or "Tariqah", known for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus.-Etymology:The Persian word darvīsh is of ancient origin and descends from a Proto-Iranian...
. Legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
tells that the poet, an illiterate woodcutter, attended lectures at a religious school, where he was not welcomed by his fellow-students. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. One source indicates that he died in 1019. If this is accurate, it would make Baba Tahir a contemporary of Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...
and Pour Sina (Avicenna
Avicenna
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...
) and an immediate precursor of Omar Khayyam
Omar Khayyám
Omar Khayyám was aPersian polymath: philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet. He also wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, mineralogy, music, climatology and theology....
. Another source reports that he lived between 1000 and 1055, which is most unlikely. Reliable research notes speculate that Baba Tahir lived for seventy-five years. Rahat al-sodur of Ravandi (completed 603/1206), describes a meeting between Baba Tahir, and the Saljuq conqueror Togrel (pp. 98–99). According to L. P. Elwell-Sutton: He could be described as the first great poet of Sufi love in Persian literature. In the last two decades his do-baytis have often been put to music.
Legend has it that Baba Tahir was a very simple and innocent man whom everyone mocked and made fun of in his town. He was not a poet to begin with. One very cold winter day, people of the town decided to make a fool out of him just for fun. They brought him to a frozen fountain and told him if he swim in the icy water, he will become a poet. Being innocent, he believed them. He took off his clothes and entered the icy water. Everyone started laughing at him as he was swimming in the cold water. He realized he was made fun of and was heart broken. He came out and, to everyone's surprise, a "true poet" was indeed born out of the icy water on that day. Hence, he is called "the naked". His poetry has touched many souls.
Poetry
Baba Tahir poems are recited to the present day all over IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
accompanied with setar
Setar
SETAR N.V., is the privatised full telecommunications service provider for the island of Aruba. The services provided by SETAR include: telephone, internet and GSM-related wireless services. SETAR also owns Tele Aruba....
(in Persian: Seh Tar), three stringed viol or lute. They say Pahlaviat
Pahlaviat
Fahlavīyāt , a designation given especially to the quatrains and by extension to the poetry in general composed in the old dialects of the Pahla/Fahla regions....
to these kinds of poems and they are very ancient. Baba Tahir songs were originally read in Pahlavi (Middle Persian), as well as Luri and Hamadani dialects, taking their present form in the course of time. The quatrains of Baba Tahir have a more amorous and mystical connotation rather than philosophical. Baba Tahir's poems are of the do-bayti style, a form of Persian quatrains, which some scholars regard as having affinities with Middle Persian verses. Classical Persian Music
Persian music
Persian traditional music is the traditional and indigenous music of Iran: mūsīqī, the science and art of music, and moosiqi, the sound and performance of music .-Origins:Archeological evidence reveals musical instruments that were...
is based on Persian literature
Persian literature
Persian literature spans two-and-a-half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources have been within historical Persia including present-day Iran as well as regions of Central Asia where the Persian language has historically been the national language...
and Baba Tahir's poems are the weight that carries a major portion of this music. Baba Tahir's poetry is the basis for Dastgahe Shoor and in particular Gooshe of Dashtestani, Choopani and Deylaman.
Writing
Attributed to him is a work by the name Kalemat-e qesaar, a collection of nearly 400 aphorisms in Arabic, which has been the subject of commentaries, one allegedly by Ayn-al-Qozμat Hamadani. An example of such a saying is one where Baba Tahir ties knowledge with gnosis: Knowledge is the guide to gnosis, and when gnosis has come the vision of knowledge lapses and there remain only the movements of knowledge to gnosis”; “knowledge is the crown of the gnostic, and gnosis is the crown of knowledge”; whoever witnesses what is decreed by God remains motionless and powerless.Sample Poetry
Original Fahlavi/Persian:خداوندا که بوشم با که بوشم
مژه پر اشک خونین تا که بوشم
همم کز در برانن سو ته آیم
تو کم از در برانی واکه بوشم
Translation:
Lord! who am I, and of what company?
How long shall tears of blood thus blind mine eyes?
When other refuge fails I'll turn to Thee,
And if Thou failest me, whither shall I go?
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
مو آن بحرم که در ظرف آمدستم
مو آن نقطه که در حرف آمدستم
بهر الفی الف قدی بر آیه
الف قدم که در الف آمدستم
Translation:
I am that sea and have come into a bowl;
I am that dot and have come into a letter;
in every thousand one straight-as-an-alef (alef-qadd) appears;
I am that straight one, for I came in a thousand
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
دلم از درد ته دائم غمینه
به بالین خشتم و بستر زمینه
همین جرمم که مو ته دوست دیرم
ز هر کت دوست دیره حال آینه؟
Translation:
Grieving for thee my heart is ever sad,
A brick my pillow, and my couch the earth:
My only sin is loving thee too well:
Surely not all thy lovers suffer so?
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
مگر شیر و پلنگی ای دل ای دل
به مو دایم بجنگی ای دل ای دل
اگر دستم فتی خونت وریژم
بوینم تا چه رنگی ای دل ای دل
Translation:
Art thou a lion or leapoard, O Heart, O Heart,
That thou warres ever with me, O Heart, O Heart?
Fall thou into my hands; I'll spill thy blood,
To see what colour it is, O Heart, O Heart!
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
هزارت دل بغارت برده ویشه
هزارانت جگر خون کرده ویشه
هزاران داغ ویش از ویشم اشمر
هنی نشمرده از اشمرده ویشه
Translation:
More than a thousand hearts has thou laid waste,
More than a thousand suffer grief for thee,
More than a thousand wounds of thine I've counted,
Yet the uncounted still are more than these.
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
سیه بختم که بختم سرنگون بی
توه روژم که روژم واژگون بی
شدم خار و خس کوه محبت
ز دست دل که یارب غرق خون بی
Translation:
Black is my lot, my fortune's overtuned,
Ruined are my fortunes, for my luck is brought low;
A thorn, a thistle I, on the Mountain of Love,
For my heart's sake. Drown it in blood, O Lord!
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
نگارینا دل و جونم ته دیری
همه پیدا و پنهونم ته دیری
ندونم مو که این درد از که دیرم
همی ذونم که در مونم ته دیری
Translation:
My Beautiful! thou hast my heart and soul,
Thou hast mine inner and mine outer self;
I know not why I am so very sad,
I only know that thou hold'st the remedy.
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
دلی نازک بسان شیشه ام بی
اگر آهی کشم اندیشه ام بی
سرشکم گر بوه خونین عجب نیست
مو آن دارم که در خون ریشه ام بی
Translation:
My heart is dainty as a drinking cup,
I fear for it whene'er I have a sigh;
It is not strange my tears are as blood,
I am a tree whose roots set in blood.
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
مسلسل زلف بر رو ریته دیری
گل و سنبل بهم آویته دیری
پریشان چون کری اون تار زلفون
به هر تاری دوی آویته دیری
Translation:
Thy tangled Curls are scattered o'er thy face,
Mingling the Roses with the Hyacinths;
But part asunder those entangled strand
On ever hair thou'lt find there hangs a heart. (Translation by: Edward Heron-Allen
Edward Heron-Allen
Edward Heron-Allen was an English polymath, writer, scientist and Persian scholar who translated the works of Omar Khayyam.-Life:...
)
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
دلا راه تو پر خار و خسک بی
گذرگاه تو بر اوج فلک بی
گر از دستت بر آیو پوست از تن
بیفکن تا که بارت کمترک بی
Translation:
Briar and thorn beset thy way, o Heart
Beyond the Dome of Heaven is thy road;
If thou art able, then thy very skin
Cast off from thee, and lighten thus thy load
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
ز دست دیده و دل هر دو فریاد
که هرچه دیده وینه دل کنه یاد
بسازم خنجری نیشش ز پولاد
زنم بردیده تا دل گرده آزاد
Translation:
Beneath the tyranny of eyes and heart I cry,
For, all the eyes see, the heart stores up:
I'll fashin me a pointed sword of steel,
Put out mine eyes, and so set free my heart
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
دلت ای سنگدل بر ما نسوجه
عجب نبود اگر خارا نسوجه
بسوجم تا بسوجونم دلت را
در آتش چوب تر تنها نسوجه
Translation:
O heart of Stone, Thou burnest not for me,
That stone burns not, is not, indeed, so strange
But I will burn till I inflame thy heart.
For fresh-cut logs are difficult to burn alone.
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
بی ته اشکم ز مژگان تر آیو
بی ته نخل امیدم بی بر آیو
بی ته در کنج تنها شو و روز
نشینم که تا عمرم بر سر آیو
Translation:
When thou’rt away, mine eyes o’erflow with tears,
Barren the Tree of Hope when thou’rt away:
Without thee, night and day, in a solitary corner,
I sit, till life itself come to an end.
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
به گلشن بی تو گل هرگز مرویا
وگر رویا کسش هرگز مبویا
بی شادی بی تو هرکس لو گشایه
لوش از خون دل هرگز مشویا
Translation:
Without-Thee in the Garden, Lord, may no rose bloom,
Or, blooming, may none taste its sweet perfume,
So, should my heart expand when Thou art not nigh,
T were vain! my heart's grief nought could turn to joy
Original Fahlavi/Persian:
چو مو یک سو ته دل پروانه ای نه
جهان را همچو مو دیوانه ای نه
همه مارون و مورون لانه دیرن
من بیچاره را ویرانه-ای نه
Translation:
What blundering Moth in all the World like me?
What madman like me in the Universe?
The very Serpents and the Ants have nests,
But I—poor wretch - no ruin shelters me.
Tomb
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
is located near the northern entrance of the city of Hamadan
Hamadan
-Culture:Hamadan is home to many poets and cultural celebrities. The city is also said to be among the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities.Handicrafts: Hamadan has always been well known for handicrafts like leather, ceramic, and beautiful carpets....
in Western Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, in a park, surrounded by flowers and winding paths. The structure consists of twelve external pillar
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
s surrounding a central tower
Tower
A tower is a tall structure, usually taller than it is wide, often by a significant margin. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires....
. It was reconstructed in 1970.
External links
- Khayyam's works in original Persian at Ganjoor Persian Library