The Curvaceous Exquisiteness Of Persian

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 23 April 2022 April 23 is commemorated as the UN International Day of English, coinciding with the putative birthday of the Bard of Avon. While English is still the number one language in terms of its commercial viability, Persian remains the most mellifluous tongue and a repertoire of wisdom, mysticism and common-sense. Islamic mysticism is just incomplete without the copious references to Persian and Pahlavi (precursor to Persian; Avesta of Zoroastrianism is written in Pahlavi). I often wonder, why such a beautiful language has so few takers in India, considering the fact that it was Mughal India's court language and was also a colloquial and legal language of the sub-continent for nearly 400 years? Ghalib and Iqbal wrote their finest poetic works in Persian and not in Urdu. Ghalib called it the language of his linguistic consciousness and Iqbal called it : Mere Ruhani Ustaad Ki Zabaan Jo Mujh Pe Naazil Hui (the language of my spiritual master which descended upon me). En passant, his spiritual master was the redoubtable Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi Balkhi. But then, a language is more often than not a political tool. Its survival often depends upon political hobnobbing and patronage. Coming back to Persian's delectable beauty, it was aptly called ' a curvaceous language,' by none other than the legendary western scholar and the greatest authority on Rumi, the Cambridge Professor Sir Reynold A Nicholson, who taught Iqbal and also translated Iqbal's first philosophical Persian poetry book ' Asraar-e-Khudi ' into English as ' The Secrets of the Self. ' Apart from its euphonic aspect, Persian is steeped in nous. The maxims in Persian are used worldwide. Who can forget the famous Persian adage, ' Ze Gahvaare Taa Gur Daanes Bejuy ' ( Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave) or ' Porsidan E'yub Nist, Nadaanestan E'yub Ast ' (He that nothing questions, nothing learns/Literally: The shame is not in asking; shame is in not knowing) or ' Co Istadehi Daste Aftaadeh Gir ' (So long as you're standing, give a hand to those who've fallen) or 'Gar sabr koni, ze yure halvaa saazi ' (With time and art, the leaf of a mulberry tree becomes satin/Literally: If you exercise patience, you may make a sweet-meat out of the sour grape). Lastly, ' Hic arzani bi e'lat nist ' (Nothing is cheap for no reason). And when you use the words like ' Haminastu' (It's here), Zeba (Beautiful), Maahtaab (moonlight), Dilshaad (Cheerful, remember, Delhi's famed Dilshad Garden), Firdaus (Jannat/Bahisht or Paradise), the listeners are transported to the highest plane of unadulterated bliss. So many words of Persian origin are now a part and parcel of our everyday conversation. Dil ( pronounced Del in Persian), Dehaat (village) and Deemak (termite) are Persian words which cannot be plucked out of our daily lingo. Even Zukaam (cold, influenza) came from Persian. Having spent quite a few years in Maharashtra, I wondered how so many Marathi words directly descended from Persian. Marathi words 'ashtpailu' (Hashtpahloo in Farsi for versatility; Hasht : Eight in Persian) and Hangaam (Time/Season/Session, pronounced Hengaam by Iranian native speakers of Persian) directly came from Farsi, albeit with a slightly different enunciation, but no change in their connotations. Reading Persian mystical poetry is an inebriating experience even for a nonbeliever like me as the very language is so lyrical and tailor made for this kind of poetry. I consider myself to be immensely fortunate to have read Hafiz, Rumi, Khaqani, Nizami, Attar, Bedil, Sanai and Anwari's poetry in original classical Persian without ever resorting to second-hand, diluted renditions and interpretations in English like those of Coleman Barks' Rumi. This American poet popularised Rumi but cannot read and write Persian! And when it comes to expressing love, Persian is simply unparalleled. I remember my Persian professor's immortal and ever-relevant advice: ' If you propose to a woman in chaste Persian, she won't be able to say no to you.' I followed the advice and found it to be true to the last syllable! Try it but do learn Persian! ---- An occasional columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-culture/curvaceous-exquisiteness-persian/d/126849 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism