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:
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