Let me tell you one of the most beautiful love stories ever written in Persian Literature. It will be summarized. If you would like to read more or in Farsi, let me know and we will figure out a way to make sure you get to see this gem of an Iranian tale. Remember this story. Tell it to your children. They will always remember that they heard about love from you first. Celebrate love Persian style. (Part I here. Part II here. Part III here. Part IV here. Part V here. Part VI here.) Khosrow, on the other hand, arrived Arman territory and was received warmly by Mahin Banoo (Shamira), Shirin's aunt. He told her about his love for Shirin, asking for her hand in marriage. She gave him Shabdiz's equal, a horse named Golgoon to ride back to Madaen to find Shirin and to return her to Arman territory so the two could get married. Simultaneously, Khosrow was advised to return to Iran to succeed his father, Hormoz, becoming the King of Iran. Unbeknownst to him, however, Shirin had already left Madaen, accomapnied by Shapour, heading back towards Arman, so the two missed each other again! Upon return to Madaen and realizing that Shirin had left and Bahram-e-Choobin had revolted against his kingdom, Khosrow returned yet again to Arman. This time he and Shirin did finally meet. They spent days getting to know each other, succumbing to the love that had so swept them both off their feet. Shirin, however, wouldn't agree to intimacy with Khosrow, unless his honorable intentions were known to her. As much as Khosrow loved Shirin, he was a king, and he didn't expect resistence from any woman! So the lovers danced the dance of flirtation and patience. Shirin told Khosrow that if he wanted to ask for her hand in marriage, first he had to claim his country back from Bahram Choobin. She told him that she would only marry a true king, and with his throne in the hands of Bahram, Khosrow was not really a king. Khosrow left Shirin in Arman to go claim his country and his throne, feeling angered and dejected by Shirin.
8/14/2007
The Story of Khosrow and Shirin (II)
Let me tell you one of the most beautiful love stories ever written in Persian Literature. It will be summarized. If you would like to read more or in Farsi, let me know and we will figure out a way to make sure you get to see this gem of an Iranian tale. Remember this story. Tell it to your children. They will always remember that they heard about love from you first. Celebrate love Persian style. (Part I here. Part II here. Part III here. Part IV here. Part V here. Part VI here.) Khosrow, on the other hand, arrived Arman territory and was received warmly by Mahin Banoo (Shamira), Shirin's aunt. He told her about his love for Shirin, asking for her hand in marriage. She gave him Shabdiz's equal, a horse named Golgoon to ride back to Madaen to find Shirin and to return her to Arman territory so the two could get married. Simultaneously, Khosrow was advised to return to Iran to succeed his father, Hormoz, becoming the King of Iran. Unbeknownst to him, however, Shirin had already left Madaen, accomapnied by Shapour, heading back towards Arman, so the two missed each other again! Upon return to Madaen and realizing that Shirin had left and Bahram-e-Choobin had revolted against his kingdom, Khosrow returned yet again to Arman. This time he and Shirin did finally meet. They spent days getting to know each other, succumbing to the love that had so swept them both off their feet. Shirin, however, wouldn't agree to intimacy with Khosrow, unless his honorable intentions were known to her. As much as Khosrow loved Shirin, he was a king, and he didn't expect resistence from any woman! So the lovers danced the dance of flirtation and patience. Shirin told Khosrow that if he wanted to ask for her hand in marriage, first he had to claim his country back from Bahram Choobin. She told him that she would only marry a true king, and with his throne in the hands of Bahram, Khosrow was not really a king. Khosrow left Shirin in Arman to go claim his country and his throne, feeling angered and dejected by Shirin.
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12 comments:
Thank you Nazy jan, from both me and my Armenian friend:)
Can you tell us how much of the story is left?
Hahaha Jeer Jan! Is it that boring? I am past the half-point. I feel bad that I cannot talk about Nezami's nuances in telling the story, because they are so beautiful, but I'm not qulified to translate them into English. In that scene where Khosrow is begging to kiss Shirin, the poetry is fabulous! Two more Tuesdays and I should be done. Have a good evening my friend.
Nazy jan, is there a farsi version of it available online somewhere? now i'm so curious about that scene:)))))
Jeerjeerak Jan: If you can send me an email with your address, I will send you photocopies of the Eghbal Yaghmaee's abridged version of the story. That's the one I am using for my summary translation.
Nazy jan,
Thanks. I was waiting for this second part. It is so exciting. I can't wait for the rest... ;)
Thanks.
Pardis
no, nazy joonam. i don't want to put you through that hassle. i'll take it from you some day:)
Beautiful. Thanks.
Nice choice of story.
I first read this story in Dr Saeidi Sirjani's 'Simaa-ye do zan'. It is quite an interesting book which juxtaposes the characters of Shirin from 'Khosrow o Shirin' as a liberated woman with Leili, a veiled woman in a closed society, from 'Leili o Majnun'. Apparently Nezami wrote 'Khosrow o Shirin' by his own choice as it was his favorite story but 'Leili o Majnun' was ordered to him to be made in the form of poetry by the ruler of his time.
Salam Pardis Jan: Thank you for coming and thank you for your comment. I will continue working on this, though as I said to Jeerjeerak, I most certainly hope that all who can read Farsi will read Nezami's poetry in telling this story! It is priceless.
In the meantime, I just keep telling the story, as I love telling stories! Take care Mohandes Pardis. (As I mentioned to you in our correspondence, I am impressed and baffled by the number of engineers who are my blog readers! I am not an engineer myself, though in another life I worked in the periphery for a long time.)
Jeerjeerak Jan: When? (Bacheh mitarsooni Jeer Jan? We love guests around here!)
Serendip: You are so scarce and you use so few words these days! I hope you are good and happy my friend.
Salam Ehsan Jan: Thank you for coming. I have been attending a poetry class covering this fabulous gem of Farsi poetry, hence the inspiration to sketch the story in English! Yes, I have read that book by Zendehyad Saeidi (sp?) Sirjani. It is a bold and interesting comparison of the two female characters.
As I mentioned in last week's comments, there are historical facts to Nezami's account of the story, and then there are his imaginary events and characters. Even if Shirin's character was entirely embellished, Nezami's centuries-old depiction of Shirin is a priceless tribute to women, because this main character is displayed as beautiful, wise, educated, artistic, poetic, athletic, and compassionate. Those were all "possibilities" Nezami could see for a woman, and I love him for being able to see those "possibilities," something many men in this world are incapable of doing TODAY!
Thanks again for coming & cheshme shoma roshan!
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