Below is my translation of an untitled "New Persian" poem by the 9th century poet Rudaki, whose name in Persian simply means "one from Rudak". His full name was Abu 'Abd Allah Ja'far Ibn Muhammad and he was born in 858 AD in Rudak, a village in what is now Tajikistan and what was then part of the Samanid empire. Though rumored for a long time to be blind from birth (much like the Greek Homer), based on a number of his verses it seems unlikely that he was blind. A talented lutist and singer, Rudaki gained great fame for his poetry and performances by his early twenties and was patronized by the Samanid ruler of Transoxiana and Khorasan, Nasr Ibn Muhammad. However, due to an anti-Ismali revolt, Rudaki fell out of favor and died in abject poverty in his hometown of Rudak in the mid-940's AD.
An interesting fact about Rudaki's poetry is that he was one of the first poets to achieve renown using the new arabicized script to write his poetry. He did not use the older Pahlavi script, which is a more difficult and scholarly script that presents significantly greater challenges for reading, comprehension, and pronunciation. It is likely that Rudaki's choices as a poet made it possible for many great Persian poets, such as Sana'i, Hafez, and Rumi, to raise Persian literature to the sublime and rich heights it has achieved today. Rudaki is also considered by many the father of Iranian literature, much the way Homer and Pushkin are respectively considered the fathers of their culture's literatures.
I provide the Persian original, with hemistiches preserved, below my translation. For a more scholarly discussion of Rudaki's influence and life, click on this link.
he arrived, that one came and went, that one left;
he was, that one was: confused what sorrow do you hold?
Made worthy would you want the world? The world is, how did he receive its worth?
Concealed confusion that bewildered he did not see, hidden lament that lamenting he did not hear,
Go until your resurrection comes, make lament; how, having come with tears do you them return?
You see much grief from heaven but for the sake of face are untroubled.
It is as though calamity has set himself against each thing you have set your heart upon.
Clouded, neither clear nor eclipsed,
the moon is eclipsed and the world grows dark,
You give command or you do not, I fear; over oneself you do not once hold victory.
Within affliction harsh emerge magnificence, virtue, and greatness.
ای انکه غمگنی و سزاواری واندر نهان سرشک همی باری
رفت آنکه رفت و آمد آنک آمد بود آنچه بود، خیره چه غم داری؟
هموار کرد خواهی گیتی را؟ گیتیست، کی پذیرد همواری؟
مستی مکن که نشنود او مستی زاری مکن که نشنود او زاری
شو تا قیامت اید زاری کن کی رفته را به زاری باز آری؟
آزار بیش بینی زین گردون گر تو بهر بهانه بیآزاری
گوئی گماشتست بلائی او بر هر که تو بر او دل بگماری
ابری پدید نی و کسوفی نی بگرفت ماه و گشت جهان تاری
فرمان کنی ویا نکنی، ترسم بر خویشتن ظفر ندهی باری
اندر بلای سخت پدید اید فر و بزرگمردی و سالاری
*Final note: There are several lines in this poem about which I am not confident of my translation. I have been unable to find any scholarly commentaries on this poem to help me translate the passages in question, and I would welcome the help and comments of any fluent Persian speakers and or the comments of a Persian scholar.
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