Pārsīg
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dil bē šaved az-im dast, dildāragān, cē pargast,
fradāg rāz pe-nihān bē baved āškār-ā kaštīg-nišastagān hem vād ī husāz āxēz šāyed abāz vēnem dīdār ī āšnāg-ā āsāyišn ī do oxān vizār ī ēn do vāzag hugār abāg dōst ud ōgār dušmen abāg-ā ped kōy ī nēknāmīh andar vider nē dād hem ka nē hamē pesannē vardēn brīn vizīr-ā Hāfiz i Šīrāz |
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The Hymn of the Pearl
In the apocryphal Acts of Judas Thomas the Apostle is to be found the beautiful Hymn of the Pearl. This old Syriac poem not only contains Parthian loan-words, uses symbolism drawn from the circumstances of the Parthian kingdom, but also has demonstrably a Parthian predecessor. The poem is about a boy, "the son of the king of kings", who is sent from his homeland, the Levant, that is Parthia, to Egypt, that is Occident, to retrieve a pearl that lies in the Sea from the loud-breathing Serpent. During the quest, he is seduced by Egyptians and forgets his origin and his family. However, a letter is sent from the king of kings to remind him of his past. When the boy receives the letter, he remembers his mission, retrieves the pearl and returns.
In the apocryphal Acts of Judas Thomas the Apostle is to be found the beautiful Hymn of the Pearl. This old Syriac poem not only contains Parthian loan-words, uses symbolism drawn from the circumstances of the Parthian kingdom, but also has demonstrably a Parthian predecessor. The poem is about a boy, "the son of the king of kings", who is sent from his homeland, the Levant, that is Parthia, to Egypt, that is Occident, to retrieve a pearl that lies in the Sea from the loud-breathing Serpent. During the quest, he is seduced by Egyptians and forgets his origin and his family. However, a letter is sent from the king of kings to remind him of his past. When the boy receives the letter, he remembers his mission, retrieves the pearl and returns.
draxt asurīg
The verbal contest between a goat and a Babylonian date-palm
handarz ī dānāgān ō mazdesnān
This text is known under the title of handarz ī dānāgān ō mazdesnān ‘Counsel of the Wise to Mazdayasnians’. It is partially (or, wholly?) in verse.
handarz ī vehzād ī farrox-pērōz
The Counsel of Vehzād (son of) Farrox-pērōz, a sage of the Sasanian times, contains a hymn to wisdom.
abar madan ī šāh vahrām ī varzāvand
The coming of the King Vahrām Varzāvand
This text, called “a rhymed ballad” by Tavadia, expresses the hope of the advent of the king Vahrām. There exists a slightly different version of this text which is found in a manuscript which once before was at the disposal of Edgar Blochet (“Le manuscrit que j’ai eu à ma disposition et qui n’existe dans aucune bibliothèque européenne, laisse à désirer au point de vue de la correction.”). We give the transcription and translation of this second version too.
The verbal contest between a goat and a Babylonian date-palm
handarz ī dānāgān ō mazdesnān
This text is known under the title of handarz ī dānāgān ō mazdesnān ‘Counsel of the Wise to Mazdayasnians’. It is partially (or, wholly?) in verse.
handarz ī vehzād ī farrox-pērōz
The Counsel of Vehzād (son of) Farrox-pērōz, a sage of the Sasanian times, contains a hymn to wisdom.
abar madan ī šāh vahrām ī varzāvand
The coming of the King Vahrām Varzāvand
This text, called “a rhymed ballad” by Tavadia, expresses the hope of the advent of the king Vahrām. There exists a slightly different version of this text which is found in a manuscript which once before was at the disposal of Edgar Blochet (“Le manuscrit que j’ai eu à ma disposition et qui n’existe dans aucune bibliothèque européenne, laisse à désirer au point de vue de la correction.”). We give the transcription and translation of this second version too.
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The
poetical lines (gāh) are called in Luri/ Laki serū (Pers. srōg)
–Luri belongs to the Perside group of the Irano-Indian languages. Mr Hamid
Izadpanah (Archaeologist) has collected numerous serūs in Luri and Laki
and translated them into Persian. We give here a few examples, with their
rendering into Pārsīg / Pahlavi.
A beautiful local music from southern Iran, Bastak (Hormozgan province) |
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The Praise of the Great Ones
āfrīn ī vazurgān This benediction text is used as a part of the marriage service. We have both the Pārsīg and the Pāzand versions of the Text. |