{"id":9766,"date":"2010-03-21T12:38:29","date_gmt":"2010-03-21T19:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=9766"},"modified":"2010-03-21T12:38:29","modified_gmt":"2010-03-21T19:38:29","slug":"norouz-pirouz-eid-moborak-happy-iranian-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=9766","title":{"rendered":"Norouz Pirouz! Eid Moborak! Happy Iranian New Year!"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is Norouz<\/a>, the Persian New Year, which is celebrated far and wide throughout what used to be the Persian Empire, and I thought I would share with you the section of Shahnameh,<\/em> the Book of Kings, often called the Iranian national epic, in which the story of the first Norouz is told. The Shahnameh<\/em> is a work of profound nationalism, an assertion of Iranian national identity against the power and influence of the Muslim Arab culture that conquered Iran in the 7th century CE. Composed by Ferdowsi in the 10th century, the poem constitutes a kind of mythopoetic and historical archeology, telling the story of pre-Islamic Iran through the stories of the empire’s rulers, starting with the first, mythical king, whose name was Kayumars. Kayumars and three kings who follow him, Houshang, Tahmures and Jamshid, are responsible for bringing civilization to the world, each one deepening and strengthening the social order that is necessary for humanity to survive.<\/p>\n

The greatest, and also the most disappointing, of these four is Jamshid, for it is Jamshid who establishes social classes, brings the science of medicine to humanity, teaches his people to make clothing and perfume, and in general orders the society if his time such that it is recognizable to us as the kind of social world in which we live. Jamshid, also, however is the first king to allow his pride to get the better of him, declaring himself a deity and losing the farr,<\/em> which people often translate into English as aura,<\/em> but is more accurately described as the visible quality in a king that signifies for his subjects the fact that God favors his rule. If you imagine the halos that were drawn around Christ’s head in medieval paintings, but picture them around the heads of kings and understand them to be visible proof of what the Europeans used to believe was the divine right of kings, you have something close to what the farr<\/em> is.<\/p>\n

Once Jamshid loses the farr,<\/em> there is room for evil to enter the world, which it does in the form of Zahhak, part of whose story you can read in my translation on Ekleksographia<\/em><\/a>. In addition to the word farr,<\/em> you need to know that peris<\/em> are supernatural creatures upon which are based the faeries of Victorian England; and you need to know as well that “Demon Binder” was the name given to Jamshid’s father, Tahmures, because he bound Ahriman–the source of evil–and rode him, more or less like a horse, around the world.<\/p>\n

Here is my translation of Jamshid’s story, which is also the story of the first Norouz:<\/p>\n

\nFilled with his father\u2019s wisdom, when the world
\nwas done mourning the Demon Binder,
\nJamshid joined the line of men
\nto ascend the throne and wear the crown.
\nPeace spread across his kingdom,
\nand the birds and peris bowed to him too.
\n\u201cI will,\u201d he said, \u201ckeep evil from evil-doers\u2019
\nhands, and I will guide souls to light.
\nThe royal farr<\/em> rests with me. I rule
\nas shah and<\/em> priest.\u201d<\/p>\n

He turned first
\nto making weapons, paving for his warriors
\na road to glory and renown. Iron,
\nbeneath his farr, <\/em>softened, became <\/em>swords
\nand helmets, chain mail and horse armor,
\nand he gave fifty years to training
\nthe men he charged with building his armory.<\/p>\n

The next five decades, Jamshid devoted
\nto clothing, contriving different fabrics\u2014
\nlinen and silk, brocades and satin\u2014
\nteaching people to spin and to weave,
\nto dye what they\u2019d woven, and then sew a garment
\nfor feasting or fighting. When he finished, he divided
\nmen by their profession, sending
\nfirst to the mountains, to worship their Master
\nand live lives of devotion, the Katuzi.
\nSecond, he summoned the Neysari,
\nlion-hearted fighters whose luster
\nlit the entire land, whose leadership
\nand courage kept the king secure,
\nand whose valor ensured the nation\u2019s reputation.
\nThose who farmed the fields came next,
\nthe Basudi, who sow and reap,
\nwho receive no thanks, but whom none reproach
\nwhen there\u2019s food to eat. Free people
\nwho kneel to no one and seek no quarrel,
\ndespite the rags they wear, their care
\nmakes the earth flourish and nourishes peace.
\nA wise elder once said,
\n\u201cIf a free man finds himself a slave,
\nhe has only his own laziness to blame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jamshid gathered the craftsmen last,
\nthe anxious and stubborn Ahtukhoshi.
\nHaughty and contrary, they work with their hands
\nto make the goods sold in the market,
\nand they are always anxious. Fifty years
\nmarched by while Jamshid showed
\neach person breathing earth\u2019s air
\nhis proper place and path, teaching
\nthe scope of the life he\u2019d been given to live.<\/p>\n

He ordered the demons to pour water
\nover earth, stirring it into clay
\nthey filled molds with to form bricks.
\nWith mortar and stone, they laid foundations
\nfor public baths and beautiful palaces,
\nand castles to protect against attack.
\nFrom rocks, Jamshid\u2019s magic extracted
\nthe lustrous gems and precious metals
\nhe found hidden there, filling his hands
\nwith gold and silver, amber and jacinth.
\nHe distilled perfumes for his people\u2019s pleasure:
\nbalsam and ambergris, rose water and camphor,
\nmusk and aloe. He made medicines
\nto bring the sick back to health
\nand to help the healthy stay that way.<\/p>\n

Jamshid revealed these secret things
\nas none before him had done. No one
\ndiscovered and ordered the world as he did.<\/p>\n

Yet another fifty years
\nsaw Jamshid building ships
\nhe could sail quickly across the sea,
\nmaking port in each realm he reached;
\nand then, although he was already great,
\nJamshid stepped past greatness.
\nHe used his farr <\/em>to fashion a jeweled
\nthrone, decreeing the demons should raise it
\nhigh in the sky, where he sat shining
\nlike the sun, and the world\u2019s creatures gathered
\naround him, standing in awe, scattering
\ngems at his feet. It was the first of Farvadin,
\nand Jamshid set that day aside,
\nnaming it Norooz, \u201cnew day,\u201d
\nthe day he rested, the first of the year.
\nHis nobles declared a feast, a festival
\nof wine and song we still celebrate
\nin Jamshid\u2019s memory.<\/p>\n

For three centuries,
\nJamshid ruled in peace. His people
\nknew neither death nor hardship; the demons
\nstood ready to serve; and all who heard
\nthe king\u2019s command obeyed it. The land,
\nfilled with music, flourished. Jamshid,
\n<\/em>however, gave himself to vanity.
\nSeeing he had no peer in the world,
\nhe forgot the gratitude that is God\u2019s due
\nand called the nobles of his court before him
\nto make this fateful proclamation:
\n\u201cFrom this day forward, I know no lord
\nbut me: my<\/em> word brought beauty
\nand skilled men to adorn the earth!
\nMy<\/em> word! Sunshine and sleep, security
\nand comfort, the clothes you wear, your food\u2014
\nall came to you through me!
\nWho else ended death\u2019s desolation
\nand with medicine vanished illness from your lives?
\nWithout me, neither mind nor soul
\nwould inhabit your bodies. So who besides me
\ncan claim, unchallenged, the crown and its power?
\nYou understand this now. So now,
\nwho else can you call Creator but me?!\u201d<\/p>\n

The elders bowed their heads and held
\ntheir tongues, silenced by what he\u2019d said,
\nbut when the last sound left his mouth,
\nthe farr<\/em> left him, and his realm fell
\ninto discord. A sensible, pious man
\nonce said, \u201cA king must make himself
\nGod\u2019s slave. Ingratitude towards God
\nwill fill your heart with innumerable fears.\u201d
\nJamshid\u2019s men deserted; his destiny
\ndarkened, and his light disappeared from the world.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Cross-posted on It’s All Connected<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is Norouz, the Persian New Year, which is celebrated far and wide throughout what used to be the Persian Empire, and I thought I would share with you the section of Shahnameh, the Book of Kings, often called the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[133,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-iran","category-literature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9766\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}