Baba Taher

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بابا طاهر

Bābā Tāher

Biography

Bābā Tāher بابا طاهر, was a Persian poet and mystic born in the Iranian city of Hamedān همدان in the 11th century AD. He was an outstanding poet, whose humble mystic writing style remains hugely popular amongst contemporary Persian speakers. 

Excerpt 1 from Bābā Tāher

Recited by Golrokh Goudarzi

‘My heart is on the search for love,

It warms me like a bustling bāzār of love,

I stitched cloth resembling my heart,

From the warp and weft and labour of my love.’

Deli deyrom kheridār-e mohabbat

K-az-u garm-ast bāzār-e mohabbat

Lebāsi dukhtom bar qāmat-e del

Ze pud-e mehnat-o tār-e mohabbat

دلی دیرم خریدارِ محبّت

کزو گرمست بازارِ محبت

لباسی دوختم بر قامتِ دل

ز پودِ محنت و تارِ محبت

Vocabulary:
دِیرُم Deyrom Hamedāni dialect for دارم dāram ‘I have’
خریدارِ Kheridār-e ‘Desirer/seeker of’
مُحَبَّت Mohabbat ‘Love’ (a synonym of عشق eshq)
کزو (که از او) K-az-u (ke az u) ‘That from it’
قامتِ دل Qāmat-e del ‘The figure/shape/semblance of a heart’
پود و تار Pud-o tār ‘Warp and weft’

Excerpt 2 from Bābā Tāher

Recited by Golrokh Goudarzi

‘If my Sweetheart is my heart, how shall I name her?

And if my heart is my Sweetheart, whence is she named?

The two are so intimately interwoven that

I can no longer distinguish one from the other.’

– translated by Elizabeth Curtis Brenton

Agar del delbar-o delbar kodume

V-agar delbar del-o del rā che nume

Del-o delbar be ham āmite vinom

Nadunom del ke vo delbar kodume

اگر دل دلبرو دلبر کدومه

وگر دلبر دل و دل را چه نومه

دل و دلبر به هم آمیته وینُم

ندونُم دل که و دلبر کدومه

Notes:
There are two possible versions of the first line, either with کدومه kodume or چه نومه che nume. We have chosen to use the version with کدومه kodume, meaning that a more accurate English translation of the first line would be ‘If my Sweeheart is my heart, how can I tell them apart?’.

Vocabulary:
دل دلبرو Del delbar-o Hamedāni dialect for دل دلبر است del delbar ast ‘the heart is [a] sweetheart’
وگر V-agar ‘And if’ (a contraction of و اگر va agar)
به هم آمیته وینُم Be ham āmite vinom Hamedāni dialect for به هم آمیخته بینم be ham āmikhte binam ‘[that] I see the two interwoven/mixed together’
ندونُم Nadunom Hamedāni dialect for ندانم nadānam ‘[that] I don’t know’

Excerpt 3 from Bābā Tāher

Recited by Golrokh Goudarzi

‘Love to be sweet must be reciprocal,

Love unrequited maketh sick the heart;

If Majnun’s heart was desperate for love,

The heart of Leila was more desperate still.’

– Translated by Edward Heron-Allen

Che khosh bi mehrbāni har du sar bi

Ke yeksar mehrbāni dard-e sar bi

Agar majnun del-e shuride-i dāsht

Del-e leyli az ān shuride-tar bi

چه خوش بی مهربانی هر دو سر بی

که یکسر مهربانی دردِ سر بی

اگر مجنون دلِ شوریده ای داشت

دلِ لیلی از آن شوریده تر بی

Vocabulary:
بی Bi Hamedāni dialect for بود bud ‘[he/she/it] was’
یکسر Yeksar ‘one-sided’
شوریده Shuride ‘Desperate, frenzied, feverish, restless’

Excerpt 4 from Bābā Tāher

Recited by Golrokh Goudarzi

‘With two strands of your hair I will string my robāb,

In my wretched state what can you ask of me?

Seeing that you have no wish to be my love,

Why do you appear each midnight in my sleep?’

– Adapted from a translation by Elizabeth Curtis Brenton

Do zolfun-et bovad tār-e robāb-om 

Che mi-khāhi az-in hāl-e kharāb-om

Tu ke bā mu sar-e yāri nadāri

Cherā har nime shu āyi bekhāb-om

دو زلفونت بُوَد تارِ ربابُم 

چه می خواهی ازین حالِ خرابُم 

تو که با مو سرِ یاری نداری

چرا هر نیمه شو آیی بخوابُم

Vocabulary:
دو زلفونت Do zolfun-et ‘Two strands/locks/curls of your hair’
تارِ ربابُم Tār-e robāb-om ‘The string(s) of my robāb’ (a robāb or rubāb is a traditional Persian instrument resembling a lute)
نیمه شو Nime shu Hamedāni dialect for نیمه شب nime shab ‘midnight’

Excerpt 5 from Bābā Tāher

Recited by Golrokh Goudarzi

‘The breeze that played amid thy curling locks

Is sweeter far than hyacinths to me;

All night I pressed thy picture on my chest,

At dawn my bed gave forth a scent of roses.’

– Adapted translation from Elizabeth Curtis Brenton

Nasimi k-az bon-e ān kākol āyu

Ma-rā khoshtar ze bu-ye sonbol āyu

Chu shu girom khiyāl-esh rā dar āghush

Sahar az bestar-om bu-ye gol āyu

نسیمی کز بنِ آن کاکل آیو 

مرا خوشتر ز بوی سنبل آیو

چو شو گیرُم خیالش را در آغوش

سحر از بسترُم بوی گل آیو

Vocabulary:
نسیمی Nasimi ‘A breeze’
بن Bon This word has many meanings. Its primary meaning is ‘foundation, base’. However in this poem بن bon has the meaning of ‘scent/aroma’.
کاکل Kākol ‘Lock/strand/curl [of hair]’
آیو Āyu Hamedāni dialect for آید āyad ‘comes’
سنبل Sonbol ‘Hyacinth’
شو Show Hamedāni dialect for شب shab ‘night’
بستر Bestar ‘Bed, bedding, mattress’