Simin Behbahani's dobāré meesāzamat vatan

salām bé hamegee! Hello and welcome to Part 5 of Simin Behbahani’s dobāré meesāzamat vatan!

As always, let’s begin this lesson by listening to the entirety of our selection up to the new section we’ll be learning:

دوباره می‌سازمت وطن، سیمین بهبهانی

تقدیم به بانوی قصه سیمین دانشور

dobāré meesāzamat vatan

دوباره می‌سازمت وطن!

Once again I will build you, O homeland,

agar ché bā kheshté jāné kheesh

اگر چه با خِشت جان خویش

Even if with the bricks of my very own being

sotoon bé saghfé tō meezanam

ستون به سقف تو می‌زنم،

I’ll raise columns to your roof

agar ché bā ostokhāné kheesh

اگر چه با استخوان خویش

Even if it be with my very own bones

dobāré meebooyam az tō gol

دوباره می‌بویم از تو گُل،

Once again I will smell your flowers

bé maylé naslé javāné tō

به میل نسل جوان تو

Through the endeavor of your generation of youth

dobāré meeshooyam az tō khoon

دوباره می‌شویم از تو خون،

Once again I’ll wash away blood from you

bé saylé ashké ravāné kheesh

به سیل اشک روان خویش

Through the flood of my flowing tears

dobāré, yek roozé āshenā

دوباره، یک روز آشنا،

Once again, one familiar day

seeyāhee az khāné meeravad

سیاهی از خانه می‌رود

Darkness will leave home

bé she'ré khod rang meezanam

به شعر خود رنگ می‌زنم،

I will color my own poetry

zé ābeeyé āsemāné kheesh

ز آبیِ آسمان خویش

With the blue of your own sky

agar ché sad sālé mordé'am

اگر چه صد ساله مرده‌ام،

Even if I have been dead for a hundred years

bé gooré khod khāham eestād

به گور خود خواهم ایستاد

I will rise and stand on my own grave

ké bardaram ghalbé ahreman

که بردَرَم قلب اهرمن،

So that I can tear apart the devil’s heart

zé na'réyé ānchenāné kheesh

ز نعره‌ی آنچنان خویش

With my loud roaring

kasee ké “azmé rameem” rā dobāré enshā konad bé lotf

کسی که «عظم رمیم» را دوباره انشا کند به لطف

The one who re-writes the “mouldering bones” Through his grace and beneficence

chō kooh meebakhshadam shokooh, bé arseyé emtehāné kheesh

چو کوه می‌بخشدم شکوه، به عرصه‌ی امتحان خویش

Will grant me splendor, like a mountain, In the arena of his tests

agar ché peeram valee hanooz, majālé ta'leem agar bovad

اگر چه پیرم ولی هنوز، مجال تعلیم اگر بُوَد،

Though I am old, but still, if the opportunity to learn arises

javānee āghāz meekonam kenāré nobāvegāné kheesh

جوانی آغاز می کنم کنار نوباوگان خویش

I will begin anew my youth, besides my own grandchildren

hadeesé hob olvatan zé shogh, bedān ravesh sāz meekonam

حدیث حب الوطن ز شوق بدان روش ساز می کنم

The hadith of “Love for one’s country,” passionately, I will pursue in suchwise

ké jān shavad har kalāmé del, chō bargoshāyam dahāné kheesh

که جان شود هر کلام دل، چو برگشایم دهان خویش

That every word of the heart will come to life, when I so much as part my lips

Great, and as always, hopefully through this repetition, you understood the first portion, and now let’s go over the new part we’ll be learning.

Let’s hear the first two lines again:

agar ché peeram valee hanooz, majālé ta'leem agar bovad

اگر چه پیرم ولی هنوز، مجال تعلیم اگر بُوَد،

Though I am old, but still, if the opportunity to learn arises

Great- so agar ché peeram valee hanooz. So again, we have agar ché in here, again meaning though. agar ché

(agar ché)

and peeram- peer is the word for old. peer

(peer)

and peeram means I am old. peeram

(peeram)

valee is the word for but. valee

(valee)

and the word hanooz means still. hanooz

(hanooz)

so agar ché peeram valee hanooz all together means though I am old, but still. agar ché peeram valee hanooz

(agar ché peeram valee hanooz)

and then majālé ta’leem agar bovad

So majāl is the word for opportunity. majāl

(majāl)

and ta’leem is the word for education or learning. ta’leem

(ta’leem)

So majālé ta’leem, the opportunity of learning. majālé ta’leem

(majālé ta’leem)

and of course we know the word agar. it means if. agar

(agar)

and bovad finally means becomes, or arises. bovad

(bovad)

And this is one of those words that isn’t used in current conversation- it’s a more poetic word, bovad

(bovad)

So majālé ta’leem agar bovad- the opportunity of learning, if it presents itself, majālé ta’leem agar bovad

(majālé ta’leem agar bovad)

Or as Sahba translated it- if the opportunity to learn arises

Wonderful- let’s repeat these two lines again together-

agar ché peeram

(agar ché peeram)

valee hanooz,

(valee hanooz,)

majālé ta’leem

(majālé ta’leem)

agar bovad

(agar bovad)

Great- let’s listen to the next two lines:

javānee āghāz meekonam kenāré nobāvegāné kheesh

جوانی آغاز می کنم کنار نوباوگان خویش

I will begin anew my youth, besides my own grandchildren

Great, so javānee āghāz meekonam- oof, what a good line! So javānee means youth. So the opposite of peeree, or oldness. javānee

(javānee)

The period of youth. and āghāz kardan is the compound verb for to commence or to begin, or as Sahba translated it, to begin anew. āghāz kardan

(āghāz kardan)

so āghāz meekonam means I will begin anew. āghāz meekonam

(āghāz meekonam)

So I will begin anew my youth! What a beautiful concept- so through learning, she will become young again. javānee āghāz meekonam

(javānee āghāz meekonam)

and then kenāré nobāvegāné kheesh. Oooh! kenāré means next to, or beside. kenāré

(kenāré)

and nobāvegāné kheesh means the grandchildren of my self. The younger generation, the youth of my self, meaning my offspring. so nobāvegāné

(nobāvegāné)

and kheesh, my self. kheesh

(kheesh)

Ok great. The next line- hadeesé hob olvatan zé shogh, bedān ravesh sāz meekonam

hadeesé hob olvatan zé shogh, bedān ravesh sāz meekonam

حدیث حب الوطن ز شوق بدان روش ساز می کنم

The hadith of “Love for one’s country,” passionately, I will pursue in suchwise

hadeesé hob olvatan zé shogh. Now this is definitely a challenging line for me, Let’s start with the word I do know which is shogh, and this means passion. shogh

(shogh)

and to go back hadees as Sahba explained in the introduction is saying from the prophet muhammad, and this particular hadeesé hob olvatan is the hadith that instructs one about the love of one’s country. there’s that word vatan in there, the homeland. so hadeesé hob ol vatan means the hadith of the love for one’s country. hadeesé hob ol vatan

hadeesé hob ol vatan

and zé shogh means with passion, so passionately. zé shogh

and bedān roosh sāz meekonam

so sāz meekonam means I will make, I will do. sāz meekonam

(sāz meekonam)

and bedān roosh means in such wise, os bedān roosh sāz meekonam, I will pursue in suchwise. Again, not something you’d say in every day conversation, it’s more of a poetic phrase. Let’s repeat it together- bedān roosh sāz meekonam

(bedān roosh sāz meekonam)

Ok great. Last two lines:

ké jān shavad har kalāmé del, chō bargoshāyam dahāné kheesh

که جان شود هر کلام دل، چو برگشایم دهان خویش

That every word of the heart will come to life, when I so much as part my lips

ok great- ké jān shavad har kalamé del

Another absolutely beautiful line- let’s first learn kalāmé del. del is the word for heart. del

(del)

and kalām is the word for word. kalām

(kalām)

the word of the heart- kalāmé del

(kalāmé del)

ké jān shavad har kalāmé del- so har is the word for every. har

(har)

so har kalāmé del means every word of the heart. har kalāmé del

(har kalāmé del)

so ké jān shavad har kalāmé del. ké means that. ké

(ké)

jān is the word for life. jān

(jān)

and shavad means to become. shavad

(shavad)

so all together ké jān shavad- so that alive becomes

har kalāmé del- every word of the heart. meaning in other words- That every word of the heart will come to life. so ké jān shavad

(ké jān shavad)

har kalāmé del

(har kalāmé del)

Great. And finally the last line we’ll be learning today-

(chō bargoshāyam dahāné kheesh)

So chō means when. chō

(chō)

and bargoshāyam means I open. bargoshāyam

(bargoshāyam)

and dahān is the word for mouth. dahān

(dahān)

which is also said as dahan in everyday conversation. dahan

(dahan)

and kheesh of course means self. kheesh

(kheesh)

so dahāné kheesh means the mouth of my self. so my mouth. dahāné kheesh

(dahāné kheesh)

so as Sahba translated it, it can all means When I so much as part my lips

chō bargoshāyam

(chō bargoshāyam)

dahāné kheesh

(dahāné kheesh)

So altogether it’s saying That every word of the heart will come to life

When I so much as part my lips. Let’s repeat this last part together bit by bit:

ké jān shavad

(ké jān shavad)

har kalāmé del

(har kalāmé del)

, chō bargoshāyam

(, chō bargoshāyam)

dahāné kheesh

(dahāné kheesh)

So this to me is another example of her growing stronger in the poem, through passion, through learning, through becoming young again. And the words are coming to life simply by her uttering them. Again, as a poet, I think this is a very powerful idea, of the power of words and ideas and learning.

Ok, let’s again listen to the portion of the poem we learned today, so we can get these sentences in our memory and in our bones:

agar ché peeram valee hanooz, majālé ta'leem agar bovad

اگر چه پیرم ولی هنوز، مجال تعلیم اگر بُوَد،

Though I am old, but still, if the opportunity to learn arises

javānee āghāz meekonam kenāré nobāvegāné kheesh

جوانی آغاز می کنم کنار نوباوگان خویش

I will begin anew my youth, besides my own grandchildren

hadeesé hob olvatan zé shogh, bedān ravesh sāz meekonam

حدیث حب الوطن ز شوق بدان روش ساز می کنم

The hadith of “Love for one’s country,” passionately, I will pursue in suchwise

ké jān shavad har kalāmé del, chō bargoshāyam dahāné kheesh

که جان شود هر کلام دل، چو برگشایم دهان خویش

That every word of the heart will come to life, when I so much as part my lips

Wonderful. And to conclude, I want to listen to the whole poem up to this point again. The more we can listen to these words and phrases and stanzas, the more we can begin to understand them. So try to let these words wash over you, with your new understanding of the Persian language:

dobāré meesāzamat vatan

دوباره می‌سازمت وطن!

Once again I will build you, O homeland,

agar ché bā kheshté jāné kheesh

اگر چه با خِشت جان خویش

Even if with the bricks of my very own being

sotoon bé saghfé tō meezanam

ستون به سقف تو می‌زنم،

I’ll raise columns to your roof

agar ché bā ostokhāné kheesh

اگر چه با استخوان خویش

Even if it be with my very own bones

dobāré meebooyam az tō gol

دوباره می‌بویم از تو گُل،

Once again I will smell your flowers

bé maylé naslé javāné tō

به میل نسل جوان تو

Through the endeavor of your generation of youth

dobāré meeshooyam az tō khoon

دوباره می‌شویم از تو خون،

Once again I’ll wash away blood from you

bé saylé ashké ravāné kheesh

به سیل اشک روان خویش

Through the flood of my flowing tears

dobāré, yek roozé āshenā

دوباره، یک روز آشنا،

Once again, one familiar day

seeyāhee az khāné meeravad

سیاهی از خانه می‌رود

Darkness will leave home

bé she'ré khod rang meezanam

به شعر خود رنگ می‌زنم،

I will color my own poetry

zé ābeeyé āsemāné kheesh

ز آبیِ آسمان خویش

With the blue of your own sky

agar ché sad sālé mordé'am

اگر چه صد ساله مرده‌ام،

Even if I have been dead for a hundred years

bé gooré khod khāham eestād

به گور خود خواهم ایستاد

I will rise and stand on my own grave

ké bardaram ghalbé ahreman

که بردَرَم قلب اهرمن،

So that I can tear apart the devil’s heart

zé na'réyé ānchenāné kheesh

ز نعره‌ی آنچنان خویش

With my loud roaring

kasee ké “azmé rameem” rā dobāré enshā konad bé lotf

کسی که «عظم رمیم» را دوباره انشا کند به لطف

The one who re-writes the “mouldering bones” Through his grace and beneficence

chō kooh meebakhshadam shokooh, bé arseyé emtehāné kheesh

چو کوه می‌بخشدم شکوه، به عرصه‌ی امتحان خویش

Will grant me splendor, like a mountain, In the arena of his tests

agar ché peeram valee hanooz, majālé ta'leem agar bovad

اگر چه پیرم ولی هنوز، مجال تعلیم اگر بُوَد،

Though I am old, but still, if the opportunity to learn arises

javānee āghāz meekonam kenāré nobāvegāné kheesh

جوانی آغاز می کنم کنار نوباوگان خویش

I will begin anew my youth, besides my own grandchildren

hadeesé hob olvatan zé shogh, bedān ravesh sāz meekonam

حدیث حب الوطن ز شوق بدان روش ساز می کنم

The hadith of “Love for one’s country,” passionately, I will pursue in suchwise

ké jān shavad har kalāmé del, chō bargoshāyam dahāné kheesh

که جان شود هر کلام دل، چو برگشایم دهان خویش

That every word of the heart will come to life, when I so much as part my lips

Wonderful! And we’ll leave it there for today. We’ll be back next week with the thrilling conclusion of this beautiful poem. And until then, keep repeating these words and phrases, keep repeating these sections, really feel what we’ve been learning, and until next time,

khodāhāfez from Leyla