Simin Behbahani's dobāré meesāzamat vatan

salām bé hamegee, hello and welcome to part 6 of our series on Simin Behbahani’s dobāré meesāzamat vatan.

This is the thrilling conclusion of our series on this poem, so today, we get the treat of listening to the full poem. Let’s start with that:

dobaré 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 می زنم،

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 mebooyam az tō gol

دوباره می بویم 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 می شویم 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 می زنم،

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 مرده ام،

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’reyé ānchenāné kheesh

ز نعره ی 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 می بخشدم شکوه ، به عرصه ی 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

hanooz dar seené ātashee, bejāst k’az tābé sholeh’ash

هنوز در سینه آتشی، بجاست کز تاب شعله اش

Still in my heart a fire

Burns, from whose flames

gomān nadāram bé kāheshee, zé garmeeyé doodmāné kheesh

گمان ندارم به کاهشی، ز گرمی دودمان خویش

I sense no extinction,

By dint of the warmth of my ancestors

dobāré meebakhshee’am tavān, agar ché she’ram bé khoon neshast

دوباره می بخشی ام توان، اگر چه شعرم به خون نشست

Once again, you’ll bestow upon me strength

Even if my poem sits in blood

dobāré meesāzamat bé jān, agar ché beesh az tavāné kheesh

دوباره می‌سازمت به جان، اگر چه بیش از توان خویش

Once again I will rebuild you by my soul,

Even if it lays beyond my strength

Wonderful- and hopefully you understood everything in this lesson up to the very last part! Let’s go over that bit together now. So the first two lines:

hanooz dar seené ātashee, bejāst k’az tābé sholeh’ash. Ok so hanooz dar seené ātashee-

hanooz is the word for still. hanooz

(hanooz)

and dar mean in. dar

(dar)

seené is the word for chest. seené

(seené)

all of this is very simple so far. ātash is the word for fire. ātash

(ātash)

and ātashee means a fire. ātashee

(ātashee)

so hanooz dar seené ātashee means still in the chest a fire… and this is an incomplete sentence we’re going to finish in the next line, but let’s repeat it all together first- hanooz dar seené

(hanooz dar seené)

ātasheest

Great, and next, bejāst k’az tābé sholeh’ash

so bejāst means stands. bejāst

(bejāst)

and this is literally is in place, or stands in place. bejāst

(bejāst)

and then ké az, together quickly is k’az, which means that from. k’az

(k’az)

and then tābé sholeh’ash. first of all, sholeh means flames. sholeh

(sholeh)

and shole’ash means its flames. shole’ash

(shole’ash)

and tāb is swinging, or swaying. tāb

(tāb)

so then tābé shole’ash means the swaying of its flames. tābé shole’ash

(tābé shole’ash)

Ok wonderful, so the whole line bejāst k’az tābé shole’ash, so stands, that from the swinging or dancing of its flames- so again, this is a continuation of that line before- hanooz dar seené ātashee, bejāst k’az tābé sholeh’ash, so hanooz dar seené ātashee, still in the chest a fire bejāst, is standing k’az tābé shole’ash, that from the dancing of its flames- and we’re going to continue this in the next line, and find out what happens from the dancing of its flames. But before we do, let’s repeat this all together bit by bit.

hanooz dar seené ātashee

(hanooz dar seené ātashee)

, bejāst

(bejāst)

k’az tābé sholeh’ash

(k’az tābé sholeh’ash)

Ok, let’s hear this line again, along with the next line we’ll be covering:

hanooz dar seené ātashee, bejāst k’az tābé sholeh’ash

هنوز در سینه آتشی، بجاست کز تاب شعله اش

Still in my heart a fire

Burns, from whose flames

gomān nadāram bé kāheshee, zé garmeeyé doodmāné kheesh

گمان ندارم به کاهشی، ز گرمی دودمان خویش

I sense no extinction,

By dint of the warmth of my ancestors

Ok great, so hanooz dar seené ātashee, bejāst k’az tābé sholeh’ash

and then gomān nadāram bé kāheshee

so gomān is an interesting term in Persian- it means something along the lines of a sense or suspicion. gomān

(gomān)

and nadāram means I do not have. nadāram

(nadāram)

So gomān nadāram together means I don’t have the sense. I don’t suspect. gomān nadāram

(gomān nadāram)

and then bé kāheshee. bé means to

(bé)

and kāheshee means decreasing, or decline. kāheshee

(kāheshee)

so gomān nadāram bé kāheshee means I don’t sense to a decline- so gomān nadāram

(gomān nadāram)

bé kāheshee

(bé kāheshee)

and the next line is zé garmeeyé doodmāné kheesh

so zé again is az in conversational Persian, meaning from. zé

(zé)

and garmeeyé- garm means warm. garm

(garm)

and garmeeyé means the warmth

and then doodmāné kheesh. doodmān means lineage or ancestors. doodmān

(doodmān)

and doodmāné kheesh means my ancestors. doodmāné kheesh

(doodmāné kheesh)

so zé garmeeyé doodmāné kheesh is from the warmth of my ancestors. so zé garmeeyé

(zé garmeeyé)

doodmāné kheesh

so then these two lines go together - hanooz dar seené ātashee, bejāst k’az tābé sholeh’ash

gomān nadāram bé kāheshee, zé garmeeyé doodmāné kheesh

Hanooz dar seené ātashee so still my breast a fire, bejāst k’az tābé sholeh’ash, the fire is in place ,that the dance of its flame, gomān nādaram bé kāheshee, I don’t sense that the flame will go out, zé garmeeyé doodmāné kheesh- from the warmth of my ancestors. What an amazing concept this is. So my ancestors are keeping the flame alive. Those that came before me.

Ok wonderful, let’s listen to these two lines again, followed by the final two lines we’ll be learning of this poem:

hanooz dar seené ātashee, bejāst k’az tābé sholeh’ash

هنوز در سینه آتشی،

بجاست کز تاب شعله اش

Still in my heart a fire

Burns, from whose flames

gomān nadāram bé kāheshee, zé garmeeyé doodmāné kheesh

گمان ندارم به کاهشی،

ز گرمی دودمان خویش

I sense no extinction,

By dint of the warmth of my ancestors

dobāré meebakhshee’am tavān, agar ché she’ram bé khoon neshast

دوباره می بخشی ام توان،

اگر چه شعرم به خون نشست

Once again, you’ll bestow upon me strength

Even if my poem sits in blood

dobāré meesāzamat bé jān, agar ché beesh az tavāné kheesh

دوباره می‌سازمت به جان،

اگر چه بیش از توان خویش

Once again I will rebuild you by my soul,

Even if it lays beyond my strength

Ok wonderful. So dobāré meebakhshee’am tavān

So again we have dobāre, again. dobāré

(dobāré)

and meebakhshee’am. so bakhsheedan is to bestow. bakhsheedan

(bakhsheedan)

so meebakhshee’am is you will bestow upon me. meebakhshee-am

(meebakhshee-am)

so dobāré meebakhshee-am means again you will bestow upon me. dobāré meebakhshee’am

(dobāré meebakhshee’am)

And finally, the word tavān means ability or strength. tavān

(tavān)

so then altogether dobāré meebakhshee’am tavān means you will again bestow upon me strength. dobāré meebakhshee’am tavān

(dobāré meebakhshee’am tavān)

wonderful. Next line, agar ché she’ram bé khoon neshast

so agar ché again we’ve heard so many times. It means although. agar ché

(agar ché)

and then she’r is the word for poem. she’r

(she’r)

and she’ram means my poem. she’ram

(she’ram)

agar ché she’ram bé khoon neshast. khoon means blood. khoon

(khoon)

and neshast means it sat. neshast

(neshast)

bé is a transition word that here means in. bé

(bé)

so bé khoon neshast means it sat in blood. bé khoon neshast

(bé khoon neshast)

ok great. so the full line is agar ché she’ram bé khoon neshast means even though my poem sits in blood. Let’s repeat it bit by bit together. agar ché

(agar ché)

she’ram

(she’ram)

bé khoon neshast

(bé khoon neshast)

Wonderful- and the full line dobāré meebakhshee’am tavān, agar ché she’ram bé khoon neshast, so again you will bestow upon me strength, even though my poem sits in blood

ok wonderful. Now let’s hear the very last line we’ll be learning:

dobāré meesāzamat bé jān, agar ché beesh az tavāné kheesh

دوباره می‌سازمت به جان، اگر چه بیش از توان خویش

Once again I will rebuild you by my soul,

Even if it lays beyond my strength

ok so dobāré meesāzamat bé jān. so we’re ending the poem the way we began. We began the poem by saying dobāré meesāzamat vatan- Again, I will rebuild you, my homeland. so meesāzamat means I will build. meesāzamat

(meesāzamat)

and jān means soul. jān

(jān)

bé is that transition word again, and in this context it means by. bé

(bé)

so dobāré meesāzamat bé jān means again I will rebuild you by my soul. Let’s repeat this: dobāré meesāzamat

(dobāré meesāzamat)

bé jān

(bé jān)

and finally agar ché beesh az tavāné kheesh. so again, agar ché, even if. agar ché

(agar ché)

ché means what. ché

(ché)

and beesh az means more than. beesh az

(beesh az)

and tavān again means strength. tavān

(tavān)

and tavāné kheesh means the strength of my self. tavāné kheesh

(tavāné kheesh)

so this very last line- agar ché beesh az tavāné kheesh means even if more than the strength of my self. woo, what an ending. so let’s repeat this bit by bit together- agar ché

(agar ché)

beesh az

(beesh az)

tavāné kheesh

(tavāné kheesh)

So altogether, it’s dobāré meesāzamat bé jān, agar ché beesh az tavāné kheesh

Once again I will rebuild you by my soul,

Even if it lays beyond my strength

And with that, we have gone on the entire journey of the poem, gone over every single word and every single phrase. I do want to point out that symmetry that we have with the first couple of lines of the poem- sometimes that get lost when we go over it in pieces like this, but we talked about jān in the first couple lines as well. So again, that very first line, dobaré meesāzamat vatan

agar ché bā kheshté jāné kheesh

So once again I will build you, o homeland, even if with the bricks of my very own being

And then we follow that up with the very last line:

dobāré meesāzamat bé jān, agar ché beesh az tavāné kheesh

so once again I will build you by my soul, even though lays beyond my ability

So this is a poem of struggle, of longing, of not giving up, as you can see in the very last line. And the tragedy is that she did pass away in the end without having seen a free Iran, but as you can see, this poem is her still calling out to us from the grave. Even though it was beyond her to change things while she was alive, her words and her struggle still matter.

Now, let’s listen to our full poem one last time, from beginning to end. Hopefully, this time you’ll understand all the words!

dobaré 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 می زنم،

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 mebooyam az tō gol

دوباره می بویم 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 می شویم 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 می زنم،

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 مرده ام،

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’reyé ānchenāné kheesh

ز نعره ی 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 می بخشدم شکوه ، به عرصه ی 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

hanooz dar seené ātashee, bejāst k’az tābé sholeh’ash

هنوز در سینه آتشی، بجاست کز تاب شعله اش

Still in my heart a fire

Burns, from whose flames

gomān nadāram bé kāheshee, zé garmeeyé doodmāné kheesh

گمان ندارم به کاهشی، ز گرمی دودمان خویش

I sense no extinction,

By dint of the warmth of my ancestors

dobāré meebakhshee’am tavān, agar ché she’ram bé khoon neshast

دوباره می بخشی ام توان، اگر چه شعرم به خون نشست

Once again, you’ll bestow upon me strength

Even if my poem sits in blood

dobāré meesāzamat bé jān, agar ché beesh az tavāné kheesh

دوباره می‌سازمت به جان، اگر چه بیش از توان خویش

Once again I will rebuild you by my soul,

Even if it lays beyond my strength

Wonderful. And with that, we’ve gone on a full journey together- thank you going on it with me, this was a really special one.

And that brings this chapter to a close- until next time

khodahafez,

from Leyla