M. Saadat Noury

The history of Persian poetry has been mostly documented with Iranian male poets, and little attention has been paid to the poetesses who composed their poetry in Persian (Farsi) in different parts of the inspiring land of Iran. In this article, a short note on the History of Persian Poetry, and the life stories of the most famous Iranian poetesses i.e. Rabe’eh, Mahsati, Padeshah Khatun, Jahan Khatun, Tahereh Ghoratolain, Jaleh Ghaaem Maghami, Parvin Etesami, and Forough Farrokhzad are briefly studied and discussed.

A SHORT NOTE ON THE HISTORY OF PERSIAN POETRY: Persian poetry is as old as the holy book of Zoroastrians, Avesta, in which the first form of poetry has been documented. In 642 AD, after Iran became a part of Muslim World, knowledge of Arabic became necessary, for it was not only the language of the new rulers, but of the religion they brought in and, later, of the new learning. Though the ancient language of Middle Persian (sometimes referred to as Pahlavi) continued to be spoken in private life, Arabic was dominant in official circles for a century and a half. With the weakening of the central power, a modified form of Pahlavi emerged, with its Indo-European grammatical structure intact but simplified, and with a large infusion of Arabic words. This was Farsi, the Modern Persian in use today. Though existing fragments of Persian poetry are believed to date from as early as the eighth century AD, the history of Persian literature properly begins with the lesser dynasties of the ninth and tenth centuries. The most important of these were the Samanids (875- 999 AD), who established at Bokhara the first of many brilliant courts that were to patronize learning and letters and Farsi was the official language of the courts. The most famous male poet of the court was Rudaki (d. AD 940) who is now known as the Father of Persian Poetry. Rabe’eh, possibly the first Iranian poetess, was contemporary to Rudaki.

1. RABE’EH BALKHI was also called as Rabe’eh Bent-e-Kaab, Rabe’eh Dokht (in Persian: Daughter) of Kaab, Rabe’eh Ghozdari (Quzdari) or just as Rabe’eh. The exact dates of her birth and death are unknown. But some evidences indicate she lived during the same period that Rudaki was a court poet to the Samanid ruler Nassr II (914-943 AD).

Rabe’eh composed her poems in Farsi and she was a renounced poetess who was killed by her brother for proclaiming her love for a man in her poetry. Her father, Kaab, was a governor and when Kaab died his son named Haares, brother of Rabe’eh, became the governor. Some documents indicate that Haares used to treat people cruelly, opposite to his fathers will, and he usually liked to oppress her sister, Rabe’eh. Haares had a Turk slave named Baktash. Rabe’eh was secretly in love with Bakhtash. In a court party where Haares and Rudaki had attended, Haares heard the secret of Rabe’eh from Rudaki. Haares then imprisoned Baktash in a well. He also cut the jugular vein of Rabe’eh and imprisoned her in a bathroom. She wrote her final poems with her blood on the wall of the bathroom until she passed away. Baktash escaped the well, and as soon as got the news about Rabe’eh, he went to the governor’s office and killed Haares. Shortly after, he also killed himself.
Here is one of her poems composed in Persian:

Eshgh-e tou baaz andar aavardam beh band
Kooshesh-e bessyaar naamad soodmand
Eshgh daryaii karaneh naapadid
Kay tavaan kardan shenaa ey hooshmand.

And here is the English version of the above poem as translated by this author:

Your love caused me to be imprisoned again.
My effort to keep this love as a secret was in vain.
Love is as a sea with the shores you cannot see.
A wise person can never dare to swim in such a sea.

2. MAHSATI GANJAVI (also spelled as Mahasti Ganjehii) was an Iranian poetess of 12th century. Her birth-date is unknown but her birth-place is considered to be in Ganjeh (also spelled as Ganja). Ganjeh is presently the second largest city of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Mahsati was contemporary to Seljukid Dynasty who ruled most parts of Iran from 1037 to 1194 AD. She was a poetess laureate to the courts of Sultan Mahmud II (1118-1131) and his uncle Sultan Sanjar (1131-1157). In the history of Persian Poetry, Mahsati is known as a famous female composer of the Quatrains (Rubaiyat), which are glorifying the joy of living and the fullness of love. It is documented that Mahsati obtained the title of poetess laureate to the court of Sultan Sanjar due to the extemporizing (in Persian: Felbedaheh Sorodan) poem on ‘Silver Sheet’, which she composed it one evening when Sultan Sanjar found a sudden fall of snow had covered the ground as he left the Court Hall to mount his horse. Here is the English version of the quatrain of Silver Sheet as translated by the late Professor Edward Granville Browne (1862-1926), a British scholar on Persian Literature:

For thee hath Heaven saddled Fortune’s steed,
O, King, and chosen thee from all who lead,
Now over the Earth it spreads a silver sheet
To guard from mud thy gold-shod charger’s feet

Here is another quatrain composed in Persian by Mahsati:

Maa raa beh dam-e peer negah natvaan daasht
Dar hojre-e delgeer negah natvaan daasht
Aanraa keh sar-e zolf cho zanjeer bovad
Dar khaaneh beh zanjeer negah natvaan daasht

And here is the English version of the above quatrain as translated by Gladys Evans:

No force can bind us: pull of moment, arrows flying home,
Nor any wild nostalgia that seized our hearts whilom.
Though my soft braids turned chains of steel and anchored in your heart,
Could any chain keep me at home if I should wish to roam?

3. PADESHAH KHATUN: Long long time ago (1269 AD), this poetess was the governor of Kerman, a province of south-east Iran, and she was assassinated in 1273. Here is a part of one of her poems composed in Persian:

Man aan zanam keh hameh kaar-e man nekokaarist
Beh zeer-e maghna’eh-e man bassy kolahdaarist
Nah har zani beh dogaz maghna’eh asst kadbaaboo
Nah har sari beh kolaahi sezayeh sardaarist.

And here is the English version of the above poem as translated by this author:

I am a woman of good deed.
Under my veil, I have a head to lead.
Yards of veil won’t convert any woman to a lady of the land.
Nor a hat makes any head worthy of command.

4. JAHAN KHATUN, aka Jahan Malak Khatun: was the daughter of Jalaleddin Massoud Shah-e-Injou. Her mother was a relative of Khaajeh (Khwaja) Abdullah Ansari (1006-1088), a famous Iranian poet and a Sufi. Little is known about Jahan Khatun. The exact dates of her birth and death are unknown. The reliable research works reveal that she was contemporary to the famous Iranian poet Hafez (1320-1389) because she had a poetical contest (in Persian: Moshaaereh) with the poet. Some evidences also indicate that she was contemporary to another famous Iranian poet and satirist Obaid Zaakani (1298-1370) with whom she had also a poetical contest. She used to live in Kerman (a south-east province in Iran) where she married to her first husband. After her husband passed away, she moved to the city of Shiraz (the capital of the Fars province in the south of Iran) and joined the court of her uncle, Abu Ess-haagh Injou, the ruler of Shiraz at the time. Upon the intercession of Abu Ess-haagh, she married to Khaajeh Amineddin Jahromi, a minister (in Persian: Vazir) of her uncle. Her poetry collection (in Persian: Divaan-e-Ashaar) includes about 14000 couplets. A couplet (in Persian: Bait or Bate) is a pair of lines of verse. It is reported that tow copies of her poetry collection can be presently found at the National Library of Paris, France. Here is one of her poems composed in Persian:

Chand dar khaab ravad bakhteh man-e shooreedeh
Vaghteh aanast keh as khaab-e graan barkhizad
Dar meyaan-e mano tou peerhani maandeh hejaab
Baa kenaar I keh aanham ze-meyaan barkhizad.

And here is the English version of the above poem as translated by this author:

I have no idea how long for you I should wait and strive
But I know it is now the time that my luck must finally arrive
This shirt seems as a barrier between us tonight
I do not know if it is wrong or right
But if you could hold me tight
That barrier would no longer be in sight 

5. TAHEREH GHORATOLAIN: She was also called as Zareen-Taaj, and possibly some other names. She was born in Ghazvin in 1817 and was sentenced to death by the decree of Nassereddin Shah Qajar on 15 August 1853 in Tehran, Iran. Haaji Saleh Ghazvini was her father and Mullah Mohammad Borghaii was her husband. Here is a part of her poem composed in Persian:

Tou va molk-o jaah-o sekendari
Man-o raah-o rassm-e ghalandari
Agar aan khoshasst-o tou dar khori
Vagar in bad asst-o mara sezaa.

And here is the English version of the above poem as translated by this author:

You are a strong man of high authority with a vast land, and a great kingdom
I am a proud woman, a follower of logic and wisdom
If yours are all good you could deserve to be flourished
If mine is imperfect, I would certainly be rebuked and punished.

6. PARVIN ETESSAMI: She was born in 1907 in Tabriz, Iran. She composed her first poem in classical style at age 8. Her father, Etesamolmolk, published a monthly cultural magazine named as SPRING (in Persian: Bahaar) in 1920 to which poetess Parvin Etessami contributed regularly. SPRING was actually a main vehicle for the promotion of Parvin's literary talent in a male dominant society.
Her first collection of poems was published in 1935 and she received 3rd degree Medal of Art and Culture in 1936. In the history of Persian Poetry, Parvin is best known for her tender, fable-like fragments written in moving tones with moralizing intent. She died in 1940 due to Typhoid fever in Tehran. Parvin Etesami was only thirty-five years old when she passed away. She was buried next to her father in Qom. Here is a part of a poem composed in Persian by Parvin Etesami. The complete poem graces her tombstone in Qom.

Inkeh khaak-e syahash baleen asst
Akhtar-e charkh-e adab Parvin asst
Gar cheh joz talkhi as ayyam nadeed
Har cheh khaahi sokhanash shireen asst.

And here is the English version of the above verses as translated by Iraj Bashiri:

Beneath this soil which verdure refuse,
Lies Parvin, literary star and muse.
She who, while suffering the bitterness of times,
Composed charming, sugar-laden rhymes.

7. AALAMTAAJ GHAAEM-MAGHAMI: She was born in 1884 in Farahan, a city in Central (Markazi) province in Iran. Her nickname was Jaleh. At age 15 she settled down in Tehran and a year later she married to Alimoraad Bakhtiari. Late poet Pejmaan Bakhtiari was the product of that marriage. She died in Tehran on 28 September 1947. Here is a part of her poem composed in Persian:

Basteh dar zanjeer aazadist sar taa paayeh man
Bardeh am ey doost-o aazadi bovad mowllayeh man
Chist aazadi nadidam leek midaanam keh osst
Marhami raahat ressaan bar zakhm-e tan farssayeh man.

And here is the English version of the above poem:

I am the follower of Freedom, and Freedom is my leader
All over my body is chained by Freedom and Candor
I never lived in Freedom but I know it now and forever
That Freedom is the only medicine for my pain and injure.

8. FOROUGH FARROKHZAD: She was born in 1935 in Tehran, Iran. She published 3 anthologies; The Captive, in Persian: Assir, (1955), The Wall, in Persian: Deevaar, (1956), and Rebellion, in Persian: Ossyan, (1958).
Forough passed away on 14 February 1967 after she was terribly injured in a car accident in Tehran. Her fourth anthology entitled “Let’s believe in the beginning of the cold season” was published in 1968. Here is one of her poems composed in Persian:

Man as nahayyat-e shab harf mizanam
Man as nahayyat-e tariki va as nahayyat-e shab harf mizanam
Agar beh khaaneh-e man aamadi ; barayyeh man ey mehrabaan cheraagh biyavar
Va yek daricheh keh as aan beh ezdehaam-e koocheh-e khoshbakht bengaram.

And here is the English version of the above verses as quoted by Ahmad Karimi Hakkkak:

I speak out of the deep of night
Out of the deep of darkness
And out of the deep of night I speak.
If you come to my house, friend
Bring me a lamp and a window I can look through
At the crowd in the happy alley.

EPILOG: Some research documents also indicate that Atossa, the wife of Darius the Great (one of the kings of Achaemenid Empire who reigned from 521 to 486 BC) was also a poetess. Atossa married Darius the Great in 522 BC. Atossa was the mother of King Xerxes (in Persian: Khashayar Shah) who succeeded Darius the Great. Very little is known about Atossa (550-475 BC), although it is speculated that she came from a Zoroastrian family, as Atossa is also a mythical figure in that religion.
It should be also noted that among contemporary Iranian poetesses, the names of Simeen Behbahani, Maryam Haydar Zadeh, Monir Taha, Jaleh Esfahani, Shadab Vajdi, Vida Farhoudi, Pirayeh Yaghmaii, and Sheema Kalbasi must be always remembered.

Manouchehr Saadat Noury, PhD

REFERENCES
Aryan Pour, Y. (2001): “From Saba to Neema”, ed., Franklin Publications, Tehran, Iran.
Browne, E. G. (1998): “Literary History of Persia”, ISBN-070070406X.
Bashiri, I. (2000): Online Article on “A Brief Note on Parvin Etesami’s Life”.
Evans, G. (2001): Online oetry of Mahsati Ganjevi in the Website of Azeri Literature.
Karimi Hakkkak, A. (2003): “The Persian Book Review”, ed., Vol. 3, Page 1337.
Saadat Nouri, H. (1984): Notes on Padeshah Khatun, in “The Itinerary of General Sir Percy Sykes” (in Persian: Safar Nameh-e-General Sir Percy Sykes), ed., Loheh Publications, Tehran, Iran.
Saadat Noury, M. (2005): Online Article on “Iranian Poetesses: Past & Present”.
Saadat Noury, M. (2006): Online Article on “First Iranians Who Introduced the Art of Poetry”.
Saadat Noury, M. (2008): Online Article on “Notable Iranian Female Poets”.
Saadat Noury, M. (2010): Online Article on “Some Remarkable Moments with Mahsati Ganjavi”.
Saadat Noury, M. (2010): Online Article on Masati Ganjavi & her Poems.
Safa, Z. (1976): Notes on Jahan Khatun, in “History of Persian Literature” (in Persian: Tarikh-e-Adanyyat-e-Iran), ed., Vol.3, Tehran, Iran.
Sharyat, M. J. (1988): “Parvi Etesami” (in Persian), Mashal Publications, Tehran, Iran.
Various Sources (2010): Notes and Articles on Some Iranian Poetesses.
Yaghmaii, P. (2007): Online Article on “Jahan Malak Khatun” (in Persian).

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