Persian Literature and Politics

Persian Literature and Politics

Cultures always have pieces that have defined them and helped shape their society. In Iran, the Persian Literature has rich documents that helped shaped the ideals of many. This includes, the Bisotun Incription, which is a monument that helps describe the past glories of Perisa (formally known as Iran nowadays). Then there’s the Gāthās, a piece that includes many spiritual ideals. Zarathustra, the man responsible for this piece of work, is widely considered a prophet. Another critical piece in the history of Persian Literature lies in the work of Ferdowsi, The Shâhnameh (The Book of Kings or The Epic of Kings). This work inspired many future poets and they would pay tribute to him in some of their more prestigious pieces. Politics would play a role on the shaping of the Persian Language that is present today.

Persian Literature is the oldest and some may even say the most accomplished literature of the Middle East. It can be located in present day Iran as well as Central Asia where it remains the National Language throughout the nation’s history. The date of one of the earliest goes all the way back to 522 BCE, where the Bisotun Inscription was found. The word Bisotun translated into English meaning means “the gods place or land.” This artifact contains three versions of the exact same text with the only difference being the languages. Which can be found in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian, “the inscription described his accession in the face of the usurper Smerdis of Persia, and Darius' subsequent successful wars and suppressions of rebellion. Darius ruled the Persian Empire from 521 B.C.E. to 486 B.C.E., and sometime around 515 B.C.E., he arranged for the inscription to be made. It was inscribed on a cliff near the modern town of Bisistun, in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains of Iran, just as one reaches them from the Kermanshah Plain.” (New World Enyclopedia)

The monument describes the past glory of Persia when it ruled the world, before Darius was slain by the Greeks in 490 B.C.E. at the Marathon All of this is detailed through 414 lines in five columns for the Persian version. The inscription is about 50 feet wide by 82 feet long and almost 330 feet up an ancient roads cliff that connects two capitals. “The inscription was illustrated by a life-sized bas-relief of Darius, holding a bow as a sign of kingship, with his left foot on the chest of a figure lying on his back before him. The prostrate figure is reputed to be the pretender Gaumata. Darius is attended to the left by two servants, and ten one-meter figures stand to the right, with hands tied and rope around their necks, representing conquered peoples. Faravahar floats above, giving his blessing to the king.” Newworldencyclopedia.org offered a very detailed description of the Bisotun.  What is interesting is that from ground level it is not even readable so that leads many to believe that readability took second place. It’s believed that Darius made this so high so it could be tamper proof. But, water pools at the bottom of the cliff led to a good amount of damage to some of these figures. The Bisotun Inscription is one of the important pieces in the history of the Persian literature.

Some documents exist as far back as three millennia ago. The oldest texts are the Gāthās, 16 (or perhaps 17) short hymns written in an archaic form of an Old Iranian language called Avestan, named for the Avesta, the holy book of Zoroastrianism (Debrujin.)  In this, it is widely accepted and believed that Zoroastrianism contains Zarathustra’s’ original ideals. Zarathustra was born in Azerbaijan, in northern Persia the exact date remains a mystery as some say during seventh century B.C while others claim way earlier. Zarathustra claimed to have had a vision from Ahura Mazda, the wise lord, who chose him to tell the truth around the world. Mazda, is the creator and the only sole god of Zoroastriasm. Zarathustra preached the conflict of Mazda, who is known as the God of light as well as Ahriman, the principle of evil. According to the prophet, man had been given the power to choose between good and evil. The end of the world would come when the forces of light would triumph and the saved souls rejoice in its victory (Zoroaster.)  The struggle between the sides of good and evil essentially was his teaching point. Zarathustras lesson would be the backbone of Persian society and civilization.

This would be until Alexander the Great conquered the country, it survived in India and is the basis of the religion known as Parsi.  The Gāthās were created by Zarathustra, it can be compared to a short book as it contains about 6000 words to it. The standard we hold to grammar today does not apply as its absent throughout.  There are 17 Ha’s of the Gāthās and are told in five different sections.

These sections being; (1). Ahunavaiti, consisting of Ha's 28-34 of the Yasna, containing 100 verses; (2)  Ushtavaiti, consisting of Ha's 43-46 of the Yasna, containing 66 verses ; (3) Spenta Mainyu, consisting of Ha's 47-50 of the Yasna, containing 41 verses ; (4) Vohu Khshathra, consisting of Ha 5 1 of the Yasna, containing 22 verses ; (5) Vahishto Ishti, consisting of Ha 53 of the Yasna, containing 9 verses. Each verse is a little complicated but are addressed to Azura Mazda and the public who accept Zarathustra as the prophet. The ideals are constantly present but even though we have those ideals a presentation of the system he talks about are never introduced. Although Zarathustra mainly implements the theology of Mazda, he does at times include his personal beliefs. Verses range from the divine essences of Truth, the Good-Mind, and the Spirit of Piety and Benevolence. To examples and the hard times of the prophet during this mission he was tasked with. The religion combines the aspects of how the believer views the current world, along with the way they choose to live life. Therefore, some may even call it a reflective religion due to it having a different perspective to each person in a unique way. Now, the religious view that Zarathustra explains during the Gāthās are of the two spiritual conflicts in the world. The first spirit being the spirit of goodness, Spenta Mainyu. The second spirit being the spirit of evil, Angre Mainyu, the characters explain the theological concept of Zarathustra and are two of the psychological attitudes present in every human. Mazda envisioned the worlds ideal form of existence to be in the ultimate truth. With the right thing being done at all times. This, he believed would have been achieved if it wasn’t for the spirit of evils presence. Thus, Society is viewed as a good place in general but corrupt with evil due to this. People have the right thoughts but some end up corrupted which leads to issues. Mazda believed that society does have the ability to change that and banish evil from the world almost entirely on our own. The idea starts with each individual’s moral compass, which is what guides us to make the decisions we do. If we could be able to constantly make the good choice instead of the bad ones, then this spirit of evil would be gone. But, the idea is just that, an idea. Not everyone can convince themselves to resist the negative and evil choices that others can block out.