Shahnameh, Part 4

Leyla: salām Sahba jān, how are you doing?

Sahba: salām Leyla jān, I'm well. How are you? 

Leyla: Good. And hello to all the listeners. salām bé hamegee! We've now come to part four of our Tale of Zal of the Shahnameh. And hopefully by now you know the drill. You know exactly how we're going to do this. And actually, since we are on part four, since we're past the halfway point at this point, I think it's a good time to stop and summarize what's happened so far. 

Sahba: Sure! Yes, yes. So, should we go from the beginning? 

Leyla: From the beginning. 

Sahba: So the story begins with Sam Nariman, the king of Zabulistan, who is a vassal king in the Kingdom of Manuchehr Shāhanshāh-e Irān. Like we talked about before, Iran has the Shāhanshāh, which is the King of Kings. And this is a larger Iran than what we're talking about in modern-day Iran. Obviously, it expands from, let's say, parts of from Pakistan and India to all the way to the west to Turkey. So, this is Manuchehr, the Shāhanshāh of this region. And Sam Nariman is a vassal king of Manuchehr, and he lives in what is southeast of Iran today in the kingdom of Zabulistan. He ruled over Zabulistan, and Sam has wanted a son his whole life, and he prays and prays to God. And finally, God bestows him with a son. But the son is born in perfect health and beauty, except that all the hair on his body is white. Hence why they name Zal, which means albino in a way, or white haired. And when Sam sees this, he is mortified for a variety of reasons, but mostly because he's like, what are people going to say? We talked about this a little bit. Cultural issue. What are people going to say? And so he orders that the son be cast, the baby be cast in the mountains to left to die. And so, his courtiers take Zal to the mountainside of Alborz, and they leave him there to die. And that is when Simurgh, the mythical bird of Persian lore, comes from above his nest, above the peak of Mount Alborz, sees this baby at the bottom of the mountain. And as he's going to hunt for his own children to eat, swoops down and grabs this crying little creature, helpless, crying little creature, to take him up to be fed to his children, essentially. And while he's taking him up, God reveals to him with his mercy and his kindness and says, don't eat this child, but rather raise him as one of your own. And Zal’s love, as we say in Persian, mehresh dar delesh miofté, his love falls into Simurgh’s heart. And Simurgh and his children love Zal and they rear him as though he is one of their own. Years pass, and Sam Nariman has a dream one night that this paladin is coming from the east, and he rises up from his dream in dishevelment and in fear, and he turns to his dream interpreters and says, what is this? And they say, you know, even the wildest of animals tend to their children with love, and you have taken your child and abandoned him. This is a wake-up call for that, essentially, it's because of that that you're having this dream, and it seems that your child is still alive and well in the mountains. And so he has another dream again, this time the child with two other individuals is coming down from Hindustan from the east. And they speak very coldly to Sam in this dream, the man, and they say, you know, if white hair was a sign of shame, then you should be the most ashamed of yourself. You've grown old, and all your hair is white and so on and so forth. And he wakes up and he's like, oh my God, I made a mistake and I need to go back and find my son. 

Leyla: Wow! And, one detail. Did he have other children after this, or was that it? 

Sahba: He probably did. Yes, he definitely did. I mean, he has a harem of wives, so it wasn't like it was just this one. But for all our intents and purposes, at least in this point of the Shahnameh, we don't know about the other children. Yeah, they don't matter. 

Leyla: Great, Okay. So they're they're chastising him for not raising this son, but he's been lovingly raising his other children, maybe. Maybe, maybe, mostly. All right. But the point is, is that he doesn't have an heir to the throne, essentially. This is where the problem is too, right? So like you won't have someone who is worthy of taking your throne. So we’re not even told if he has other children because in a way, it probably doesn't matter. Okay. Zal is meant to be the heir to the throne. Got it, got it. Okay. He's the rightful heir. He’s the rightful heir, yeah. All right. So Sam then, with his cavalry, rides up to Mount Alborz. And as he reaches the bottom of Alborz, he looks up and he sees this huge mountain. And at the peak of it, he sees the nest of the great Simurgh and calls upon God and says, what a wonderful creation you have created, and, you know, realizes that this is, it's a divine, it's a divinely ordained moment, in a sense. And so he climbs up alone a little bit halfway through the mountain. And the closer he gets, the more of Simurgh to the nest he sees. And he says to God, please, if this child is, because he's always worried, and he was initially to that this child perhaps is of the seed of Ahriman, is of the seed of the devil essentially because he's different. Right? But if this child is of my seed and of the seed of goodness, then please let me get him back. So change the cameras up to the mountain. 

Leyla: Nice. 

Sahba: And to the abode of Simurgh. And Simurgh looks down and spots Sam from the top of his nest, and so he turns to Zal, and he says, choneen goft seemorgh bā pooré sām ké "ay deedé ranjé nesheem ō konām. So thus says Simurgh to the son of Sam, meaning to Zal. O you who have seen and tasted the difficulties of bitterness of this nest. pedar, sāmé yal, pahlevāné jahān sarafrāztar kas meeyāné mehān. So your father, the paladin Sam, the hero of the world, more renowned and honorable amongst all of the nobility. bedeen kooh farzand jooy āmad-ast torā nazdé oo ābé rooy āmad-ast. So he's come to this mountain, farzand jooy, seeking his son. Seeking his child, yeah. He's come to this mountain, child seeking. torā nazdé oo ābé rooy āmad-ast And from you shame has come towards him, right. So he's ashamed of what he has done. But also he values who you are now actually. ravā bāshad aknoon ké bardāramat bee āzār nazdeeké oo āramat" So now it is fitting that I pick you up. and without any difficulty for you, I take you to him.

Leyla: Wow. Okay. It's very gracious of that Simurgh. 

Sahba: Very gracious of Simurgh. Yeah. And now look at what Zal says and responds. I love this story, it's so beautiful. 

Leyla: Uh oh! 

Sahba: Uh oh. It's not like forget that. No, Zal is actually quite generous, so he says: bé seemorgh bengar ké dastān ché goft! ké "seer āmad-astee hamānā zejoft? So look at what dastān dastān is a name for Zal actually, in the Story of Zal. And so Ferdowsi says, look at what dastān, meaning Zal, says to Simurgh. He says, have you grown weary of your pair, meaning of me? Have you grown tired of me? Do you want me to leave, you know? nesheemé tō farkhondé gāhé man-ast dō paré tō faré kolāhé man-ast" nesheemé tō, your nest, farkhondé gāhé man-ast, is my place of greatness, is my abode, is my kingdom. dō paré tō faré kolāhé man-ast" And your two wings are the glory of my crown. Yeah. They're what give me greatness, essentially. It's beautiful, no?

Leyla: It really is. Such nice imagery. 

Sahba: Yeah! Such nice imagery. And the feeling behind it, you know, he's like, have you grown tired of me? Have I become a burden to you, that you want to get rid of me? And then Simurgh responds. And just the relationship is so beautiful. And Simurgh responds and said choneen dād pāsokh ké "gar takht ō gāh bebeenee ō rasmé keeyānee kolāh magar k'een nayāyad bekār yekee āzemāyesh kon az roozegār! So you see how much Simurgh really loves Zal. He says to him, go to the throne and the keeyānee crown, what is meant to be yours, and give it a try. That perchance you see that you've outgrown this nest, actually, that this nest isn't befitting for you anymore. Yeah. So you see that Simorgh just wants what's best for Zal, right? So abā kheeshtan bar yekee paré man hameeshé hamee bāsh dar faré man ké dar zeeré parat beparvardé-am abā bachegānat bar āvardé-am! So he says, but take a wing of mine that you may always be under the guidance and the protection of my glory. Because I have raised you. I have reared you under my wings. And I raised you along my own children, as though you are one of my own. garat heech sakhtee berooy āvarand gar az neek ō bad goft ō gooy āvarand So if in case when you're there, they give you any difficulty or they speak to you of any good or bad meaning, they say you should do this or you should not do that. If they give you a hard time. bar ātash barafgan yekee paré man Throw one of my wings into the fire, bebeenee ham andar zamān faré man! And in that moment, you will see me in my entire glory. Meaning? What is he saying? He’s saying take my wings. Take a few of my feathers, sorry. Take a few of my feathers. Sometimes I get the parem between. 

Leyla: Yeah, yeah. 

Sahba: Take some of my feathers. And in any case, that there's any difficulty that they give you a reason that you don't want to say, cast one of them into the fire. And in that instance, I will appear to you in all my glory and help you in any way. hamāngah beeyāyam chō abré seeyāh bee āzārat āram bedeen jāyegāh!" In that moment I will appear to you like a black cloud. And I will lift you up and bring you back to this nest. No questions asked. 

Leyla: Wow! Yeah. What a sense of comfort Zal can have. 

Sahba: Yeah. What a sense of comfort. Yeah, yeah, really. And a parental duty, you know, whatever Sam lacked, Simurgh has made up for in, I keep saying his. But Simorgh is androgynous in a way. And actually often it's translated as she. So in Simurgh’s, you know, in Simurgh’s feeling of guardianship for Zal, yeah. 

Leyla: Right! That's a good point. As always, we stress you can't tell whether, what gender something is in the Persian language unless they go out of their way to indicate what gender they are. So Simurgh here has not been gendered. 

Sahba: Yes, has not been gendered. Exactly, exactly. So then we are told delash gasht pedrām ō bardāshtash gerāzān bé abr andar-afrāshtash. So Zal’s heart becomes contented, and Simurgh swoops him up and takes him up into the sky, and then brings him down towards Sam, towards his father, yeah. 

Leyla: Wow! 

Sahba: Yeah, yeah, yeah. tanash peelvār ō dō rokh chon bahār pedar chon bedeedash benāleed zār. So his body elephant-like. This is a trope in the Shahnameh when the paladin’s body is elephant-like. Because it's great, it's strong, right? tanash peelvār ō dō rokh chon bahār His body elephant-like and his two cheeks like the spring. Yeah. pedar chon bedeedash benāleed zār And when his father saw him, he began to cry and cry and cry, yeah. 

Leyla: I do want to pause. This is the second word that we've had in here. We talk a lot about how this is the text that kept the Persian language alive. And we have a lot of that pé sound showing up. I forget what the first example was, but peel here now is said as feel. 

Sahba: pedrām, I think, was the other one we just said. 

Leyla: Okay. 

Sahba: Or were you talking about another session, maybe? 

Leyla: No, no, in another session. 

Sahba: Oh, we were talking about sepeed, sepeed, sepeed. 

Leyla: Sepeed! That's exactly right. So sepeed is now said as sefeed and then peel is now and then peel is now said as feel. But again, this text was trying to really preserve that Persian. So that's something that we've lost over time. 

Sahba: Yes exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Thank you for highlighting that. I think that's so important. Yeah. So foroo bord sar peeshé seemorgh zood neeyāyesh hamee bāfareen barfozood. So Sam, in seeing Simorgh, bows his head down before him. And this is a big moment because he's a king, right? So he bows before Simurgh and gives him thanks and praise for having reared this child. Yeah. sarāpāyé koodak hamé bengareed! hamee tāj ō takhté kayee-rā sazeed. Then Sam looks at Zal, and he sees that he is from head to toe befitting of the throne. And this is also an important thing in the Shahnameh, is that for kings and future kings, their physical appearance as well as their mental faculties and their spiritual faculties emulates one another. So if a king is meant for rulership, not only is he of good thought, of the right mind and of right character, but he's also of the right body too, his body also emulates this befittingness for kingship.

Leyla: Okay. Well, that was a great ending. The story was totally fine. 

Sahba: Yeah. 

Leyla: Everything is forgiven and forgotten. Okay, moving on to the next story. It was very easy. You know, the king made a mistake, he’s like, sorry bro. 

Sahba: Yes. 

Leyla: Sounds good. Sounds good. Oh, wait. Is there more? 

Sahba: There's more, there’s more. No, not too much more. But there's more. Yeah, yeah, yeah, well. 

Leyla: Okay. Is that our stopping off point? 

Sahba: This is our stopping point for now, yes. 

Leyla: Okay. They say, don't they say, like, there's always a happy ending. 

Sahba: All’s well that ends well. All’s well that ends well. 

Leyla: All’s well that ends well. And if it's not ended, it's not. It's not well, it's not ended or something?

Sahba: Yeah, yeah, yeah. If it isn’t, yeah, what do they say? If it's not good, it's not over. Yeah. 

Leyla: Right. But I guess we'll have more. Okay. Well wonderful. That was a great lesson. Is there anything else that you want to point out from what we just read? 

Sahba: No, not really. I think we covered it. We covered most of it. It's important to, you know, recognize the grandeur with which Simurgh is represented here and the way that kingship and monarchy is represented. You have to remember that the Shahnameh is the Book of Kings at the end of the day. And so the line of kingship and monarchy is very important, and it is what keeps Iran intact from century to century. And it's always guided, meant to be guided by the divine. And so Simurgh’s intervention here is a divine guidance in a way of that. And but the preserving of the kingship is essentially the preserving of Iran, essentially, in the Shahnameh. So and this is guided divinely through the character of Simurgh in this case. 

Leyla: And I like that, I mean, in just this selection, there's so much graciousness and forgiveness and kindness, and it's also a great text for parents, you know, there always comes the time when a child has to, like, leave the home. And I think this, the way Simurgh does it, is really nice. Like, just go try it. It's okay. Like it's different. You don't know. And you can always come back. You can always come back. You just have this feather, and you just can. I'll always be there. And I think that's really beautiful. 

Sahba: Well, he gives him three feathers, so this is also a thing because then in the Shahnameh, these feathers keep coming back. 

Leyla: Ooooh. 

Sahba: Yeah, and as a result of it, Zal is associated with some kind of white magic, essentially. And he has access to something that many people don't actually. 

Leyla: Got it. Okay, wonderful. Well then, I'm excited to come for part five. That's going to be our exciting conclusion to this part of the story. So until then, thank you so much. And khodāhāfez from Leyla. 

Sahba: khodāhāfez for now.