آریایی نژاد

Poem is by Ferdowsi.

Persian:

در این خاک زرخیر ایران زمین
نبودند جز مردمی پاک دین
چو مهر و وفا بود خود کیششان
گنه بود آزار کس پیششان
همه بنده ناب یزدان پاک
همه دل پر از مهر این آب و خاک
پدر در پدر آریایی نژاد
ز پشت فریدون نیکو نهاد
کجا رفت آن دانش و هوش ما؟
که شد مهر میهن فراموش ما.
نبود این چنین کشور و دین ما.
کجا رفت آیین دیرین ما؟
گرانمایه بود آنکه بودی دبیر
گرامی بدانکس که بودی دلیر
به یزدان که ما گر خرد داشتیم
کجا این سرانجام بد داشتیم؟
نه دشمن در این بوم و بر لانه داشت
نه بیگانه جایی در این خانه داشت
از آن روز دشمن به ما چیره گشت
که ما را روان و خرد تیره گشت
از آن روز این خانه ویرانه شد
که نان آورش مرد بیگانه شد
چو ناکس به ده کدخدایی کند
کشاورز باید گدایی کند
اگر مایه ی زندگی بندگی است
دو صد بار مردن به از زندگی است
بیا تا بکوشیم و جنگ آوریم
برون سر از این بار ننگ آوریم

English:

(Part 1)
At the gold maker soil of Iran Zamin (Iran The Land)
There were no one but puritanical people.

When the friendship and troth were their culture,
For them, Harassing others was sin.

All of them were follower of the clean pure god.
They had heart full of love and troth to this land.

Father by father was Aryan.
They were descendant of Fereydoun the good institution.

Where were our knowledge and our intelligence lost?
That we forgot our love to our homeland.

Our country and religion were not such this.
Where was our longstanding rituals lost?

The wise person was valuable.
Those who were brave, had value.

Swear to God that If we had wisdom,
Where this had ultimately bad?


(Part 2)
No enemy would nest in this country.
No stranger had house in this place.

Since that day the enemy overcame us,
That we separated and wisdom faded.

Since that day this house became ruins,
That foreign men became its earners.

If ignoble person rules the village,
The Farmer has to be begging.

If the the form of life is slavery,
About two hundred die is better than life.

Come to strive and fight.
[Come to] Bring head out of this dishonor.

If the the form of life is slavery,
About two hundred die is better than life.

Come to strive and fight.
[Come to] Bring head out of this dishonor.

Iran is Not the Enemy

Ellen Francis

Iran is Not the Enemy

The “axis of evil” has no relevance for me when I think of Iran, a country I’ve found to have a human, loving, hospitable face throughout 40 years of encounters. I lived in Iran between 1968 and 1978, and started returning again, this time with peace delegations, in 2005. It is one of the great joys of my life to see the layers of misunderstanding and fear gradually fall away from those who visit Iran today for the first time.

One delegate recently said, “I met a mullah on the street and he was so sweet! Who would think of a mullah being sweet?” Another delegate, well-traveled in the Middle East, said, “Iranians are the most hospitable people I have ever met.”

A Jewish delegate said he had been told to be careful: “They might shoot you if they find out you’re Jewish.” He was amazed to see Jews worshipping openly and walking down a street in Tehran wearing their yarmulkes. He wasn’t shot, but was mobbed by the worshippers at a synagogue who were delighted to find a Jew among us.

The younger people on our delegations have been surprised to see the variety of fashions on the street, as well as learn that young Iranians find ways to meet and to date. The artists in our delegation were thrilled to see the throngs of Iranians gathered at the tombs of the famous poets, Hafez and Sa’adi, and we witnessed Iran’s great love for music. In Isfahan, one young man with a shopping bag stopped to sing a love song below a pedestrian bridge. He sang as though the mournful and exquisite song was not performance but just a normal part of everyday life.

These images contrasted vividly with the Western media’s portrayals of Iran, often showing only a sea of black and waving fists.

When Iranians learn that we are from the United States, the consistent response is: “We really like American people, we just don’t like your government.” This is usually followed by the question, “Why does Bush want to bomb us?” Some ask why there are sanctions against Iran, and why the United States wants to change their government. “If there’s to be any change,” they say, “we want to do it ourselves.”

We also know that life in Iran can be difficult, especially in the political sphere. Reform candidates are often vetoed before the elections, and still there are hundreds of candidates who run for a very few slots. The parliamentary elections were looming when we went. Some people said they would not bother to vote; one woman said she would rely on her studious father for his own analysis of the candidates. The official religious minorities (Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians), on the other hand, were proud to tell us they have their own representatives in the Majlis, the Iranian parliament.

A few days before the election, we met with former President Khatami, and it was easy to sense his continued commitment to the reform movement, as well as his deep disappointment that he had been unable to do more during his term in office. He said that peace is what’s most needed in the world today, yet it is rare to find in international relations. He noted that war has been glorified in our cultures and histories, by everyone from Homer to the revered Persian poet, Ferdowsi.

Iranians have a deep and persistent memory of history: they remember the 1953 coup and removal of Prime Minister Mossadegh by the CIA, while Americans recall the photos of the U.S. embassy officials in blindfolds. We have two distinct historical memories and have not had diplomatic relations for 30 years, leaving no opportunity to get reacquainted and work towards reconciliation.

Iran is not perfect, and there continue to be human rights abuses and curtailment of freedom of speech. But based on my experiences, I believe there is absolutely no justification or rational cause for military intervention or sanctions against Iran. External efforts toward “regime change” are counterproductive for building trust and for reform.

I believe that Iran is ready to enter diplomatic negotiations, on the condition that all parties be respectful and sincere in their efforts to bring about reconciliation and thus start building a more peaceful world.

Ellen Francis is an Episcopal priest and sister of the Order of St. Helena. She lived in Iran in the 1960s and 1970s and since 2005 has co-led several delegations to Iran sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

Source: On Faith: Guest Voices: Iran is Not the Enemy

Simorgh

Phoenix in Persian Simurgh or Simorgh, sometimes spelled Simurg or Simoorg, also known as Angha and Faghfos is the modern Persian name for a fabulous, benevolent, mythical flying creature. The figure can be found in all periods of Greater Iranian art and literature, and is evident also in the iconography of medieval Armenia, Byzantium and other regions which were within the sphere of Iranian cultural influence.
The name 'Simorgh' (Persian: سيمرغ) derives from Middle Persian Pahlavi Senmurv, Sēnmurw (and earlier Sēnmuruγ), also attested in Middle Persian Pāzand as Sīna-Mrū. The Middle Persian term derives in turn from Avestan mərəγō Saēnō "the bird Saēna", originally a raptor, likely an eagle, falcon or sparrowhawk, as can be deduced from the etymologically identical Sanskrit śyenaḥ which also appears as a divine figure. Saēna is also found as a personal name which is derived from the bird's name.


Mythology

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Form and function

The simorgh is depicted in Iranian art as a winged creature in the shape of a bird, gigantic enough to carry off an elephant or a whale. It appears as a kind of peacock with the head of a dog and the claws of a lion; sometimes however also with a human face. The simorgh is inherently benevolent and unambiguously female. Being part mammal, she suckles her young. The Simorgh has teeth. It has an enmity towards snakes and its natural habitat is a place with plenty of water. Its feathers are said to be the colour of copper, and though it was originally described as being a Dog-Bird, later it was shown with either the head of a man or a dog.
"Si-", the first element in the name, has been connected in folk etymology to Modern Persian si ("thirty"). Although this prefix is not historically related to the origin of the name Simorgh, "thirty" has nonetheless been the basis for legends incorporating that number, for instance, that the Simorgh was as large as thirty birds or had thirty colours (siræng).
Iranian legends consider the bird so old that it had seen the destruction of the World three times over. The Simorgh learned so much by living so long that it is thought to possess the knowledge of all the Ages. In one legend, the Simorgh was said to live 1700 years before plunging itself into flames (much like the phoenix).
The Simorgh was considered to purify the land and waters and hence bestow fertility. The creature represented the union between the earth and the sky, serving as mediator and messenger between the two. The Simorgh roosted in Gaokerena, the Hōm (Avestan: Haoma) Tree of Life, which stands in the middle of the world sea Vourukhasa. The plant is potent medicine, is called all-healing, and the seeds of all plants are deposited on it. When the Simorgh took flight, the leaves of the tree of life shook making all the seeds of every plant to fall out. These seeds floated around the world on the winds of Vayu-Vata and the rains of Tishtrya, in cosmology taking root to become every type of plant that ever lived, and curing all the illnesses of mankind.
The relationship between the Simorgh and the Hōm is extremely close. Like Simurgh, Hōm is represented as a bird, a messenger, and as the essence of purity which can heal any illness or wound. Hōm - appointed as the first priest - is the essence of divinity, a property it shares with Simorgh. The Hōm is in addition the vehicle of farr(ah) (MP: khwarrah, Avestan: khvarenah, kavaēm kharēno) "[divine] glory" or "fortune". Farrah in turn represents the divine mandate which was the foundation of a king's authority. It appears as a bird resting on the head or shoulder of would-be kings and clerics, so indicating Ormuzd's acceptance of that individual as His divine representative on earth. For the commoner Bahram wraps fortune/glory "around the house of the worshipper, for wealth in cattle, like the great bird Saena, and as the watery clouds cover the great mountains" (Yasht 14.41, cf. the rains of Tishtrya above). Like Simorgh, farrah is also associated with the waters of Vourukasha (Yasht 19.51,.56-57).
In the 12th century Conference of the Birds, Iranian Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar wrote of a band of pilgrim birds in search of the Simurgh. According to the poet's tale, the Simurgh has thirty holes in her beak and drew the wind through them whenever she was hungry. Animals heard a pretty music and gathered at the peak of a mountain where they were eaten by the Simurgh. Through cultural assimilation the Simurgh was introduced to the Arabic-speaking world, where the concept was conflated with other Arabic mythical birds such as the Ghoghnus and developed as the Rukh (the origin of the English word "Roc").

In the Shahnameh

The Simorgh made its most famous appearance in the Ferdowsi's epic Shahname (Book of Kings), where its involvement with the Prince Zal is described. According to the Shahname, Zal, the son of Saam, was born albino. When Saam saw his albino son, he assumed that the child was the spawn of devils, and abandoned the infant on the mountain Alborz.
The child's cries were carried to the ears of the tender-hearted Simorgh, who lived on top this peak, and she retrieved the child and raised him as her own. Zal was taught much wisdom from the loving Simorgh, who has all knowledge, but the time came when he grew into a man and yearned to rejoin the world of men. Though the Simorgh was terribly saddened, she gifted him with three golden feathers which he was to burn if he ever needed her assistance.
Upon returning to his kingdom, Zal fell in love and married the beautiful Rudaba. When it came time for their son to be born, the labour was prolonged and terrible; Zal was certain that his wife would die in labour. Rudabah was near death when Zal decided to summon the Simurgh. The Simorgh appeared and instructed him upon how to perform a cesarean section thus saving Rudabah and the child, who became one of the greatest Persian heroes, Rostam.