One of the very first Persian poets was a woman (Rabe’eh, who lived over a thousand years ago) and there have been women poets writing in Persian in virtually every generation since that time until the present. Before the twentieth century they tended to come from society’s social extremes. Many were princesses, a good number were hired entertainers of one kind or another, and they were active in many different countries – Iran of course, but also India, Afghanistan, and areas of central Asia that are now Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. Not surprisingly, a lot of their poetry sounds like that of their male counterparts, but a lot doesn’t; there are distinctively bawdy and flirtatious poems by medieval women poets, poems from virtually every era in which the poet complains about her husband (sometimes light-heartedly, sometimes with poignant seriousness), touching poems on the death of a child, and many epigrams centered on little details that bring a life from hundreds of years ago vividly before our eyes.
This new bilingual edition of The Mirror of My Heart – the poems in Persian and English on facing pages – is a unique and captivating collection introduced and translated by Dick Davis, an acclaimed scholar and translator of Persian literature as well as a gifted poet in his own right. In his introduction he provides fascinating background detail on Persian poetry written by women through the ages, including common themes and motifs and a brief overview of Iranian history showing how women poets have been affected by the changing dynasties. From Rabe’eh in the tenth century to Fatemeh Ekhtesari in the twenty-first, each of the eighty-four poets in this volume is introduced in a short biographical note, while explanatory notes give further insight into the poems themselves.
قائمة المحتويات
Introduction xi
The Medieval Period xxi
From 1500 to the 1800s xxxii
From the 1800s to the Present xl
Selecting the Poems in this Volume lxi
Translator’s Note lxxii
A Note on the Sources lxxiii
Acknowledgments lxxvii
A Note on Iranian Dynasties lxxviii
Map Showing the Places Mentioned in the Book lxxx
The Medieval Period 1
From 1500 to the 1800s 107
From the 1800s to the Present 213
Notes 487
THE POETS
The Medieval Period
Rabe’eh, 3
Mahsati, 9
Anonymous, 27
Motrebeh, 29
Daughter of Salar, 31
Aysheh Samarqandi, 33
Fatemeh Khorasani, 37
Padshah Khatun, 41
Delshad Khatun, 47
Jahan Malek Khatun, 49
Mehri, 89
Atuni, 99
Zaifi Samarqandi, 103
Ofaq Jalayer, 105
From 1500 to the 1800s
Pari Khan Khanom, 109
Dusti, 113
Golchehreh Beigum, 115
Golbadan Beigum, 117
Bija Shahi, 119
Bija Nehani Qa’emi, 121
Tuni, 123
Bibi Mah Ofaq, 125
Hejabi, 127
Jamileh Esfahani, 129
Nehani Shirazi, 133
Nur Jahan, 135
Makhfi, 139
Zinat al-Nissa Beigum, 151
Soltan Daghestani, 153
Agha Beigum, 155
Hayati, 157
Aysheh Afghani, 159
Reshheh, 165
Maluli, 171
Effat, 177
Agha Baji, 179
Qamar Qajar, 181
Esmat Khanom, 183
Jahan Khanom, 185
Efaf, 187
Fakhri, 189
Mariam Khanom, 191
Mastureh Kurdi, 193
Mastureh Guri, 205
Shah Jahan Beigum, 207
Baligheh-ye Shirazi, 211
From the 1800s to the Present
Tahereh, 215
Shahdokht, 225
Soltan, 227
Gowhar, 229
Gowhar Beigum, 233
Shahin Farahani, 235
Makhfi-ye Badakhshi, 237
Farkhondeh Savoji, 239
Jannat, 241
Kasma’i, 249
Nimtaj Salmasi, 253
Alam Taj, 257
Zinat Amin, 281
Batul Adib Soltani, 285
Parvin Etesami, 287
Zhaleh Esfahani, 313
Simin Behbahani, 331
Lobat Vala, 351
Forugh Farrokhzad, 361
Tahereh Saffarzadeh, 383
Mina Assadi, 391
Nazanin Nezam Shahidi, 397
Fevzieh Rahgozar Barlas, 401
Soheila Amirsoleimani, 405
Farzaneh Khojandi, 409
Azita Ghahreman, 411
Parween Pazhwak, 415
Khaledeh Forugh, 421
Mandana Zandian, 427
Mana Aqai, 431
Pegah Ahmadi, 435
Granaz Moussavi, 439
Sara Mohammadi-Ardehali, 445
Shabnam Azar, 455
Rosa Jamali, 461
Hengameh Hoveyda, 467
Fatemeh Shams, 469
Fatemeh Ekhtesari, 479
عن المؤلف
First woman poet writing in Persian in the 10th century.
المزيد من الكتب الإلكترونية من نفس المؤلف (المؤلفين) / محرر
100٬515 كتب إلكترونية في هذه الفئة
