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Persian (Middle Persian)
Original lyrics
The Ballad of King Vahram
Kay bavâd kû pêg-ê âyed az Hindûgân?
Kû : "mad hân i Shâh varhrân az dûd ag î kayân!"
Kê shpîl ast hazâr, abar sar-ô-sar ast pîlbân,
Ke abrâstag drafs dâred ped êvên î husrôgân
pêsh-lashkar barend ped spâh-sâlârân!
Mard-ê visê abâyed kirdan zîrag targumân,
Ke shaved bê gôbed ped Hindûgân
Kû amâh cê dîd az dast î tâzîgân,
Amâh azêr, avêshân côn shâhân,
Bê stad hend pâdixshâyîh î az husrôgân,
Nê ped hunar ud mardîh, côn êrân,
Bê ped afsôs ud riyahrîh, côn dêvân!
Bê stad hend ped stahm az mardômân,
Abâz harâg âst hend, sâg î grân,
Az amâh bê âyed hân Shâh Varhrâm,
I Varzâvand az dûdag î Kayân ,
Bê âvarem kên î tâzîgân,
Côn rôstahm âvurd sad kên î Syâvashân!
Razq
LTEnglish
Translation
The Ballad of King Vahram
When will a courier come from India?
[to say] that: “King Vahrām of the family of the Kavi has come,
Having a thousand elephants, being upon them an elephant-keeper,
Having raised banners, in the manner of the Husrô1
The advance-guards are led by the generals!
A man should be dispatched, a clever interpreter,
Who may go and tell to India,
What we have seen from the hands of the Arabs!
All at once they weakened the religion and killed the kings.
We [have become)] inferior, they are like kings. They have taken away the sovereignty from the Husrô,
Not by virtue and valour, like the noble Aryans,
But in mockery and scorn, like the demons.
By force they have taken away from men
They have demanded again the tribute, a heavy impost.
From us shall come that king Vahrâm,
Possessing marvellous power, of the family of the Kavi.
We will bring vengeance in the Arabs,
As Rostam brought a hundred to the Syavashan.
- 1. Persian kings
Guest on 2023-06-28
Don JuanComments
The lyrics are in Middle-Persian and "are taken from a rhymed ballad dating to the time following the fall of the Sasanian Empire at the hands of the Arabic Rashidun Caliphate. According to J. C. Tavadia from "The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland" in 1955, while the exact date of the poem cannot be pinpointed, some estimates can be made."