Literature

Persian. Persia has had three periods of intellectual prosperity when literature has advanced with rapidity and brilliancy, only to die out again under the stress of changing political conditions.

1. Ancient Persian literature, or the literature of the Zendic period as it may be called, includes the sacred writings of Persia, the Zendavesta, dating from about the sixth century B. C. This work contains the doctrines of Zoroaster. Ancient inscriptions, comprising some thousand lines of cuneiform texts carved on the great rock at Behistun or on tablets, belong to this period. The inscription at Behistun tells of Darius, the king, and the greatness of his empire. Doubtless songs and mythological stories and perhaps chronicles existed at this time, but of such no record remains. The literature of this period was destroyed or scattered at the time of Alexander's conquest. 2. The second period of Persian literature is called the Pahlavi period, from the dialect spoken at that time. It is also known as middle Persian literature. Under the Sasanian kings of the third century, the remnants of the Zendavesta were collected and systematized, and many new works, all of a religious character and filled with the spirit of Zoroastrianism, were produced. This was in turn checked and well nigh destroyed by the Arabian invasion of the seventh century. 3. Modern Persian literature took its rise in the latter part of the ninth century. Poetry is the most important department of this period, the rich Persian tongue seeming to be unusually adaptable to this form of composition. Even sciences-grammar, natural history, medicine-are all expounded in verse. The earliest poet of note is Ferdusi, author of the Shah Nameh. Omar Khayyam, called the "King of the Wise," lived in the eleventh century. He denounced intolerance and hypocrisy. Hafis of the fourteenth century is the greatest of Persian lyric poets. His poems display great variety and are full of grace and beauty. These are the greatest names of the greatest period of Persian literature.

The Persians possess works on history,-philosophy, geography, rhetoric, mathematics, and astronomy. Celebrated works of modern European nations have been translated into the Persian language. The ideal book in Persia is still a manuscript, written beautifully on fine, silky paper with illuminated margins. Such books are often powdered with gold dust and perfumed with costly essence. In the nineteenth century the drama began to attract attention in connection with the Mohammedan religion. The national play of Tazieh, corresponding to the Passion Play in many respects, is presented regularly. Several poets of the nineteenth century have shown such marked merit that it has been prophesied that another period of revival, and perhaps of brilliancy, is yet to come to the land of Persia.

See Zoroaster; Omar Khayyam