Some Recordings of Masnavi Verses
by Ibrahim Gamard
The following are recordings by Ibrahim Gamard of couplets from the Masnavi, translated, recited, and sung by him (in the original masnavi meter) using his own original masnavi melody; drum [daf] and reed-flute [Turkish nay] accompaniment are also by him on added tracks. The reader may open another link to this website in order to read the translation as it is recited or sung, as well as to read the Persian transliteration and see the rhymes as it is recited or sung.In the recitations/singing of the verses in Persian, an attempt is made to approximate the original pronunciation of the words according to classical/medieval pronunciation, which resembles more the pronunciation in today's Afghanistan and Tajikistan rather than Iran. For example, the original "majhûl vowels" are pronounced as "ê" (to differentiate "shêr" [lion] from "shîr" [milk] and "ô" (to differentiate "dôst" [friend] from "dûr" [far]. Also included is the sound of "w" (to differentiate from "v", a remnant of the Turkish Safavid and Qajar pronunciation).
1. Masnavi Book 1: 1-18 (1/10, 3/10)
a) English translation with sung Persian
READ ALONG:
Open an additional window here to read the English translation followed by the transliterated Persian text
Read the footnotes here and here
