SHAHRAM NAZERI'S RECITATION OF QUATRAINS ATTRIBUTED TO MAWLANA RUMI

Shahrâm NâZerî is one of Iran's most respected vocalists. He was the first vocalist to set the poetry of Rumi to Iranian music, more than thirty-five years ago. His music was very influential in introducing Western musical audiences to the poetry of Rumi.

Nazeri very beautifully recites seventeen quatrains attributed to Rumi on his CD entitled, "Yâdegâr-e dôst," which he recorded in commemoration of the 800th anniversary of Mawlana Rumi in 2007.

Below is a list of the quatrains on the CD with the number of minutes (') and seconds (") from the start of the two tracks, a transliteration of the first line of a quatrain, the quatrain number in volume eight of Foruzanfar's authentic edition of the quatrains, and the quatrain number and page in the Farhadi-Gamard (FG) complete translation (and Persian text) based on Foruzanfar's volume eight: "The Quatrains of Rumi," published in 2008. Those who have "The Quatrains of Rumi" can read an accurate translation into English of an (authentic) quatrain and read the Persian text while hearing Nazeri's beautiful recitation.

Those who do not have the book can order it from AMAZON (US), from AMAZON (UK), from BARNES AND NOBLE, or from other booksellers on the Internet.

Nazeri's two-track album can be found on the Internet as an mp3 download: Shahram Nazeri - Yaadegaar e Doost - Track 01 & 02.

Unfortunately, four of the quatrains recited by Nazeri are not authentic and are from the "pseudo-Foruzanfar" edition ("Kulliyât-e shams-e tabrîzî," Amîr Kabîr, one volume, which contains an inferior edition of the quatrains published before Foruzanfar completed his edition of the quatrains). Many have been led astray by this single volume edition, whereas the authentic edition of the quatrains by Foruzanfar is in volume eight of his ten-volume edition ("Kulliyât-e shams yâ dîwân-e kabîr," originally published by the University of Tehran). Clearly, Nazeri thought that both editions were equally those of Foruzanfar and that he could pick and choose quatrains, as well as differences of wording within verses, from both. A fifth quatrain, which is in Foruzanfar's authentic edition, is among 116 quatrains in that edition found to be composed by earlier poets by I. Gamard in "The Quatrains of Rumi."

TRACK 1: "Mahoor, Goosh-e Daad, Sooz-o Godaaz"

0' 0": ay dôst, qabûl-am kon-o jân-am be-setân
F-1372 = FG-1608, p. 499

4' 09": ay zendegî-ye tan-o tawân-am hama tô
Isf-1551, not Rumi, not in earliest manuscripts

12' 08": khwod mumkin ân nêst ke bar dâr-am del
(The second half of line 4 read by Nazeri is from Isf-1104: bahr-e che mê-dâr-am del)
F-1089 = FG-686, p. 213

13' 00": dar `ishq-e tô har Hîla ke kard-am hêch-ast
F-180 = FG-1009, p. 314

14' 38": man bûd-am-o dûsh ân bot-e banda nawâz
Here, Nazeri reads from Isf-967. Line 1 from the authentic edition of Forûzânfar is: man bûd-am dûsh-o ân bot-e jân-afrôz
F-942 = FG-278, p. 88

17' 06": del-tang-am-o dîdâr-e tô darmân-e man-ast
Isf-322, not Rumi, not in earliest manuscripts

17' 56": ay nûr-e del-o dîda-wo jân-am, chôn-î
F-1907 = FG-1935, p. 603, not Rumi--by earlier poet

19' 39": afghân kard-am, bar ân faghân-am mê-sôkht
F-118 = FG-639, p. 199

21' 41": man dard-e to-râ ze dast âsân na-deh-am
Isf-1335, not Rumi, not in earliest manuscripts

(Nazeri then sings the above quatrain at length through to the end of the track; there is a calligraphy of this quatrain on the inside of the CD holder; the title of the CD, "Yâdegâr-e Dôst," comes from line 3: "az dôst ba-yâdegar dardê dâr-am")

TRACK 2: "Dar Aamad, Daad, Khaavaraan"

0' 0": andar del-e bê-wafâ gham-o mâtam bâd
F-435 = FG-117, p. 38

1' 03": dar `ishq-e tow-am naSîHat-o pand che sûd
F-788 = FG-1590, p. 494

3' 49": man Zarra-wo khworshêd-liqâ'î tô ma-râ
F-27 = FG-1019, p. 317

6' 02": dam-râ bar-e ô gozîdanî bây-ad kard
Not Rumi, unknown poet

6' 23": âbê ke az în dîda chô khûn mê-rêz-ad
F-558 = FG-1173, p. 363

8' 30": `âshiq hama sâl mast-o roswâ bâdâ
F-5 = FG-1260, p. 390

14' 10": az bas ke bar âwarda gham-at âh az man
F-1482 = FG-559, p. 173

(Nazeri then sings the above quatrain briefly)

20' 30": mâ kâr-o dokân-o pêsha-râ sôkhta-êm
F-1293 = FG-1, p. 1