Whoever Knows Is Strong
Ferdowsiفردوسی
توانا بود هر که دانا بود
Whoever has knowledge has power;
ز دانش دل پیر برنا بود
through knowledge an old heart grows young.
A note for readers
This couplet comes from the opening of the Shahnameh, the Book of Kings, Ferdowsi’s epic of Iran’s myths and history written in rhyming couplets. Ferdowsi completed the poem in the early eleventh century, and it is often credited with helping to sustain the Persian language. The first half-line is one of the most quoted sayings in Persian, familiar from schoolrooms and public inscriptions.
More poemsشعرهای دیگر
بلبلی برگ گلی خوش رنگ در منقار داشت
و اندر آن برگ و نوا خوش نالههای زار داشت
A nightingale held in its beak a rose petal of lovely colour,
and with that petal and its song it made sweet, piteous laments.
A nightingale held a rose petal
ستاره ای بدرخشید و ماه مجلس شد
دل رمیده ما را رفیق و مونس شد
A star shone out and became the moon of the gathering,
became friend and companion to our startled heart.
A star shone out
سحر بلبل حکایت با صبا کرد
که عشق روی گل با ما چهها کرد
At dawn the nightingale told its tale to the east wind:
"See what love for the rose's face has done to us!"