# Persian: دُرّ دریای دَری



## HZKhan

Salam friends!

There is a poem in the praise of Persian language, whose first line reads:
ای زبان فارسی، ای دُرّ دریای دَری

I have a vague idea about what it says but I want to know the best way to translate this line into English. Any help would be much appreciated.

Kheyli Motashakkeram!


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## IRAJ2000

Hello
This Beit is talking to Persian language and it says that Persian Language is like a precious gem in the Dari language see.
The whole meaning is this that persian language is one of a kind among other dari languages.


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## HZKhan

But isn't Farsi and Dari one and the same thing? If yes, then the part I pointed out doesn't make much sense.


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## arsham

Pakistani Khan said:


> But isn't Farsi and Dari one and the same thing? If yes, then the part I pointed out doesn't make much sense.



You're right, it is the same thing. However in the early classical period, pârsî referred to Middle Persian, which was still used by the Zoroastrian clergy, Pahlavi denoted Parthian or related dialects and dari specifically referred to the Sassanid court language. I think, the author wishes to specify that the reference is made to New Persian and not Middle Persian.


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## Treaty

I'd like to translate it as follows:

_Oh, Persian language! Oh, Dari language, like a pearl in the sea._

Farsi (Iranian Persian) and Dari (Afghanistan's Persian) are not the same but very similar. They are two accents (or dialects) of the Persian dialects. However, in this context, I think the poet wanted to mention both of them in order to make his poem more politically and culturally inclusive. 



IRAJ2000 said:


> Hello
> This Beit is talking to Persian language and it says that Persian Language is like a precious gem in the Dari language see.
> The whole meaning is this that persian language is one of a kind among other dari languages.



I admit your translation looks more correct. But the verse doesn't make sense because it is Dari which is normally considered as a type of Persian not the other way around. My translation is based on that the poet (Hadad Adel?) is aware of this. That's why I considered the simile in درّ دریای دری as دری to درّ, not دری to دریا.


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## Stranger_

Are you guys reading it as: 
1) ey zabaane faarsi, ey dorre daryaaye dari
or
2) ey zabaane faarsi! ey dorre daryay, dari?


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## fdb

It might help if we knew the name of the author (classical? modern? Afghan?). Second: As it stands the verse does not seem to scan. Any suggestions?


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## Treaty

Stranger_ said:


> Are you guys reading it as:
> 1) ey zabaane faarsi, ey dorre daryaaye dari
> or
> 2) ey zabaane faarsi! ey dorre daryay, dari?



#1



fdb said:


> It might help if we knew the name of the author (classical? modern? Afghan?). Second: As it stands the verse does not seem to scan. Any suggestions?



The poet seems to be Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel.


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## HZKhan

fdb said:


> It might help if we knew the name of the author (classical? modern? Afghan?). Second: As it stands the verse does not seem to scan. Any suggestions?



You can read the entire poem from here:
http://parspersian.blogfa.com/post-149.aspx


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## arsham

fdb said:


> It might help if we knew the name of the author (classical? modern? Afghan?). Second: As it stands the verse does not seem to scan. Any suggestions?



The meter is fâ'elàton fâ'elâton fâ'elâton fâ'elan. I think my explanation for the use of dari is correct although today it is an anachronism.


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## fdb

arsham said:


> The meter is fâ'elàton fâ'elâton fâ'elâton fâ'elan.



Of course.


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## HZKhan

Treaty said:


> I'd like to translate it as follows:
> _Oh, Persian language! Oh, Dari language, like a pearl in the sea._



Going by this translation, shouldn't the line be read as: "ey zabane farsi, ey dorre daryay, dari" i .e. without an ezafat between daryay and dari?


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## Treaty

Pakistani Khan said:


> Going by this translation, shouldn't the line be read as: "ey zabane farsi, ey dorre daryay, dari" i .e. without an ezafat between daryay and dari?



The simile with use of ezaafe is not rare in Persian poems. It looks just like a possessive construction. By the way, there is no comma between دریای and دری, so it means you should use an ezaafe in between. Besides there is a video in Youtube in which Afghan kids are singing it with the ezaafe between the two words.


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## fdb

The metre requires daryā-ye darī, with the iḍāfa particle metrically long.


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## colognial

arsham said:


> You're right, it is the same thing. However in the early classical period, pârsî referred to Middle Persian, which was still used by the Zoroastrian clergy, Pahlavi denoted Parthian or related dialects and dari specifically referred to the Sassanid court language. I think, the author wishes to specify that the reference is made to New Persian and not Middle Persian.


 arsham, hi. Could you please reconfirm this point: The Sassani court language was Dari? I never knew that, imagining always that Farsi-e-Dari was originally a northeastern dialect, later to be adopted by the inhabitants of the land that had already been subjected to Islamization/Arabization, i.e. well after the last Sassanid King, Yazdgerd III, had perished while running away. So could you please clarify this little point? Thank you.


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## arsham

colognial said:


> arsham, hi. Could you please reconfirm this point: The Sassani court language was Dari? I never knew that, imagining always that Farsi-e-Dari was originally a northeastern dialect, later to be adopted by the inhabitants of the land that had already been subjected to Islamization/Arabization, i.e. well after the last Sassanid King, Yazdgerd III, had perished while running away. So could you please clarify this little point? Thank you.


Dari was the spoken language of Madâen and the Sassanid court hence its designation as the court language (i.e. darî), the administrative language was Middle Persian.
Please read this:
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dari


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## HZKhan

Treaty said:


> The simile with use of ezaafe is not rare in Persian poems. It looks just like a possessive construction.


I know about _ezafat e tashbihi_, because it is also a part of my language. 
Thanks for the replies, everyone.


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