Great Lord of Life and wisdom! In Thy Name- Which to transcend no flight of thought may claim
The Lord of honor, and of place and pride-Who gives our daily bread and is our goad
The Lord of Universe and rolling sphere, Bright in Whom Nahid, Sun and Moon appear
Farsi or Persian language is one of the Indo-European languages belonging to southwestern Iranian languages branch spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Persian is the official language of Iran and Tajikistan and one of the two official languages of Afghanistan (along with Pashto). The official language of India was Persian until the British colonization.
Persian is also called Farsi. In past, Persian speakers used Dari and Persian words for this language and the word “Farsi” is in fact the Arabic word for "Parsi”. Some linguists consider one case of language evolution, the change of Aryan "پ" (P) to “ف” (F). In the Pahlavi script, the same letter was used for "پ" and "ف" and some "پ" in Pahlavi were read as "ف". Persian language in Afghanistan is called Dari and in Tajikistan, it is called Tajik.
In 1872, at a meeting of European writers and linguists in Berlin, the Greek, Persian, Latin, and Sanskrit were chosen as the world's classical languages. By definition, a language is considered as classic if it is ancient and rich in literature and has also changed little in its last millennium.
Persian is among the top three languages in the world in terms of number and variety of proverbs. Due to its wide range and diversity of words, this language is very large and rich and is one of the richest languages in the world in terms of words and vocabulary. Rarely in any language, there are dictionaries such as Dehkhoda (18 volumes) or Moin (6 volumes) encyclopedic dictionaries.
Persian language is derived from the older language of Middle Persian (or Pahlavi), which itself is derived from ancient Persian. These two older languages belong to the historical region of Pars around the present-day province of Fars in southern Iran. Middle Persian (Pahlavi) as official dialect spread widely in other Iranian lands during the Sassanid era in such a way that in Greater Khorasan, it replaced the Parthian and Balkhi languages. Moreover, large parts of Khwārezmian and Sogdian language speakers also became Persian speakers. A dialect of Middle Persian which was later called Dari was formed after entrance of Islam as a standard written dialect in Khorasan and this time it spread to the west of Persia and other parts of Iran.
Persian Literature
Persian literature is any literature written in Persian language. It has a history of 1100 years. Persian poetry and prose are two main varieties of Persian literature. Some old books on non-literary subjects such as history, prayers and various sciences also have literary value and overtime have been placed among classic works of Persian Literature.
Persian literature has its roots in the ancient literature of Iran, that emerged under the influence of Avestan texts in Sassanid period in Middle Persian and Parthian languages. New Persian literature evolved after Islam, following Arabic literature in poetry and writings of Sassanid period that created Arabic prose literature, in prose. Persian oral literature also continued in the same ancient style.
Persian literature covers topics such as epics, narrations and Iranian and non-Iranian myths, religion and mysticism, love narratives, philosophy, ethics and the like. A literary work is classified as epic, lyric, didactic or dramatic literature based on its subject matter.
Among the well-known international figures of Persian literature, most of whom are medieval poets, Rudaki, Ferdowsi, Nizami Ganjavi, Khayyam, Saadi, Rumi and Hafez can be mentioned. According to Goethe, Persian literature is one of the four pillars of human literature.
The difference between Persian alphabet and Arabic alphabet
Although the basis of Persian alphabet is the same as Arabic script, it is different from Arabic alphabet due to having four letters "پ، ژ، گ، چ". In addition, there are differences in writing between two languages. For example, “ک” (K) in the end of the word or when stands alone, is written as “ک” while in Arabic, it is written as “ﻙ” or letter “ی” in Arabic is written as “ﻱ”. There are other minor differences in scripts of these two languages.
Persian language and literature in Western World
Persian language is currently taught in many European countries and the United States. In countries such as Spain, France, Italy, Austria, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Russia, there are great masters who deal with teaching and researching Persian literature. In most of these countries, in addition to Persian language chairs as well as the official cultural and political representations of the Islamic Republic of Iran abroad, that are more or less engaged in education, there are Society for Iranian Studies and orientalism centers and associations that beside their main activities, teach Persian language to immigrants Iranians and their children.
The growth of Persian-speaking population and the increase in the number of immigrants from Persian-speaking countries in Canada, has made Persian language as one of the top ten languages in the Canadian informal languages rankings.
In England, the tendency of British to learn Persian has provided the ground for growth and development of Persian language and literature in many universities of that country. In the 19th century, Iranology flourished in England, and many Iranologists began to research into Persian language and literature. Edward Fitzgerald, Matthew Arnold, and Edward Brown are among the famous British Iranologists. The British attention to Persian language and literature and their research on Iranian literary works is very important. Persian language chairs are still held at Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, Edinburgh and Durham universities and the University of London, and dozens of Persian-language centers have been established that are still so active.
The University of Vienna in Austria is one of the oldest scientific centers in Europe, that in 1974, established a special chair in linguistics for teaching Persian language and literature. Institute of Oriental Studies of the University of Vienna, the Institute of General and Indo-Germanic Linguistics of the University of Vienna, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the University of Edinburgh, the Faculty of Art History in Vienna and the Vienna Academy of Sciences are the main centers that deal with oriental studies and Iranology.
In Germany, more than 20 universities deal with teaching Persian language and Iranian studies. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the great German poet and thinker, and Anne-Marie Schimmel are well-known figures and enthusiasts of Iranian culture and literature in this country. In his youth, Goethe was interested in the East and its vast and varied teachings. He had read the translation of Qur'an and knew the stories of Thousand and One Nights.
Persian language courses are offered at the Universities of Palermo and Rome in Italy. Iranian studies and Persian language teaching have attracted those interested in this field at the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the University of St. Petersburg in Russia, Tbilisi State University, Bucharest University in Romania, University of Leiden in the Netherlands, and every year, a number of these students travel to Iran to increase their knowledge and education and participate in knowledge-enhancing courses.
In France, Iranian studies had long been considered within the area of Arabic studies; however, a century ago, with the establishment of the Oriental Languages School, prominent scholars emerged in that country, and this becomes the beginning of acquaintance with the Persian language and literature in this country. 1945-1971 years were called the year of the establishment of Iranian studies institutes in this country and in the years after World War II, Iranian studies find its way to the University of Paris at Sorbonne and Henri Corbin established the department of Iranology in the Iran-France Institute. Louis Massignon founded the Institute of Iranian Studies at Sorbonne, and in this way Iranian studies expanded day by day.
The importance and spread of Persian language in the Western world is more than what is mentioned in this section; however, our knowledge and understanding of the contemporary world and the position of Iran and Iranian literature, lead us to a newer understanding of the current position of Persian language and literature in the world and the future of our cultural presence in the Western world.