Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Ye Dokhtar

!سلام

Today I thought I'd upload a popular Iranian song instead of a grammar lesson or newspaper excerpt. The song is called Ye Dokhtar, and it refers to Neda Agha-Soltan who's death during the 2009 Iranian election protests was widely chronicled.

They lyrics also mention Iran's Green Party and 2009 reform candidate Mousavi.

Here is a link to the song. The lyrics, with translation, are below.


یــــه دختــــر تو تــراس روبـرویی
یــه شال سبــــــز و هـر روز میتکونه
یـــه شال سبــــــز و ساده که غروبا
پــــر از خــاکســــتر آتــش فشونــه

پـــــــر از خاکســــــتر آرزوهایــــی
که هر روز روی قلبش گَر میگیرن
پر از خاکســـتر خوابــای خوبــــی
که هرشب تو نگاه اون میمیــــرن

همین چند وقته پیش رویاشـــو توی
خیــابون بـــی بهونه سر بریـــدن
همیــشــــه راه پــــروازشو بسـتن
همیشـــه رو خیالش خـــط کشیـــدن

بـــراش مـــرده و زنــده فرق نداره
سیاست بازا پــیـــرا و جــــوونــــا
همش دنبــــال قهرمـــــان مـیگرده
میونـه شاعــــــرا آوازخــــونـــــا

رو دیــــوار اتـــاقـش چنتــا عکـسه
هدایـت ، کاف کــا ، فرخــزاد ، مایـکل
یــــه عکـــــس خاتــــمی چنتــا مدونا
یه عکس تام کروز یـه عـــکس فیدل
براش مـــــرده و زنــــده فــرق نداره
همش دنبـــــال قهرمــــان میـــگرده

براش مـــــرده و زنــــده فــرق نداره
همش دنبـــــال قهرمــــان میـــگرده

همش دنبـــــال قهرمــــان میـــگرده

نــمیدونه کــه تنـــها تـوی آیــــنه
بایـــد دنبــــال قــهرمــان بــــگرده
هنـــوز بـــاور نـــداره که با دستاش
جهانی میشه ســاخت ، بی ظلم و برده

یــــه دختــــر تو تــراس روبرویـی
شبـــا کنسرت فریـــادش بــه راهــه
صداش میگیره از بـس غصـــه داره
نمیشه دیدش از بـس شــــب سیاهه

ولی زنگ صـداش میـپـچـه هــرشب
تو شـهری که چـراغاش رنگه خــــونن
دیــگه چـــند وقــتـــه که حتـــی چراغِ
چـهـارراه ها میترســن "سبــــــز" بمونن

میـــخواد یـاد تــموم شـــهر بــمونــه
بــهـاری کـه یــکی بــرگـاشـو دزدیــد
درخـتــی کــه قـرنـتـیـنـه شــد آخـــــر
تو فصــلی که زمین بـرعکس میچرخید

صــداش لـــبریز حـــرفـای نـگفتس
سرش لبــریــز صد آتــش فشونــه
یـــه دختــــر تو تــراس روبرویــی
یـه شال سبــــــز و هر روز میتکونه
یـه شال سبــــــز و هر روز میتکونه
یـه شال سبــــــز و هر روز میتکونه



a girl in the opposite terrace
waves a green shawl every day
a green and simple shawl that at sunset
 is full of volcanic ashes
full of ashes of the wishes
that burn on her heart daily
full of ashes of the sweet dreams
that die in her eyes every night

not long ago her dreams
were beheaded on streets unduly
her flying route was always blocked
her imagination has always been crossed off
alive or dead is the same for her
politicians, the elderly, or the youth
repeatedly she’s in search of a hero
among the poets or the singers

on her room’s wall are some pictures of
Hedaayat, Kafka, Farokhzad, Michael
one picture of Khatami, some of Madonna’s
a picture of Tom Cruise, one from Fidel

 alive or dead is the same for her
 repeatedly she’s in search of a hero
she doesn’t know that in the mirror alone
she should quest a hero
she still does not believe that by her hands
a world can be built without tyranny and slaves


a girl in the opposite terrace
has a concert of cries nightly
her voice gets lowered due to many sorrows
the night’s darkness hides her to be seen
but the timbre of her voice is resonated
in a city with lights the same color as the houses
some time later even the traffic lights
at junctions are scared to turn green

she wants to remember the city
the spring whose leaves were stolen
and a tree that finally got quarantined
in a season in which the earth was rotating conversely

her heart full of unsaid words
her head full of hundreds of volcanoes
a girl in the opposite terrace
waves a green shawl every day

Monday, June 24, 2013

The Subjunctive in Persian

Hi All!

I apologize for my absence over the last week. Today I'm uploading some notes on the use of the subjunctive in Persian. The subjunctive is used to make sentences with auxiliary verbs like 'want,' 'should,' 'can,' and 'must,' etc. As always, learning these rules will allow you to make increasingly complex and expressive sentences in Persian!



Sunday, June 16, 2013

News Post June 16, 2013 (Rouhani's Victory)

Yesterday Iran's interior ministry announced that reformist minded cleric Rouhani won the Iranian presidency with 50.7 percent of the popular vote (law stipulaes that if one candidate doesn't eceive 50% the two top candidates must participate in a run-off).

I honestly was extremely surprised! I had kind of expected that a run off would be forced and that a conservative candidate would ultimately succeed.

It will be interesting to see what, if any, changes occur in Iranian foreign policy now.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

News Post June 11, 2013 (Aref withdraws in favor of Rouhani)

اعلام حمایت خاتمی و هاشمی رفسنجانی از روحانی


Three days prior to the presidential election, the reformist/moderate camps have consolidated behind candidate Hassan Rouhani.

Competing reformist candidate Mohammad Reza Aref has withdrawn from the race with the hope that Rouhani's chances for victory will increase.

After Rouhani became the clear choice for previously disillusioned, reformist minded voters, former presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami endorsed his candidacy.

The above headline is from this BBC Persian article.

Translation and Vocab:

"Khatami and Hashemi declare support for Rouhani"

 اعلام: Declaration
حمایت: Support

News Post June 11, 2013 (Haddad Adel Withdraws from Presidential Race)

An interesting development occurred yesterday in the run up to Iran's Presidential Election on Friday. One of the conservative candidates, Haddad-Adel, withdrew his name from contention. Below are some excerpts from the BBC Persian article. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2013/06/130610_ir92_hadad_election.shtml)


او همچنین در مورد احتمال کناره‌گیری وی به نفع سعید جلیلی، از دیگر نامزدان انتخابات ریاست جمهوری ایران گفته بود: "در شرایط فعلی بنده هیچ ضرورتی برای کناره‌گیری به نفع هیچ کاندیدایی احساس نمی‌کنم
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 غلامعلی حداد عادل، مشاور رهبر جمهوری اسلامی است و از ۱۳۸۷ تاکنون به عنوان نماینده تهران در مجلس ایران حضور داشته و در دوره ای ریاست آن را به
عهده داشته است  
 
 
 Translation and Vocab:

He (Haddad Adel) had also said about the possibility of withdrawing in favor of Saeed Jalili,
 or one of the other candidates in the election for the presidency of the Iranian Republic: "In the current conditions I don't feel it is necessary to withdraw in favor of any candidate."

(Haddad Adel) is an advisor to the leader of the Islamic Republic, and since 1387 (2008) has been a representative from Tehran in the Majlis (Iranian Parliament). During this period he has been the president of that body.

همچنین: Too, as well
در مورد: About
احتمال: Possibility
کناره‌گیری: To withdraw
وی: His (Soheil pointed out that this word is commonly used in Iranian print and is more formal/respectful)
به نفع: In favor of
 از: From (one of)
دیگر: Other
نامزدان: Candidates
انتخابات: Election
ریاست جمهوری ایران: President of the Iranian Republic
گفته بود: Had said (past perfect tense)
شرایط: Conditions
فعلی: Current
بنده: Servant (Instead of using 'I' here, Haddad calls himself servant. It's kind of a ta'rouf way of referring to oneself)
هیچ: Any, nothing
ضرورت: Necessity
حساس کردن: To feel 
مشاور: Consultant, advisor
رهبر: Leader
جمهوری اسلامی: Islamic Republic
 ۱۳۸۷: 1387 (The current year by the Iranian calendar is 1392)
تاکنون: Until now
به عنوان: As (position)
نماینده: Representative
مجلس: Iranian Parliament
دوره ای: Period of time
آن: That
به عهده داشتن: To be in charge of

Monday, June 10, 2013

News Post June 10, 2013

The Last Iranian Presidential Debate

The last debate before Iran's presidential election was held this past Friday, and the event was certainly more spirited than the previous two sessions.

The part I'd like to focus on is the sharp exchange that occurred between Rouhani (a reformist and cleric) and Ghalibaf (current mayor of Tehran and a conservative). It can be seen in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoJJnAi_hzw

After Rouhani made a comment about providing peace for Iranians, Ghalibaf criticized him for his handling of student protests in 2003 when Rouhani was Secretary of the National Security Council. This kicked off an exchange where the two candidates traded remarks about their own versions of how the situation was handled (Ghalibaf was the head of police at the time).

In the clip, Ghalibaf says Rouhani denied granting the students in question permission to protest in 2003. Rouhani counters by saying he was concerned that if the he granted them permission and they left campus, the police under Ghalibaf would arrest all of them. Rouhani goes on to say that he wasn't concerned about the students because he felt they would dissipate in a few days time.

The exchange continued in this manner, with the candidates giving conflicting accounts of events, neither of which can really be verified. Hopefully the high energy of this debate will help capture Iranian interest, which had been low, in the elections which are now just 4 days away.    

 

Conditional Sentences in Persian

Hello All!

The lesson I'm uploading today provides an overview of the structural formats conditional sentences can take in Persian. Understanding these rules will allow students studying Persian to make more complex sentences as they practice.