Stories from Shahnameh Published in Spain

Tehran, Jan 17, 2012 (Cultural Heritage News): A selection of stories from the Shahnameh, the celebrated work of the Persian epic poet Ferdowsi (935-1020), has been published in Spanish.

The book was translated by the Iranian-based Spanish translator Ahmad Taheri and renowned Spanish poetess Clara Janés and released by the Alianza Editorial.

Taheri and Janés have previously translated a selection of Rumi's quatrains into Spanish which “transforms the meaning due to its short structure,” Taheri told the Persian service of Mehr News Agency on Sunday.

“We have also translated a series of poems by Abu Saeid and 100 sonnets by Hafez accompanied by a vocabulary in Spain,” he added.

They have also translated a series of poems composed by the Iranian contemporary poets Nima Yushij, Sohrab Sepehri, and Ahmad Shamlu.

“We planned to translate the Shahnameh however its structure made translation difficult and injured the main story. So, we tried to achieve a melodic verse in Spanish translation and read several French and English translations to find a fluent text,” he added.

Due to her interest in other nations' culture, Janés, the most famous poetess in Spain, has introduced literary works from 20 languages into her country and has made them seem native, he added.

He said that the book contains a selection of stories from the birth of Zaal to the death of Sohrab. “Neither summary nor verbosity was our aim in translation however we used footnotes in some parts of the text to clarify the story.”

“There are few Iranians in Spain but it was interesting for me that Iranian immigrants to the country buy the book for their children who have not learned Persian language,” he said.

He also announced that they will translate a selection of Rumi's sonnets and a selection of poems composed by Iranian classic poets including Hafez, Khayyam, Attar and other poets in the near future.

Janés employs multiple genres (poetry, narrative, essay, anthology, translation, photography and music), and her work includes diverse cultural and linguistic facets. She has translated Turkish, Czech, English, Chinese, Persian, Arabic and French authors, and she has explored ancient religious traditions from many cultures.

She has also translated works by Marguerite Duras, Nathalie Sarraute, Katherine Mansfield, William Golding, Ahmad and Forugh Farrokhzad.

Known as “Book of Kings” in English, the Shahnameh is based mainly on the Khwatay-namak, a history of the kings of Persia in Pahlavi (Middle Persian) from mythical times down to the 7th century.

For nearly 1000 years, the Shahnameh has remained one of the most popular works in the Persian-speaking world.