Mehdi Azar Yazdi
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Mehdi Azar-Yazdi ( fa, مهدی آذریزدی) (18 March 1922 – 9 July 2009) was an Iranian
children's writer Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...
. He started his career in 1956. His books are adaptations of works of the
Classical Persian literature Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...
re-written for children in an easy-to-understand style.http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0004/000401/040163eo.pdf His most notable book was the award-winning ''Good Stories for Good Children''.


Books

Azar-Yazdi's most famous work was '' Good Stories for Good Children'' () written in eight volumes based on several works of
Persian literature Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...
, including ''
Kalila wa Dimna The ''Panchatantra'' ( IAST: Pañcatantra, ISO: Pañcatantra, sa, पञ्चतन्त्र, "Five Treatises") is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story. ...
'', ''
Gulistan Gulistan, Golestan or Golastan ( fa, گلستان) means "flower land" in Persian language (''gol'' meaning "flower", and ''-stan'' or meaning "land"). It may refer to: Places Iran "Golestan" most often refers to: * Golestan province in nor ...
'', '' Masnavi-e Ma'navi'', '' Marzban-Nameh'', '' Sinbad-Nameh'', '' Qabus-Nameh'', '' Maqalat'' of
Shams Tabrizi Shams-i Tabrīzī ( fa, شمس تبریزی) or Shams al-Din Mohammad (1185–1248) was a Persian * * * * Shafi'ite poet, who is credited as the spiritual instructor of Mewlānā Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhi, also known as Rumi and is ref ...
, '' Jami'-ul-Hikayat'', '' Siyasat-Nameh'', and some stories from the
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
and the life of the
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
and
The Fourteen Infallibles The Fourteen Infallibles ( ar, ٱلْمَعْصُومُون ٱلْأَرْبَعَة عَشَر, '; fa, چهارده معصومین, ') in Twelver Shia Islam are the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatima Zahra, and the Twelve Imams. ...
. The book won a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
award in 1966. ''Good Stories for Good Children'' has been translated into various languages, including Spanish, Armenian, Chinese, and Russian. Azar Yazdi planned to write other volumes for the series. He was also author of ''The Naughty Cat'', ''The Playful Cat'', ''Simple Stories'', ''Poetry of Sugar and Honey'' and ''Masnavi of Good Children''. Another one of his works, ''Adam'', was chosen as the best book of the year in 1968.


Personal life

Noted author of children's books Mehdi Azar-Yazdi was born in 1921 in
Yazd Yazd ( fa, یزد ), formerly also known as Yezd, is the capital of Yazd Province, Iran. The city is located southeast of Isfahan. At the 2016 census, the population was 1,138,533. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is recognized as a Worl ...
. His ancestors were among Zoroastrians who converted to
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. He learned to read and write from his father and later continued his studies on his own. While a teenager, he spent his time reading books, including
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
, '' Mafatih-ul-Jinan'', ''
Masnavi The ''Masnavi'', or ''Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi'' ( fa, مثنوی معنوی), also written ''Mathnawi'', or ''Mathnavi'', is an extensive poem written in Persian by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi, also known as Rumi. The ''Masnavi'' is one of the most ...
'',
Saadi Shirazi Saadi Shīrāzī ( fa, ابومحمّد مصلح‌الدین بن عبدالله شیرازی), better known by his pen name Saadi (; fa, سعدی, , ), also known as Sadi of Shiraz (, ''Saʿdī Shīrāzī''; born 1210; died 1291 or 1292), was ...
's works, and ''
Divan A divan or diwan ( fa, دیوان, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan''). Etymology The word, recorded in English since 1586, meanin ...
'' of
Hafez Khwāje Shams-od-Dīn Moḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī ( fa, خواجه شمس‌‌الدین محمّد حافظ شیرازی), known by his pen name Hafez (, ''Ḥāfeẓ'', 'the memorizer; the (safe) keeper'; 1325–1390) and as "Hafiz", ...
. In 1944, he left his hometown and came to live in Tehran. Azar Yazdi worked as a construction worker and a simple laborer in sock-weaving workshops, publishing houses and bookshops. He worked for noted publishing houses like
Amir Kabir Mirza Taghi Khan-e Farahani ( fa, میرزا تقی‌خان فراهانی), better known as Amir Kabir (Persian: ‎, 9 January 1807 – 10 January 1852), also known by the title of ''Amir-e Nezam'' or ''Amir Nezam'' (), was chief minister t ...
, Ashrafi and Etella'at. He is survived by his adopted son Mohammad Saburi, who met Azar Yazdi in 1949. Mohammad had been referred for employment to a photography house in Yazd where Azar Yazdi used to work. Azar Yazdi was leaving the store when he came upon the eight-year-old Mohammad weeping after having been rejected by the owner of the business. He adopted him on the advice of one of his friends.
"Encouragement is the main factor that makes a person begin a task and continue it. I had no one encouraging me hen I was young and my parents taunted me about writing childlike stories,"
Azar Yazdi once said during a ceremony was held by the Iranian Luminaries Association to honor him in February 2007.
"When I was 35 years old I left Yazd is homelandand afterward began reading ''Kalilah and Dimnah'', which is very difficult. However, I found it very beautiful and subsequently decided to write for children. I sought neither fame nor money, I only wanted to do a good job. So I wrote ''Good Stories for Good Children'',"
he said during the ceremony. Azar Yazdi never married. Once, he was asked the reason for this and he joked,
"I could not live with a crazy woman, and if she was a wise woman, she could never live with me!"
He believed that life owes him something, saying,
"I have frequently been only at someone else's service. I have always economized and have had a hard time of it."
"I never eat well, except at parties or here (at his adopted son's home in Karaj). I am never well-dressed. Some people consider me to be stingy because of my economical ways. When I have no income I have to economize. Thank God, that I have never done evil and never have had a bad reputation."
Azar Yazdi died in 2009 after a period of disease in Tehran Atiyeh hospital and his body is buried in his hometown,
Yazd Yazd ( fa, یزد ), formerly also known as Yezd, is the capital of Yazd Province, Iran. The city is located southeast of Isfahan. At the 2016 census, the population was 1,138,533. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is recognized as a Worl ...
. The day of his death has been chosen as the National Day of the Children's Literature.


Azar Yazdi Award


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azar Yazdi, Mehdi 1922 births 2009 deaths Iranian children's writers Iranian male writers