Yadkar_al-Katib_-_Farhad_Carves_an_Image_of_Shirin_in_Rock_-_Walters_W60778B_-_Full_Page

Farhād ( pal, Frahāt, fa, فرهاد) is a famous character in

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 ...

and

Persian mythology Persian mythology or Iranian mythology (Persian:اساطیرشناسی ایرانی) is the body of the myths originally told by ancient Persians and other Iranian peoples, and a genre of Ancient Persian folklore. These stories concern the origi ...

. The story of his love with

Shirin Shirin ( fa, شیرین; died 628) was a Christian wife of the Sasanian King of Kings (''shahanshah'') Khosrow II (). In the revolution after the death of Khosrow's father Hormizd IV, the General Bahram Chobin took power over the Persian empire. S ...

is one of the most famous love stories in

Persian culture The culture of Iran () or culture of PersiaYarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) is among the most influential in the world. Iran, also known as Persia, is widely considered to be one of the cradles of civilization. Due t ...

. The most important work about him is

Khosrow and Shirin Khosrow and Shirin ( fa, خسرو و شیرین) is the title of a famous tragic romance by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209), who also wrote Layla and Majnun. It tells a highly elaborated fictional version of the story of the love ...

by Persian poet

Nezami Ganjavi Nizami Ganjavi ( fa, نظامی گنجوی, lit=Niẓāmī of Ganja, translit=Niẓāmī Ganjavī; c. 1141–1209), Nizami Ganje'i, Nizami, or Nezāmi, whose formal name was ''Jamal ad-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyās ibn-Yūsuf ibn-Zakkī'',Mo'in, ...

, but the story was well known in Persian literature long before Nezami.

Ferdowsi Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi ( fa, ; 940 – 1019/1025 CE), also Firdawsi or Ferdowsi (), was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a sin ...

also narrates the story of Khosrow and Shirin, but in his version, Farhād only plays a minor part. The story of Farhād has

Parthian Parthian may be: Historical * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...

origins. Some writers such as the unknown writer of Mojmal al-tawārīḵ wa’l-qeṣāṣ refer to Farhad as a

Kayanian The Kayanians (Persian: دودمان کیانیان; also Kays, Kayanids, Kaianids, Kayani, or Kiani) are a legendary dynasty of Persian/Iranian tradition and folklore which supposedly ruled after the Pishdadians. Considered collectively, the Kay ...

figure. Balʿamī is one of the first writers that refer to Farhad as a

Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

figure.

The story of Farhad

Farhad is a sculptor who falls in love with

, the princess of Persian Armenia. But Shirin is already in love with

Khosrow Parviz Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩, Husrō), also known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling f ...

, the king of Persia. Khosrow asks Farhad to carve a staircase in a mountain and tells him if he manages to do so, Khosrow will give up Shirin. Farhad tries hard day and night in the hope that Khosrow will let him marry Shirin. Finally, Farhad builds the staircase but Khosrow has a messenger falsely inform Farhad that Shirin has died. Farhad believes this falsehood and jumps to his death from the mountain.

References

{{reflist Persian literature Persian mythology Nizami Ganjavi

The story of Farhad

See also

References