Persian Environmental Quotes
What are your favorites?
Quick question: what is your favorite environmental quote in Persian?
I want to make some T-shirts that promote environmentalism,* and also teach language. But the quote that comes to mind for me isn’t one that people would associate with environmentalism.
It happens to be the one I’ve heard a thousand times, since I was a little kid. It’s the line Iranians quote at me when they hear my name. It goes like this:
پدرم روضه رضوان به دو گندم بفروخت
ناخلف باشم من گر به جویی نفروشم
pedaram roseye rezvAn be do gandom beforuxt,
nAxalaf bAsham man gar be jo-i nafrusham.
It’s a joke, I’m told. And a justification for drinking beer.
The first line means, “my father sold out paradise for two grains of wheat.” It refers to our father Adam (as in “Adam and Eve”) and the story of humanity’s expulsion from Eden. Allegedly in the Muslim version of the story, it wasn’t Eve who was tempted by an apple. It was Adam, tempted by wheat. Perhaps this is a reference to the dawn of agriculture.
The next line, “nAxalaf bAsham man” means “I would not be his successor/child/offspring (“I would be illegitimate”) — if I didn’t sell it out for barley. And that’s what makes this a beer joke/justification. Because you use barley to make beer. See? So, “dad sold out paradise for wheat — pour me another beer.”
But we live in the days of climate crisis, not prohibition. Giving this poem a different meaning. It’s no longer amusing to say, “oh, I wouldn’t want to be illegitimate! I must drink beer and sell out paradise like dear old dad!”
Maybe it’s time to be illegitimate.
To be nA xalaf — ناخلف
We come from a long line of people selling out paradise. Maybe we need to stop taking after them.
Maybe it’s time to deviate from your parent’s ways, if those parents are in the “Business as Usual (BAU)” club.
Don’t sell out paradise/eden/earth.
So…in this case, “nA xalaf” ناخلف — which also means “illegitimate” is a positive thing. (Oh! There’s some out there who want to redeem the “father”. OK. How?)
Fun Fact: It turns out that the line people have told me since I was a kid isn’t even the original poem! The original is from hAfez qazal 340 and he says:
پدرم روضه رضوان به دو گندم بفروخت
من چرا ملک جهان را به جوی نفروشم
man cherA molk-e jahAn rA be jo-i nafrusham — why shouldn’t I sell the wealth of the world for some barley?
So weird to find you’ve been misquoting the poem this whole time. nAxalaf isn’t even in it! I wonder who started that?
In any case, here we are. Faced with selling out paradise/eden/earth. Do we take after the old folks? Or try something new?
Young people out there on the #ClimateStrike! We’re definitely getting the call to re-evaluate the “business as usual” ways of old. And there does appear to be a growing generational conflict. No really:
And there you have it!
Farewell — bedrud — بدرود
Rezwan — rezvAn — رضوان
*Wait! Doesn’t making T-shirts to promote environmentalism defeat the purpose? We don’t need more T-shirts! But we do need quotes! So hit me up with your favorites! Thanks.
