Misunderstanding of Wilberforce Clark in translation of Shirazi Dialect and Mosalasat of Hafez

 

Introduction

Khajeh Shamseddin Mohammad Hafiz Shirazi is one of those great Persian poets that Europeans got acquainted with his thought and character through the superabundant translations of his sonnets. However, the poems of Hafez –in addition to its daintiness and Aesthetic features – is not easily translatable. Moreover, some of the translators –who worked on the sonnets of Hafez-, did not understand the concept of his poems in a proper way. Especially, in the case of “Moslasat” or the poems in which Hafez used Persian, Arabic and Shirazi dialect altogether. During the course of its life, Shirazi dialect has undergone three historical periods: 1.pre-Islamic era, 2.from 13^th to 15^th Century A.D (The most important period in recognizing this dialect) and 3.from the 18^th century A.D onwards that Shiraz was chosen as the capital of Iran. This essay, attempts to research on the background of Shirazi dialect, alongside analyzing the translation of the famous Mosalas of Hafiz -translated by Wilberforce Clarke- and consequently, the errors on his translation would be checked.
 

Methodology

This research is provided based on library resources and data analysis method.
 

Discussion

As the Persian language has undergone three historical periods by now, dialects of this language have been widely changed from ancient times to this day. Shirazi dialect is one of the oldest dialects of Persian language, which dates back to about two thousand five hundred years ago (Coincided with the Achaemenid era). With the discovery of the Tablets found in the Fortifications of Persepolis (PFT) in 1933 and 1934 A.D (Rashed-Mohasel, 2001: 20), It was found that a group of people from the lands called ti-ra-zi-iš and ši-ra-za-i-iš was among the workers of Persepolis, and it seems that this very land is the plain of Shiraz (Limbert, 2008: 19; Sami, 2010: 8 & Afsar, 1995: 28). With the arrival of the Islamic era and the inevitable changes of Persian language, Shirazi Dialect also adapted itself with the new age. Today, the literary works remained of this historical dialect are mainly from the Middle Islamic Ages (Between 12^th and 14^th Century A.D) and the following treasures can be mentioned as the first-handed resources of Shirazi dialect:
m    The Divan of Shams Kazeruni (900 lines);
m    Kan-e Malahat (The Mine of Passion) an epopee in 718 lines written by Shah Daei Allah Shirazi;
m    Two lines and 2 hemistiches in the Divan of Hafez;
m    Eighteen lines in the Divan of Saadi (known as Mosalasat);
m    An ode in 72 lines by Abu-Ishaq At’amah (along with some sonnets, overall 130 lines);
m    A line in Majma-al Foras;
m    Moreover, a sonnet by Qotb-e Din Shirazi.
As it is clear, Hafez, who is one of the great Poets of Iran, has a sonnet in his Divan known as Mosalas (using three languages together) that According to many scholars, this sonnet can be considered as a work of art, indicating the dominance of Hafez in Persian, Arabic and the dialects of Shiraz. Although this dialect was common in the days of Hafez and was a mean of speaking for the people of Shiraz, but due to the socio-historical conditions in the past two or three centuries, understanding this dialect has been really difficult, as it became a dead tongue. This could be a good reason that why Henry Wilberforth Colerk, as a translator of the Divan, translated this very sonnet inaccurately, especially the Shirazi parts of it.
As a critic of Clarke's translation, I should say that the common error of a diligent translator as Clarke was the lack of understanding of the Shirazi dialect and as a result, he gave a free translation of Shirazi Parts, unlike the Arabic and Persian parts, which have an accurate translation.
 

Conclusion

The translation of Mosalas of Hafez by Clarke also contains a few points:
1)                 Clarke did not translated The Divan on the basis of a correct version of it, which is a common error throughout his translation of Divan and especially the above sonnet.
2)                 Clarke, in addition to giving a free translation, ignored most of the concepts and meanings, and better to say he misunderstood the Shirazi parts and translated it inaccurately.
It should also be noted that before translating a literary work, the text must first be understood, and then the lingual shifting process will be carried out. The mistake of Clarke was that he did not properly understood the Shirazi dialect and therefore he did not provide a correct translation.
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