Beyt بیت

The Persian classics, readable again.

Script, sound and meaning, beyt by beyt.

Start with the first king

The whole Kayumars chapter as a free PDF: 72 couplets with script, sound and translation.

Read chapter 1 free Pre-order the Yalda edition 7
Couplet 13

The glory of kingship shone from him like a full moon above a slender cypress.

Farr (Avestan khvarenah) is the divine glory that marks a rightful king. When a king loses it, his rule ends. It runs through the whole Shāhnāme.

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The library One book at a time, in the same three lines.
ShāhnāmeFerdowsi. Parts I and II availableشاهنامه
DivānHafez. Yalda edition, pre-orderدیوان حافظ
MasnaviRumi Balkhi. In translationمثنوی
GolestānSaadi. In translationگلستان
MonājātAnsāri of Herat. Dari editionمناجات
Manteq-ot-TeyrAttār. In translationمنطق الطیر
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9 کیومرث شد بر جهان کدخدای
نخستین به کوه اندرون ساخت جای Kiyumars shod bar jahān kadkhodāy, nakhostin be kuh andarun sākht jāy Kayumars became master of the world. He first made his dwelling in the mountains.
10 سر بخت و تختش برآمد به کوه
پلنگینه پوشید خود با گروه sar-e bakht o takhtash bar-āmad be kuh, palangine pushid khod bā goruh His fortune and his throne rose up in the mountains, and he and his people dressed in leopard skins.
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همی تافت زو فر شاهنشهی چو ماه دو هفته ز سرو سهی hami tāft z-u farr-e shāhanshahi cho māh-e do hafte ze sarv-e sahi
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آغاز کتاب
Āghāz-e ketāb, the beginning of the book
1
کیومرث Kayumars, the first king

The first king lives in the mountains, dressed in leopard skins, and all creatures bow to him.

2
شاهنامه The Book of Kings
Beyt
Shāhnāme Abolqāsem Ferdowsi, around the year 1010
be nām-e khodāvand-e jān o kherad k-az in bartar andishe bar-nagzarad

In the name of the Lord of soul and wisdom, beyond whom no thought can rise.

Touch any word on the facing page.

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The library

Old lithographs and manuscripts, out of copyright and mostly out of reach. We find them, set them in clean type and translate them for the first time in this form. Pick a book.

شاهنامه

Shāhnāme

Abolqāsem Ferdowsi, around the year 1010

The Book of Kings. Fifty thousand couplets of myth and history, from the first king Kayumars to the fall of the Sasanians. The founding book of the Persian language.

Parts I and II available now

شب یلدا

Hafez for Yalda

Numbered copy [NO.] of [EDITION SIZE]

The longest night, read aloud

On Shab-e Yalda families stay up past midnight, open Hafez at random and read the poem that falls open. This edition gives you [NUMBER] of his ghazals so everyone at the table can read along, in the script, in the sound and in English.

Cloth-bound, gilt-stamped and numbered by hand. Printed once, in [EDITION SIZE] copies. Ships by [SHIP DATE] for 21 December.

Pre-order for [YOUR PRICE] Digital edition [YOUR PRICE]

Start with the first king

Get the Kayumars chapter of the Shāhnāme as a free PDF: 72 couplets with script, sound and translation. We send one new couplet a week after that, nothing else.