From left: Rouhollah Teimouri, Hamid Nadervand, Faramarz Edalatfam

 

Miandoab Rhapsody 

        By Majid Naficy

        In Memory of Rouhollah Teimuri, Hamid Nadervand and Faramarz Edalatfam


Who has said that horse
Is not the wild soul of water?
It was not only Kirat, the horse of Koroghlu*
Who was born out of Aras River.
Three young horses
Came out of Zarineh River:*
Ruhi fell in Tehran,
Hamid in Ardebil
And Faramarz in Tabriz.

The raging Zarineh River foams at the mouth, 
The grape vines burn from being parched
And the hopeless minstrel knocks his lute on the rock.

When my mother dreamt of a house
I was a laborer in Sarab.
When bitterness was the permanant taste of Father
I worked in a sugar beet factory in Maragheh.
When my sister weaved in a carpet workshop
I planted grape vines in Bonab.

Who has said that fire
Is not the wild soul of Azarbaijan*?
It was not only Chamli Bel, the fort of Koroghlu
That was the barricade of freedom fighters.
In the Republic of Miandoab best buddies
Khadijeh lived with Shahrokh freely,
Javanshir did not see himself disabled
And Persian Bahais swam with Turkish Moslems
Together in Zarineh River.

Lament, oh, my river
That you will never return to headwaters.
Lament, oh, my vine
That you will never bear fruit
And lament, oh, my lute
That a minstrel has no refuge but you.

        February 17, 1986  

*- Koroghlu is a Robin Hood-like hero in Azarbaijani folktales.
*- Zarineh is a  river in the city of Miandoab, West Azarbaijan, Iran.
*- The word Azar in the name Azarbaijan means fire. 

https://iroon.com/irtn/blog/17389/miandoab-rhapsody/