Shahnameh در ستایش خرد (In Praise of Wisdom) - Ferdowsi

[intro, single massive gong strike, long decay, silence, then second gong strike, erhu enters alone, haunting single melody, 8 bars, then pipa joins with driving rhythm, hu chants enter low and continuous underneath, rock percussion crashes in bar 12, final gong strike before first vocal, no voice yet, 16 bars, the mind awakening] [verse 1, rapper enters controlled and direct, pipa driving underneath, hu chants breathing behind, gong strikes once between every two lines, the invitation to listen delivered as a command] کنون ای خردمند وصف خرد بدین جایگه گفتن اندرخورد کنون تا چه داری بیار از خرد که گوش نیوشنده زو برخورد [hook, music drops to erhu alone, single melody, rapper half sings half speaks, slowed down, hu chants rise to fill the space, gong strikes once on the final word] خرد بهتر از هر چه ایزد بداد ستایش خرد را به از راه داد [verse 2, full rock percussion returns, pipa driving hard, rapper pace increases, the three functions of intellect named, hu chants locked in steady rhythm underneath, erhu weeps between the lines] خرد رهنمای و خرد دلگشای خرد دست گیرد به هر دو سرای ازو شادمانی وزویت غمیست وزویت فزونی وزویت کمیست [chorus, gong strikes three times in succession, full ensemble explodes after third strike, rapper delivers the warning at peak energy, hu chants surge to foreground, HU — HU — HU, pipa and rock percussion locked together, the darkened mind and the suffering it causes, delivered like a diagnosis and a sentence both] خرد تیره و مرد روشن روان نباشد همی شادمان یک زمان چه گفت آن خردمند مرد خرد که دانا ز گفتار از برخورد کسی کو خرد را ندارد ز پیش دلش گردد از کردهٔ خویش ریش [verse 3, beat drops to minimal, only pipa pulse, rapper slows and lowers, the social consequences named, the wise man called mad, the family turned stranger, erhu plays a descending line of isolation, gong strikes once like a door closing] هشیوار دیوانه خواند ورا همان خویش بیگانه داند ورا ازویی به هر دو سرای ارجمند گسسته خرد پای دارد ببند [hook, erhu rises alone again, the eye of the soul described, rapper delivers two lines quietly over erhu only, hu chants return soft beneath, then single gong strike opens the next section] خرد چشم جانست چون بنگری تو بی‌چشم شادان جهان نسپری [verse 4, hardest drop of the song, all instruments full, gong strikes on every fourth beat like a clock, rapper at maximum intensity, the three guards named, hu chants loud and rhythmic matching the drum hits, pipa and rock percussion driving relentless] نخست آفرینش خرد را شناس نگهبان جانست و آن سه پاس سه پاس تو چشم است وگوش و زبان کزین سه رسد نیک و بد بی‌گمان [bridge, sudden full stop, single gong strike, silence for 4 beats, then erhu alone, rapper speaks over silence, no music at all, the question of who can praise intellect fully, voice of humility inside the storm, hu chants return one voice at a time] خرد را و جان را که یارد ستود و گر من ستایم که یارد شنود حکیما چو کس نیست گفتن چه سود ازین پس بگو کافرینش چه بود [verse 5, medium energy, more meditative now, pipa in steady rhythm, rock percussion softer, erhu weaves a continuous melody overhead, rapper delivers the call to seek and travel and learn, hu chants steady underneath like a walking rhythm] تویی کردهٔ کردگار جهان ببینی همی آشکار و نهان به گفتار دانندگان راه جوی به گیتی بپوی و به هر کس بگوی [final chorus, everything returns at full force, gong strikes punctuating every line, hu chants at loudest point of entire song, rapper delivers final lines with total conviction, pipa and percussion and erhu all locked together, the bottomless nature of knowledge named as the final truth] ز هر دانشی چون سخن بشنوی از آموختن یک زمان نغنوی چو دیدار یابی به شاخ سخن بدانی که دانش نیاید به بن [outro, rock percussion fades first, pipa slows to single notes, then stops, hu chants dissolve one voice at a time, erhu plays the opening melody one final time, then single gong strike, long long decay, silence waiting for the sound to fully die, then absolute silence, the mind left alone with what it learned]