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This article is a three-part series exploring the deep cultural significance of turquoise in Persian literature and its potential for contemporary cultural and economic development.
A Scholar’s Tribute
This exploration begins with a tribute to the late Dr. Reza Anzabinejad, whose work titled “Brighter than the Turquoises of Nishapur” serves as both inspiration and foundation for this study. In his introduction to the translation of “Thamar al-Qulub” by Abdul-Malik al-Tha’alibi al-Nishapuri (d. 429 AH), Dr. Anzabinejad described the dimmed eyes of literary scholars in their twilight years as “brighter than all the turquoises of Nishapur,” teaching us to recognise the true value of thinkers and the rare gems of their time.
This perspective resonates deeply: turquoise, economy, culture, and development cannot flourish without the breath of such individuals. These are the people who create meaning and interpret it thousands of times over, as they see fit. The current study also acknowledges the valuable guidance of Dr. Alireza Esmaeilpour in introducing ancient sources and providing invaluable direction for this research.
The Hermeneutical Approach
This study, presented in response to the symposium “Turquoise, Industry, and Culture,” operates within the realm of “meaning” and interpretation. Taking a hermeneutical perspective through the windows of Attar’s poetry and his worthy successor, Maulana Rumi, it seeks to create a contemporary vision with the goal that the result of looking from past to present will foster a better and more triumphant today.
Deconstructive Methodology
Using hermeneutical methods, we first employ Derrida’s deconstruction approach to position ourselves within the creative thinking of this symposium and to speculate about its objectives. In textual deconstruction, we are like mechanics who, to teach students, take apart each component of a car and disassemble it, but whose purpose in this destruction is reconstruction and the knowledge and awareness that results from this process.
In deconstructing the symposium’s title, we encounter three elements: turquoise, industry, and culture. The speculations of this literary and epistemological miner are as follows:
Three Fundamental Hypotheses
1. The Current State of Nishapur’s Turquoise Given the millennia-old history of Nishapur turquoise and its traces in culture, history, and ancient texts, the current state of this precious stone and its associated industries, as well as the cultural and developmental conditions of its birthplace (Nishapur), are not what they should be.
2. The Potential for Renaissance It is possible to breathe new life into the elements of university, industry, culture, and economy by creating connections between university and industry and by building upon the towering shoulders of Nishapur’s cultural and historical heritage. In this reciprocal relationship, each involved element will receive its due share.
3. The Literary and Cultural Perspective The author’s perspective must emerge through the window of culture and literature. Symbols are both created by writers and are the subject of their study and research. In hermeneutics, the discussion of symbols is very significant. In economics and marketing, the topics of branding and symbolic advertising are extremely important, and often, under equal conditions, inferior goods that are well-promoted sell better than higher-quality goods with weaker advertising.
The Challenge of Cultural Heritage
It seems that while some countries engage in falsifying history and culture, we have been unable to benefit from ancient symbols such as Nishapur, turquoise, Attar, Khayyam, and others. The use of these symbols has remained limited to occasional boasting. Throughout their studies in Persian language and literature, this author never felt any lack regarding their birthplace, and there was no lesson or text that did not mention the names of Attar, Khayyam, Nishapur, and its great figures.
For example, if we look at the index of names in Bayhaqi’s History, the name of Nishapur and its residents is mentioned more than 110 times, while the name of Bayhaq itself, which is the author’s birthplace, appears only 3 times as one of the villages effectively under Nishapur’s administration. Of course, if this heritage is used to understand our roots, what we have been is useful, but if we want to make this same heritage a source of pride, we must tell ourselves: “having possessions is an account,” and in this invoice, our situation is not appropriate.
Research Background and Scope
Based on the symposium’s objectives and its cultural approach, this study will address two main topics. Regarding research background and the cultural approach to the issue, limited serious work appears to have been done in this field. Two articles by Dr. Vahid Ruyani, titled “The Mythical Background of Turquoise in Persian Literature” and “Victory and the Throne of Turquoise”, are among the notable examples. In the first article, the meaning and influence of turquoise are primarily attributed to the arousal of emotions from different colours and mental paradigms, including mythical effects such as those of Tishtar.
Beyond this, various books on ancient mineralogy and gemmology, such as the “Jawaharnama” by Nezami Jowhari Nishapuri, and several modern specialised articles that have examined Nishapur turquoise from geological and mining perspectives are available. Good bibliographies regarding various precious stones can be found in Zavosh’s “Mineralogy in Ancient Iran.”
The Path Forward
In this article, with an approach emphasising the importance of the subject and their possessions in creating meaning, we first address the famous image reflected in the mirror of Persian literature based on the relationship between “piruz” (victorious) and “piruzeh” (turquoise). We examine this from etymological and morphological perspectives and with an approach rooted in ancient cultures and languages. Subsequently, we will turn to a more transcendent and pathfinding perspective on this matter from Attar Nishapuri and his successor, Maulana Rumi, which aligns with the views of philosophical hermeneutics.
The Literary Presence of Turquoise in Persian Literature
A brief survey reveals that turquoise appears with remarkable frequency in the mirror of Persian literature. Scholar-poets like Khayyam (in his Nowruznameh) have written about turquoise from both non-literary and literary perspectives through tales and poetic imagery. Mystical poets like Attar and Maulana have woven this image into mystical themes. While examining all these instances is beyond the scope of this article and would require much more extensive treatment, we can observe some of the poetic images produced with the help of turquoise symbolism:
The colour of turquoise is compared to the blue of the sky, or conversely, the sky is depicted like a turquoise gem. The sky is portrayed as an inverted turquoise vessel, as a spinning blue-robed Sufi, or as a turquoise throne upon which the moon or sun typically rules and reclines. Among these images and themes, the relationship between piruz (victory) and piruzeh (turquoise) is our focus.
In Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, kings sit upon turquoise thrones, wear turquoise caps or crowns, and use turquoise in their equipment: swords, maces, decorated belts, vessels, cups, wine, medicines, coffins, and more. Since this evidence has been detailed in the article “Victory and the Turquoise Throne,” we need not repeat the examples here and instead approach the subject from another perspective.
Etymological Analysis: Victory and Turquoise
Traditionally, most ancient sources establish a connection between piruzeh (turquoise) and piruz (victory), and its Arabic translation as al-firuzaj, with the characteristic shajar al-ghalabah (tree of triumph) also suggesting this relationship. However, it seems that in the ancient and Middle Persian etymology of the word piruzeh, greater precision is needed.
Dr. Vahid Ruyani, in his article “The Mythical Background of Turquoise in Persian Literature,” writes:
“In Middle Persian, this stone was called pīrōčak and pīrōzak (Farhoshi, 1381: 465), which shares the same root as victory (pērōčīh)” (Ruyani, 1390: 118).
However, among specialists in ancient cultures and languages, Farhoshi’s Middle Persian dictionary is no longer considered current. This late scholar mentioned eight types of words used in the meaning of victory under the entry for victory, but did not provide a morphological analysis.
Dr. Mohammad Hasandoost, in his etymological dictionary of the Persian language, has done valuable work, attempting to reach an acceptable etymology for each entry. He has cited evidence from Persian texts, provided equivalents in several related languages, and, when necessary, presented disagreements among linguists and orientalists about the etymology of a word.
Hasandoost’s Analysis
Based on the evidence cited, Hasandoost considers the etymology of piruz (victory) and piruzeh (turquoise) to derive from two different roots and prefixes. He believes that “the derivation of piruzeh from piruz (victorious, triumphant) on the basis that turquoise wards off evil from its bearer is a type of folk etymology” (Hasandoost, 1393: 772).
Based on this dictionary’s evidence, in the most concise form:
Victory (piruz): In ancient Iranian, it derives from pari-aujah, consisting of the prefix pari (which in Avestan is pairi) meaning “around” and “encompassing.” This prefix, through the meaning of “around” and “surrounding,” later acquired meanings of comprehensive, totality, and universality. Therefore, pari-aujah means someone who possesses comprehensive power and strength, which brings about victory.
Turquoise (piruzeh): From ancient Iranian pati-raučah, from the prefix pati and raučah meaning “day/light” in ancient inscriptions, derived from the root rauk (from which the word roshan [bright] is also derived), meaning brightness and radiance. The prefix pati (in Avestan paiti) means “against,” “opposite,” and “in front of.”
The Darius Foundation Inscription at Susa
One of the most significant archaeological documents supporting the ancient use of turquoise is the foundation inscription of Darius’s palace at Susa. This inscription, dating back 2,500 years, documents the trace of turquoise when Darius mentions the materials needed for building the Apadana. The inscription mentions several gems and minerals, but two are particularly relevant to our study:
Professor Kent translates axšainah as an adjective meaning “non-lustrous” or “faded and matte,” formed from a negative prefix plus xšaina (brilliant/shining, like the second part of khurshid [sun] and jamshid). He compares this adjective to the borrowed Greek word Pontos Axeinos, meaning “Black Sea,” where axeinos is the same borrowed adjective axšineh applied to the sea (pontos).
Visual Understanding from the Shahnameh: Opposition of Signs
One of the earliest literary sources and a rich repository of Iranian mythology is Hakim Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. The threads of turquoise and its connection to the turquoise throne, victory, and triumph are also seen in this work.
Just as linguists have turned to the showcase of existence—humanity—to understand the world and seek the macrocosm in the microcosm, it has been barely a century since they began turning to language with this emphasis to understand humanity and the world. The emergence of analytical philosophy and the linguistic approach had this very goal. Among continental philosophers, many have discovered this importance. Heidegger correctly perceived this necessity, leaving his famous sentence: “Language is the house of Being” (Heidegger, 1971: 63). Later, Gadamer continued this path further than him, concluding that: “Being that can be understood is language” (Gadamer, 2004: 470).
Analytical philosophers like Wittgenstein believe that the boundaries of our world are tied to the boundaries of our thought and language, and language is both the tool of thinking and indeed the structure of thought. On the other hand, language takes its images and structures from the world. In this interaction, one can claim a give-and-take relationship.
The System of Sign Opposition
One of the linguistic rules that Saussure first addressed is the system of “sign opposition,” where each sign or word receives part of its meaning through its syntagmatic relationship with other surrounding signs and other synonymous or antonymous signs. As Saussure explained:
“Each word indicates a concept different from other words. If we compare language to a net, concepts are merely holes in this net that are empty in themselves, have no positive content, and are specified and determined only by their boundaries and limits.”
In naming and thinking about the wide spectrum of primary colours and intermediate colours, we encounter a similar opposition that ultimately results in approximate naming.
Regarding turquoise, its naming and surrounding thoughts are governed by the same rule. We previously discussed kasah, kaskineh, and kasah-chum. In the Shahnameh, the name “kasah rud” (blue river) appears several times, which for this author suggests nothing but the connection of greenness and the blue colour of water, and it’s not unlikely that the original name of the Caspian Sea (Kaspin) also originates from here.
Ferdowsi’s Vision: The Turquoise Throne
In the Shahnameh, in a section dedicated to Ferdowsi’s devotion to Mahmud of Ghazni and Ferdowsi’s dream about him, we find enlightening verses:
Thus, my bright soul saw in a dream / That a radiant candle rose from water. All the face of the world, night of lapis lazuli / From that candle became like a yellow ruby Plain and mountain became like silk / A turquoise throne appeared Seated upon it a king like the moon / A crown upon his head instead of a cap
We said that language and its structures and images in literary products are in a give-and-take relationship with the surrounding world and the culture of the language’s people. To better understand the images in the above verses, we should first look at three gems: yellow ruby, turquoise, and lapis lazuli.
In terms of brilliance and luminosity, these three have a descending order. That is, if Ferdowsi in the above verses compares yellow ruby to the sun or a candle-like light that illuminates the dark night of time, and if he compares night in colour and darkness to lapis lazuli (lazuli in Latin), it’s not at all inappropriate. Or if in the foundation inscription of Susa’s Apadana, two stones—turquoise and lapis lazuli—are respectively described as non-lustrous and bluish, it seems to be based on a comparison referred to in the system of sign oppositions.
The Mystical View of Meaning and Victory
One of the most fundamental principles of various human and mystical schools is the reference to humanity as a copy of the divine book—a microcosm that contains a sample of the macrocosm and can establish a more special relationship with creation through the heart and interior, experiencing the journey through horizons (afaq) via the journey within the soul (anfus). The famous verses attributed to Najm-ud-din Razi in his Mirsad al-Ibad are well-known in this regard:
O copy of the divine book that you are / O mirror of royal beauty that you are. Outside of you is not whatever exists in the world / Seek within yourself whatever you desire that you are
Rumi’s Cosmic Vision
Rumi, contemporary with Najm-ud-din Razi, also refers to this theme in many of his works. We begin with one of the most turquoise-like examples that reveals the presence of turquoise imagery in his mind:
O wheel of heaven, you are the base of turquoise / The basket of the world is your beggar’s bowl A hundred years the heaven serves your dust / Without fulfilling the right of even one day of yours
Attar of Nishapur has also repeatedly brought up this same theme, considering humanity as the creator of meaning. The entire theme and central meaning of his Musibat-nameh is the affliction of humanity caught in the world, who knocks on all material, human, and faithful doors, but ultimately the traveler of thought (salik-i fikrat) as the book’s main character understands that “what he possessed, he was desiring from strangers,” and finally his own soul is the traveler who gives him answers and guidance.
The Journey to Minerals
One section of this quest thematically corresponds with our discussion of minerals, stones, and turquoise—the section where the traveller and seeker of thought goes to minerals seeking their help. The reference of the traveller of thought continues throughout Musibat-nameh, but his recourse to minerals contains many terms for gems and precious stones that relate to our discussion:
The pure traveller of clear faith / Came out of the sea, before the mineral
He said: O you saddened by certainty’s burden / Sometimes stone, sometimes iron, sometimes gem
From certainty, you are both stable and still / You hold the world’s currency safely
Since you come from the mine pure of ego / All that you have is entirely mineral
One stone of yours is the Right Hand of the Merciful / Another stone of yours is Solomon’s signet ring
That one commands div and peri / The other makes both worlds its ring
That one dressed in poverty’s black / The other became king through love
That one rules the earth’s kingdom / The other has abundance like the right hand
Your iron is Alexander’s mirror / Your gem is Ali’s Zulfiqar
One of your gems is the scripture of both worlds / Became Jamshid’s cup, world-revealing
Your currency is silver and gold and pleasant pearls / Ruby and sapphire and countless emeralds
Your diamond’s qualities cannot be described / Neither can the tongue be cut by diamond
Sometimes greenness from enamel is your sustenance / Sometimes from turquoise, a hundred victories yours
Both from pearls, your night-lamp’s brightness / And from your rubies, red, the rose garden’s face
In Persian:
سالک شوریدهٔ پاک اعتقاد
آمد از دریا برون، پیشِ جماد
گفت: ای افسرده از بُردِ یقین
گاه سنگی، گاه آهن، گاه نگین
از یقین هم ثابتی هم ساکنی
نقدِ عالم چون تو داری، ایمنی
چون ز معدن میرسی پاک از مَنی
هر چه داری هست جمله معدنی
هست یک سنگت یمینِ رحمن است
وان دگر سنگت نگینِ سلیمان است
آن یکی فرماندهِ دیو و پری
وان دگر را هر دو کون انگشتری
آن یکی در فقر پوشیده سیاه
وان دگر از عشق گشته پادشاه
آن یکی را مُلکِ رویِ زمین
وان دگر را یساری، چون یمین
آهنت آیینهٔ اسکندری است
گوهرت را ذوالفقارِ حیدری است
یک نگینت نسخهٔ هر دو سرای
جامِ جمشیدی شده، گیتینمای
نقدِ تو سیم و زر و دُرِّ خوشاب
لعل و یاقوت و زمرد بیحساب
وصفِ الماس تو نه گفتن توان
نه به الماس زَبان سُفتن توان
گاه سرسبزی زِ مینا روزیت
گاه از پیروزه صد پیروزیت
هم ز دُرّ شبچراغت روشنی
هم ز لعلت سرخ، رویِ گلشنی
چون تو داری منصبی و رُتبتی
حاصلم کن سوی معنی قُربتی
چون تو داری در محکداری عمل
نقدِ قلبم را به زر کُن در بدل
چون جماد از رهرو بشنود راز
چون جمادی ماند از اندیشه باز
گفت: من افسردهایم بیخبر
نه نشان دارم ز معنی، نه اثر
When the minerals heard this secret from the traveller / they remained like minerals, thoughtless. They said: “We are sorrowful and unaware / We have neither sign of meaning nor trace”
The Ocean’s Response
Of course, Attar’s seeker of thought doesn’t limit himself to minerals but, among tablet and throne and pen and prophets and many others, goes to an ocean that both possesses turquoise gems and is associated with water and Tishtar (the deity of water to whom turquoise’s victory-giving property is attributed), and according to Attar, holds gem and water sword-like together. However, the ocean also reveals its helplessness before humanity:
The traveller came before the water-filled ocean / He said: O you intoxicated and ruined by its saltiness
The wave of your love turns everything upside down / Your salt and passion make bitter things sweet
The thirsty one satisfied with himself has come / The wet-natured dry-lip has come forth
You have drunk all this, yet you need more / You have patience if you need more
Throwing your head down is your pride / Be proud for soul-sacrifice is yours
If you were blue, Sufi work would suit you / Lover truly, you would be gem-bearing
If there were no saltiness in you, alas / In blueness you would be a gem like a sword
Sufi in turquoise clothing, gem-bearer / Boil if you boil well, you harvest well
You have brought yourself intoxicated with saltiness / You have brought to hand what you seek
Look at my eyes like blood-shedding clouds / Show me a particle of your vision
You are surrounded, you constantly have the centre / Give me this if you constantly have that
You have both gem and water like a sword / Why do you withhold water from the thirsty?
In Persian:
سالک آمد پیش دریاي پرآب
گفت: ای از شور او مست و خراب
موجِ عشقت میکند زیر و زبر
شور و شوقت میکند شیرین و تر
تشنهسیریاب از خویش آمده
تَر مزاجِ خشکلب پیش آمده
این همه خوردی، دگر میبایدت
حوصله داری، اگر میبایدت
در سر اندازي، سرافرازي تو راست
سرفرازی کن، که جانبازی تو راست
گر کبودی، صوفیِ کارآمدی
عاشقی، الحق گهردار آمدی
گر نبودی شور در تو، ای دریغ
در کبودی، گوهری بودی چو تیغ
صوفیِ پیروزهپوشِ گوهری
جوش میزن، چون به جوشی خوش دری
خویش را در شورِ مست آوردهای
وانچه میجویی، بهدست آوردهای
چشم من بنگر چو ابرِ خونفشان
ذرهای از بینشانم ده نشان
تو محیطی، در میان داری مدام
هین، مرا این ده اگر آن داری مدام
هم گهر هم آبداری همچو تیغ
آب از تشنه چرا داری دریغ؟
زین سخن افتاد در دریا خروش
آب او چون آتشی آمد به جوش
گفت: آخر من کیم؟ سرگشتهای
خشکلب، تَردامنی، آغشتهای
ای عجب! در تشنگی آغشتهام
وز خجالت، در عرق گم گشتهام
چون ندارد تشنگیِ من سری
چون نشانم تشنگیِ دیگری؟
From these words, the ocean fell into uproar / Its water came to boil like fire. It said, “Finally, who am I? You’ve confused one / Dry-lipped one, you’ve wet the hem, you’ve soaked O wonder, I’m soaked in thirst / And from shame I’ve become lost in sweat…” Since my thirst has no head / how can I recognise another’s thirst?
The Human as Centre of Meaning
This thinking is not exclusive to mystical poets, but many others have reached such self-knowledge:
If you see any victory, know it from yourself / Under the tent of this turquoise (Anvari, 1337: 111)
Such instances of self-reference in Persian literature are numerous, and space is limited. I conclude this section with two verses from Attar and his worthy successor Rumi:
O friend, know that this turquoise heaven / Does not beg from our gathered circle. Whoever draws a breath from this breast of milk / Becomes mature even if only one day old (Attar, Mukhtarnameh, Chapter 50: 340)
Be silent, for people don’t know sound from voice / You are the one who knows turquoise from victory (Rumi, Ghazaliyat-i Shams, Ghazal: 3074)
The Goodness and Hope-Giving Strategy of Human Interpretations
Although meaning and understanding, according to Gadamer, is a game in which both the understanding subject and the object to be understood are involved (Gadamer, 2004: 102), based on what came from the mystics’ view of self-reference and the multiplicity and lack of certainty of fixed meaning among modern thinkers, the role of the subject and knowing agent—that is, humanity—is prominent.
Now that humanity, especially the learned of the community, can be creators of meaning, we must see what kind of meaning, with what strategy, serves the common good? Is methodology important or intentionality? Is realism important or pragmatism? Answering these questions requires another occasion, but Rumi has remarkable verses in his epistemology or hermeneutics on this matter:
The servant’s word “whatever Allah wills” / Rather it is encouragement to sincerity and effort
If interpretation makes you warm, that is right / If it makes you sluggish, know this as reality
This came for warming / So that the hopeless might take both hands
Ask the meaning of the Quran from the Quran itself / From one who has set fire to desire
It was not so you would be lazy in it / Before the Quran become sacrificial and humble
So that service would make you more prepared… / Oil that became entirely sacrificed to the rose
Make you hopeful and active and modest / So that it became the very soul of that Quran
That is transformation, not interpretation / Whether you make the oil smell of rose, or rose
In Persian:
قولِ بنده: «إن شاءَالله کان»
بلکه تحریض است بر اخلاص و جِد
حق بود تأویل «کان» گرمَت کند
ور کند سُستت، حقیقت این بدان
این برای گرم کردن آمدست
معنی قرآن ز قرآن پُرس و بس
بهر آن نبود که تنبُل کُن در آن
کاندر آن خدمت فزون شو مستعِد
پُر امید و چُست و با شرمت کند
هست تبدیل و نه تأویل است آن
تا بگیرد ناامیدان را دو دست
وز کسی کآتش زدست اندر هوس
پیش قرآن گشته قربانی و پست
روغنی کافَتْ فدای گل به کُل
تا که عینِ روحِ آن قرآن شدست
خواه روغن بوی کن، خواهی تو گل
Rumi believes that the purpose of interpretation should be to give warmth and hope, and discouraging interpretations are not permissible. He presents three interpretive principles that align with Augustinian theories:
Contemporary Implications
Based on the non-certainty and open nature of interpretation and understanding, today the pen is also in our hands, and we are players in the arena of understanding and thought-creation. We can adopt the strategy of warmth-giving and hope-giving according to Rumi’s first interpretive principle.
Now that human worth is such that Rumi in the previous verses depicted heaven as the stirrup or base of humanity’s ring, and it has become as clear as day to Attar’s heart that the vast expanse of the heavens is merely a turquoise stone from the mine of the most noble of creatures, one can live better and understand better:
On Attar’s heart it became bright like the sun / That the blue sky is a turquoise from your mine
Conclusion
This comprehensive exploration of turquoise in Persian culture reveals multiple layers of meaning that extend far beyond mere mineralogy or decorative use. Through our hermeneutical journey, we have uncovered:
Historical Continuity: From Darius’s palace inscriptions to contemporary Persian poetry, turquoise has maintained its significance as both a material object and a spiritual symbol across millennia.
Linguistic Complexity: The etymological relationship between piruz (victory) and piruzeh (turquoise), while traditionally accepted, reveals deeper complexities when examined through ancient Persian linguistic evidence.
Mystical Transformation: In the hands of master poets like Attar and Rumi, turquoise transcends its physical properties to become a metaphor for spiritual victory, divine illumination, and the cosmic significance of human consciousness.
Cultural Strategy: The treatment of turquoise in Persian literature demonstrates how cultural symbols can be consciously employed to create meaning, hope, and identity—a strategy particularly relevant for contemporary cultural and economic development.
As we face the challenge of revitalising Nishapur’s turquoise heritage in the modern world, these poets remind us that true victory lies not merely in the extraction and marketing of stones, but in understanding and articulating their deeper significance within the continuing story of Persian civilisation. The turquoise mine that matters most may indeed be the one within ourselves—the source from which all meaning, beauty, and victory ultimately spring.
Nishapur Turquoise: Deep in the arid mountains of northeastern Iran, where the ancient Silk Road once carried precious goods between East and West, lies one
How a humble mineral from Nishapur became heaven’s messenger on earth Persian Turquoise: In the ancient city of Nishapur, where the Silk Road once carried
The relationship between the Persian poet Attar of Nishapur and turquoise runs deeper than mere artistic preference. Born in the city of Nishapur—literally “the city
Discover the Beauty of Natural Persian Turquoise: Handmade Jewellery Collection
