Ahmad Shamlou (Persian pronunciation: [忙h藞m忙d(-e) 蕛藞蓲藧mlu藧], also known under his pen name A. Bamdad (Persian: 丕. 亘丕賲丿丕丿鈥�)) (December 12, 1925 鈥� July 24, 2000) was a Persian poet, writer, and journalist. Shamlou is arguably the most influential poet of modern Iran. His initial poetry was influenced by and in the tradition of Nima Youshij. Shamlou's poetry is complex, yet his imagery, which contributes significantly to the intensity of his poems, is simple. As the base, he uses the traditional imagery familiar to his Iranian audience through the works of Persian masters like Hafiz and Omar Khayy谩m. For infrastructure and impact, he uses a kind of everyday imagery in which personified oxymoronic elements are spiked with an unreal combination of the abstract and the concrete thus far unprecedented in Persian poetry, which distressed some of the admirers of more traditional poetry. Shamlou has translated extensively from French to Persian and his own works are also translated into a number of languages. He has also written a number of plays, edited the works of major classical Persian poets, especially Hafiz. His thirteen-volume Ketab-e Koucheh (The Book of Alley) is a major contribution in understanding the Iranian folklore beliefs and language. He also writes fiction and Screenplays, contributing to children鈥檚 literature, and journalism.
丕亘乇丕賴蹖賲 丿乇 丌鬲卮 = Abraham in the Fire (1973), Ahmad Shamlu
Abraham in Fire is one of the most well-crafted and famous contemporary Persian poems written by Ahmad Shamlou.
Shamlou connects his poem to the collective consciousness of the whole world, presenting characters of the hero and even the social scapegoat rather in a curious way as we read about the case of a man who sacrifices himself for land and love and, yet, who is betrayed by others due to their ignorance and biases.