Qaside of Tarsaieh and its first interpretation

Qaside of Tarsaieh", meaning ode to Christianity, is one of the most difficult Qasides (odes) of Khaghani. Its intricacy rises mainly from the use of the jargons particularly found in Christianity. This, in itself, has forced many men-of-letters to put interpretations on this poem, the first of which is an interpretation belonging to Sheikh Azar-e- Toosi (866 A.H), which is firstly reported completely in his Meftah-ol-Asrar, and later on, briefly in his Javaher-ol-Asrar. Thereafter, many of the succeeding researchers take benefits of this old interpretation among whom are Zarinkob (in his translation of Minoreski's interpretation) and Sajjadi (in his elucidatory work on Khaghani's Divan) Sheikh Azar-e- Toosi has merely explained 35 out of 91 couplets of this poem ranging from brief word explanations to full verse interpretation. However, this interpretation, due to its priority as well as its somehow eccentric interpretations which are ignored in the succeeding interpretations could be of high value for researchers.