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The word Dari refers to the language that is popularly known as Persian.
Dari is also called Farsi or Parsi. These different names have been
synonymously in use throughout history and refer to the same one
language. There are two theories regarding the origin of the word Dari.
One states that the word Dari came from the word Darbar which
means court, courts of kings. It argues that this language was the very
respected and chosen language for communications at royal courts of
kings. Thus it came to be known as the language of courts or Darbari.
Later in time the word Darbari was shortened and evolved to Dari
which still has the same meaning as Darbari. The second theory
relates the origin of word Dari to the word Dara or valley. Many
accomplished language researchers, admit that the language Dari or Farsi
itself was born in Khorasan, a mountainous land where people live in
numerous valleys (Dara). Therefore, the name Dari came to refer to the
language spoken by people of the valleys (Dara) or in the valleys. Dari or Farsi is a widely used language in Central Asia. It is the
official language of Iran, Tajikistan and what is known as Afghanistan.
Dari/Farsi is a branch of the Indo-Iranian (Indo-Aryan) languages, a
subfamily of the Indo-European languages. There are three different
phases in the development of Aryan languages: Old, Middle, and Modern.
Old Dari/Farsi and the Avestan language represents the old stage of
development and were spoken in ancient Bactria. The Avestan language is
called Avestan because the sacred scriptures of Zoroastrianism, Avesta,
were written in this old form. Avestan died out long before the advent
of Islam and except for scriptural use not much has remained of it. Old
Dari/Farsi, however, survived and there are many written records of old
Dari, in cuneiform called Maikhi, in Khorasan. Old Dari was
spoken until around the third century BC. It was a highly inflected
language. Middle Dari was spoken from 3rd century to 9th and is related to
several other Central Asian tongues such as Sogdian, Chrosmian and also
Parthian languages. Parthian was the language of the Parthian Empire
(Arsacid). Parthian, though left some influences on middle Dari,
declined when the Sassanian power expanded. Middle Dari had a simpler
grammar and was written in multivalent letters. Middle Dari declined
after conquest of Arabs in the 7th century and much of its rich
literature was lost or destroyed by the Arabs. However, a lot of it was
also translated into Arabic. Modern Dari began to develop by 9th century. It is a continuation of
the Khorasanian standard language which had considerable Parthian and
Middle Dari elements. It has much simpler grammar than its ancestral
forms. After the conquest of Arabs in 7th century, it is written in
arabic script, with few modifications, and has absorbed a vast Arabic
vocabulary. Dari literature is one of the richest in the world and composed of
the body of writings in Modern Dari. After the Arab conquest of 7th
century Islam replaced Zoroastrianism and Arabic became the language of
law, religion and culture in Khorasan. However with the rise of Samanids
and political revival of Khorasan, Dari emerged as a literary medium and
became the established literary form of Dari language. During the period
of Samanids a new era of literary began. The ancient tradition of
Khorasan and Islam merged together. Dari was specially instrumental in
freeing Islam from an exclusive Arabic attachment and universalized
Islam thus helping to preserve it. Dari poetry had began sporadically in Khorasan in 9th century. The
earliest main genres are the epic, qasida (Purpose poem),
masnavi (long narrative poem), and ghazal (lyric). By 10th
century Dari had become an important and melodious medium- as the
remaining works of Rudaki, a versatile poet, indicate. He is
regarded as the father of Dari poetry. After Rudaki's death the
epic tradition, with its sources in Avesta and Middle Dari texts, began.
The first epic poet was Marvazi Samarqandi who composed a Shah
Nameh (Book of Kings) in 910. Daqiqi Balkhi another poet of
tenth century wrote a better known Shah Nameh in 975. However,
Firdowsi Tusi composed another Shah Nameh (1010) which became
the very best known epic in Dari literature. Qasida, another form of poetry, was also first written by
Rudaki. Mostly qasidas are panegyrics, sometime elegiac,
didactic and occasionally they deal with philosophical or biographical
literature. The average length of qasida is between sixty and hundred
lines and they are written in couplets. Qasidas that are more than two
hundred lines are also frequently written. The earliest exponents of
this form of poetry Ansuri Balkhi, Asjadi, and Farrukhi
were the greatest poets of their time. Of many panegyrists in the
history of Dari literature, Anvari Balkhi was regarded as the
foremost. In philosophical qasidas Naser-e Khosrow was very well
respected. Omar Khayyan was another poet of this era who is
considered to be of astonishing originality. During the Samanid era the foundation of Dari prose was also laid.
Several pieces of literature demonstrated the suitability of Dari
language for sacred texts. Bal'ami, one of the vizier
(high government official) of Mansur I Samanid, published a
translation of the annals of Tabari. Also, in the same time, a group of
theologian, made a Dari copy of Tabari's commentary on the Quran.
These works and works of similar nature produced a clear demonstration
that Dari was very suitable for religious works. In fact these works
brought to an end the absolute domination of Arabic language over
religious literature. Mansur I Samanid also commissioned the
pharmacopeia of Abu Mansur Muvaffaq of Herat, the first Dari book
on medicine. An extensive technical vocabulary, applicable to philosophy
and science were also coined with the patronage of Samanids. Thirteen and fourteen century were also a period when great poets
lived and it is often called the golden age of Dari poetry. In this
period, three great poet, Moulana Balkhi (Rumi), Sadi and
Hafiz lived. They were excellent in a form o poetry called
ghazal, a passionate mystical lyric form that is composed on a
single rhyme. Ghazals were usually consists of five to fifteen
couplets and they could be of variety of meters. The first mystic
masnavi is believed to be written by Hakim Sanai of Ghazna
and is known as Hadiqat al-Haqiqa (The Enclosed Garden of Truth).
He was followed by Attar and Rumi. Rumi's
Masnavi-e-Manavi consists of six books that contains 30,000 couplets.
Masnavi's basic theme is love and Rumi in this book, is concerned with
problems bearing on the conduct, meaning and purpose of life and the
longing of the human soul for union with God. The Masnavi of
Mawlana of Balkh is considered to be the most profound and the
greatest work of Dari literature, and perhaps of all the Islamic
literature. The Masnavi is often called Quran-e-Sani
meaning the second Quran. Every page of it moves, absorbs and surprises
the reader. Masnavi form of poetry was also suitable for epic and
romantic stories. Of romantic masnavis the Khosrow -O-Shirin (Khosrow
and Shirin) of Nezami is the best known. 
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Dari Language