Character · The Shahnameh · Volume III

Barahamبراهام

ba-rah-HAM

A rich, miserly Jew whose hoard Bahram Goor has seized and given away.

In the poem: First at D10.3, Bahram Visits Lambak the Water-Carrier; last at D10.5, Bahram Grants Baraham’s Wealth to Lambak
Named: 11 times, in 3 sections
Main stories: D10 The Bahram Goor Cycle: Justice, Foreign Adventures, and End of a Reign (11)

In the poem’s own words

The 3 sections that name Baraham most often, with the summary from the Notes and the couplets that name Baraham. Tap a couplet number to read it in the full poem.

D10.3

Bahram Visits Lambak the Water-Carrier

An old man tells Bahram of two townsmen, Baraham the rich miser and Lambak the generous water-carrier. The king forbids the market to buy Lambak’s water, then lodges with him three nights as a stray captain, watching him pawn his gear each day to feed his guest.

D10.3.4
Baraham the Jew, a miscreant knave,Has gold and silver, more than hearts could crave.
D10.3.11
Baraham’s heart is barren, hard, and cold;His grasping nature plainly could be told.

Baraham named 2 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes

D10.4

Bahram Is Ill-Treated by Baraham the Jew

The same night Bahram asks lodging from Baraham, who lets him in only on terms: no food, no fodder, payment for any broken brick, and the dung swept out at dawn. The miser eats and drinks alone, lecturing his guest, who carries the droppings out in a scented silk cloth.

D10.4.1
He slipped away and sought the miser’s door,The house of Baraham, who hoarded store.
D10.4.5
A servant went to Baraham to tellWhat words the rider spoke, reporting well.
D10.4.6
Baraham said, “Be easy; tell him so:There is no lodging here, and he must go.”

Baraham named 7 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes

D10.5

Bahram Grants Baraham’s Wealth to Lambak

In open court Bahram sends an honest man to empty Baraham’s house. A thousand camels cannot carry the hoard. He gives it to Lambak, quotes the miser’s own proverb back at him, leaves him four dirhams to start again, and throws the emptied house open to plunder.

D10.5.3
They brought in Baraham, whose mind was bentOn malice, and whose heart held ill intent.
D10.5.6
Go to the house of Baraham, and packWhatever hoards you find, and bring them back.”

Baraham named 2 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes