scholarly journals Prophet Sulaymān in Classical Persian Poetry: Semantics and Structure of the Image

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 398-414
Author(s):  
Anna V. Moiseeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Content ◽  
Mentor Relationship ◽  
Persian Literature ◽  
Biblical Narrative ◽  
Poetic Tradition ◽  
Medieval Poetry ◽  
Special Place ◽  
Persian Poetry ◽  
Exegetical Tradition ◽  
Special Meaning

The article discusses structure, semantic content, and functioning of the image of the Qur’anic prophet Sulaymān (Biblical Solomon) in Persian medieval poetry. Analysis of the poetic material leads to a conclusion about the main spheres of application of this image and its semantic connotations both in eulogistic and religious-mystical poetry. The article defines the main motifs of the Qur’anic story of this prophet that became a part of Persian poetic tradition and how they relate to the various themes that poets touch upon. For instance, motives of Sulaymān’s power over winds and demons, as well as images of his throne and the ring that gave him that power, were used primarily in eulogies when poets compared their patrons to the legendary king. A special place in Sufi poetry is occupied by the image of the hoopoe and the motif of the bird’s language that reveal topics of a disciple-mentor relationship and leadership in the path of mystical knowledge. As a global characteristic of Sulaymān’s image, we can outline its ambivalence which has its roots in the biblical narrative, where along with wisdom one can find mention of Solomon’s arrogance. Further exegetical tradition speaks of dethronement of Sulaymān by a demon as a punishment for arrogance. Later on, these themes can be found in Persian literature in the form of motifs of humility and frailty of the earthly life, which gained special meaning in the context of didactic and mystical poetry.

Allegorical Gardens in the Persian Poetic Tradition: Nezami, Rumi, Hafez

1985 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Scott Meisami
Keyword(s):  
Striking Feature ◽  
Poetic Tradition ◽  
Persian Poetry ◽  
Nature Imagery

A striking feature of medieval Persian poetry is the abundance of nature imagery that permeates every poetic genre, and especially imagery relating to gardens. The royal gardens and parks evoked in the descriptive exordia of the qasīda, the luxuriant gardens of romance that provide settings for tales of love, the spiritual gardens of mystical writings, the flowery haunts of rose and nightingale in the courtly ghazal—all provide eloquent testimony to the importance of the garden in Persian culture.

scholarly journals Persian Poetry and Wine in its Place

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Ali Mamkhezri ◽  
Kamran Pashaee-Fakhri ◽  
Parvaneh Aadelzadeh
Keyword(s):  
Persian Literature ◽  
Persian Poetry

In the Persian literature “wine” is divided in to three sub-categories:  mystic, true and literary. The true wine is used in texts, where the intention is to show the pleasures of life, whereas in some philosophical and mystic texts such as the story of Zartosht and Goshtasb, drinking wine and Haoma juice. results in achieving knowledge and cognition and being prepared for making important decisions .Sometimes it was only used ritually and not drunk and this made them to discover the unseen and unknown secrets. Therefore, on can classify the true wine- which is also called natural win - in to two groups: natural festive and natural Hikmah/philosophical wines. Basically, they differ in their usages. The first one drunk for joy and pleasure and the second one to reach knowledge and cognition.

A Qasida by Rudaki

1926 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Denison Ross
Keyword(s):  
Long Poem ◽  
Persian Literature ◽  
Persian Poetry ◽  
History Of

In the course of an article I published in this Journal (October, 1924) entitled ‘ Rūdakī and Pseudo-Rūdakī ’ I referred to a long qaṣīda beginning with the words ‘ mādar-i-may’, which has been commonly attributed to Rūdakī, but could not be definitely assigned to that poet until the identity of the mamdūḥ Abū Ja‘far Aḥmad b. Muḥammad had been established. Moreover, Riẓā Qulī Khān, who quotes a few verses from it, was persuaded that the poem was not the work of Rūdakī but of Qaṭrān. I pointed out that I had not found it anywhere else attributed to Qaṭrān, and that the mamdūḥ was certainly not among the patrons of this poet. Thanks to my learned friend Mīrzā Muḥammad Khān of Qazwīn, the question has now been finally disposed of, and the qaṣīda is proved beyond doubt to be the work of Rūdakī. This discovery is of the highest importance for the history of Persian literature, as the qaṣīda represents the only genuine long poem of the “ Father of Persian Poetry ” which has hitherto been found. I naturally wish to disclaim any credit for the discovery, and the notes I now give and the edition of the poem which I print below are due entirely to the learned Mirza Muhammad.

The Politics of Poetics in Early Qajar Iran: Writing Royal-Commissioned Tazkeras at Fath-ʿAli Shāh’s Court

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naofumi Abe
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Reciprocal Relationship ◽  
Persian Literature ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Royal Court ◽  
Literary Movement ◽  
Persian Poetry ◽  
Late Eighteenth

Abstract The middle of the eighteenth century reportedly witnessed the emergence of the new literary movement in Persian poetry, called the “bāzgasht-e adabi,” or literary return, which rejected the seventeenth-century mainstream Indian or tāza-guʾi style. This literary movement recently merits increased attention from many scholars who are interested in wider Persianate cultures. This article explores the reception of this movement in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Iran and the role played by the Qajar royal court in it, mainly by the analysis of a specific sub-genre of tazkeras, called “royal-commissioned tazkeras,” which were produced from the reign of the second Qajar monarch Fath-ʿAli Shāh onward. A main focus will be on the reciprocal relationship between the court poets/literati and the shah, which presumably somehow affected our understanding of Persian literature today.

scholarly journals The authorship of the poem ‘Ushshaq-nama from the prospect of academic orientalist studies and modern computer technologies

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 1360-1378
Author(s):  
V. A. Drozdov
Keyword(s):  
Computational Methods ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Computational Method ◽  
Persian Literature ◽  
Full Field ◽  
Religious Context ◽  
Modern Computer ◽  
Persian Poetry ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Creation

The poem ‘Ushshaq-nama by Fakhr ad-Din ‘Iraqi (610–688 / 1213–1289) is the first poetical writing on the subject of mystical love in Persian literature. ‘Iraqi’s authorship of this work has never been questioned by researchers. However, the English orientalist J. Baldick 1973 cast a doubt on ‘Iraqi’s authorship of this poem. The article examines in detail the arguments of J. Baldick both from the point of view of the context of the creation of the poem, as well as the methods of the latest computational methods, in particular stylometry. Boldik's arguments concern both the historical and religious context in which ‘Iraqi lived and the peculiarities of his works, primarily the poem‘Ushshaq-name. The paper demonstrates that this computational method may be used for the study of the features of the style of Persian poetry and the confirmation of the authorship of doubtful Persian writings. Further expert decision full-field by Artjoms Šeļa based on stylometric methods for the establishment of the poem ‘Ushshaq- nama is expounded. While the results of the analysis of the historical and religious contexts of the poem may serve as confirmation of the authorship of ‘Iraqi and the refutation of the Baldick hypothesis, the results of the stylometric analysis do not give an unambiguous answer to the question of its authorship.

scholarly journals An Apology for Flowers

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Mehdi Aghamohammadi
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Female Sexuality ◽  
Persian Literature ◽  
Persian Poetry ◽  
The Common

Prompting critical reflection on the common claim that flowers are always symbolic of female sexuality, the present article intends to explore symbolic roles of flowers in Persian literature and provide examples, mainly from Persian poetry, with the aim of refuting the claim. The writer, in fact, attempts to highlight overshadowed facets of flower symbolism by overshadowing carnal and ignoble readings of it. The reason why Persian literature has come into the focus of this study is that flowers have always had a prominent role in Iranian culture and Persian literature; however, those delving into flower symbolism have never paid due attention to the significance of flowers in Persian literature, otherwise they would have never placed undue emphasis on the sexuality of flowers.    

scholarly journals Persian Love Poetry

2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-138
Author(s):  
David Armani ◽  
Louise Gormley
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Family Members ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Social Consciousness ◽  
Modern Poetry ◽  
Love Poetry ◽  
Persian Literature ◽  
Persian Poetry ◽  
The World

This little book is a beguiling collection of Persian love poems drawn fromboth classical and modern poetry, but united by the theme of love in its myriadinterpretations. Included are poems that explore the spiritual lovebetween humans and God, the magical love between lovers or spouses, theaffectionate love between family members and between friends, and eventhe patriotic love for one’s homeland. Each poem is accompanied with a preciousPersian chef d’oeuvre from the British Museum and, in particular, numerous illustrations of Persian miniatures. The editors come to this subjectwith vast expertise: Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis is curator of Islamic andIranian coins in the British Museum, and Sheila R. Canby is an assistantkeeper in the British Museum specializing in Islamic Iran. Both have publishedon Persian art, art history, archaeology, and myths, among other topics.Their aim is not to produce a well-researched and exhaustive collectionof Persian love poetry, but rather “to encourage readers to delve further intothe wealth of Persian literature” (p. 5). With its modest aim of capturing theinterest of novice western readers, theirs is a delightful book that charms itsway to success.As explained in the “Introduction,” Iranians and other Persian (Farsi)speakers treasure poetry not only because of the beauty of the poetic languageitself, but also because they derive joy and comfort from the poets’ perspectivetoward the world. The most famous Persian poets often have a mystical(Sufi) viewpoint toward life, whereby passion is a path to reach God and thetruth. Interwoven into the people’s social consciousness, poetry holds arevered place in Persian culture. A single verse from the best-known Persianpoems can capture an idea with elegant brevity. Iranians and other Persian(Farsi) speakers still recite poetry as a succinct and powerful way to expressa point, thought, or emotion. To explain how deeply embedded poetry is inthe Persian psyche, many oft-quoted proverbs draw much of their meaningand message from Persian poetry ...

scholarly journals Experiencing the Word of God: Reading as Wrestling

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-93
Author(s):  
David Worsley
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Content ◽  
Propositional Content ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Biblical Narrative ◽  
Convincing Argument ◽  
Hebrew Scripture ◽  
Areas Of Concern ◽  
Literary Devices

Analytic philosophers are generally advised to steer clear of the substantive use of literary tropes whose ‘semantic content outstrips their propositional content’ (Rea, 2009: 6). But this poses a problem for analytic theologians whose primary texts are beset by such literary devices. Can such material be usefully marshalled, or should it be left to one side, to remain unemployed by analytic theologians? In The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture Yoram Hazony offers what I take to be the most convincing argument to date that the entire biblical narrative (literary tropes and all) ought both to be read as philosophy and that the philosophical content contained in the biblical narrative can be marshalled into non-narrative propositional arguments. In this paper I will address three areas of concern for his project, and by extension, what I take to be concerns for other analytic theologians who might follow his lead.

scholarly journals The Effects of Kindness in Saadi's Bustan

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 1208
Author(s):  
Nasrin Mozaffari ◽  
Faranak Siyanat ◽  
Mina Khubanian ◽  
Ali Akbar Khansir
Keyword(s):  
World Literature ◽  
Persian Literature ◽  
Persian Poetry ◽  
The World ◽  
Human World

This study intends to highlight the effects of kindness in one of the best literature and poetry books called "Bustan" in the world. Every poetry is a model of culture and civilization to the human world.  Persian literature is one of the richest literatures over the world. Persian poetry is one of the most fruitful branches of the world literature in the area of aphorism. One of the main topics of aphorism is about kindness which is typified in its greatest mood in Saadi's Bustan. Kindness and love are good ethos which has been recommended to man in all of the moral Scriptures. Understanding the effects of kindness is the least thing a man can do to foster a spirit of love in him and others. Therefore, choosing this book, ''Bustan'', which is full of the effects of kindness, is one of the best choices. The main aim of this article is to investigate the effects of kindness from Saadi's viewpoint in "Bustan,".

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