The first ghazal of the Divan of Ghalib

The article offers a multi-dimensional analysis of the first ghazal from the Urdu Divan by the Indian classic poet Mirza Ghalib (1797–1869). Ghalib wrote in two languages – Urdu and Persian, but it was the completion of the Urdu Divan that made him a great poet. The article presents the history of the creation and publication of the Divan, as well as discusses its sources. The authors focus on the complexity of the style and the richness of poetic themes, images and writing techniques. They also discuss the Sufi component of the first ghazal of the Divan, thus highlighting the poetics of the ghazal. The “opening” ghazal, which is placed at the beginning of a divan usually takes over the function of the hamd, i.e. the eulogy to the Creator, which is typical for a traditional introduction to a large poetic form. However, in Ghalib’s ghazal, this praise comes in a paradoxical form, which is caused by Ghalib`s high criteria of humanism and dignity. The analysis of the first ghazal helps in many ways to understand the creative credo typical for all of Ghalib's poetry, as well as the difficult path the poet had taken, while continuously improving his art of “hunting” for a poetic word. The ghazal is discussed in the context of Ghalib’s other Urdu and Persian poetry, as well as of Sufism that prevailed in India of Ghalib’s time.

An American Mystic in the East: Tracing the Origins of Robert Bly’s Interest in Persian Literary Tradition

The American poet Robert Bly is among the most important literary figures in the second half of the 20th century. He worked in various capacities as a poet, translator, teacher and workshop organizer among other things, so much so that he is sometimes compared to Ezra Pound on account of the variety of his interests and the extent of his influence. Like Pound, Bly developed an interest in Asian poetic traditions, including that of Iran, and in doing so, he translated the poetry of Rumi (better known as Mowlana in Iran) and Hafez into English. The present study seeks to trace the paths through which Bly came to develop an interest in Persian mystical poetry and to demonstrate two concerns that guided and informed his interest in this tradition; that is, the socio-political vocation of the poet and the formal advantages of the poetic form known as Ghazal. Such concerns, it will be argued, are firmly rooted within the American literary tradition and therefore this study reveals the continuities that underlie Bly’s interest in Persian poetry, suggesting that he sometimes approached Persian poetry on his own terms, without paying proper attention to the context, a shortcoming that, as will be shown, is the result not of ignorance but what may be called methodological laxity.

Origins of translation and simulation in terms of theory and practice: Translation of Muhammad Iqbal's Urdu and Persian poetry in Arabic as a model

Translation has a great importance in the development of human sciences in every age. First, we examine the theories of writers and critics mentioned in the translation and simulation. Translator must know the function of the symbolic language that differs from the metaphors and similes. Translation is the best way to enrich the languages in which the literatures are formulated, which must be in constant contact with what human thought offers, and the writer or translator must take a position of criticism and scrutiny. The translator must not forget that he does not convey the meanings of words only, but also conveys the cultural spirit and emotional life of the era in which these texts were composed. Finally, this article studies the subject of translating the poetry by the poetry and makes the translation of Muhammad Iqbal's poetry from Urdu and Persian into Arabic as a model for studying the translated works of various Arab poet translators as the theory and application, in order to know the extent of the success of the translators in their works. This is a critical study in which the descriptive analytical method is used, which is useful in studying such expressive arts. In this research, the researchers reached this conclusion that the translation of the poetry by the poetry should not be to show the linguistic and artistic prowess, but rather the language used in translation should be a realistic language studies that there are some souls behind the word that must be realized.

Introduction

The houri, the pure female companion of Islamic paradise, is a cosmic figure who has inspired interpreters across time, region, and language. The introduction presents the prevalence of the houri in print and online media and the vast and complex set of historical reflections about the houri. Houris appear in genres of Arabic theology and Arabic and Persian poetry, but they were also frequently found in English and American literature until the early twentieth century. The history of the houri is not an exclusively Islamic history. The Introduction also discusses theories about the houri’s origins and provides an overview of the chapters in the book.

The Effect of Ideology on the Form and Content of Edward FitzGerald’s Translation of Khayyam's Rubaiyat

The present study attempted to examine Edward FitzGerald, who would translate Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat (1859), was interested in Persian poetry. Translation deals with power and authority and most of the time the ideology of source text changes in favor of the dominant ideology of target text. Victorian people‘s scornful outlook toward East led to ideological manipulation of source texts by translators such as Fitzgerald. His strange reduction in his translations, especially in Khayyam's Rubaiyat results in the necessity of investigating his translation from ideological point of view. Surprisingly translation of Khayyam’s Rubaiyat has never been studied from ideological perspective and is unknown for many literary scholars. Victorian issues had a strong effect on FitzGerald‘s selection of some Khayyam's Rubaiyat.

THE POETOLOGICAL QUILL / FLUTE METAPHOR AS A WAY TO REPRESENT METALYRICS

The modern theory of metalyrics, as one of the manifestations of literary self-reflection, embraces a vast range of poetological metaphors, the metaphors of inspiration included. The German medievalist, F. Ohly, describes one of them as a written act of God, who created the world with the help of his reed pen. At the same time, the poet is portrayed not only as a writing instrument (Schreibrohr), but also as a flute. In medieval Persian poetry the theory of verse became the theme of this very verse, so that the technique and tasks of poetic activity were revealed through artistic form rather than with the use of special terms. Persian poets pay particular attention to such a metaphor of poetic writing as “writing / sounding reed”. In the final part of the article, the author analyzes texts by Goethe, and the Russian modernist poets, Mayakovsky, Khlebnikov, and Mandelstam as samples of metalyrics connected by the traditional medieval metaphor “reed pen / flute”.

HOW MĪR CALĪ-ŠĪR NAVĀYĪ’S PERSIAN POETRY INFLUENCED THE POET-WARRIOR OTTOMAN SULTAN SELIM I (1512–1520)

This article discusses the importance of Persian poetry in the work of Alisher Navoi and how much they were valued in the Ottoman Empire. In particular, it is noted that Sultan Boyazid I (1481-1512), under the influence of Navoi ghazals, ordered the creation of works in the style of poetic poetry. It is unclear whether these assumptions are based on explicit historical fact, but the author bases this assumption on the proximity of Ottoman poetry to Navoi's ghazals. The author analyzes the work of Navoi, studying the work of the Ottoman ruler Sultan Selim I. The reason for this is that he was a contemporary of Navoi, better known for his Persian poems in poetry, and, most importantly, in the first half of the XVIth century, the Ottoman literary critic Latīfī, a close a contemporary of the Sultan, admitted that Selim was inspired by the poetry of Navoi. Clarifies the issue under consideration. The author also interprets ideas in terms of couplets. Speaking about the activities of Sultan Selim I, it is said that most of his work was composed of poems, and most of them were answer poems. The author also notes new discoveries in science using Selim's Per-sian ghazals, edited by Paul Horn. The author's research confirms the similarity of couplets in the desired weight, as well as the fact that the size of seven-couplet verses in Navoi is five couplets in Selim's work, which gives the reader another novelty

Returning to the Roots

This chapter explores the enduring symbiosis between the village motif, social justice, and populist politics in Iran during the first three decades after the revolution. At first, it briefly highlights the evolution of the allegorical village in classical and contemporary Persian poetry. The focus will later be shifted towards the representation of the village in revolutionary poetry. We will see that it has remained a recurring motif in Persian poetry of the post-revolutionary period, employed by a variety of writers and state institutions for a range of means. As a symbol, it has been a conduit into which any ideology can be poured; the village allegory can be manipulated to both condemn and support the official politics of the state. The chapter examines the key socio-political influences behind the evolution of rural themes, the work of official poets, and the impact of the village on the cultural doctrine of the Islamic Republic.

ՀԱՖԵԶԻ ԲԱՆԱՍՏԵՂԾԱԿԱՆ ԱՇԽԱՐՀԻ ԱՐՏԱՑՈԼՈՒՄՆ ԱՅԴԻՆ ԱՂԴԱՇԼՈՒԻ ՆԿԱՐՆԵՐՈՒՄ

Classical Persian poetry, when embodied in the oeuvre of the contemporary artists of Iran, was becoming for some a major source of artistic inspiration. The article analyzes the inner creative bond between classical Persian poets and present-day artists, exemplified by Hafez and the modern Iranian painter Aydin Aghdashloo, whose all canvases stem from poetry, and the best of them are considered among the most valued achievements of visual arts. Hafez’s verses were conducive to introducing surrealist style to Iranian portrait and miniature by the painter Aydin Aghdashloo, who has created thereby a new style of "crumpled miniature".