DOCSLIB.ORG

Nizami Ganjavi and Turan (TO 880 Anniversary of the Great Poet)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Nizami Ganjavi and Turan (TO 880 Anniversary of the Great Poet) Asian Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies 4(4): 55-60, 2021; Article no.AJL2C.71831 Nizami Ganjavi and Turan (TO 880 Anniversary of the Great Poet) Parviz Firudin Oqlu Kazimi1* 1Baku State University, Baku, Azerbaijan. Author’s contribution The sole author designed, analyzed, interpreted and prepared the manuscript. Article Information Editor(s): (1) Dr. Atila Yildirim, , Necmettin Erbakan University, Turkey. Reviewers: (1) Razieh Eslamieh, Islamic Azad University, Iran. (2) Nwabudike, Christopher E, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Nigeria. (3) Emanuel Bălan, Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Romania. Complete Peer review History: https://www.sdiarticle4.com/review-history/71831 Received 05 June 2021 Accepted 10 August 2021 Original Research Article Published 16 August 2021 ABSTRACT Articles about the “concept” and “danger” of “Turanism” in political and publicistic works are often published in the international media, and this is so convincing that it has an impact on some scientific literature (history of literature, anthologies). In fact, on the contrary, materials obtained from scientific literature should be a source of political science and journalistic materials. In this context, we see that attempts to find a "brand" in historical research are still ongoing. We try to reveal the general picture, taking contradictions on this topic from the sources of the works of Nizami Ganjavi and Firdosi, as well as on the basis of existing historical documents. Has there ever been a state called Turan in history? If not, what was the source and purpose of this legend? If there was no Turan, how did Iran exist? Who won the war between Iran and Turan? If Firdosi knew this story, then why does Nizami write in his works the complete opposite of this story? As you can see, in addition to collecting tips from the works of Nizami and Firdosi to answer many questions, one can distinguish place names and ethnonyms from ancient mythology and Zoroastrianism and determine the true "threat" by creating a general picture, defining the history and geography of events. This article attempts to answer some questions by comparing a number of historical, literary events and positions (multicultural approach of the great poet, comparative analysis of creativity, etc.). _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected]; Kazimi; AJL2C, 4(4): 55-60, 2021; Article no.AJL2C.71831 Keywords: Nizami and Ferdosi; multiculturalism in the works of Nizami; 880th anniversary of Nizami; Nizami and Turan. 1. INTRODUCTION Nizami knows Firdosi, who wrote and worked two hundred years before him, is familiar with his Nizami Ganjavi is an great poet who left his mark work and marks him as a poet of a high level. But on world literature in the 12th century. Many when we look at the works of Firdosi, we see that works have been written, researched and his whole worldview is divided into good and bad, translated into many languages of the world good and evil the point of view "ours" and "not about him. In this article, we will try to look at ours." It is clear here that he was under the Nizami from an unprecedented perspective, influence of Zoroastrianism and that all natural comparing material from a number of sources and social phenomena took place between good and literary passages about his multicultural and evil [3-6]. The main idea in the poems of thinking, religious and ethnic tolerance, Shahnameh Firdosi preserved in history, is the dedication to human values and attitudes Iranian-Turanian war and in this war there are towards history [1,2]. "good" and "evil", that is, Iran, which is the side of "good", and Turan, which is the side of Nizami lived in the XII century, knew his time well "evil ". and could freely express his views on various statesmen. Nizami, who considers himself a It should be noted that in the work of Nizami, Turk, writes: Pedər bər pedər mərəmra tork bud - there is "division" as well as "opposition". In Ke hər yek be nıru yeki gorg bud. (Текст "Khosrov and Shirin": the line "If he is Keyhosrov, написан на персидском языке в латинской then we are Afrasiyabs", declares that Turan is транскрипции) Translation of the verse: My able to confront Iran and answer on equal terms. father and his father were Turks - each in his However, Nizami does not represent "Iran" or place, like a wolf.1 "Turan" as enemies [7,8]. In the work of Nizami, Also, in different parts of Nizami's works, he talks both Keikhosrov and Afrasiyab are worthy about the Turks and different peoples, presents personalities. them, attracts attention, and expressing a Galley Proof multicultural approach to all peoples. We are not The idea that a number of new mythological mistaken when we say that Nizami's "Seven events were included in the text of the "holy Beauties" is a work that literally expresses and book" in the Sassanian version of the Avesta promotes multiculturalism. Also, the word "Turk" was analyzed in detail in my research. Firdosi and hundreds of "components" (phrases) and introduces "Turan", based on the mythology of expressions derived from it are noted in the the Sassanid period, and does not hide his Persian hamsa Nizami, "Turk", "Turki", "Turkan", incomprehensible "hatred" for the Turks. In the "Turkane", "Turktaze", "Turkvash". "and others. legend, based mainly on Sassanid mythology, The poet's goal was to express steadfastness, Firdosi builds a model of war that has no history, courage, beauty, kindness, fearlessness, defines the good and bad sides in this war, takes courage and so on. The poet even praises the the position of the “Iranian” side as a side of kings, whom he praises for being Turks, thinking good, evaluates the “Turanian” side as an evil that they are far from disgraceful. Turk and says: ابا سرخ ترکی، بدی، گربه چشم تو گفتی دل از رده دارد به خشم که آن ترک بد ریشه و ریمن است هم بد نژاد است و هم بد تن است تن ترک بد ذات بی جان کنم زخونش دل سنگ مرجان کنم از آن پس بپرسید، از آن ترک زشت ای دوزخی روی دور از بهشت چه مردی و نام و نژاد تو چیست؟! زاینده را بر تو باید گریست بود ترک، »بد طینت« و »دیو زاد« نام پدرشان ندارند یاد در جایی هم هرمز از یکی از بزرگان و پیران دربار سواﻻتی می کند که این شخص جواب می دهد _________________ 1 Nizami Gəncəvi. Divan. Bakı, Mütərcim; 2019.s.4. (Nizami Gancavi. Divan. Baku, 2019.p.4.) (in Azerbaijani) 56 Kazimi; AJL2C, 4(4): 55-60, 2021; Article no.AJL2C.71831 Translation of the verse: (This is a Turk who has Achaemenid period. Otherwise, he would have a bad race and is cunning. He has a bad praised them in his work. Since, knowing about background and a bad soul (body). the "Bekhestun letters", about the exploits of Kirius or Darius, he would certainly have included I will destroy the body of an evil Turk, make the this in his poem. heart of a stone "coral" from his blood Unlike Firdosi, Nizami illuminates in his work, the Ask him, you shameful Turk, you are a man of history of the Achaemenid period and creates an hell and your face is far from heaven image of the legendary Alexander, different from the history of Herodotus. He compares What kind of man you are, what is your name Alexander to the ruler of Barda, not to Kyrius. and origin, the one who brought you into this world should mourn you. Nizami does not call Alexander “a descendant of a giant who does not know his roots and A Turk can be evil and is born of a "giant" who ancestors”, but presents him as an “intellectual”. does not know his father and does not know his On the whole, Nizami Ganjavi is far from thinking name.) “winner or loser”. Nizami thinks about the "wise and ignorant" and at the end of his work gives Admittedly, many of the concepts and "perfection" to all people [9]. expressions of the Persian language of the 9th- 10th centuries, based on the expression of poetic In his poem written to Sultan Sanjar, the Seljuk thought, create problems in translation. When Shah, Nizami Ganjavi considered justice, loyalty translating, it is difficult to convey the and beauty to be the characteristic features of aggressiveness of thought and the scope of the Turks: دولت ترکان که بلندی گرفت مملکت از داد پسندی گرفت "hatred. Naturally, Persian was not a "folk چونکه که تو بیدادگری پروری ترک نه ای، هندوی غارتگری ,language at that time. In the Middle Ages dictionaries were developed to explain many of the words and phrases used in Firdosi's Translation of the verse: (When the state of the Shahnama. At that time, the Persian language Galley Proof Turks "rose", their countries flourished and saw was developed in the temples "Mobids" and justice. "If you oppress the people," then you are "Mitraistomi", epics and legends were created no longer a Turk, maybe some kind of a robber) and disseminated. Islam, which was already established in the ninth and tenth centuries, did 2. HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT not participate in this process. TOURANISM Firdosi's writings about neighbors living together According to encyclopedias [10,11,12], the word do not bring him "headship" and respect. It is Turan is of Persian-Tajik origin and is known as a known that even after his death he was denied a geographical area in Central Asia. It was created burial in the "common" cemetery. He was buried by adding the Persian plural form "an" to the in the garden of his house in the city of Tus, and word tour.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Monthly Letter August 15 1936
    2)*<¿<yt*d' Mi' cS)a¿u¿Ua£ &%¿éaSopÁ¿ea¿ &xaéébnt4' — ¿ r 9?l«K¿r 9 . August IS, 1936. ZOROASTER Dear Friend:- Zarathustrism, or Zoroastrianism as it is more be properly ordered because the Zend language is commonly called, was the ancient faith of the utterly extinct and the old records have found no Irano-Aryan peoples who at some remote period perpetuators in the modern world. migrated from India and civilized Persia, Media Greeks writers derive the term Zoroaster from a and other parts of ancient Chaldea. According to combination of syllables so that the word can have the earliest tradition the Magian Rites of the Per­ one of several meanings. First, a worshipper of the sians were established by the fire-prophet Zarathus­ stars. Second, the image of secret things. Third, a tra, but no reliable information is available as to the fashioner of images from hidden fire. Or most exact time of his life and ministry. He is variously probably, fourth, the son of the stars. placed from the first to the tenth millenium before The oldest of the Iranian books, called the Sesatir, Christ. This uncertainty results in part at least contains a collection of teachings and revelations from the destruction of the libraries of the Magian from fourteen of the ancient prophets of Iran, and philosophers by the armies of Alexander the Great. in this list Zoroaster stands thirteenth. It is not Zarathustra, in Greek Zoroaster, is a generic improbable that at some~prehistoric time a great name bestowed upon several initiated and divinely sage, an initiate of the original Mysteries of the illumined law-givers and religious reformers among Aryan Hindus, established the line of priest-prophets the Chaldeans.
    [Show full text]
  • A Comparative Analysis of Educational Teaching in Shahnameh and Iliad Elhamshahverdi and Dr.Masoodsepahvandi Abstract
    Date:12/1/18 A Comparative Analysis of Educational Teaching in Shahnameh and Iliad Elhamshahverdi and dr.Masoodsepahvandi Abstract Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and Homer's Iliad are among the first literary masterpieces of Iran and Greece. These teachings include the educational teachings of Zal and Roudabeh, and Paris and Helen. This paper presents a comparative look at the immortal effect of this Iranian poet with Homer's poem-- the Greek blind poet. In this comparison, using a content analysis method, the effects of the educational teachings of these two stories are extracted and expressed, The results of this study show that the human and universal educational teachings of Shahnameh are far more than that of Homer's Iliad. Keywords: teachings, education,analysis,Shahname,Iliad. Introduction The literature of every nation is a mirror of the entirety of thought, culture and customs of that nation, which can be expressed in elegance and artistic delicacy in many different ways. Shahnameh and Iliad both represent the literature of the two peoples of Iran and Greece, which contain moral values for the happiness of the individual and society. "The most obvious points of Shahnameh are its advice and many examples and moral commands. To do this, Ferdowsi has taken every opportunity and has made every event an excuse. Even kings and warriors are used for this purpose. "Comparative literature is also an important foundation for the exodus of indigenous literature from isolation, and it will be a part of the entire literary heritage of the world, exposed to thoughts and ideas, and is also capable of helping to identify contemplation legacies in the understanding and friendship of the various nations."(Ghanimi, 44: 1994) Epic literature includes poems that have a spiritual aspect, not an individual one.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 EBRU TURAN Fordham University-Rose Hill 441 E
    Turan EBRU TURAN Fordham University-Rose Hill 441 E. Fordham Road, Dealy 620 Bronx NY, 10458 [email protected] (718-817-4528) EDUCATION University of Chicago, Ph.D., Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, March 2007 Bogazici University, B.A., Business Administration, 1997 Bogazici University, B.A., Economics, 1997 EMPLOYMENT Fordham University, History Department, Assistant Professor, Fall 2006-Present Courses Thought: Introduction to Middle East History, History of the Ottoman Empire (1300-1923), Religion and Politics in Islamic History University of Chicago, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Graduate Lecturer, 2003-2005 Courses Thought: Ottoman Turkish I, II, III; History of the Ottoman Empire (1300-1700); Islamic Political Thought (700-1550) GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS Visiting Research Fellow, Institute for Historical Studies, University of Texas-Austin, 2008-2009 Grant to attend the Folger Institute's Faculty Weekend Seminar,"Constantinople/Istanbul: Destination, Way-Station, City of Renegades," September 2007 Dissertation Write-Up Grant, Division of Humanities, Franke Institute for the Humanities, University of Chicago, 2005-2006 Grant to participate in Mellon Summer Institute in Italian Paleography Program, Newberry Library, Summer 2005 Turkish Studies Grant, University of Chicago, Summer 2004 Overseas Dissertation Research Fellowship, Division of Humanities, University of Chicago, 2003 American Research Institute in Turkey Dissertation Grant, 2002-2003 Turkish Studies Grant, University of Chicago, Summer 2002 Doctoral Fellow in Sawyer Seminar on Islam 1300-1600, Franke Institute for Humanities, University of Chicago, 2001-2002 Tuition and Stipend, Division of Humanities, University of Chicago, 1997-2001 PUBLICATIONS Articles: “Voice of Opposition in the Reign of Sultan Suleyman: The Case of Ibrahim Pasha (1523-1536),” in Studies on Istanbul and Beyond: The Freely Papers, Volume I, ed.
    [Show full text]
  • Zarathushtra
    366 THE OPEN COURT. in the restoration of a single roadway in Pekin, he would have earned for himself the respect and gratitude of all. His mistakes, however, were due to his past edu- cation. Nevertheless, his influence over the literati in China and elsewhere could not be disputed, and for such practical measures as above indicated we must look to some other Peter the Great or perhaps Napoleon. ZARATHUSHTRA. Professor A. V Williams Jackson, the Zend-Avesta Scholar of Columbia Uni- ity, New York, published in the January number of the Cosmopolitan an in- teresting illustrated article on Zarathushtra or Zoroaster, the prophet of Iran, born about 660 B. C. The canonical gospels tells us of the three Magi who came from the East to worship Christ and an apocryphal gospel adds the statement that they MISCELLANEOUS. 367 Takht-i Bostan Sculpture. The figure supposed to be Zarathushtra is the third figure in the row. It stands on a plant-like pedestal and the head is surrounded by a halo of rays, 368 THE OPEN COURT. came in compliance with a prophecy of Zoroaster. We quote the following passage which is a condensed statement of Zoroaster's life : "Tradition says that Zoroaster retired from the world when he came of age and that he lived for some years upon a remote mountain in the silence of the forest Idealised Portrait from a Sculpture Supposed to Represent ZarathushTra. (From Karaka's History of the Parsees.) or taking shelter in a lonely cave. It was the solemn stillness of such surroundings that lifted him into direct communion with God.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Modern Politicization of the Persian Poet Nezami Ganjavi
    Official Digitized Version by Victoria Arakelova; with errata fixed from the print edition ON THE MODERN POLITICIZATION OF THE PERSIAN POET NEZAMI GANJAVI YEREVAN SERIES FOR ORIENTAL STUDIES Edited by Garnik S. Asatrian Vol.1 SIAVASH LORNEJAD ALI DOOSTZADEH ON THE MODERN POLITICIZATION OF THE PERSIAN POET NEZAMI GANJAVI Caucasian Centre for Iranian Studies Yerevan 2012 Siavash Lornejad, Ali Doostzadeh On the Modern Politicization of the Persian Poet Nezami Ganjavi Guest Editor of the Volume Victoria Arakelova The monograph examines several anachronisms, misinterpretations and outright distortions related to the great Persian poet Nezami Ganjavi, that have been introduced since the USSR campaign for Nezami‖s 800th anniversary in the 1930s and 1940s. The authors of the monograph provide a critical analysis of both the arguments and terms put forward primarily by Soviet Oriental school, and those introduced in modern nationalistic writings, which misrepresent the background and cultural heritage of Nezami. Outright forgeries, including those about an alleged Turkish Divan by Nezami Ganjavi and falsified verses first published in Azerbaijan SSR, which have found their way into Persian publications, are also in the focus of the authors‖ attention. An important contribution of the book is that it highlights three rare and previously neglected historical sources with regards to the population of Arran and Azerbaijan, which provide information on the social conditions and ethnography of the urban Iranian Muslim population of the area and are indispensable for serious study of the Persian literature and Iranian culture of the period. ISBN 978-99930-69-74-4 The first print of the book was published by the Caucasian Centre for Iranian Studies in 2012.
    [Show full text]
  • Rostam As a Pre-Historic Iranian Hero Or the Shi'itic Missionary?
    When Literature and Religion Intertwine: Rostam as a Pre-Historic Iranian Hero or the Shi’itic Missionary? Farzad Ghaemi Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Azadi Square, Mashhad, Khorasan Province 9177948883, Iran Email: [email protected] Azra Ghandeharion* (Corresponding Author) Department of English Studies, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Azadi Square, Mashhad, Khorasan Province 9177948883, Iran Email: [email protected] Abstract This article aims to show how Rostam, the legendary hero of Iranian mythology, have witnessed ideological alterations in the formation of Persian epic, Shahnameh. Among different oral and written Shahnamehs, this paper focuses on Asadi Shahnameh written during the 14th or 15th century. Though he is a pre- Islamic hero, Rostam and his tasks are changed to fit the ideological purposes of the poet’s time and place. A century later, under the influence of the state religion of Safavid Dynasty (1501–1736), Iranian pre-Islamic values underwent the process of Shi’itization. Scarcity of literature regarding the interpretation of Asadi Shahnameh and the unique position of this text in the realm of Persian epic are the reasons for our choice of scrutiny. In Asadi Shahnameh Rostam is both a national hero and a Shi’ite missionary. By meticulous textual and historical analysis, this article shows how Asadi unites seemingly rival subjects like Islam with Zoroastrianism, philosophy with religion, and heroism with mysticism. It is concluded that Asadi’s Rostam is the Shi’ite-Mystic version of Iranians’ popular hero who helps the cause of Shi’itic messianism and performs missionary tasks in both philosophic and practical levels.
    [Show full text]
  • The Socioeconomics of State Formation in Medieval Afghanistan
    The Socioeconomics of State Formation in Medieval Afghanistan George Fiske Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2012 © 2012 George Fiske All rights reserved ABSTRACT The Socioeconomics of State Formation in Medieval Afghanistan George Fiske This study examines the socioeconomics of state formation in medieval Afghanistan in historical and historiographic terms. It outlines the thousand year history of Ghaznavid historiography by treating primary and secondary sources as a continuum of perspectives, demonstrating the persistent problems of dynastic and political thinking across periods and cultures. It conceptualizes the geography of Ghaznavid origins by framing their rise within specific landscapes and histories of state formation, favoring time over space as much as possible and reintegrating their experience with the general histories of Iran, Central Asia, and India. Once the grand narrative is illustrated, the scope narrows to the dual process of monetization and urbanization in Samanid territory in order to approach Ghaznavid obstacles to state formation. The socioeconomic narrative then shifts to political and military specifics to demythologize the rise of the Ghaznavids in terms of the framing contexts described in the previous chapters. Finally, the study specifies the exact combination of culture and history which the Ghaznavids exemplified to show their particular and universal character and suggest future paths for research. The Socioeconomics of State Formation in Medieval Afghanistan I. General Introduction II. Perspectives on the Ghaznavid Age History of the literature Entrance into western European discourse Reevaluations of the last century Historiographic rethinking Synopsis III.
    [Show full text]
  • A Tree Atop the Mountain: Mobad Manikan and the Elusive Promises of Masculinity
    A Tree Atop the Mountain: Mobad Manikan and the Elusive Promises of Masculinity Cameron Cross University of Michigan Introduction Look! Have you ever seen, or heard from any wise man, such deeds as Ramin has done to me time and again? He’s wearied my heart of sweet life! By the hands of Vis, her Nurse, and my brother, I forever burn in fire; confounded by these three sorcerers, no salve can ease this pain I’m in. Indifferent to chains and the brig, they fear neither Hell nor God; what should one do with three demons, who know not fear or shame, who brashly do whatever they want, who do not fear to be disgraced? Though I am king of world-kings, I know no one more wretched than me. What use this rule and lordship, when my days are black as pitch? I dispense justice to all, but I’ve a hundred plaints against my lot: men at war have seen my tyranny, but now a woman has become my tyrant. ([I] 60.31–41)1 1Citations are from Vīs va Rāmīn, ed. Muḥammad Rawshan (Tehran: Ṣidā-yi Muʿāṣir, 1377), using the shorthand notation (chapter.line). The original Persian passages can be found in the Cameron Cross <[email protected]> is Assistant Professor of Iranian Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is interested in questions of genre, performance, subjectivity, and ethics, particularly as they appear in the romantic and heroic epics of the pre-Mongol era, but in conversation with other literary forms and traditions.
    [Show full text]
  • The Poet & the Poem 1 EPITOME of the SHAHNAMA Prologue 10 IT
    CONTENTS List of Illustrations xiii Preface xvii Introduction: The Poet & the Poem 1 EPITOME OF THE SHAHNAMA Prologue 10 I THE PISHDADIAN DYNASTY 11 REIGN OF GAY UM ARTH 11 REIGN OF HUSHANG 11 REIGN OF TAHMURATH 12 REIGN OF JAMSHID 13 The Splendour of jamshid 13 The Tyranny of Zahhak 13 The Coming of Faridun 15 REIGN OF FARIDUN 16 Faridun & his Three Sons 16 REIGN OF MINUCHIHR 18 Zal & Rudaba 18 Birth & Early Exploits of Rustam 20 REIGNS OF NAWDAR, ZAV & GARSHASP 21 War with Turan 21 Robinson, B.W. digitalisiert durch: The Persian Book of Kings IDS Basel Bern 2014 viii THE PERSIAN BOOK OF KINGS II THE KAYANIAN DYNASTY 23 REIGN OF KAY QUBAD 23 Rustam's Quest for Kay Qubad 23 REIGN OF KAY KA'US 24 Disaster in Mazandaran 24 Rustam's Setzen Stages 26 Wars of Kay Ka'us 30 The Flying Machine 31 Rustam's Raid 32 Rustam & Suhrab 32 The Tragedy of Siyawush 36 Birth of Kay Khusraw 40 Revenge for Siyawush 41 Finding of Kay Khusraw 41 Abdication of Kay Ka'us 43 REIGN OF KAY KHUSRAW 43 Tragedy of Farud 43 Persian Reverses 45 Second Expedition: Continuing Reverses 46 Rustam to the Rescue 47 Rustam's Overthrow of Kamus, the Khaqan, and Others 48 Successful Termination of the Campaign 50 Rustam & the Demon Akwan 51 Bizhan & Manizha 53 Battie of the Twelve Rukhs 57 Afrasiyab's Last Campaign 60 Capture & Execution of Afrasiyab 63 The Last Days of Kay Khusraw 65 REIGN OF LUHRASP 65 Gushtasp in Rum 65 REIGN OF GUSHTASP 68 The Prophet Zoroaster 68 Vicissitudes of Isfandiyar 69 Isfandiyar's Seven Stages 70 Rustam & Isfandiyar 74 Death of Rustam 76 REIGN OF
    [Show full text]
  • 'The Conceits of Poetry': Firdausi's Shahnama
    Mario Casari ‘The Conceits of Poetry’: Firdausi’s Shahnama and the discovery of Persian in early modern Europe The Muse of the Coming Age In one of his few meta-literary stories, written in 1861, the famous Danish fairy tale writer, Hans Christian Andersen, posed a question to the reader about the future of literature in the century to come. ‘The Muse of the Coming Age, whom our great grandchildren, or possibly a later generation still, but not ourselves, shall make acquaintance with, – how does she manifest herself ? What is her face and form? What is the burden of her song? Whose heart-strings shall she touch? To what summit shall she lift her century?’ Responding with the gaze of a Romantic writer, Anderson proposes a number of possible figures, at the crossroads of the poetic tradition and modern scientific prose. But what is certain to him is that the Muse ‘in the vast workshop of the present . is born, where steam exerts its sinews’; ‘The nurse has sung to her of Eivind Skalde-spiller and Firdusi, of the Minnesingers and what Heine, boyish-bold, sang from his very poet’s soul . ’. Thus, to Andersen, the Persian poet Firdausi was among the required body of knowledge for anyone who aimed at creating literature in the coming age; an age whose Muse was launched towards the future as a locomotive pushed by the force of steam. Andersen added, with emphasis and visionary passion: ‘Europe’s railways hedge old Asia’s fast- sealed culture-archives – the opposing streams of human culture meet! .
    [Show full text]
  • Extracts from Nizami Ganjavi's Poetry 1. One Night Desperate Majnun
    OUDCE Islamic Mystical Poetry 2 Extracts from Nizami Ganjavi’s poetry 1. One night desperate Majnun prayed tearfully, “Oh Lord of mine who has abandoned me. Why has Thou ‘Majnun’ called me? Why hast thou made a lover of Leila of me? Thou hast made me a pillow of wild thorns, Made me roam day and night without a home. What dost Thou want from my imprisonment? Oh Lord of mine, listen to my plea!” The Lord replied, “Oh lost man, With Leila’s love I have your heart filled; The beauty of Leila that you see Is just another reflection of Me”. (from ‘Layla and Majnun’ in Islamic Mystical Poetry, p. 65) 2. “This text requires a single name, not two,” He answered them. “Majnun alone will do. If someone delves within a lover’s heart, He’ll find the loved one in its deepest part.” “But why,” they asked him, “from among the two It’s Layla who’s been cut away, not you?” “It’s wrong,” he said, “for her to be the cover That hides within itself this ardent lover. I am the veil for what should be internal. I am the outer shell; she is the kernel.” (from ‘Layla and Majnun’ in Nizami Ganjavi and His Poetry, p. 23 ) 3. As the pen began its first movement It produced first word and speech. When they raised the curtain of non-existence, The first manifestation was word and speech. Until the word gave voice to the heart, The soul did not submit its free body to clay.
    [Show full text]
  • The University of Chicago Poetry
    THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO POETRY AND PEDAGOGY: THE HOMILETIC VERSE OF FARID AL-DIN ʿAṬṬÂR A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE HUMANITIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF NEAR EASTERN LANGUAGES AND CIVILIZATIONS BY AUSTIN O’MALLEY CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MARCH 2017 © Austin O’Malley 2017 All Rights Reserved For Nazafarin and Almas Table of Contents List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................vi Note on Transliteration ...................................................................................................................vii Acknowledgments...........................................................................................................................viii Introduction..........................................................................................................................................1 I. ʿAṭṭâr, Preacher and Poet.................................................................................................................10 ʿAṭṭâr’s Oeuvre and the Problem of Spurious Atributions..............................................12 Te Shiʿi ʿAṭṭâr.......................................................................................................................15 Te Case of the Wandering Titles.......................................................................................22 Biography and Social Milieu....................................................................................................30
    [Show full text]