PERSIAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
Year:2010 | Volume:1 | Issue:4|Papers Count:8

Despite different definitions and interpretations, like meta-language, meta-criticism and metafiction, Meta poetry is essentially applied to a poem that is about poetry itself and the poet consciously focuses on the subject of poetry. Therefore, depending of his views, the poet explains the nature, the characteristics, and the function of poetry.Among the Persian poets, Nezami Ganjavi is one who most frequently returns to Meta poetry and the best example in this regard is his Makhzan al-Asrar. Besides focusing the main subjects of his poem (unity of God, eulogy of the prophet, moral teaching, etc.) he also deals with the subject of writing, especially writing in verse. Indeed he devotes some whole parts to such subject as the origin of his poem, the virtues of writing, and the value of eloquence. In one of his stanzas (stanza 14th with 66 distiches) one can clearly see a variety of issues, from the proper subject and function of poetry to the moral status of poets and its kinship with prophecy, and from criticism of the eulogists to the relation between poetry and magic, etc.If we include comparison in the realm of meta poetry, besides the examples mentioned above, in the 12th stanza of his book Nezami compares Makhzan al-Asrar with Sanai’s Hadiqa al- Haghigha, where, like every other poet who prefers his own poem, he opines that his work is superior to Sanai’s.In this article, the aim is to identify Nezami’s Meta poetry and to discuss the above issues according to the theories of the poet’s age and current literary theories and to explain the conclusion.

The story of Barda that has been mentioned in Firdausi’s Shah Name and Nezami Gangavi's Sharaf Nameh has an old history in prose texts and depicts an ideal society ruled by women under a queen named Nooshabeh.The women’s isolation, discipline, responsibility, self-sufficiency, and independence in Barda city are interesting, admirable and worthy of analysis. In the light of contemporary critical conventions, the story can be seen as a soft and tranquil, even submissive, vision of feminism which challenges many of the current radical views and movements. According to this story, we find that feminism has always been the concern of societies from the ancient times and it has always been subject to certain moral and cultural standards. This is exactly the opposite of the contemporary amoral and radical views. The research methodology is a library one.

Resurrection, alongside with monotheism and good deeds, shape Nezami’s basic thought. In the history of Persian poetry, each poet sees the world in a different way and, according to his ideology and word view, justifies it in his poetry. But Nezami’s attitude and views about this world and the afterlife seems more comprehensive and complete. Quitting the mundane world and trying to achieve prosperity in the world to come is the essence and the soul of Nezami’s poetry. Whenever Nezami speaks of the present world, the hereafter and the Day of Judgment is mentioned immediately after. Man’s return to the origin of creation and his physical resurrection are constant subjects of Nezami’s poetry. In fact, he not only sees the reality of the mundane world and speaks about its good and bad aspects, but he also looks forward to a superior world. This article is meant to analyze the concept of the Resurrection in Nezami’s works, especially in Makhzan-al Asrar which derives from Quranic verses and Hadiths. The relationship of the Resurrection with such topics as religion, the world, justice, and forgiveness will be clarified therewith.

Ascent, as the end of the mystic’s spiritual flight, has, for a long time, been dealt with by several mystic poets who usually claim to have experienced the voyage to the world beyond. Nizami Ganjavi makes the same claim in his Makhzan Al-Asrar, where he speaks about his ascent in a night as vivid as day.The purpose of this article is to study Panj Ganj in order to deal with this claim and to analyze its reflection in his works.

The Indian style of Persian poetry originated in the 11th century. Invention of new themes, fancy, brevity, paradox, personification, and most significantly, parallelism are among the characteristics of this style of poetry. Some other literary schools such as Vasukht, or shunning the beloved, preceded and coexisted with the Indian style. Since one can find the roots of any style or literary school in the preceding ones, one can find the roots of some characteristics of the Indian style, especially parallelism, and the concept of Vasukht, in some preceding styles, such as the Azerbaijani style or in the work of some celebrated poets like Nezamis.Since from among the characteristics of the Indian style, parallelism has a special place in Nezami’s Panj Ganj, after some preliminary words about Nezami and the Indian style and a review of the concept of Vasukht and the history of parallelism in Persian literature, we show the roots of Indian style features and the concept of Vasukht in Nezami’s Panj Ganj.

Nezami was a great poet whose poetic aspect was more dominant and stronger than his philosophical aspect and his interest in the “whys” and “hows” of life. The history of his thoughts and views was rather constant and standing, as his life was.Like all Ash'arites, his religious views are based on little use of wisdom and its "wooden foot”, which is responsible for his consistency and constancy. Any protest and nonconformity derives from cogitation, comparison and application of wisdom. Nezami sometimes praises wisdom; he even wrote a book about the merits of wisdom, but, in many places, he denunciates wisdom and emphasizes its inapplicability. This is why we find little protest and challenge in his thought. In Nezami's thought, the entire world moves towards its destined goal. Such a view requires a total monolithic worldview in which there is little room for contradiction and conflict.Moreover, the dominance of his poetical self over his philosophical aspects has aggravated he situation. This combination makes Nezami a storyteller whose chief concern is fantasy, description, excitement, emotion and attractions, not philosophical investigation and questioning.Therefore, in terms of philosophical contradictions we find holistic and general schemes, not detailed and subtle workings of reason.

Nezami, the well-know sixth century poet, is a unique master of imagery in Persian literature. His love of imagery and colloquial language has led him to various proverbs and metonymies. His mastery of the theoretical and practical wisdom and good command of different branches of knowledge has caused this unique variety of his imagery.Figurative language, as one essential feature in Nezami’s works, has a key role in expressing his thoughts and ideas. His frequent use of a variety of colloquial metonymies, make him the unrivalled master of colloquial proverbs. His frequent use of proverbs in Leili ya Majnoun is a product of his life style and his mastery of the public culture of his era. He used these proverbs to affect the reader and to approach the colloquial language with all its social, moral, educational and cultural issues. The purpose of this study is to investigate the diversity of colloquial sayings in Leily va Majnoun.

Haft Peikar or Bahram Nameh is the fourth in Nezami’s five books and it is second only to Khosrow Va Shirin in terms of literary quality and merit. The poem is the best embodiment of earthly beauty and a unique mixture of epic and lyricism. In fact, Haft Peikar is praise of justice and forgiveness and denunciation of injustice and misrule.The story of 'Gonbad Sorkh' is one of the famous Iranian tales and the fourth narrative among the seven stories of Haft Peikar. The story has a long history in the literature of ancient Persia and other countries. The basic elements of the storey have remained the same, but it has been narrated in various forms in different sources. Nezami, the great poet of Persian literature, was also a great philosopher of his time. He never wrote a word without some purpose in mind. This article is intended to analyze the story of 'Gonbad Sorkh' in Haft Peikar from different perspectives and views such as characterization and plot. The ultimate goal is to understand the main purpose and meaning of the story and Nezami's ultimate message.