Literary Research
Year:2003 | Volume:1 | Issue:1|Papers Count:11

Since most of the stories narrated in Shahname relates to the period after the rise and development of Zoroastrianism, the natural effects of the new religion on these stories, has made some readers imagine that Ferdowsi has had a kind of inclination to this ancient religion of Iran. This article, by criticizing the mentioned idea, through studying the very text of Shahname, clearly shows that Ferdowsi has not been, but a true moslem.

History of essay writing in Iran dates back to the Sassanid era. It included official documents and personal letters and sometimes the prominent figures remarks and sayings as well as moral and religious advice. In the post-Islam era, one can say that essay writing began by emergence of Dari Persian language during Yakub Leith Ansaris era. Such people as Mohammad Bin Vasif Sagazi, the document writer of Yakub and later Abolfazl Beihaghi and other writers made efforts in this field. With the influence of the Persian language and literature on the subcontinent, besides grammar and culture, essay writing captured the attention of literary figures and writers. Such an interest led to the creation of numerous masterpieces in various fields such as epistolary writings, letters of invitation, letters and documents the number of which is many times greater in the subcontinent than those existing in Iran. Most of these masterworks have been composed in verse, seasoned with rhyme and decorated with literal and rhetorical terms. Some of the pieces are combination of verse and prose. Almost all the characteristics of abstruse prose style can be traced in the writings of the Timurid era. Of course some other pieces are also found among these, which have been written in a very simple style

Hamdollah Mostofi and Dolatshah Samarghandi have mistakenly nicknamed Khajeh Abou Yaghoub Yousef Hamedani as Abou Yousef. This mistake has influenced the succeeding works as well. Unlike what the public think, Khajeh Yousef Hamedani was born in Bizani Jard(old name: Bouzanjerd) that is todays Hamedan. His tomb, presently a place of worship, can be found in the remains of the old city of Marv. Therefore referring to the city of Bayramali as Khajehs place of burial is a slip, which penetrated into the works of modern Iranian researchers due to Saeed Nafisis oversight. Although the researchers have been doubtful about the position of Sanaee as a student of Khajeh, the two are likely to have met one another. To date, the only masterpiece by Khajeh which has survived is the book entitled" Rotbatol Hayat". Recently part of the manuscript of the book " Al-kashf An Manazel Al-Saerin Ala Allah Azzevajal" of Khajeh has been found. Moreover, according to evidence at hand, the manuscript of " Anvar-e-Hekmat" meaning" Rays of Wisdom" which has been recorded as a work of Khajeh in the national library does not belong to Khajeh at all.

This article basically deals with the fact that there exist masterpieces in the domain of childrens literature by looking beyond which one realizes that by posing the most fundamental ontological questions and by living and seeing the world as children do one can ascend as high as the firmament. Moreover, one can link the apparently affirmative but actually interrogative sentences latent in these seemingly simple stories and their symbols with the Quranic tales and mystical lessons. From such a perspective and with an analytical look, the article is assessed as an endeavor through which the author tries to link The Hansel and Gretel story (one piece of the story collection of Gream Brothers) and the discovery of the symbolic depths of the story which though disguised in a childish mask are quite wonderful and informative, to the Quranic teachings and mysticism of Jalaeddin Roumi.

The memory of death, which has always turned the happiness of many into misery and discomfort, has been a source of tranquility for the true mystics and Sufis. Being inspired by the Quranic culture and hadiths, which portray death of the faithful as pleasant and brilliant, mystics have always looked upon death through a mystical angle. In their view, mans celestial soul has been detached from the divine Creator and has been deprived of enjoying His intimacy when he was exiled to this mortal world and was confined in the prison of body. Mystics have always considered themselves entrapped in two prisons: prison of body and prison of the material world. Therefore, all their attention and efforts were focused on ridding themselves of these two prisons. Thus, for the true mystics, death is not disgusting and ghastly but lovely and exquisite. Contemplation on the mystics moods at the time of death and what they say about death reveal some quite wonderful points. A group of them got inspirations as regards the exact time of their departure on account of their extra-ordinary wisdom and foresight and have warmly embraced death. Another group put their love and enthusiasm for death to thought-provoking and strange sentences. No doubt, Moalana stands on top of all these lovers of death and mystics as far as thanatophilia is concerned. His collection of lyrics is full of poems in praise of the delicacy and gracefulness of death in a lovely and enthusiastic way.

This article is an effort to recognize the devil of "Az"_avarice- and its significance in Greek mythology and Zoroastrian texts as well as the worthy masterpiece of Ferdowsi_Shahnameh_ and the evil nature of this mighty and powerful devil the ways of fighting with whom have been discussed in some mythological and Zoroastrian sources. The importance of Azs presence in Shahnameh has been dealt with based on certain verses of Shahnameh . The author has tried his best to besides unveiling the avarice of a number of kings and heroes mentioned in Shahnameh, highlight the deceit of this treacherous evil. Those kings who successfully resisted the deceit of the devil and promoted justice, goodness and generosity have been introduced in the article as well. In a nutshell, the article differentiates between avarice and greed and making the best of what life offers and other such issues.

Nations categorize fictions differently. In the Persian literature, tales and epistolary writings can be considered as fiction while in the European literature, fiction only includes certain styles according to their modern definitions. In this article, the author differentiates between the modern age and the contemporary era. She divides the contemporary and modern age literature into seven phases in view of major historical events. In this chapter only the first two phases are dealt with: First phase or the era of modernity (1206-1285) and the second era that is from the establishment of the constitutional government till Reza Khans rule( 1285-1299).

Although some Literary Criticizers consider the "Imagination" as an excessive element of poetry but that is very important. They believe that besides the rhythm and the beauty , each poetry is full of imagination. Hindi methode is a good example of imaginary poetries and some poets suach as Bidel are good symbols of this style. Subtlety, Imagination, application of new campositions, personification to lifless things, using of symbols and methods of ancient poets, simplicity in statements. Novelty of words, Decription of the nature, palying with words, Repetition of Rime and some words, Paradox and Gnosticism, are the characteristics of Bidels poetries.

Unlike contemporary poetry, hemistiches in modern poetry are not arranged on a predetermined and specific style. In fact, by composition of poems, the poet designs the writing structure of his work. It can be said that there exist as many writing structures as the poems composed to this date. In this article the author endeavors to while reminding the reader of modern poetrys violation of norms, analyze some aesthetic functions of this genre. The author focuses on the role played by the style of writing in helping the reader in properly reading a poem and the styles contribution to the true conveyance of thoughts and feelings as well as distinguishing the images and highlighting the concepts of time and place.