Persian Literature

Abstract The qasida “Rostam-Nāmeh” by Malek al-Sho‘arā Bahar is a prominent example of the fusion of epic and satire in contemporary Persian poetry. By employing various techniques of humor creation, it presents a socio-political critique of Iran’s conditions during the Pahlavi era. By bringing Rostam, the mythological hero of the Shahnameh, into the heart of modern society, Bahar humorously and allegorically reflects the collapse of values, the corruption of elites, and the crisis of cultural identity.This study is based on a descriptive–analytical method and, drawing on Gahraman-e Shiri’s (2024) humor-creation model, examines the satirical styles used in the poem, demonstrating how the fundamental elements of humor are prominently present in Bahar’s narrative structure and poetic imagery. The findings analyze the nature of the humorous techniques employed in Bahar’s poetry and show how he has succeeded in creating a work within the genre of the “mock-epic.”By modeling Rostam after today’s unstable characters and placing him in various situations and states that are incompatible with the Rostam portrayed in the Shahnameh, Bahar produces a form of political satire. This qasida illustrates how a poet can draw on mythological elements and cultural heritage to offer an indirect yet effective critique of existing crises. Bahar’s approach can also be observed in the poetry of figures such as Hafez and Obeyd-e Zakani.  

Abstract Urbanization and civilization, with their multifaceted transformations, have continuously posed new challenges to humanity—challenges that simultaneously highlight individuality and freedom while intensifying anxiety and a sense of identity loss. Erich Fromm, a prominent humanistic psychoanalyst, explores how individuals confront freedom, cope with the anxiety of isolation, and fulfill essential needs that underlie these responses. This study employs a descriptive-analytical approach based on library research to reexamine The House of the Edrisis, a novel by Ghazaleh Alizadeh. Drawing on Fromm’s theory of Escape from Freedom, it investigates how the novel’s characters react to freedom and manage their experiences of loneliness. Findings suggest that most characters mitigate their fear of freedom by seeking refuge in the past and collective security. Some evade freedom through submission, while others do so through exerting control. A marked contrast emerges between rural and urban characters: the passionate, revolutionary spirit of the foundry workers, representing rural life, reflects attentiveness to their fundamental needs, whereas city dwellers, neglecting such needs, are depicted as passive and isolated. Additionally, elements of Romanticism are evident, revealing the author’s inclination toward a return to the simplicity and naturalness of rural life.

Abstract Within the Shahnameh curriculum in departments of Persian literature, two of the four units are dedicated to the story of Rostam and Sohrab. A considerable number of textbooks and commentaries have been produced for teaching this section. In addition to instructional materials compiled for students, scholarly works-such as critical editions, annotated texts, and academic articles-have offered interpretations of vocabulary, expressions, and problematic or controversial verses. Collectively, these contributions have enriched both pedagogy and research. Yet in certain cases, the explanations lack the necessary precision and fail to engage critically with previous scholarship. The present article underscores the need for revising the lesson notes on the story of Rostam and Sohrab. It discusses key terms and expressions such as zende bar dār kardan (“to hang alive”), āz (avarice/greed), konj/gang/kang, and bahāneh (pretext), while also identifying and correcting instances of imprecision in existing commentaries. Further attention is given to the narrative structure, interrogative statements, Ferdowsi’s technique of storytelling, and the interplay between names and their referents. Moreover, based on the narrative framework and the interpretation of rāh-e rāst as “the clear and open path,” the phrase nagoshād lab in printed editions is emended to bogoshād lab.

Keywords: “Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh”; “Rostam and Sohrab”; “narrative technique”; “āz”; “zende bar dār kardan”; “konj/gang/kang”

Abstract The present study, with a cognitive approach, analyzes the Adversarial Humor in Fakhreddin Ali Safi's Latayef al-Tawaif and attempts to analyze the linguistic and conceptual mechanisms of subverting the discourse of dominance in the linguistic actions of the subordinates, relying on the theory of form-ground inversion in cognitive linguistics. As a discursive action in the context of unequal interactions, Adversarial Humor allows the subordinate actor to invert a threatening situation to his advantage and gain temporary but meaningful linguistic superiority through the redefinition of meaning. The analysis of thirty selected anecdotes in this work showed that subordinate speakers use three types of linguistic correspondences—structural, polysemous, and metaphorical—to disrupt the perceptual framework of domination. Qualitative analysis of the anecdotes shows that form-ground inversion, as a fundamental mechanism, allows the speaker to move hidden or marginal elements of the initiating discourse to the center of meaning and to construct from them a new, creative, and sometimes derogatory structure for the response. This strategy not only plays an important role in generating laughter and surprise, but is also considered a critical tool for undermining the power structures established in the text and beyond it, and at the same time, this strategy, especially the correspondence at the polysemous level, can be used to censor and bypass the wrath of the power system.

Abstract Mythanalyse is one of the theories in mythology that can be used for mythological criticism. Mythanalyse was introduced by Denis de Rougemont with the approach of text-based cultural Mythanalyse and author-based cultural Mythanalyse, and by Jilbert Dourand, it change to social Mythanalyse. In the latter approach, after finding myth in the text, they express its narrative and examine it. After that researcher describe meaning of myth in mystic texts, Also They are speaking about social analysis in mystic books, This article is based on the Gilbert Durand method, examines the myth of water in the mystical texts of Asrar al-Tawhid, Tamhidat, Tazkir al-Awliya, Awarif al-Ma'arif, and Mersad al-Ibad. This article, using a descriptive-analytical method, has finally concluded that the myth of water, among Iranian and foreign myths, has themes such as holiness, life-giving, purification, being a symbol for awareness, girlhood and beauty, fertility, fighting drought, healing and immortality, mortality, and the element of fertility. However, in the five mystical texts under study, more transcendent functions such as fundamental life-giving, profound purification, holiness, playing the role of a symbol for metaconsciousness, being under the control of a mystic, being a mystic medium, and death and transformation have been attributed. To the extent that everyone returns to two major functions for the myth of water in the mystical community, namely the supernatural capabilities of water and the supernatural capabilities of the mystic and these differences have transformed the myth of water into the theology of water among mystics.

Abstract One of the prominent topics in mystical literature, especially mystical ghazal, is the use of Qalandari themes and concepts. This style began with Sana'i and had a great influence on the poetry of prominent ghazal writers such as Attar, Hafez, Iraqi, Rumi, and others. The themes and characteristics of Qalandari have also had a significant impact in recent periods and in contemporary ghazals in Afghanistan; Therefore, the present study aims to examine the elements and concepts of Qalandariyyah in a descriptive-analytical manner, relying on the poems of three prominent contemporary Afghan poets, Ashghari, Bitab, and Sayyida Karokh. The results of the study show that these poets have tried to include Qalandari elements in their poems and, in this way, create Qalandari concepts and themes. The three mentioned poets, ignoring the religious and social taboos prevailing in their era, have used these concepts in their poetry and have praised centers of debauchery and immorality such as taverns and idolatries, and sometimes have encouraged their audience to wear belts, take a bath, and engage in other issues that are in conflict with the teachings and norms of Islam. Flattery, references to ascetics and Sufis, encouragement to drink alcohol, hashish, and booze, and false euphoria, descriptions of musical instruments, inclination to the religion of blame, defamation and turning one’s back on good names, and in general, encouragement to a Qalandar-like lifestyle are seen with great frequency in the poetry of these three poets. The expression of such concepts in their poetry is due to the influence of the past poetic tradition, the strictness of the religious scholars, and the prevalence of the school of mystical symbolism.

Abstract Language is one of the most essential tools for human communication, expressed through both written and oral forms. Persuading the audience through language is a deliberate effort in which the writer conveys messages using influential rhetorical techniques. Authors in various literary and historical texts employ tools such as poetry, religious quotations, musicality of language, admonition, reverence, and exaggeration—depending on the contextual framework—to persuade their audience. Farhād Mīrzā Mo‘tamad al-Dawla, a notable statesman and man of letters during the reign of Nāṣer al-Dīn Shāh Qājār, makes extensive use of rhetorical strategies in many of his writings, particularly in his letters addressed to eminent figures and officials of his time. His Manshaʾāt consists of 47 historical and literary letters composed in both ornate and occasionally plain styles, addressing a variety of themes such as recounting events, administrative reports, grievances, and requests. The writer, depending on the context of the letter and the status and authority of the recipient, employs different rhetorical devices. This study examines the 47 letters using both qualitative and quantitative methods. One of the key findings is that the technique of “intertextual citation of poetry and sacred texts” holds the highest frequency across all contexts—especially in political letters and those addressed to dignitaries—indicating the author’s effort to construct rhetorical authority through intertextuality. Additionally, the frequent use of admonition and indirect warnings in political letters reflects strategies of persuasion embedded within power structures. In contrast, in personal correspondence, strategies such as reverence and self-deprecation are most prevalent, reflecting the role of emotional politeness and face management in interpersonal relations.

Abstract Khawaja Mohammad Murshed is a contemporary Baloch poet from the region of Balochistan. From the literary direction of the teacher, he was able to create a self-weight statement in the form of literature organized by Ghalib Ash'ari and in the form of ghazal and prose. The investigation has decided to investigate. A descriptive-analysis method using library resources has been conducted and the findings are obtained. Arif poets have composed a beautiful song using verses and hadiths and also the elements of Qalandri and Reproach. The most mystical article Diwan V, belief in the unity of existence is that belief in the unity of all existence and non-contradiction marks good and evil. Qalandar has an important place in poetry. And Qalandar in the sense of a wise man and a perfect human being can be used and the distribution of ghazals is all in praise of Qalandran and poetry on the subjects of Qalandri and Malamti in the meeting was found. Sair subjects This poet who has less interest includes religious subjects such as God's blessings and the Prophet and the memory of God. From the point of view of literary differences, the direction of similarity, the middle direction, the narrative has abundance, and the middle direction, the natural repetition and contradiction, the most important. They have died.

Keywords:Khwaj Mohammad Murshed,Mystic, Qalandri, Analogy, Love,Talme

Abstract The present study investigates shathiyat (ecstatic utterances) in light of modern theories of interpretation and decoding. Its central concern is how the layered meanings and liminal mystical experiences, expressed in the Sufi tradition through paradoxical and metaphorical language, can be re-read and understood within contemporary theoretical frameworks. Accordingly, the three foundational poles of Islamic mysticism—Truth (Haqq), the Self (Nafs), and the World (Alam)—are conceptualized as a triangular relational system from which diverse forms of relations and manifestations emerge. These forms serve as interpretive nodes, each analyzed through the lens of a modern theoretical approach: Ricœur’s hermeneutics of suspicion and meaning, Barthes’ discourse analysis, Eliade’s phenomenology of the sacred, Lacanian psychoanalysis, and William James’ psychology of religion. Methodologically, the study treats shathiyat not merely as literary texts but as testimonies of extreme experiences characterized by passivity, paradox, and a rupture from ordinary linguistic logic. Modern hermeneutics, applied as interpretive steps, enables traversal from symbolic representation to deeper psychological, existential, and discursive layers. This approach results in an interdisciplinary model that situates Islamic mysticism in a productive dialogue with philosophy, psychoanalysis, and contemporary linguistic studies. The study’s innovation lies in reconstructing Ruzbihan Shirazi’s shathiyat within a comparative decoding framework rather than a purely historical or literary reading. This framework facilitates a renewed understanding of mystical experience as an intersubjective, multilayered construct that is simultaneously sacred and psychological, offering new insights into the cognitive, existential, and symbolic dimensions of Sufi ecstasy.

Abstract Abstract

Intertextual reading of the story "Kiss God on the Moon" by Mustafa Mastour

Intertextuality is one of the most important approaches and literary theories that researchers applied to read and explain various artworks. Although this theory has been proposed for several decades, it is still valid and applicable to humanities researchers. Today, with the advent of the Internet and the availability of cyberspace, the importance of intertextuality has become increasingly apparent. In the story "" Kiss lovly God's on the Moon ", by Mustafa Mastoor, various intertextual components can be identified. Therefore, the present article studied intertextuality in the story on the moon. To reach the purpose, the article has two general parts: 1) The first part is an introduction to the theoretical topics such as definition, types, and some important works in the field of intertextuality 2) The second part of the article studied and implemented seven types of intertextuality, such as the intertextuality of production and reception, explicit and implicit, etc., which applied to the story of “on the moon”. To do this research, the descriptive-analytical method was used. Findings indicated that intertextual theory can be a valid instrument for analyzing and reading the story of “" Kiss lovly God's on the Moon ", ” because, by intertextual reading, the implications, the meanings and relationships of this story were revealed, which is not possible with other readings.

Keywords: The story "Kiss God on the moon", Mustafa Mastoor, intertextuality.