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Nezami |
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Nezami
(Nizameddin abu Mohammed Iljas ibn Jusof: also Nizami: 1141-1203)
was born and lived his whole life in Ganja,
the capital of Arran
in Transcaucasian Azerbaijan. His father died when the poet
was still young, and his mother, of a noble Kurdish family,
followed soon after. He was probably brought up by an uncle,
married three
times, and had at least one son, Mohammed. Little is
otherwise known. His works were dedicated to local rulers,
as was the custom — to the Atabegs and the Seljuk ruler
Tughril bin Arslan — and there was apparently a Diwan
(collection) of short poems,
most of which have not survived. Nezami was of singularly
pious, understanding and gentle nature, avoided
the attractions of court life, and wrote
five long works that are among the greatest in Persian
literature and have widely influenced subsequent poetry
east and west.
His Layla
and Majnun was a particular source of inspiration to
Ottoman poets, and has several
times been translated
into European
languages, sometimes as an 'oriental Romeo and Juliet',
though it is rather more a philosophical and dramatic exploration
of love in all its mystical and worldly forms. Wide learning
was expected of Islamic poets, and Nezami
was well versed in Arabic and Persian literature (including
oral and local traditions), mathematics, astronomy, astrology,
alchemy, medicine, Koranic exegesis, theology and law, history,
ethics, philosophy and esoteric thought, music and the visual
arts.
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Nezami's
poetry |
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Besides
producing a Diwan (a collection of ghazals
and qasida)
in 1188, Nizami wrote Makhzan al-Asrar (The Mirror
of Meanings: 1165) Khosrow o Shirin (The
story of Khosrow and Shirin:1175) Laila o Majnun
(The story of Layla and Majnun:1188) Eskandar-Nameh
(The Book of Alexander: 1191) and Haft Paykar (The
Seven Beauties: 1198): a total of 30,000 rhymed couplets (masnavi).
The first is mainly devoted to philosophic matters, interspersed
with short tales illustrating the maxims of the meditations.
The second is a romantic tangle between Shah Khosrau Parwiz,
the Armenian princess Shirin and the architect Ferhad, the
latter dispatched by an ingenious trick. The poem
was dedicated to the local Atabeg ruler, who rewarded the
poet with the revenue of two villages. The third poem is the
favourite of many, and reworks the famous Bedouin love-story
of Laila and, Majnn, a tale of thwarted passion that
passed into European Renaissance literature in Ariosto's Orlando
Furioso and others. Nezami is reputed to have written
to poem in four months. The fourth poem was Nezami's attempt
to rival Firdousi.
The Iskandarnama,
or Book
of Alexander, also called Sharafnama or Iqbdlnama-i-Iskandari
( The Fortunes of Alexander ) is in two parts. The first depicts
Alexander
the Great as the conqueror of the world, and the second portrays
him as a prophet and philosopher, narrating a second set of
adventures. Suffi allegories appear, and pantheism in the
expedition of Alexander to the fountain
of life in the land of darkness. Nezami's fifth work is
often regarded as his masterpiece. Haft Paikar, or
the Seven Beauties, concern the romantic exploits of seven
wives of the Sassanian king Bahramgur, and have again found
their way into European art. The fourth, Russian princess
was the model for Turandot,
afterwards adapted by Schiller and Puccini. In sum, the five
mathnawis set the pattern
for later epic poetry in the Persian, Turkish, Chaghatai and
Hindustani languages. |
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Persian
Seljuk poetry |
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Today's
professionals must negotiate accreditation, grants and reviews
to prosper, but poets in Nezami's time had a starker choice.
Unless of wealthy family, they subsisted as plain scholars,
as did Nizami himself and the haughty Jami,
or entered princely courts as poets in residence, when they
received wealth and title for unstinting celebration of
their patron's virtues and accomplishments. Competition
was fierce, fellow poets unscrupulous, and patrons sometimes
tardy in their appreciation, when the poet might revile
the ruler in pointed qasidas
and move to greener pastures. Of the three gifted
poets to whom Nezami is often compared, Anwari
(d. c. 1190) was the most successful of court poets. He
served the Seljuk ruler Sanjar
at Merv, writing a famous Tears
of Khorrasan where the country was invaded by Ghuzz
Turcomen and turning out qasidas of great accomplishment
but more scholarly interest today. He was a noted student
of music, metaphysics and natural science, but suffered
ridicule
when his 1185 astrological prediction failed to materialize.
He retired after 40 years of service to a simple life in
Balkh, which his better nature
hankered after. Khagani
(1106-1185),
the second court poet, served his local
ruler in Shirwan,
married that ruler's daughter, at least corresponded with
the court of Khwarazm, took himself off to Isfahan (where
he fell out with the inhabitants) returning to Shirwan (and
imprisonment), dying in Tabriz. Zahir
(d. 1201) may have been the most ambitious of the three.
His voluminous and polished panegyrics were addressed to
all Persian's contemporary rulers, and the poet at one time
resided in Nishapur, Mazandaran, Isfahan and Tabriz, where
he also died. In these and so many
other court poets the same themes appear: fulsome praise
of the patron, withering scorn for rivals, and continual
requests for money and recognition.
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Reading the Persian |
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Persian
poetry cannot
be appreciated without a deep understanding of Islamic
culture, and you may wish to start with
general
introductions to
the history
of
the
area,
which is fascinating
enough. It will also help enormously to read sufficient
Persian to sense
the sound
and structure of the poetry, and there exist many courses,
books and CDs in what is not overly difficult language:
languagequest,
easypersian,
arthur
lynn, farrangsara,
languageresourceonline.
For the critical literature generally, try as always the
bibliography in the The New Princeton Encyclopedia
section on Persian Poetry, E. Browne's A Literary History
of Persia(1902-24: the Indian reprint is affordable),
A. Schimmel's A Two-Colored Brocade: The Imagery of Persian
Poetry(1992: good bibliography), and perhaps J.S. Meisami's
Medieval
Persian Court Poetry (1987), W. Thackston's A
Millennium of Classical Persian Poetry (1994), Talatoff
and Clinton's The
Poetry of Nizami Ganjavi : Knowledge, Love, and Rhetoric
(2001), A. Seyed-Gohrab's A
Narration of Love (2003) and the listings given on tehran
at stanford, columbia
and cornell.
Many translations
exist, mostly as prose: Mirror of Meanings: Jamali,
Chelkowski,
Khosrow
and Shirin: Globoo,
Laila and Majnoun: Atkinson,
Turner,
Gelpke,
Book
of Alexander:
Volta,
Wilberforce
Clarke, Rogers,
and Seven Portraits: Martin
Al-Awadhi, Richard,
Wilson and
Meissami.
Books in Persian
occasionally appear on Abebooks,
or sources listed here,
but Payk-e-Farhang
and Iranbooks
are the best sources for Nezami himself. For online persian
dictionaries try kamous,
Columbia,
and steingass,
and don't overlook language
exchanges.
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