The Persian Poetry of the Late Timurid Period*
By Maria Eva Subtelny, Toronto
Der Dichter ist ein Akrobat, Aquihbrist,
auf Redeseilen schreitend, straff gespannten,
mit Windungen, Wendungen vielgewandten . . .
Friedrich RIJckert
I
In his appraisal of the poetry of the Timurid period, E. J. W. Gibb
wrote that it was "but too often marred by an excessive use of rhetoric,"
and he summarized its main features as "subjectivity, artificialness and
conventionality, combined with an ever-increasing deftness of crafts¬
manship and brilliance of artistry."' Somewhat less sympathetic, E. G.
Browne noted the „extreme elaboration and preciosity" of Timurid
poetry which he remarked, rather characteristically, was "little in
accordance with modern European taste."^ J. Rypka, for his part, did
not disguise his downright hostility when he referred to the "would-be-
wittiness"^ of Timurid poetry which, he said, "degenerates into the
decadent cult of an affected artificiality, "* and he viewed it as being cha¬
racterized chiefly by "a disregard of the substance in favour of the
form."''
1 would like to thank the Killam Program of The Canada Council for its sup¬
port during the period of research on this paper.
' E. J. W. Gibb: A History of Ottoman Poetry. 6 vols. 1900-1909; rep. ed. Lon¬
don: Luzac 1958-1967, vol. 2, pp. 11-13.
^ Edward G. Browne: A Literary History of Persia. 4 vols. 1902-1924; rep.
ed. Cambridge: Univ. Pr. 1959-1964, vol. 3, p. 461.
' Jan Rypka: History of Iranian Literature. Dordrecht, Holland: Reidel 1968, p. 286.
'' Rypka: History, p. 281.
^ Rypka: History, p. 282.
The Persian Poetry of the Late Timurid Period 57 Lest the charge be made that these criticisms reflect only an "Orienta¬
list" point of view, it might be noted that contemporary critics also
seemed to decry the trend toward the increasing elaborateness they
were witnessing in the poetry ofthe time. 'Ali Shir Navä'i (1441-1501)
was appalled by what he called the "new style" (nav-äyin) of writing
which he felt only confounded the reader:
Anyone who glances at that black page of copy.
Falls into the dark night of calamity.
What is this darkness in which there is no life-giving water?
What is this night in which there is no shining sun?
Alluding to the excessive use of rhetorical embellishment that contri¬
buted to that elaborateness, he compared it to too much Tatar musk
which, he said, "only strains the heart and dims the sight."' He implied,
moreover, that, for all the trouble that a reader had to go to in order to
understand it, there was precious little in this poetry to make the
trouble worthwhile. Jämi (1414-1492) echoed his criticism when he
said that poetical ornament was "like a mole on the face ofthe beauty of
meaning," but that too many of these "moles" only served to blacken
that face and thus marred its beauty.** As for Davlatshäh, he expressed
general disgust with the poets ofhis day whom he called "poor, simple-
minded scribblers" who were "unaware that behind the veil of this bri¬
dal chamber (i. e. poetry) there are virgin secrets and inside this private
compartment — chaste thoughts."^
In his study on the Persian poetry of the early Timurid period, E.
Yar-Shater demonstrated that, in the first half of the 15th century,
two currents existed side by side in the poetry, particularly as repre¬
sented by the ghazal. One was a simpler, more straightforward style,
which he called "the style ofthe ancients" {sabk-i qudamä); the other, a newer style which he called "Safavid" {sabk-i ^afavi), the precursors of
which he regarded poets such as Kamäl Khujandi (d. 1400/1) and Kä¬
tibi Turshizi (or Nishäpüri, d. 1434/5). But he was also ofthe opinion
" E. E. Bertel's: Izbrannye trudy. Vol.4: Navoi i Dzahmi. Moscow: Izd.
"Nauka" 1965, p. 35.
' Bertel's: Navoi, p. 35.
* Bertel's: Navoi, pp. 253-254.
" Davlatshäh: The Tadhkiratu 'sh-Shu'arä [Tazkirat al-shu'arä]: "Memoirs of the Poets" of Dawlatshäh bin 'Alä'u 'd-Dawla Bakhtishäh al-Ghäzi of Samarqand
(hereafter Davlatshäh). Ed. Edward G. Browne. London: Luzac 1901, p. 10.
that the former was already on its way out, while the latter was assert¬
ing itself with ever-increasing strength.'"
By the second half ofthe 15th century, however, it was clear that "the
style of the ancients" had ceased to be a valid criterion by which to
judge poetical production. Davlatshäh, whose Tazkirat al-shu'arä (com¬
pleted 1487) faithfully mirrors the literary preferences and enthusiasms
ofthe Timurid court of Sultan Husain Bäyqarä (1469-1506) at Herat
and offers rare insights into its literary life, acknowledged that tastes
had indeed changed. In his notice on the early Samanid poet, Rüdagi
(d. 940/1), he quotes the latter's famous qa^idah with the radif, "äyad
hami," which begins:
^ Jjl jt ^ ^yr ^y.
and he makes the following revealing comment about the incongruity of
its simple style with the more elaborate tastes of his own day:
The fact will seem strange to the intelhgent that this verse is plain (sädah) and devoid of rhetorical devices and embellishments (^anäyi' va badäyi') and vigor of style (matänat), for, if a poet were to present poetry like this
at an audience of sultans and amirs nowadays, it would be rejected by his
contemporaries. ''
Furthermore, he explains that it owed its success in Rüdagi's time to
the fact that, being an expert musician, Rüdagi must have sung it to a
melody ofhis composition and it was this that caused it to be accepted
by the ruler for whom it had been written. Davlatshäh then appeals to
his readers not to reject Rüdagi simply on the basis of this poem,
'" II.ISÄN Yär-Shätir [Ehsan Yar-Shater]: Shi'r-i färsi dar 'ahd-i Shäh- rukh {nimaJi-'i avval-i qam-i nuhum) yä äghäz-i inhitäl dar shi'r-i färsi. Teheran:
Chäpkhänah-'i Dänishgäh 1334/1965, pp. 142-143. — Elsewhere, Yar-Sha¬
ter has explained that, by the term "Safavid" he means Persian literature writ¬
ten during the 16th-17th centuries, but not necessarily under Safavid tutelage or even on Safavid territory. Rather, since he includes under this designation pri¬
marily the Persian poetry produced in India during that time, he actually uses the term synonymously with the more usual term, "Indian style" (sabk-i hindi).
See his Safavid Literature: Progress or Decline. In; Iranian Studies 7, 1-2 (1974), pp. 218-220. Apart from being confusing, Yar-Shater's use ofthe term "Safa¬
vid" (= "Indian") to refer to the new style of poetry produced in the Timurid period signals his acceptance ofthe controversial theoiy that the roots of the so- called "Indian style" go back to 15th century Timurid Herat (See Yar-Shater:
Safavid Literature, p. 241). For an overview ofthe entire problem, see Aziz
Ahmad: The Formation of Sabk-i Hindi. In: Iran and Islam: In Memory of the late
Vladimir Minorsky. Ed. C. E. Bosworth. Edinburgh: Univ. Pr. 1971, pp. 1-9.
" Davlatshah, p. 32,
The Persian Poetry of the Late Timurid Period 59
because he was also well-versed in various sciences and possessed
many other virtues besides.'^
Among the many seemingly vague and confusing literary-critical
terms used by Timurid biographer-critics like Davlatshäh, Navä'i and
Jämi in their tazkirahs in the evaluation of the poetry of individual
poets,one that seems to capture the very essence of the affected refi¬
nement and formal intricacy (at times, even forced mannerism) ofthe
poetry ofthe late Timurid period is takalluf.^* Although they appear to
have been reluctant to judge their contemporaries (Jämi, for instance,
did not even mention any contemporary poets in his Baharistän except
for 'All Shir Navä'i, while Davlatshäh included notices of only seven in
his tazkirah), they did not hesitate to express their opinions about the
poetry of earlier poets and the term is often used by them particularly in
reference to those poets who were regarded as models during the Timu¬
rid period.""
Writing about the poetry of Salmän Sävaji (d. 1376), for example,
Jämi felt that his masnavi, Jamshid va Khvurshid, was so full of affecta¬
tion {takalluf) that it had no "flavor" {chäshni).^'^ Very revealing is the
fact that both Jämi and Navä'i agreed that the poetry of IJäfi^ (d. 1389)
did not contain "a trace of takalluf."'^ Jämi himself believed that his Davlatshäh, p. 32.
" Many of the terms and expressions used by the authors ofthe tazkirahs in
their critique of individual poets (e.g., pukhtah, ravan, rangin, pur-hal, hi-
chäshni, etc.) were undoubtedly more technical in nature than they would
appear. A thorough analysis of these would help to lay the basis for a study, still lacking, ofthe theory of medieval Persian literary criticism. An attempt to de¬
fine some ofthe terms used by Jämi was made by A. N. Boldyrev: Literary-
Critical Opinions of Jami and his Contemporaries. In: Yddndme-ye Jan Rypka: Col¬
lection of Articles on Persian and Tajik Literature. Prague: Academia 1967,
pp. 65-67, but, on account of its brevity and narrow scope, it barely touches on the problem.
Navä'i uses the term in reference to people. Thus, he says of a certain Amir Isläm Ghazäli that he was "unassuming" or "unpretentious" (hi-takalluf) . See 'All Shir Navä'i: Majälis al-nafä'is dar tazkirah-H shu'arä-i qam-i nuhum-i hijri.
Ed. 'Ali AßOHAR Hikmat [Eng. t. p.: The Majalis-un-Nafa'is, "Galaxy of Poets", of Mir 'Ali Shir Nava'i: Two 16th. Century Persian Translations. Ed. Ali Asghar
Hekmat]. Teheran: Chäpkhänah-'i Bänk-i Milli-i Irän 1323/1945, p. 14. Dav¬
latshäh uses it in reference to Kätibi Turshizi, Davlatshäh, p. 382.
For the poets who were regarded as models during the late Timurid period, see section III below.
Jämi: 7)er Frühlingsgarten [Baharistän] von Mewlana Abdurrahman
Dschami Transi. [and ed.] Ottocar v. Schlechta-Wssehrd. Vienna: Hof-
und Staats-Dr. 1846, p. 99 (all references are to the Persian text).
" Jämi: Bahäristän, p. 100; Navä'i: Majälis, p. 255.
own verses were free of what he called "the embroidery of affectation"
{naqsh-i takalluf) and, probably tongue in cheek, asked, "Who cares if,
on account of their plainness {sädagi), some so-and-so should call them
artless {bi-naqsh)r"^
Takalluf could be achieved externally through the use of difficult
metres, rh5Tnes or words, or intemally by means of unusual images,
comparisons and other rhetorical devices.'" In his judgement of Amir
Khusrav (d. 1325), one ofthe chief models for the poets ofthe late Timu¬
rid period, Jämi said that he chose difficult {tang) rhymes, unusual {gha¬
rib) radifs and elegant {khvush-äyandah) metres, which, he added, "is
what poetry, particularly the ghazal, is basically concerned with."""
Jämi also gave credit to Kamäl Khujandi for using unusual {gharib)
rhymes and radifs, but at the same time criticized him for being exces¬
sively refined in his imagery which he felt deprived his poetry of its flu¬
ency {saläsat).^' Demonstrating once again that he was a tme child of
his times, Davlatshäh, perhaps even alluding to Jämi's criticism,
defended Kamäl's style:
Some grandees and accomplished persons are of the opinion that the
Shaikh's (i.e., Kamäl Khujandi's) refinements {näzugihä) have made his
poetry devoid of all ardor and earnestness. But this is just contention on
their part because, despite its refinement {näzugi) and intricacy {diqqat), the Shaikh's verse is fuh of real feeling {'ärifändh vapur-häl)P
II
The roots of the general tendency that had succeeded in asserting
itself in Persian poetry by the late Timurid period went deep. Broadly
speaking, the main poetical forms of New Persian literature had already
become established by the end ofthe Samanid period in the latter half of
the 10th century.Since the concept of creativity in literature did not
consist in bringing forth something organically new, as in the Western
" Bertel's: Navoi, p. 253.
Yar-Shater: Shi'r, p. 119; for examples of what Yar-Shater regards as
takalluf m the poetic and prose works ofthe early Timurid period, see pp. 120ff.
^" Jämi: Bahäristän, p. 101.
^' Jämi: Bahäristän, p. 100.
Davlatshäh, p. 328.
E. E. Bertel's: Literatura na persidskom iazyke v Srednei Azii. In: Sovet¬
skoe vostokovedenie 5 (1948), p. 207.
The Persian Poetry of the I^ate Timurid Period 61
sense, but, being the product of a conservative worldview, was depen¬
dent rather on the elaboration of set themes dictated by convention,
refinement of expression became of necessity its prime focus.^* Funda¬
mental to an understanding of this concept of artistic creativity is an
appreciation of the role of authority in medieval Islamic political and
social life and, consequently, in the formation of literature which was
tightly bound up with both.^'' It was the authority — we would be more
inclined to regard it as tjrranny — of established forms and themes, rein¬
forced by the authority of "the ancients," that provided the framework
for the peculiar development of Persian poetry.
That authority was far from abstract. It meant holding up the works of
past masters as models not just to be admired, but actually to be imitat¬
ed. Needless to say, the chief prerequisite for writing such poetry was a
firm grounding in the classics of Persian literature in which memoriza¬
tion played a key role. The importance of studying and particularly of
memorizing the works of one's poetical predecessors had already been
stressed by Ni?ämi 'Arüzi in his prescription for aspiring poets in the
Chahär maqälah and it held as true for the second half of the 15th cen-
tiuy as it had for the first half of the 12th:
But to this rank a poet cannot attain unless in the prime of his life and
the season of his youth he commits to memory 20,000 couplets of the
poetry ofthe Ancients, keeps in view (as models) 10,000 verses ofthe works
of the Moderns, and continually reads and remembers the diwäns of the
masters of his art, observing how they have acquitted themselves in the
strait passes and delicate places of song, in order that thus the difierent styles and varieties of verse may become ingrained in his nature.^"
The Timurid poet, Hiläli (d. 1529/30), for example, was said to have
known 30,000-40,000 couplets and the greater part of the two Kham-
sahs (i. e., of Nizämi and Amir Khusrav) by heart, something which Bä-
^* For the concept of creativity in Persian literature, see: Rypka: History, pp. 81, 87-89; the now classic article by G. M. Wickens: The Persian Conception
of Artistic Unity in Poetry and its Implications in Other Fields. In: BSOAS 14
(1952), pp. 239-243; and E. Yarshater [E. Yar-Shater]: Some Common
Characteristics of Persian Poetry and Art. In: SI 16 (1962), pp. 61-71. See also
some of the works of G. E. von Grunebaum which deal with the problem
within the scope of Arabic poetics: The Concept of Plagiarism in Arabic Theory.
In: JNES 3, 4 (1944), pp. 234-253; and esp. The Aesthetic Foundation of Arabic Literature. In: Comparative Literature 4 (1952), pp. 323-340.
Karl. J. Fink: Goethe's WeM Ostlicher Divan: Orientalism Restructured. In:
International Journal of Middle East Studies 14 (1982), esp. pp. 319-321.
Ni?;ämi-i 'Arüzi: Chahär maqäla: "Four Discourses" of Ni?ämi-i 'Arüdi of
Samarqand. Rev. transi. Edward G. Browne. London: Luzac 1921, p. 32.
bur noted rather matter-of-factly in his memoirs was "most useful for
the minutiae of prosody and the science of poetry."^' Navä'i mentioned
that, in his youth, he himself had memorized more than 50,000 couplets
ofthe poetry of many Persian poets, in addition to which he later also
memorized most of the works of Jämi.""
Although imitation in poetry had always been practiced in earlier
periods, by the 15th century it came to dominate the literary scene to a
greater degree than ever before. An indication of how widespread it was
is provided by the tazkirahs, especially by Nava'i's Majälis al-nafä'is
(completed probably 1498/99)'"' which, together with its Persian trans¬
lations and adaptations,'" represents the most comprehensive and
detailed contemporary source of information about poets writing in the
Timurid period. In it, along with the standard biographical details,
Navä'i frequently noted whose poetry any given poet was in the habit of
imitating.'^
The terms used in the sources to refer to imitational poetry are tatab-
bu' (literally, "a following after") &nd javäb ("answer"). Both appear to
have been used synonymously in the Timurid period and to have been
applied indiscriminately to imitations of ghazals, qa^ldahs and
masnavis.^^ The main requirements were that the imitational poem have
^' Bäbur: The Bähar-näina. Fac. ed. Annette S. Beveridge. Leiden: Brill
1905, fol. 181b; Bäbur: Bäbur-nänM {Memoirs of Bäbur). Transi. Annette S.
Beveridge. London 1922; rep. ed., New Delhi: Oriental Books Repr. Corp.
1970, p. 290. Navä'i also mentions the fact that Hiläli had a good memory,
Navä'i: Majälis, p. 08.
'All Shir Navä'i: Muhäkamal al-lughatain. Transi. and ed. Robert Dbve-
REUX. Leiden: Brhl 1966, transi., p. 36; Turk, text, p. 29.
Navä'i: Muhäkamat, transi., p. 31; Turk, text, p. 25.
^" See Bertel's: Navoi, p. 175; V. V. Bartol'd: Sochineniia. 10 vols. Mos¬
cow: Izd. vost. lit. 1963-1977, vol. 11 (2), p. 223.
For two such Persian translations, see n. 14 above.
'" F'or example, Navä'i says about a certain Sayyid Käzimi that, "His qafi- dahs were in the style (lit., "color" — rang) ofthe qa?idahs of Bäbä Savdä'i", Navä'i: Majälis, p. 37. Ofthe poet, Säfi, he says, "In his verses he imitates {tatab- bu') Khväjah Häfi?," Navä'i: Majälis, p. 79.
Traditionally, the term javäb connoted a vying with another poet and try¬
ing to outdo his composition, whereas latabbu' (sometimes also istiqbäl or even dar muqäbilah ) was used simply to mean an imitation of a poem that was in har¬
mony {ham-äiiangi) with it in terms of metre, rhyme, style, ete. See 'Usmän
Mukhtäri: Divän. Ed. Jaläl al-Din Humä'i. Teheran: Chäpkhänah-'i Bänk-i
Mhh 1341/1962, p. 257. On the basis ofthe Ghiyäs al-lughät and the Matla' al-
sa'dain, the Farhang-i Anand Räj indica,tes that there are three kinds oimujäbät : 1) if the imitation is superior to the original, it is called la,nhih (lit. "reproof) 2) if
The Persian Poetry of the Late Timurid Period 63
the same metre and rhyme (sometimes even preserve the same se¬
quence of lines) as the original and generally have the same subject mat¬
ter. In addition, an imitational poem usually contained some indication
of the fact that it was an imitation, either in the form of a quotation of a
hemistich or even a line from the original (tazmin) or some other allu¬
sion to the name ofthe author ofthe original. This applied particularly
to imitations of qa^idahs and masnavis.^*
A successful imitation was anything but a slavish copy (usually
referred to as taqlid) ofthe original. On the contrary, taking as its start¬
ing point the technical restraints imposed by the metre, rhyme, etc. of
the original, it sought to "improve" on it or even surpass it by giving it a slightly different interpretation, a novel twist. '^ By way of illustration,
many poets of the late Timurid period wrote imitations of Amir Khus-
rav's qa^idah, Mir'ät al-^afä,'"' which begins:
o^j ill-l j-j) Jilo (Ji
^^^ll —li ,z——« j L^T"-^-r^l
i\ly heart is a child and the master, love, is its teacher who knows its lan¬
guage,
Shame is its lesson and poverty is the corner of its school.^'
it is inferior, it is called mutäba'at or tatabbu' and 3) if it is equal to the original, it
is c&Wed javäb. See Muhammad Pädshäh Shäd: Farhang-i Anand Räj. 7 vols.
Teheran: Kitäbkhänah-'i Khayyäm 1335-1336/1957-1958, vol. 6, p. 3845.
Gibb says that the term javäb (Rypka also adds istiqbäl — Rypka: History,
p. 97) was used to refer only to imitations ofa poem in rhyming couplets (i.e., masnavi), while the term na^irah ("parallel") was used to refer to imitations ofa poem in monorhyme (i.e., qa^idah, ghazal), Gibb: A History, vol. 1, p. 100. That this was not the case in the late 15th century is demonstrated by the fact that, in the Bahäristän, Jämi uses the term javäb to refer to imitations of a qa^idah by 'Abd al-Väsi' Jabali (see Jämi: Bahäristän, p. 89), while, in the Muhäkamat al- lughatain, Navä'i says that he himself wrote tatabbu's on most of Jämi's qa^idahs
and ghazals (see Navä'i: Muhäkamat, Turk, text, p. 25).
'Usmän Mukhtäri: Divän, p. 258.
See A. M. Mirzoev: Kamal ad-Din Binai. Moscow: Izd. "Nauka" 1976,
pp. 34-35; also Bertel's: Navoi, p. 363.
Also called simply shiniyah.
Navä'i: Muhäkamat, Turk, text., pp. 26-27. — Amir Khusrav's qa$idah was,
incidentally, written in imitation (Nava'i uses the term tatabbu') ofa qa^idah by Khäqäni which, in turn, had been written in imitation of a qa^idah by the Ghaz¬
navid poet, 'Usmän Mukhtäri. See 'Usmän Mukhtäri: Divän, pp. 237-252. Khä-
qäni's qasidah begins:
Jämi's imitation' of it begins:
^jUL-jj ^ 3 3^ —
Jr- J*^ r^^ ^^^> l/'^^ ir-
Who is the teacher? It is love and its school is the corner of silence, The lesson is ignorance and my wise heart is the child reciting its lesson."
Navä'i, in tum, wrote an imitation of Jämi's imitation*" which begins:
The teacher is love and know that the master, intellect, is a chhd studying there.
Know that the heavens, in order to teach him, have become a revolving
sphere.*'
An examination ofthe poets who were imitated most frequently by the
Timurid poets and who were therefore regarded as models by them will
help to explain the trend current in the poetry ofthe time. In the Majälis
al-nafä'is, Navä'i identifies the poets in imitation of whom the poetic
quotations he cites were written.''^ Individual poets themselves often
My heart is the old school master and I am its eloquent child, Its first lesson is silence and its school is contemplation.
See Khäqäni Shirväni: Divän. Ed. 2lYÄ al-DIn SajjädI. Teheran: Kitäbfurü- shi-i Zawär [1960], p. 209.
The term used by Navä'i is javäb (Navä'i: Muhäkamat, Turk, text, p. 27).
'Ali Asghar IIikmat: Jämi: Mutazammin-i tahqiqät dar tärikh-i ahväl va
ägär-i manyüm va mansür-i khätim al-shu'arä. Teheran: Chäpkhänah-'i Bänk-i
Müli-i Irän 1320/1942, p. 321; Navä'i: Muhäkamat, Turk, text, p. 27.
The term used by Navä'i is tatabbu' (Navä'i: Muhäkamat, Turk, text, p. 27.)
■" Agäh Sirri Levend: Ali ^ir Nevai. 4 vols. Ankara: Tiirk Tarih Kurumu
Basimevi 1965-1968, vol. 2, p. 222; Navä'i: Muhäkamat, Turk, text., p. 27 is
incorrect.
For example: "The following mafia' ofhis is in answer to the Daryä-yi abrär of Amir Khusrav." (Navä'i: Majälis, p. 42); or "This mafia' is also in answer to His ExceUency, Jämi." (Navä'i: Majälis, p. 61); or "This is his line in imitation of the ghazal by Häfi? which begins ..." (Navä'i: Majälis, p. 13).
J^^}='- Jr- 3^ ^
J-'^^p S> Jt. j'i ^
III
ji\i jLj Jit (.-W Jj \j'
The Persian Poetry of the Late Timurid Period 65
mention their indebtedness in their works to those who had served as
their models. Finally, the tazkirahs of Davlatshäh and Jämi,*^ which
concentrate on non-contemporary poets, not only contain many per¬
sonal observations and opinions of their authors about these, but they
may also be regarded as anthologies of the works of those poets who
were viewed specifically as models during the time and about whom
those writing in the late Timurid period would naturally have wanted to
know more.
In the domain ofthe ghazal which, as both Navä'i and Jämi noted, had
become by far the most popular poetic genre of their time and which had
begun to enjoy an increasingly wider audience encompassing certain
segments ofthe urban population,*'' Häfi? was imitated more than ever,
even more than he had been in the first half of the century.*''' The darling
of the age, however, was undisputedly Amir Khusrav Dihlavi and not
just in the realm ofthe qa^idah and the masnavi, as is usually supposed,
but also in that of the ghazal.*^ The majority of the examples of imita-
*' Actually only the 7th chapter of his Bahäristän.
** In the introduction to the Majälis al-nafä'is, Navä'i notes the preponder¬
ance of the ^AazaZ during his time (Navä'i: Majälis, p. xxxvi) and the overwhelm¬
ing majority of verses quoted by him in his tazkirah axe matla's or baits of ghazals.
Jämi also says that the favorite genre ofthe time was the ghazal (Jämi: Bahäris¬
tän, p. 82). For some ofthe reasons for the growth in the popularity ofthe ghazal,
see Rypka: History, p. 282; see also M. E. Subtelny: The Poetic Circle at the
Court ofthe Timurid, Sultan Husain Baiqara, and its Political Significance. Ph. D.
dissert., Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass. 1979, pp. 75-78.
*■' Yar-Shater: Shi'r, p. 80.
*" This faet has not always been fully appreciated. E. G. Browne excluded him almost entirely from the third volume of his A Literary History of Persia on the grounds that he was not "of Persian race or residence" and that the Persian literature produced in India does not have "a real Persian flavor." He added that the omission of Amir Khusrav "is as justifiable as the omission of Walt Whitman from a modern English literary history." (Browne: A Literary History, vol. 3, pp. 106-107). Jan Rypka also gave him short shrift for the exact same reasons,
but acknowledged his importance for Persian literature ofthe 14th-15th centu¬
ries, noting, however, that his chief influence lay not in the ghazal, but in his
Khamsah (Rypka: History, pp. 257-258). Mohammad Wahid Mirza made no
particular mention of his influenee on the poetry of the Timurid period in his
monograph on him (Mohammad Wahid Mirza: T)ie Life and Works of Amir
Khusrau. Calcutta: Baptist Mission Pr. 1935.) E. Yar-Shater, however, said
that, in the first half of the 15th century, Amir Khusrav was more famous than
any other poet (Yar-Shater: Shi'r, p. 81), whhe A. M. Mirzoev rightly
remarked that, in the second half ofthe 15th-beginning of the 16th centuries,
Amir Khusrav was, in the ghazal, the main focus of attention (Mirzoev: Binai,
pp. 28-29).
5 ZDMG 136/1
tions quoted in tlie Majälis al-mifä'is are ofhis ghazals and qa^idahs.*^
Davlatshäh calls him "the king of all, high and low" and says that, "In
the kingdom of eloquence, his name is everything and about him it can
be said that he is the end all and be all — and that's all that need be
said."*" He also says that he was imitated by so many people that he will not even begin to mention in his tazkirah all those who wrote "answers"
to his works.*"
Amir Khusrav's Khamsah which, according to Jämi, was the best imi¬
tation ever written of the Khamsah of Ni?ämi (d. 1209),^" also found
many imitators, although Jämi and Navä'i were the only 15th century
authors to actually complete khamsahs."^ E. E. Bertel's attributes
continued interest in the khamsah in the 15th century precisely to the
popularity of Amir Khusrav's work, which he believes was more acces¬
sible to a wider audience than was Nizämi's, since the latter demanded
more solid preparation to be appreciated.''^ Although there may have
been some difference of opinion in the first half of the century as to
whose Khamsah, — Nizämi's or Amir Khusrav's — was the better,"^ Dav¬
latshäh states emphatically that, "If that dispute were to take place
today, the minds of the jewellers ofthe bazaar of scholarly accomplish-
*' For example, see Nava'i: Majalis, pp. 29, 30, 42, 138, 203, 258.
*' Davlatshäh, p. 238.
*" Davlatshäh, p. 247.
Jämi: Bahäristän, p. 101.
^' Jämi's contained 7 masnavis and was called Haft avrang, while Navä'i's
was in Chaghatay Turkish. For imitations of various parts ofthe Khamsah done
during the Timurid period, see Bertel's: Navoi, pp. 31-34.
Bertel's: Literatura rm persidskom iazyke, p. 216.
The Timurid prince, Ulügh Beg (d. 1449), for example, preferred the Kham¬
sah of Ni?ämi, while his younger brother, Bäysunghur Mirzä (d. 1433/4), pre¬
ferred Amir Khusrav's and even tried to assemble his collected works. The
enthusiasm of these two Timurid princes for their favorite poets is charmingly illustrated by Davlatshäh who relates that, "On many occasions . . they would compare the two Khamsahs together, verse by verse." (Davlatshäh, p. 240) In the Muhäkamat al-lughatain, Navä'i mentions that he often solved disputes over
the relative merits of Amir Khusrav and Nizämi, but he unfortunately does not
say in whose favor he decided. (Navä'i: Muhäkamat, transi., p. 37; 'Turk, text, p. 30). It would appear that the dispute has still not been resolved, as witnessed
by Rypka's opinion about the preference for Khusrav's Khamsah in Timurid
times:
Here again is an example ofthe degeneration of thought and ofthe decadent
taste of the period, which was incapable of rightly comprehending the art
of Nizämi, this unique master, and his philosophical and social opinions.
(Rypka: History, p. 282.)
The Persian Poetry of the Late Timurid Period 67
ment of our time, who really know their gems, would point out which
[Khamsah] had precedence and they would put an end to any doubts,"^*
indicating thereby that Amir Khusrav's work had, in accordance with
current tastes, definitely supplanted the simpler and more straightfor¬
ward one by Nizämi.
It is most significant that Amir Khusrav, the "Parrot of India," whom
Jämi described as having a "special style all his own (tariq-i khä??) in
the ghazal,"^'^ and whom some scholars view, if not as the originator,
then certainly as the chief popularizer of the "new style" of poetry as
practiced by poets like Khäqäni (d. 1199) and Kamäl Ismä'il
(d. 1237),®" should have enjoyed such widespread popularity in the late
Timurid period.
According to his own testimony in the Muhäkamat al-lughatain,
Navä'i was particularly impressed by the ghazals of Amir Khusrav^*
and, in addition, regarded Häfiz and Jämi as two other masters of the
ghazal}^ He says he wrote his own Persian divän in imitation (tatabbu')
of Häfi?, Sa'di, Amir Khusrav and Jämi.®" He also suggests that the gha¬
zals of two early Timurid poets , Kätibi Turshizi and Amir Shahi
(d. 1453), were widely read at the time®' and he included imitations of
°* Davlatshäh, p. 240. For a Marxist interpretation of the reasons for the
popularity of Amir Khusrav's Khamsah, see Bertel's: Navoi, p. 31.
Jämi: Bahäristän, p. 101.
See MiRZA: The Life and Works, pp. 157-158; also Bertel's: Literatura na
persidskom iazyke, p. 214.
In view of Amir Khusrav's Indian provenance as well as his great popular¬
ity in the late Timurid period, it is tempting, although, admittedly, dangerous, to make a connection between his "special style" and the origins of the later
"Indian style" ofthe 16th century whieh was characterized as shivah-'i khä^f {see Wilhelm Heinz: Der indische Stil in der persischen Literatur. Wiesbaden:
Steiner 1973, p. 11) and which some authors regard as being rooted in Timurid Herat. See Ahmad: The Formation of Sabk-i Hindi, p. 1, as well as his Studies in Islamic Culture in the Indian Environment. Oxford: Clarendon Pr. 1964, p. 229.
Navä'i: Muhäkamat, transi., p. 30; Turk, text, p. 24.
Navä'i: Muhäkamat, transi., pp. 30-31; Turk, text, p. 25.
"" Navä'i; Mxdiäkamat, transi., p. 36; Turk, text, p. 29. See also 'Ah Shir
Navä'i (Fäni): Divän. Ed. Rukn al-Din Humäyünfarrukh. Teheran; Kitäb¬
khänah-'i Ibn Sinä 1342/1963 where Navä'i indicates which poet he is imitating.
It is interesting that, for some poems, Navä'i says that they are imitations (tatabbu') of a poem by one poet, but are written in the style (tavr) of another.
Thus, for example; "tatabbu'-i Amir Khusrav va dar tavr-i Khväjah Häfiz" (Navä'i (Fäni): Divän, p. 6).
"' Navä'i; Muhäkamat, transi. p. 37; Turk, text, p. 30.
them in his dwän."''^ Both Navä'i and Davlatshäh devoted long notices to
the former in their tazkirahs and Navä'i said that if Kätibi had had a
patron like Sultan Husain Bäyqarä, he would have been even more
popular.'''' About Amir Shähi Davlatshäh said that, "Scholars are
agreed that, in the verses of Amir Shähi, are combined the ardor {süz) of
Khusrav, the elegance (latäfat) of IJasan (i.e., Dihlavi, d.l328), the re¬
finements {näzugihä) of Kamäl (i.e., Khujandi) and the clarity (^afä) of
Häfi?.""'' As for the qasidah, Navä'i says his models were Amir Khusrav,
particularly his Daryä-yi abrär^^ and his Mirät al-^afä'^^ which were in
imitation of Khäqäni; and Salmän Sävaji who was, in turn, an imitator
of Amir Khusrav and whose "artifice qa^idahs" {qa^äHd-i masnü'), fa¬
mous for their verbal acrobatics, were imitated by many poets."' In the
masnavi, Navä'i names as his models Nizämi, Amir Khusrav, Khväjü
Kirmäni (d. 1352), Ashraf (d. 1450) and Jämi.""
The composition of imitational poetry was not an end in itself, howev¬
er, it also served an important function, for it was the means by which a
poet established himself within the collective Persian literary tradition
which, by the 15th century, had become an intricate web of interrela¬
tionships and interdependencies between poets of different generations
and distant localities. Thus, it became the touchstone ofa poet's skill.
When Hätifi (d. 1520/1) expressed a desire to compose an imitation of
the Khamsah, his uncle, Jämi, instructed him first to write an imitation
{javäb) of three verses ofthe Shäh-nämah by Firdavsi, and only after
having done so was he allowed to proceed with his plan.""
The greatest achievment a poet could aspire to was to write a success¬
ful imitation of a poet who had been judged by critics as impossible to
imitate. Davlatshäh called Kamäl Ismä'il's verses mumtani' al-javäb
("impossible to imitate"), for example,'" and Jämi described the poetry
Navä'i (Fäni): Divän, pp. 13, 34, 92.
Navä'i: Majälis, pp. 10-11, 186.
Davlatshäh, p. 426.
"° Navä'i: Muhäkamat, transi., p. 31; Turk, text, p. 25.
Navä'i: Muhäkamat, transi., p. 33; Turk, text, p. 26. For more on these qasi- dahs, see Mirza: The. Life and Works, p. 161.
°' Navä'i: Muhäkamat, transi., pp. 34-35; Turk, text, p. 28. See also Navä'i (Fäni): Divän, p. 66, for Navä'i's imitations of Salmän's ghazals.
Navä'i: Muhäkamat, transi., p. 28; Turk, text, pp. 22-23.
Säm Mirzä Safavi: Tuhfah-'i Sämi. Ed. Vahid Dastgirdi. Teheran: Math.
Armaghän 1314/1935, pp. 94-95. Säm Mirzä apparently did not think very
highly of Hätifi's imitation.
'" Davlatshäh, p. 149.
The Persian Poetry of the Late Timurid Period 69
of Kamäl Khujandi as well as that of Hasan Dihlavi as sahl-i mumtani'
("inimitable facility")." Davlatshäh was of the opinion that Navä'i's
imitation {javäb) ofthe Daryä-yi oörär of Amir Khusrav, whose poetry
had also been characterized as "inimitable facility" {sahl-i mtimtani') by
Navä'i himself,'^ was the best imitation that had ever been written of
it.'^ In fact, after comparing it with the original, Davlatshäh concluded
that it was "just as good as Khusrav's work."'* But the poetry of Häfiz
was given the highest marks in this respect by Jämi who said that, "at
times it approached the inimitability [ofthe Koran],"'' and it is interes¬
ting that the Timurid critics do not mention anyone as having success¬
fully imitated him.
Poets naturally responded to this challenge to imitate the "inimita¬
ble" by trying to outdo the originals themselves and thereby dazzling
their audience and critics. They set complicated goals for themselves
that soon went beyond mere rhetorical embellishment — the very
essence of Persian poetry'® — and that focused chiefly on elaboration of
the technical requirements. Poets would not only retain the actual
ryhme words or radifs used in the original, but they would add addi¬
tional, non-obligatory, rhymes to it {iltizäm). Not only would they
repeat key words used in the original, but they would also add words of
their own to these. Thus, for example, in his imitation of Kätibi's qa§i-
dah, Shutur hujrah, the poet, Vä§ifi (author of the autobiographical Ba¬
däyi' al-vaqäyi'), not only matched Kätibi's technique of repeating the
words "camel" {shutur) and "room" {hujrah), representing two entirely
disparate items, in every hemistisch," but, in addition, he mentioned
the four physical elements {khäk, äb, bäd, ätish) in every single line!'*
It is easy to see how preoccupation with imitation could contribute to
increasing intricacy in the poetry ofthe time. It was also encouraged by
" Jämi: Bahäristän, pp. 100-101.
'^ Navä'i: Majälis, p. 356.
'" Davlatshäh, pp. 497 ff. Por Jämi's javäb to the same qaßidah, see Davlat¬
shäh, pp. 487 ff.
'* Davlatshäh, p. 503.
Jämi: Bahäristän, p. 100. Jämi uses the term i'jäz which was traditionally
used in reference to the miraculous nature of the Koran which made it impos¬
sible to imitate.
'" See Yar-Shater: Safavid Literature, pp. 236-237.
" Yar-Shater: Shi'r, pp. 122, 131.
Zain al-Din Väsifi: Badäyi' al-vaqäyi' [Russ. t.p.: Badäi' al-vakäi"]. Ed.
A.N. Boldyrev. 2 vols. Moscow: Izd. vost. lit. 1961, p. 134; for the text of this, see vol. 1, pp. 146-149.
the long-standing tradition of the majlis which served as the social
forum for poetical activity and literary criticism in general.'" The fol¬
lowing excerpt from Vä^ifi's memoirs, entitled Badäyi' al-vaqäyi' (com¬
pleted 1538/9),**" describing a majlis that took place in Herat and in
which many poets of the late Timurid period are mentioned as taking
part, illustrates vividly the format of these literary gatherings which
acted as a stage for poetical virtuosity:
We startecl talking about Kätibi (i.e.. Turshizi) [and someone said] that
he had many charming original images (ma'äni-i khäss) and enchanting and
recondite ideas [k-li/i/Oh'il) and that his style was truly adnurable . . . Oiw ofhis original images is [contained in] this famous line:
■^l* J 0^ J' y ^ ^
^xT* ^--'j jlj'
The sound of the sword of your [tongue] frees my soul of bodily pain, [Just as] the sound of water takes away the suffering of the sick man.
Everyone started talking eloquently about this just judgement of him and
adorned the keen sword of his tongue with jewels of praise, rendering him
his due.
In the course of this discussion, one of those present said: "Is it possible to compose a ghazal whieh [hke Kätibi's] would contain the words "water"
{äb) and "sword" {tigh) and be full of original images from beginning to end? Is it possible to bore so many splendid pearls with the diamond[-cut- ter] of thought?"
Some of those present considered this to be exceedingly difficult to do.
Others thought it impossible. I (i. e., Vä§ifi) expressed great surprise at their exaggeration of the difficulty and turned my attention to seeking out those images. Like a deep-sea diver, I dived into the sea of thought and gathered
up splendid pearls of images. I ended up composing five ghazals, every
hne of which contains the words "water" and "sword" . . . Since every line is adorned with an original image, I hope that it will be accepted by [those]
distinguished people.*'
See M. E. Subtelny: Art and Politics in Early 16th Century Central Asia.
In: CAJ 27, 1/2 (1983), pp. 139-143. Note also the title of Navä'i's tazkirah.:
Majälis al-nafä'is ("The majlises ofthe Select").
*" For more on the Badäyi' al-vaqäyi' as a source for the cultural history of
late 15th century Central Asia, see A. N. Boldyrev: Memuary Zain-ad-Dina
Vosifi kak istochnik dlia izucheiiiia kul'turrun zhizni Srednei Azii i Khorasarm na rubezhe XV-XVI vekov. In: Trudy Otdela kul'tury i iskusstva vostoka, Gosudarst-
vennyi Ermitazh 2 (1940), pp. 203-270 and his monograph, Zainaddin Vasifi.
Stalinabad: Tadzh. gosud. izd. 1957.
*' Väsifi: Badäyi', vol. 1, pp. 138-139. For the text ofhis imitations, see
pp. 140-143.
The Persian Poetry of the Late Timurid Period 71
Thus it was at a majlis that Vasifi responded to the challenge to imitate
Kätibi and he did so not only by repeating the same key words used by
Kätibi in his poem, but by writing five separate imitations of it.
Many ofthe formal techniques employed and elaborated by the poets
of the late Timurid period had already been used in the first half of the
century by poets like Kätibi, about whom Jämi had said that he had "a
style all his own" (uslüb-i khäs?) .'^'^ Lutfulläh Nishäpüri (d. 1409/10), for
example, wrote qa^idahs in which the four elements were mentioned in
every line*' or which had radifs composed ofthe words for the four ele¬
ments, ofthe words "sun and moon," and so on.*"* Davlatshäh cites the
following möä'iof his in which he says he used the words for four days,
four types of military equipment, four colors, four precious stones, the
four physical elements and four flowers:
The day before yesterday, the rose cast its turquoise armor to the wind.
Yesterday, the tulip's ruby coat of mail fell to the earth;
Today, (the water oQ the meadow sharpened the blueish-green daggers
[ofthe sprouting hyacinths].
And the water-lily shot forth its ruby spear-points.
He adds that it was used to test the poet, Nasimi, who, after trying for a
whole year, declared that he was unable to write an imitation of it.
Toother of these favorite techniques was the use of the rhetorical
device, tajnis, particularly the tajnis-i tämm (or perfect tajnis), which
represented a homonymic pun, in the end-rhyme of a poem.**® In Käti¬
bi's masnavi, Dah bäb (also called Masnavi-i tajnisät), all the end-
rhymes represent perfect homonymic puns.**' Nava'i mentions in the
Majalis that a poet by the name of Zähidi wrote an imitation (javäb) of
this work."** But Kätibi was outdone by Ahli Shiräzi (d. 1535/6), a poet
of the late Timurid period, whose masnavi, Sihr-i haläl, not only had an
end-rhyme consisting of homonyms, but also a double-rhyme in every
Jämi: Bahäristän, p. 102.
'*^ Yar-Shater: ShiW, p. 132.
Yar-Shater: Shi'r, p. 122.
**'"' Davlatshäh, p. 319. It ought to be mentioned that many ofthe poetic works
of this period have not survived and only some of them have been preserved in
works like the tazkirahs, Vä^ifi's "memoirs," etc.
"® See Yar-Shater: Shi'r, pp. 133 0".
"' Bertel's: Navoi, p. 34; Yar-Shater: Shi'r, pp. 190ff.
Navä'i: Majälis, p. 18.
ibi iJU ^ <)V ji^ ^i ili ^^-j jU-- oyilj
'jJ^ M ^'^ 3
L> ^ J ili
line and, furthermore, could be read in two different metres at the same
time. The following line from it illustrates Ahli's technique (the ryhmes
are underlined):
The water of my wounded heart dispels my drunkenness (khumär),
Be the salve for my wounds and bring me the wine jug (khum är).*"*
Navä'i also mentions a ghazalhy a certain Muhammad Amin in which he
used the word "dilbaram" seven times as a tajnis in the rhyme.""
The popularity of using homonyms in the end-rhyme in poetry written
in Persian must undoubtedly have influenced the peculiarly Eastern
Turkic quatrain form, called tüyügh, which acquired its characteristic
feature of homonymic end-rhyme during the Timurid period at the
hands of such Herati authors as Lutfi (d. 1462/3?) and Navä'i."'
But poets went far beyond the techniques that had been employed in
the first part ofthe 15th century, demonstrating in the process a dis¬
tinct penchant for riddle-like verse forms such as the acrostic (niuvash-
shah), the chronogram {tärikh) and the enigma (mu'ammä). In the
muvashshah, different verse forms could be extracted from a single form
by various means. In the Baharistän, Jämi mentioned that no one was
able to write a good imitation of 'Abd al-Väsi' Jabali's (d. 1160) qa^i-
dah, Chär dar chär, which begins:
*° Quoted from Bertel's: Navoi, p. 35.
"" Navä'i: Majalis, p. 43.
Scholars (among them A. N. Samoilovych, M. F. KöPRtJLüzADE and I.
V. Stebleva) have generally viewed the development of the tüyügh genre only
within the framework ofthe native Turkic, that is, oral tradition going back to pre-Islamie times, and have largely ignored the dominant Perso-Islamic literary tradition that, precisely in 15th century Timurid Herat, exerted such a profound
influence on the development ofthe Chaghatay (Eastern Turkic) literary langu¬
age and literature. The latest work to deal with the tüyügh (Kathleen R. F.
Burrill: The Quatrains of Nesimi: Fourteenth-Century Turkish Hurufi. The
Hague: Mouton 1972), sheds no new light on the problem ofthe evolution of its
characteristic feature of homonymic end-rhyme, although its author does con¬
cede that this is "a matter of considerable interest not only to those studying the poetry of the Turks but also to scholars of Persian literature" (p. 45).
IV
The Persian Poetry of the Late Timurid Period 73
jJ i 5 ,iijL>- J ^ j IM»*y ^J^^ ^
y.Oir—i LfiJ '^'^i A-i-^
Who has a beloved like you — beautiful, nimble and heart-ravishing? With
violet looks, eyes [languid] like the narcissus, cheeks like tulips and a breast [white] like the eglantine rose."^
Vasifi later wrote a javäb to it from w^hich, in his own words, by means of
the device by which all words with a common or pseudo-common root
are assembled {ishtiqäq) a ghazal could be extracted; from this, by
means of the same device, a rubäH and a matla' could be extracted,
every hemistich of which was also a mu'ammä, this hemistich contain¬
ing another hemistich which was also a mu'ammä, while the hemistichs
ofthe ghazal contained an acrostic which yielded the name ofthe poet's
patron."''
In the Muhäkamat al-lughatain, Navä'i stated that, "Many skilled
poets have tried in vain to imitate these lines," referring to Salmän Sä-
vaji's qa$idah-'i masnü' which begins:
jlf-| S-^' ^"--^^ ^---'SJ Oyl-^ ^^Ij*-*»
The clear purity of your face sheds spring rain.
The paradisical air of your street exudes Tatar musk."'*
At Navä'i's request, Ahli Shiräzi viTote three qa^idahs in imitation of it.
This was an extraordinary undertaking in and of itself, because Sal¬
män's poem was a muvashshah, 160 lines in length. If certain words were
extracted from every two or three lines of it, they formed new lines
which were in a different metre. These supplementary verses numbered
59 and contained 120 obvious and 281 concealed rhetorical figures.
From the first letters of all the lines three lines could be extracted which
contained a dedication to the poet's patron. From the middle letters of
the first hemistichs, a qit'ah of nine lines could be extracted in which the
letter alif was never used, while from the middle letters of the second
hemistichs a qifah of seven lines could be extracted which was com¬
posed entirely of undotted letters."" Ahli bettered this, for, in his qa^i-
Jami: Bahäristän, pp. 89-90.
Gibb: A History, vol. 1, p. 120.
Väsifi: Badäyi', vol. 1, pp. 134-135; for the text of this, see pp. 149-153.
Nava'i: Muhäkamat, transi., pp. 34-35; Turk, text, p. 28.
Bertel's: Navoi, p. 39.
dah, rubä'is could also be extracted which could be read in both Persian
and Arabic, and others which, if written in squares, could be read either
horizontally or vertically, thus:
yyry y tjjSL,^
■H^ eT-^ yyrP y
r^y ^ J^y juL
^ juL rß-.
Chronograms [tärikh) had traditionally been used in historiographical
writing to fix the date of a particular event (the death of a prominent
person, the date of a battle, etc.) as well as in architectural monuments
(the date ofthe completion or dedication of a building). A tärikh consist¬
ed of a word or set of words which, if the numerical values ofthe Arabic
letters were added together, the result was a year of the Hijrah calen¬
dar. Usually it was contained in the last line of a poem which dealt with
the event in question and it could even be combined with a mu'ammä.''^*
But, in the late Timurid period, tärikhs came to be used extensively in
the body of a poem as well. Sähibdärä Astaräbädi (d. 1512), who had
been an intimate companion of 'Ali Shir Navä'i, composed an elegy on
his death in which the first hemistich of every line constituted a chrono¬
gram on Navä'i's birth, while the second hemistich of every line was a
chronogram on his death. The entire elegy consisted of five separate
poems which comprised a total of forty lines."" Navä'i mentioned in the
Majälis that he had heard an elegy written by a certain Sayyid Kamäl
Gachküli on the death of Khväjah Abü '1-Na$r Pärsä in which, every
couple of lines there was a chronogram on the Khväjah's death, while
other lines constituted assorted chronograms, and others still contained
three and four chronograms each — all this, according to Navä'i, wdthout
detriment to its meaning.'"" Another poet by the name of Amir Isläm
Ghazäli wrote a qa^idah in imitation of Anvari (d. 1189/90?), every
hemistich of which constituted a chronogram on the date of its
composition.'"'
From Bertel's: Navoi, p. 39.
'■"' Gibb: A History, vol. 1, pp. 98-99.
Väsifi: Badäyi', vol. 1, pp. 493-497. See also Navä'i: Majälis, p. 207.
Navä'i: Majalis, p. 35.
Navä'i: Majälis, p. 14.
The Persian Poetry of the Late Timurid Period 75
The use ofthe m.aqlüh-i mustavä, or paHndrome, which Navä'i thought
was the most difficult of all poetical crafts, was also very popular.'"^ In
it, a hemistich or even a complet« line could be read both backwards
and forwards, as in the following hemistich by Amir 'Atä'ulläh Nishä¬
püri who, according to Navä'i, also wrote a treatise on the subject:
_bjl_b ^yj. LjUi 0 sugar-lipped one, don't grieve!""
Navä'i says that it can also be read backwards (although the meaning is
by no means clear):
jS Ji 4JU- y.i
The following maqlub-i mustavä by Qäzi 'Abd al-Vahhäb Mashhadi,
quoted in the Majälis, has the same meaning whether read backwards or
forwards:
k -h' Ji It is coming about, o Lord!'"*
Nothing, however, expressed the poetical tendency of the lat« Timu¬
rid period better — indeed, epitomized it — than did the mu'ammä. It
represented the logical consequence of the general preoccupation with
technical form to the detriment of content. It was a poetical form which
consisted of one or two baits only. Although it had a superficial mean¬
ing, it was in reality an enigma, the object of which was to recognize hid¬
den allusions contained in it to various letters of the Arabic alphabet
which, when assembled, spelled the solution, usually a proper name.""'
The following example by a certain Mavlänä Ni?äm, quoted by Navä'i in
the Majälis, illustrates the complexity of the genre:
<jl i 0 y'-.r-ki jj\]e> jli Ut- 4jLil ijli JLsl y\ 'S Know that generosity is a bird that offers up its grain.
And that makes good fortune its nest."""
'"^ Navä'i: Majälis, p. 266.
Navä'i: Majälis, p. 92.
"'* Navä'i: Majälis, p. 26.
'"^ In the Majälis, Navä'i quotes the accepted definition of mu'ammä during his time (Navä'i: Majälis, p. 99):
ojUl ji> .U-I j\ ^\ y jjS .^^ , ^ j.jj. o_-:5l5'
Very little at all has been written on the subject of the mu'ammä. One of the
few scholars to have treated it is Yar-Shater {Shi'r, pp. 239-243). See also
Bertel's: Literatura rm persidskom iazyke, p. 223.
'"" Navä'i: Majälis, p. 46.
In the first line, the phrase, "offers up its grain," is an allusion to the fact that the word sakhä ("generosity") should lose its diacritical mark
(its "grain") and thus become saha. In the second line, the phrase,
"makes good fortune its nest," hints that the word sahä should some¬
how "sit inside" the word iqbäl ("good fortune"), which must become its
"nest". Since the phrase can also be read "makes iq its wings (hol)," the letters i and q become "wings" on either side oisahä, thus: i-sahä-q. This now yields the solution, Ishäq, sl name.""
So complex could mu'ammäs become, sometimes necessitating up to
ten separate operations to arrive at a solution, that the solution was
often provided beforehand and the object was then to demonstrate how
it could be derived.""* Being able to solve mu'ammäs without knowing
the solution beforehand was regarded as a sign of the highest profici¬
ency. In the description ofhis career as a mu'ammä'i, Väsifi said that he
had achieved such expertise in the science of mu'ammä that, "most of
the mu'ammäs I heard I solved without knowing the solution to them
beforehand," and he added that when news of this spread throughout
the city of Herat, "people made bets and wagers with each other and
won when they bet on me.""'" The Uzbek ruler, 'Ubaidulläh Khän
(1512-1539), whose court at Bukhara so faithfully mirrored the tastes
of Timurid Herat that it reminded Muhammad Haidar (the author ofthe
Tärlkh-i Rashidi, completed 1541/2) of the days of Sultan Husain
Bäyqarä,"" was so proficient in mu'ammä that he asked to be given
mu'ammäs to solve with the solutions to them cut off the tops of the
pages on which they were written.'"
The mu'ammä would hardly have become a verse form worthy of note
were it not for the fact that it enjoyed unprecedented popularity in the
late Timurid period and was held in such high esteem as if it belonged in
fact to the sphere of real poetry. Although the ghazal undoubtedly
'"' See Bertel's: Navoi, p. 41.
"'* After quoting a mu'ammä by Simi Nishäpüri, an early Timurid poet (see Yar-Shater: Shi'r, pp. 193, 238), from which several names could apparently
be extracted, Davlatshäh says that, since his own knowledge ofthe 'science of
mu'ammä' is not that great, "The responsibility (for it) rests with the one who has found the solutions." (Davlatshäh, p. 413.)
'"" Väsifi; Badäyi', vol 1, p. 490.
"" Muhammad Haidar: A History of the Moghuls of Central Asia Being the
Tarikh-i Rashidi of Mirza Muhammad Haidar, Dtighlät. Transi. E. D. Ross. Ed.
N. Elias. London 1898; rep ed., New York: Praeger 1970, p. 283.
"' Vasifi: Badäyi', vol. 1, p. 306; for the texts of 80 mM'ammäs with their solu¬
tions, see pp. 306-314.
The Persian Poetry of the Late Timurid Period 77
remained the most popular verse form, the mu'ammä became something
ofthe rage during this time. An indication of its popularity is the great
number of mu'ammäs quoted by Navä'i in the Majälis. They represent
approximately 15%"^ and, in some chapters, as much as 24% of all
verses quoted."'' In the biographical section of the Tärilch-i Rashidi
which deals with the reign of Sultan Husain Bäyqarä, Muhammad Hai¬
dar even devoted a separate section to "mu'ammäyün."'^*
'Ali Shir Navä'i, under whose exacting supervision all poetical activ¬
ity took place at the court of Husain Bäyqarä, was perhaps the single
greatest enthusiast ofthe mu'ammä. Davlatshäh mentions his skill in it
in the same breath as he does his Turkish and Persian poetry:
Turki and Persian verses are the choicest part of his noble nature and com¬
posing and solving mu'ammäs is the specialty ofhis subtle mind."^
In his memoirs, Väsifi says that it was general knowledge in Herat at
the time that, "There was no better means of gaining admission to him
(i.e., Navä'i) than through the mu'ammä, " and he describes how, as a
young man, he was admitted to an audience with Navä'i on this very
basis.'" Navä'i states in the Muhäkamat al-lughatain that his own Per¬
sian divän contained close to five hundred mu'ammäs.^ Significantly,
Amir Khusrav, whose works were so widely studied and imitated during
this period, had also been a practitioner of mu'ammä.^"^
Although primarily a learned exercise, mu'ammäs were composed for
all sorts of occasions. Navä'i relates how he composed one with the
Based on chapters 2-5 inclusive of the Majälis.
For example, chapter 4 of the Majälu.
[Muhiuriniiul Ilaidar]: Ir/lihn.s a: Tärikh-i Ra.ihhli. Kd. Mri.l.\MM.\D SiiA-
Fl'. In: Oriental College Magazine (Lahore) 10, 3 (1934), p. 161. Among these
he mentions: Mir Husain Mu'ammä'i, Muhammad Badakhshi, Kamäl Mu'am¬
mä'i and Shihäb Mu'ammä'i and adds that, "Besides this group there are a great
many more who have become famous in this art and to mention all of them
would never allow me to finish." This biographical section was omitted by Ross in his translation ofthe Tärikh-i Rashidi (see n. 110 above).
"■' Davlatshäh, p. 496.
Väsifi: Badäyi', vol. 1, p. 486.
For a description of this very interesting episode which offers a rare
glimpse into the cultural life of the court of Sultan Husain Bäyqarä, see Vä§ifi:
Badäyi', vol. 1, pp. 491-506.
'"* Navä'i: Muhäkamat, Turk, text, p. 29. See also Navä'i (Fäni): Divän, pp.
224-225 for the texts of some of these.
"" See Mirza: The Life and Works, p. 214, n. 1; for an example ofa mu'ammä
combined with a tärikh by the same author, see pp. 224-225.
solution "'Alä'" for the poet, 'Alä' Shäshi (whom he says the people of
Samarqand regarded as the equal ofthe early Timurid historian, Sharaf
al-Din 'Ali Yazdi, an authority on mu'ammä), when he was bedridden
in Samarqand with a broken leg. In reply, he sent Navä'i a mu'ammä
with the solution "Shir."''^" The mania for mu'ammä reached the point
where mu'ammäs began to be "discovered" in the works of various
poets. Pahlavän Muhammad Abü Sa'id, a famous wrestler, musician
and poet of the court of Husain Bäyqarä, "discovered" some in the divän
of Häfiz!'^' Inevitably, it also became the object of serious study, with
even the austere Jämi writing at least four treatises on it.'^^
V
The mu'ammä and the various acrostic and punning forms reflected
the extreme to which the tendency which characterized the poetry ofthe
late Timurid period could be carried. That tendency can be summed
up, in general, as a preoccupation with technical embellishment which
did indeed result in the predominance of what Rypka called "the cul¬
ture of word and form" over content.'^' Still, the opinion expressed by
Bertel's that, "By conceming itself with mu'amma, literature com¬
mitted suicide, dooming itself to the complete loss of any social value
whatsoever," is unnecessarily harsh.'^^ One can hardly expect from this
literature something it was never originally intended to provide.
Moreover, viewed within the parameters of its own tradition and
within the scope of the creative possibilities which that afforded, the
poetry ofthe late Timurid cannot be considered one of a qualitative dec¬
line, as is usually maintained.'^'' Its intricacy represented the logical
consequence of the traditional emphasis on the cultivation of imitation
Navä'i: Majälis, pp. 27, 202.
'^' Navä'i: Majälis, p. 90.
Bertel's: Navoi, p. 42; Yar-Shater: Shi'r, p. 241. See also Browne: ^
Literary History, vol. 3, p. 514 where he says that he wrote five such treatises.
Works by other Timurid poets like Muhammad Badakhshi (d. after 1511/12),
Yüsuf Badi'i (d. 1491/2), Mir Husain Mu'ammä'i (d. 1498/9) and Saift Bukhä
rä'i (d. 1495 or 1503/4) supplemented those by the Timurid historian, Sharaf al- Din 'Ali Yazdi.
Rypka: History, p. 89.
Bertel's: Navoi, p. 42.
'^^ See Yar-Shater: Shi'r, which is subtitled, "The Start of Decline in Per¬
sian Poetry," pp. 101 ff.
The Persian Poetry of the Late Timurid Period 79
in poetry and thus could not have constituted in itself a transgression of
contemporary canons of good taste. On the contrary, it had to conform
to the aesthetic criteria on which these were based; otherwise, it would
have been rejected outright by the audience for whom it was intended
and whose needs it had to satisfy, just as Davlatshäh suggested that Rü¬
dagi's brand of poetry would not have been acceptable to contemporary
Timurid tastes. The criticisms voiced by authors like Davlatshäh,
Navä'i and Jämi should therefore be regarded as aimed not against the
totality of the poetry produced during this time, but rather, against
those productions that fell short ofthe exigences of contemporary crite¬
ria. Unfortunately, we will never know just how poor the quality of the
prductions to which they allude was, since the tazkirahs, as a rule, con¬
tain only those specimens that their authors deemed to be the finest.
Thus, just as the poetry ofthe succeeding, 16th century written in so-
called "Indian style" {sabk-i hindi) was to represent the highpoint of
conceptual sophistication, that ofthe late Timurid period can be regard¬
ed as a highpoint ofthe formal aspect of Persian poetry. The same intri¬
cacy that was to mark the former on the internal, metaphorical level,
with associations connected with old images rebounding off each other
and creating, in turn, new and unexpected images,'"" characterized the
latter on the external or formal level. The demands that both made on
their readership cannot but strike us as formidable.
'^^ Hbinz: Der indische Stil, p. 72; also Yar-Shater: Safavid Literature,
p. 239.
Von Harry Falk, Freiburg i.Br.
1. Die Upanisaden gehören zu jenen indischen Texten, die dem
Namen nach auch dem Nicht-Indologen bekannt sind. Alle deutschen
Enzyklopädien der letzten Jahrzehnte erklären den Ausdruck upanisad
als das „Sichniedersetzen zu den Füssen des Lehrers", und daraus fol¬
gend „die vertrauliche Mitteilung bei dieser Gelegenheit". Diese Etymo¬
logie stammt aus der Mitte des vergangenen Jahrhunderts. ' Sie hat sich
zwar bis heute halten können, doch nicht etwa, weil sie sehr einleuch¬
tend wäre, sondern nur, weil alle bislang vorgebrachten Gegenvor¬
schläge ebensowenig zu überzeugen vermochten.
Wie sam-säd oder pari-^äd ist auch das Kompositum upa-ni-§dd ein
fem. Abstraktnomen mit dem Wurzelnomen sad als Hinterglied. Es ist
also mit Sicherheit von einer „Sitzung" die Rede. Das Präverb ni
bezeichnet ein „Nieder"-Setzen, zweitens drückt upa die Vorstellung
des Sichnahens aus. Oldenberg^ hat 1896 (459/37) eine wichtige
Frage gestellt: Warum heißen nur die Upanisaden upanisad, wenn doch
der Schüler sich auch zum Erlernen jedes anderen Textes vertrauens¬
voll zu den Füßen des Lehrers niederlassen mußte? Oedenberg
glaubte, upäsana, das im Sitzen vollzogene Verehren der hl. Feuer, mit
upa-ni-?ad gleichsetzen zu dürfen. Er sah damit nicht den Lehrer als
Ziel des vertrauenvollen Hinzusetzens, sondern jene höchsten Wesen¬
heiten, die als ätmän oder brähman in den Upanisaden eine so große
Rolle spielen. Er übersetzte upanisad deshalb mit „Verehrung", „Ver¬
ehrungsform" oder „Verehrungsformel". Deussen^ wandte sich kurz
darauf gegen diese Sicht der Dinge und verteidigte den alten Ansatz
' Ch. Lassen : Beiträge zur Kunde des Indischen Alterthunis aus dem Mahäbhä¬
rata. In: Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 1 (1837), 71. Th. Benfey in : Allgemeine Encyklopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste. 2. Section H-N. Leip¬
zig 1840, 256b.
^ H. Oldenberg: Vedische Untersuchungen. 6: Upanisad. In: ZDMG 50
(1896), 457-462 = Kleine Schriften 35-40.
^ P. Deussen: Allgemeine Geschichte der Philosophie. I, 2: Die Philosophie der Upanishad's. Leipzig 1899, 13 ff.
