PERSIAN LITERATURE
Suggested Pieces:
Persia
➢ Founded by Cyrus the Great
➢ Iran or Arya (which means
Land of the Aryans)
1. Characteristics of Persian
Literature
➢ Variety of formats: Developed
in several formats or genres that
are of great importance in terms
of literary organization.
➢ Importance of verse: Verse is of
vital importance in practically
any written production.
➢ Recent production: Develops
and extends to modernity,
which adds a series of socio-
political conditions of the area
and reaches its peak around the
ninth century.
➢ Religious importance: Persian
literature has a high content of
Zoroastrianism.
2. Persian Prose and Poetry
Persian Prose
➢ Persian prose includes stories,
fables, histories, and manuals
of conduct. The earlier prose
was characterized by rhyme.
➢ It was used for utilitarian
purposes, particularly in
scholarship, religion, and the
affairs of government.
Persian Poetry
➢ Poetry is one of the most
common genres and it is even
possible to find this genre in a
large part of the developed
literature.
➢ Important styles were
developed that were
distinguished by tone, diction,
and the language implemented.
➢ The principal verse forms are
Qasideh, Masnavi, Qazal, and
Ruba'i.
of poetry that each amount to
Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam
about 25,000 verses, or 50,000
Summary
lines.
➢ Rubaiyat means a compilation
➢ It is a spiritual work that
of quatrains.
teaches Sufis how to reach their
➢ The poem is a highly
goal of being in true love with
philosophical one, and even
God.
though it is divided into
➢ Its fifty thousand lines are
multiple sections, it has a
mostly in Persian but are
central message, namely living
riddled with Arabic excerpts
in the moment.
from Muslim scripture; the
➢ It contains pithy observations
book frequently alludes to
on complex subjects such as
Koranic anecdotes that offer
love, death, and the existence of
moral lessons.
God and an afterlife.
Author: Rumi
Author: Omar Khayyam
➢ Jalal ad-Din Rumi
➢ Persian astronomer, poet, and
➢ Sufi saint and Persian poet
mathematician
➢ He was brought up in the
➢ Author of a series of nearly 600
Islamic faith and became well
poems originally written in
acquainted with the Quran.
Persian
Theme
Theme
➢ Self-deception, Evil tendencies,
➢ Seize the day (carpe diem)
Reason, and Knowledge
Divan by Hafiz
Shahnameh by Ferdowsi
Summary
(The Epic of Kings)
➢ A collection of numerous
Summary
multilayered poems, the Divan
➢ The tale can be roughly divided
consists primarily of sonnet-
into three parts: the first part
like verses (ghazals), quatrains
tells of the mythical creation of
(ruba‘is), and a few
Persia and its earliest fabled
miscellaneous odes (qasidas)
past; the second part tells of the
and fragments (qit‘as).
legendary Kings and the heroes
➢ It has strong mystical themes,
Rostam and Sohrab; and the
along with social criticism and
third part blends historical fact
philosophical and intellectual
with legend, telling of the semi-
insights.
mythical adventures of actual
Author: Hafiz or Hafez (Qur’an
historical Kings.
memorizer)
➢ It contains 62 stories, told in
➢ Khajeh Shamseddin
990 chapters with 50,000
Mohammad Hafiz-s Shirazi
rhyming couplets, and it is
➢ Persian poet and a fine lyricist
divided into three parts—the
in Persian
mythical, heroic, and historical
➢ His collected works are
ages.
regarded as the pinnacle of
Author: Ferdowsi
Persian literature.
➢ Hakim Abul-Qasim Mansur
Theme
➢ Persian poet and Iran's most
➢ Beloved, Faith, Hypocrisy,
famous poet
Morality
➢ Regarded as the preserver of the
Persian language and of pre-
Masnavi by Rumi
Islamic Iranian cultural
Summary
identity.
➢ One of the best-known and
Theme
most influential works of both
➢ Good and evil, Love, Humor,
Sufism and Persian literature, it
Supernatural, and Kingship
consists of a series of six books