نشریه جستارهای نوین ادبی
سال چهل و هشتم شماره 3 (پیاپی 190، پاییز 1394)

Some of English translators have deemed “the man in the panther skin”, composed by Shota Rustaweli, as a romance; and translated its title as “the knight in the panther’s skin”. If we regard it deeply, we will find out that the title of this symbolical and mystical epic has implicitly been associated with Shahnameh of Ferdowsi as Rostam, the great hero of Shahnameh was entitled a man with an amour of panther or tiger skin. Certainly Rustaweli was fully aware of the Text of Shahnameh because he once mentioned the name Rostam in his epic explicitly. Moreover some of the names in his epic directly and indirectly are associated with the names in Shahnameh. According to some literary evidence, Iranian mythology has had a great influence in Georgian mythology; therefore, it is not very unlikely that, Rustaweli had adopted the title of his epic from an epithet of an Iranian epic.
This study is based on the method of descriptive analysis by using library research and taking advantage of the resources available in a qualitative way. The present study tries to deal with the following question: what are the similarities and differences between the elements of Taryel's trials of Rustaweli and Rostam’s in Shahnameh of Ferdowsi? The research should be based on proposed patterns of structuralism. Due to the brevity and the knowledge of the readers on reviews of Shahnameh, this article is only based on discussions covering "the man in the panther skin” epic in details.
The entire epic "The man in the panther skin” covers the trials and obstacles that Taryel and Aftandyl, two heroes of this epic, must pass to save Nestan Daryjan and that Taryel gains the kingdom. In this epic, the heroes somehow overlap. In the process of the epic "the man in the panther skin” trials encircle around a particular axis in order to fulfill a goal. For this purpose, although Aftandyl and Taryl have separate Trials, their last trial is in common, and since the characters overlap each other, they are in a horizontal axis. Taryel overlaps Aftandyl, Fereydoun as a master guide, helper and hero overlaps those two champions. However, in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, as Rostam passes over the Seven Trials with the assistance of some helpers, they do not overlap him since he is the only main character of this epic. The symbolic elements discussed in this article are as follows: Character, Travel, helper, love, panther skin, battle with predatory animals, places, blood healing, and fighting the evil creatures. Moreover, according to the proposed patterns of structuralists, Rostam’s Seven Trials have similarity and conformity with the Ten Trials of Taryel. However, there are some differences which need to be mentioned. Taryel's Trial trip is more complicated than Rostam’s. Taryel's trial trip is done in several stages during four trips while Rostam's trial trip starts from a point and ends in the final point; but Taryel's Trial trip is in a circle, begins from the starting point and returns to the same point by completing the circle and passing the last Trial. Rostam achieves his goal by saving Kavus; but with rescuing Nastan. Taryel does not still reach the stage of accomplishment; two other trips must be done up to the symbolic hero in panther skin to fulfill the final goal of the epic.

Among institutionalized Narrative and discourses in Shahnameh, the presence of both Mithraism and zoroastrian discourses is the most considerable. Mithraism is one of the largest pre-zoroastrian religions. Zoroastrian religion, in addition to contrast with traditional Mithraism and trying to de-mark and its ommition, finally has absorbed the Mithra and most of Mithraism elements in the Avesta. Regarding the wide relations between Mithraism and zoroastrian discourses during history, the relations of both discourses is observable in different parts of Shahnameh. One of the most important Shahnameh stories, which is organized based on these both discourses, is "Jamshid" story.
This study tries to reread and deconstruct Jamshid story and investigate constituted evidences of him and reveal secrets behinds conventional narratives using critical approaches, particularly, discourses analysis, foucauldian and post-foucauldian approaches to discourse and its concepts and idioms.
Considering abundant similarities between Mithra and Jamshid, among Iran mythologic characteristics, Jamshid has had the deepest relationship with Mithra and Mithraism pattern. The appearance of zoroastrian religion, it's contrast with Mithraism, and it's focal characteristics resulted in Jamshid being rejected and denied. Such denial starts with attribution of guilt to Jamshid and his criticism and continues with confiscation of his attributes and functions for kiomars. Althogh in zoroastrian discourse regarding the nature of Jamshid guilt, there are various narratives and even inconsistencies, Jamshid's guilt was confirmed as a proposition in center of this discourse; such an issue has been re-narrated in contexts of Islamic era including Shahnameh and historical resources. However, investigations show the confusion of zoroastrian traditions about Jamshid guilt, because the guilt that has been attributed to him was balanced, deleted or returned into other guilt. Training sarcophagi to people, lies and claiming "God", rejecting religion and intercourse with Perry are the most famous guilties attributed to Jamshid in zoroastrian narratives.
Jamshid as Mithra ground representative, that repeats the traditional "cow" slaughter by him, is criticized in 32-Gahan yasna due to training sarcophagi to people. In terms of discourse genealogy, zoroaster criticism of Jamshid in this yasna is the origin of all narratives about his guilt. Attributing "divinity" claims to Jamshid in zoroastrian discourses and following that in Shahnameh, relates to his relation with Mithra because this issue can be considered as a reflection of Mithra greatness and his competition with Ahooramazda for God top status. Ferdowsi, also follows zoroastrian discourses in this part of Jamshid desting (honour and ingratitude and "divinity" claiming). The guilt of rejecting religion may be due to Jamshid's belonging to a pattern other than zoroastrian pattern. Intercourse with Perry is one of the important ideologic lables in zoroastrian discourse attributed although it is mediated to Jamshid. This label has also been applied to other great Mithraism characters like Garshasb.
In direction with contrasting zoroastrian discourse with Jamshid, most of his functions including being the first human, solar descent, relation with dead watch dog, optional death and relation with Nowrooz are attributed to Kiomars and in fact has confiscated for him. This fact has a tensional meaning, because although zoroastrian discourse is apparently defeating Mithraism discourse and Jamshid, it is considered as "being beaten" because confiscating a sign represents the domination of that sign and it's greatness in view of vital discourse.
Despite contrasting zoroastrian discourse with Jamshid, his rejection and complete deletion for such discourse was not easy, his deletion process that started in initial Zoroastrianism remained unfinished. Thus, finally, important dimensions of his dutifulness and characteristics were absorbed in this discourse. Important factors were effective in this absorption. Firstly, two elements of the most focal elements of Mithraism discourse namely slaughter and Hoom tradition were included in zoroastrian tradition, and Jamshid, was also included in the same absorption due to deep traditional relation with both elements. The other factor of this absorption has been the deep influence of Mithra and Jamshid among the crowds and traditional verbal influences on zoroastrian written tradition. Signs including accepting the golden era of Jamshid governance, dutifulness of preserving Peyman, his resurrection role and being majesty in zoroastrian narratives as well as trying some zoroastrian references to negate the guilt of Jamshid and his repentance, prosperity and reaching to master purgatory, all demonstrate Jamshid's absorption in zoroastrian discourse whose reflection is observed in Shahnameh.
Reconstructing Zoroastrian narratives demonstrates that such a discourse is accompanied by numerous inconsistencies about Jamshid. Because from one hand zoroastrian discourse had applied a confrontational approach against Jamshid due to his belonging to Mithraism discourse and his criticism by Zoroaster and initial Zoroastrianism contrast with Mithraism. On the other hand, such a discourse absorbed Jamshid and his dutifulness in itself due to influence of Mithraism discourse and Jamshid on the crowds and absorbing most of Mithraism elements in Zoroastrian religion.
Inconsistencies available inn zoroastrian references concerning Jamshid demonstrate that such a discourse could not provide a coherent configuration of Jamshid story. Investigating Shanameh, historical context of Islamic era and Pahlavi resources show that Jamshid story were configured in zoroastrian discourse considering both light and dark poles for his character in both different era from his life. The light pole of Jamshid's character is the result of definitive absorption of some elements of Mithraism discourse in zoroastrianism after Zoroaster; and dark pole of his character, is generally considered as the result of initial Zoroastrianism contrasting with Mithraism discourse. Accordingly, relation of both Mithraism and zoroastrian discourses should be known as confrontational-interactive relationship.

The Shahnameh opens with a preface which probably did not exist prior to Ferdowsi. Even if such a thing existed, it must have been different from the present introduction. Putting this aside, the rest of the Shahnameh has a clear beginning and ending. This has helped critics to determine the structure of the work as a whole by its content. However, we believe the Shahnameh includes two parts: the Mythical and the historical. Nevertheless, these parts are interconnected; the mythical part is concerned with creation and the historical with life and continuity. One fundamental motivation for the compilation of the Shahnameh has been the revival of Iranian identity. This has made the Shahnameh a national epic containing political content from the beginning of its inception. A sort of content which serves a political end. The cultural basis of the Shahnameh stands on the confrontation of Ahouramazda and Ahriman. Such a basis, in principle, justifies the question of creation as well as the continuation of collective life. Moreover, rethinking on any kind of connection between creation and continuity of life ends in a political pattern.
In this article, we have investigated the transformation of the myth of creation from a structuralist point of view. There is no unanimously agreed-upon definition of myth; nevertheless, in most definitions, there is one common point: myth deals with the beginnings and creation, keeping a sacred view concerning creation, and expressing this view in the form of drama, action, experience, and revelation. When we meditate on inner secrets, eternal life and inner existence, we do not have access to a variety of ideas and means to express them. Therefore, we take advantage of ideas in a different system of thought. Myths are stable and powerful; they can continue to live in the hardest of the situations. Positivism and science have been busy striving to put an end to mythical views, but myth has continued its life in newer forms. In mythical thinking there is a tendency towards centralism rather than expansionism. This moves this sort of view towards dense contraction rather than vast expansion. The concentration of all forces on a single point is the necessary condition for any kind of mythical thinking and structure. No matter how far a myth evolves, it keeps revolving around the same basic force field. It never loses its link with its origin though the form and appearance may change.
In ancient Iranian culture, they believed that Ahouramazda initially created a human being (a human prototype) and a cow (a prototype of useful animals). Then, all other animals were created from the decomposition of these two prototypes. Names for these human prototypes are different, and each name may belong to an era of the history of Iran or a special place and area of the country. The first human prototype concept in Iranian culture maintains that this creature is the cause and means for the creation of other human beings. With the death of the human prototype, human beings defeat death and annihilation since the death brings about prosperity and the expansion of green life on earth. In later developments, at the age of rationalism and the expansion of logical thinking, the human prototypes change into the first generation of kings. One of the most dominant mythical patterns that has existed in Iranian thought is “prototypical archetype” of history. This view which has its roots in the myth of creation and the clash between Ahouramazda and Ahriman has made the Iranians to have a structured concept of history since this pattern has a predetermined structure which can accommodate different narratives (real or mythological). If a narrative does not have the capacity to be classified in this pattern, it will be changed, deformed or deleted.
In studying the Shahnameh, it is necessary to pay attention to its creation along with its wholeness and integrated structure. Paying attention to the Shahnameh and its historical adventures, we can realize when Arabs dominated Iran, and had humiliating behavior with the Iranians, a strong tendency came up to revive Iranian identity against Arabs’ humiliation. This problem of identity revival caused the Shahnameh to gain the stature of a national epic position, and find political content, a content based on cultural factors to follow a political mission.
Therefore, the Shahnameh is Iranian philosophy of history. To know Iranian philosophy of history, and national epic as its manifestation, it is necessary to pay attention to the cultural basis on which the stories of the Shahnameh are based on. This cultural basis includes the cosmic battle of Ahouramazda and Ahriman. In this system of thought, human beings were created to help God to defeat evil for the good. Here, two things depend on each other: creation and life continuity. However, any rethinking to link creation with life continuity leads to the manifestation of a political pattern. It is exactly for this transformation that in the Shahnameh the myth of creation transforms into a political one; even creation myth in Shahnameh, and the human being prototype converts into prototype kings and kingly patterns, and battle transfers from good and evil to their agents.
The presence of mythical patterns in national epic explains creation in various forms, especially the mythical from of the government. It shows various forms of government to get to its ideal and final form, Keykhosrov’s kingdom. But this for of government is only ideal. As soon as we get away from the ideal world and approach the realities, we encounter more problems. It seems that dividing the mythical part of the Shahnameh into the Pishdadians and the Kianians, while under the influence of religious texts such as Avesta, shows a kind of structural understanding. The Iranians initially designed a form of primitive government; then, they experimented with this to form a more complex and practical system of government. They then made this developed form of government into an ideal one. After this, they tried to find a real alternative for this ideal form of government. It is for this reason that in the same mythical part of the Shahnameh the prototypical human being, belonging to a specific era of history or a particular place of the country, has turned into father and son in its political manifestation, each of them expressing part of the political thought. However, the design of their power and growth is based on a mythical pattern and familiarization. Some cases such as that of Zahak symbolize the evil, but in cases in which the possibility of father and son relationship has not been possible, and antagonistic aspects have no place in their nature, manifest as dynasty heads, and have had an unnatural birth. In cases without the possibility of being the dynasty head, while having some fame, they have been placed along with the kings and manifest heroic qualities. For this category, we can name Zaal, Kaveh and Rostam. Zahak, too, keeps such a status. However, Zahak has passed through the athletic stage and gained the position of a king. Nonetheless, politically viewed, it is the people who have elected him as their king. However, Zahaak is a monster in Avesta, while in Shah-Nameh, he is an Alien ruler. Therefore, there is a contradiction in the two sources, the former having a Bondaheshti view and the latter a political one. It is for this same reason that Rostam’s mother is a relative of Zahaak. Therefore, it is necessary to think about king and hero formation along with each other. This, in turn, clarifies the clashes of Rostam with Kavus and Goshtasb and Esfandiar.

In a series of written texts surviving from the pre-Islamic religion, apocalyptic literature has the vital role that deals with the matter of intuition and dreams that some qualified people experienced and also retold them. This revelation is universal and popular with most religions and ethnic groups. Since the awareness of metaphysical issues and predicting future events and distractions to the afterlife is always tempting for human beings, he always wants to be called for that world before his death, visit there and discover its secrets. It is not possible for everyone to experience this travel, only certain privileged people, in special mood and right time, step into this supernatural world to experience and understand the dramatic events, achieve special position in this amazing journey and then will have an important role in their community. The idea of nocturnal ascension in each culture is offered for various reasons and in different ways, in both primitive religions, advanced cultures and societies like Shamanism, Hinduism, Mithraism beliefs, or among Iranian theologians. In Mazdean tradition, -this belief has repeatedly considered as a real issue-. like Ascension of Zoroaster Prophet, Goshtasb Kiani king, Kartir Sassanid era’s clergyman and Ardaviraf Sassanid’s priest.
Research This article seeks to examine the Mazdean texts and articles that have remained and have been written from these experiences and to analyze the content of the texts to outline some possible answers to their questions by comparing them. Were the Ascension or Apocalypticism unique concepts in the Sassanid era or happened before in our religious culture? Was nocturnal ascent common in Sassanid era? What necessities were inevitable for Sassanid religious community to do such a wonderful experience? Can we put all the Sassanid Ascension Texts in the same intellectual and spiritual direction?
Text
In Iranian religious tradition, Apocalypticism and spiritual travel has an important place. Zoroaster prophet who is always willing to meet Ohrmazd and eager to make dialogue with him is among those who are being honored and moved to Ascension.
By analyzing texts written as description of the spiritual journey and being accurate on all elements that were provided in the field of Prophet Revelation, it seems that critical element of the "wisdom of all consciousness"- (khrad hame agah)-was all which helped Zoroaster during the trip. This element was explained to be very ambiguous in texts. Water is the most obvious material of the element which flows on Zoroaster hand or Zoroaster passes by and results into the state of trance means sleep-wake or a long time sleeping. Perhaps touching and passing through the water provided him a sort of ritual washing and gave him the ability to reach the sense of power and high level perception to be able to enter Ohrmazd court and to discover the universe’s secrets.
Goshtasp Ascension is another example of the Mazdean Apocalypse. Based on Zoroastrian religious texts, he went to his spiritual journey to adapt this religion and he gladly accepted the new religion due to its dignity. In this context, Goshtasp Ascension is clear enough and to drink wine and Meng is the laying groundwork for his revelation.
Kartir spiritual journey is studied in the same direction. He desperately wants the gods to have the privilege of trying the reversible death in his lifetime and to be more faithful to the religion through facing other world’s truth. He narrates his ascension in his inscriptions. Kartir travel is so complex since not explaining the way of this trip, he admits that the journey never experienced with his physical body, but his spirit or his mate made that and by expressing its spectacular world can finally meet great Ohrmazd and to pray him.
Pahlavi “Arda Viraf Name”book is considered as one of the most complete Mazdean Ascension texts. In Sassanid government that religion was political, the theologiansdecided to send the most pious and abstemious Dastur to Ascension travel to prove Zoroastrianism religion and encourage believers to this doctrine. This trip is a perfect example of the Ascension in which the entire process from drinking intoxicates, seeing the invisible world and the results applied by righteous and evils are expressed in details.
The review of this apocalyptic text showed the evolution of these trips. That means that the more Ascension becomes in the center of attention, the more specific issues and more concrete signs are expressed. For example, if the Zoroaster revelation resulted in visiting Ohrmazd and Amshaspandan to see abstractions such as religion and its expansion and events to see the end of the world, Apocalypticism was obvious on Goshtasp journey in a manner he described that he is drinking wine or and goes to revelation. In Kartir Ascension a scene that he sees from the spiritual world is more detailed than the earlier issues so he can see the hell and heaven with all the blessingsthat exist there such as bread, meat and wine. But a more evolved, detailed and objective sample can be seen in pious Vyraf Ascension in that the revelation style is expressed as clear as possible and Heaven is described accurately . This implies that the religious Mazdean community needs texts that are fully explained in greater detail and accuracy to describe the Ascension and Apocalypticism as one of the pillars of the religion.
The literature review related to Ascension or anecdotes of the apocalypse and spiritual journeys remained in literary heritage treasures of human society,. It can be said Revelation and Ascension are common in all religions and culture categories. Meanwhile, Mazdean ascension texts as a survivor of Iranian pre-Islamic literature that is often inherited from Sassanid era is of utmost importance. During this period that the government structure and Iranian society have a religious tinge and the attitude of the masses is mixed with metaphysical concepts, the necessity to produce such religious products becomes apparent. In other words, if the Iranian bios society encountered the religious crises and uncertainties, the religious beliefs were undermined by indifference or neglection and the results emerged in religious concepts, Ascension was necessary to prove the truth of religious principles for Clergymen and theologians. The souvenir of this revelation is to clarify issues such as the fate of the world and the creation of the secular and the human soul after death manifested in concepts of “collective Resurrection " and " personal resurrection " which was charm and interesting for the hesitated society. Content analysis of Mazdean ascents shows that if the number of ascension experiences and revelations increases, the narration and evolution of the experiences would be more clearly described in detail based on more objective evidence.

The presence of some woman beside epic and mythical persons has been a widely common feature in many epicsas, for instance, Ohrmazd with Spenta Armaiti or Ahriman accompanied byJahi; Jamshid, also, is blessed with his own sisters or daughters and Freydun and Kai Khosrow with the mother as well. In these cases, the hero is led to success and fortune with the help of a feminine element, which has a great contribution in furthering his aims. Females in these stories could be reflective of the archetype anima - the feminine part of the psyche – that, on their positive side, emerge in some roles such as mothers, faithful beloveds or sprites and with the duty of reproduction and fertility. As to that,the sprite is one such a role presented with her own characteristics such as inexpressible beauty, association with spring and water, love expression for heroes, knowledge on secrets and mysteries, prescience and prophesy, power of hiding and assistance to heroes towards achieving great goals and defeating enemies in the literature. In this research, after a brief discussion of the quiddity of sprites, the characteristics of the sprite in post-Shahnama epics have come under investigation.
Pari is seen as Parika and Parik in Avesta and Middle Farsi, respectively. This word has roots in Indo-Europianand literally means giving birth and in some senses,it iscalled fertile and fruitful. Pari is believed to be thefeminine element, a follower of Devil who is used to deceive Mazdayasnan. Despitehaving an evil face in Zoroastrian, Pari is symbolized as the sign of romance and beauty, an ancient woman benefiting from affection and beauty as well as Farrah. Therefore, due to this public affection she is considered the opposite character to Divand Devil. Surprisingly she is an evil in Mazdisna along with Div and Devil who are seeking corruption and death to Ahoorascreations. In fact, Parihas both a positive and negative face. The former is purity and elegance which does the best to assist public and heroes to accomplish their goals. And the latter, the same as Div and Devil,is a villain, who is ordered by the Devil to destroy the Ahoorascreation.
Pari plays significant roles in different epics. Each of these roles could be contributed to each of Pari’sfunction. Pari can be found in epics such as Garshasbnameh,Samnameh,¬Bahmannameh, Borzounameh, Faramarznameh, and Banoougoshasbnameh. Besides, her features can be classified as her unimaginable beauty and elegance which could be two- sided, sometimes this grace would deceive the heroes. In turn, it might cause the enemie's making a mistake in order to assist these heroes to achieve their goals. Thus, this grace and beauty is strongly related to their function to neutralize and seduce the heroes. Another feature of Parias the goddess of birth is to bring fruitfulness and fertility, this perse, is presupposedly related to water and spring and consequently rain and aprosperous year. So, springs, wells and rivers are sights to observe Paries. Living and residing in graceful lands and castles like heavens over the mountains is another feature of Pari in legends and myths. Parideserves such places like heavens and castles made by gold and jewelries, which glitter and blink at night but disappear in a moment and vanish quickly. This feature of Pari as a supernatural and graceful creature dweling in far-far away lands and castles, beside her seducing function, which is deceiving and graceful for heroes and epics, can be assumed as anima. For this, two sides are defined: the dark side and the bright one, i.e., rightfulness and darkness. In its bright side, anima is pictured angelically in a way that man, to some extent,seeks every grace and beauty in them and dreams about them- and dealing with it may cause insight into it and in the end improves the sense of personality and self- awareness. Paries as the goddess of fertility and fruitfulness were imagined as beautiful and charming women to seduce the heroes and kings in order to get fertilized. This use of sexual- appeal is one of their most significant features, breeding from their birth- giving ability and fertility which is reflected in its real name as Pari. This definition provides the real meaning of affection and abilities of transformation. Pari is usually considered as a charming pery in confrontation of heroes in Farsi contexts and drags them toward herself. One of the features of Pari has come from the female priest of old ages and that is the capabilities of forecasting the futures and decoding some secrets. In some literatures, they are aware of the other world and this enables them to be helpful for the heroes in order to achieve their aims. The beliefs of having the ability to fly as well as the power to reconnect to the witches abilities to disappear and reappear is based on this theory that they are blessed with feathers making them fly and common different spots. This ambiguous picture makes them fly between two worlds as bird and the definition of Pari easily conveys this meaning.
The other feature of Pari is helping the heroes and epics in which the clear example of this can be seen in Saamnameh, when they assist Saam and Paridokht to reach each other following that this helpsSaam to fight enemies.
The relationship between Pari and fire isanother profound feature of Pari. In local eyes, there is sometimes no difference between Paries and Genie. And they are assumed the same with the same origin of fire. Fire is a paradox of being a factor of both Devil and Farra in epic contexts. The relationship between fire and Pari is due to birth giving abilities of Pariwhich defies of her willingness and charm to be with heroes and epics.
To put in a nutshell, the most significant features of Pari in epical contexts after Shahnameh are: the relationship with water and spring based on their fertility and heavenly gardens, celebrations and ritual ceremonies to be held and physical thirst and charm to seduce the heroes. The relationship between fire and Pari is based on her ability as the goddess of fertility in ancient Iran. Another feature of Pari is the help and assistant she gives to the heroes and her important role in achieving their goals which is a symbol of positive anima in them that causes growth and maturity and self- awareness in heroes. The ability to transform their faces, to fly, to disappear and reappear, and to foresee the other world are the other features that reminds their magical power in Avesta. In Avesta,Pari is considered the same as witches. Thus, Pari owns both positive and negative features and their dual feature is based on morality we witness in Zoarastrians toward Pariesand this causes their fall of their initial place in heaven from the goddess of fertility, fruitfulness and even turning to a magical and evil creature. However, in these epics, Pari reclaims her initial places and as an ancient woman claims her grace and romance and as a true mentor to guide heroes in achieving their goals to reach their maturity and success.

In the corpus of Persian texts, the word “dervish” generally represents a person who is satisfied with having few belongings and properties. In the Islamic period, this word exactly corresponds to “Sufi”. Most of the lexicographers and researchers have mentioned two distinct equivalents for “dervish” in different Persian texts. On the one hand, dervish means “beggar”. In this regard, “dervish” should be considered together with some other words such as pauper, indigent, underprivileged and poor. On the other hand, it denotes Sufis and ascetics who are known as the seekers of the mystic paths or, i. e. seekers of the “Tariqah”. Therefore, most of the researchers, who use some expressions such as “true dervish” and “ascetic” against “false dervish” and “beggar”, differentiate these two meanings from each other. It should be noted that the latter group just pretends to be “dervish”.
In addition, this very same subject and the two aforementioned meanings of dervish can be noticed in the Middle Persian texts. In these writings, dervish has two distinct meanings: first, a poor person who thinks of himself as a miserable one and looks down on wealthy people, and second, a person who is content with what he has and therefore lives happily.
Regarding “dervish” and its role in ancient Iran, only a few research works has been done, and most of these researches have raised doubts about the existence of such a life in ancient Iran. One of the most important articles about this subject, written by Katayun Mazdapour and entitled “The Beginning of Ethics of Dervishes in Iran”, is about the background of driyōšīh in ancient Iran. Another noteworthy paper is “Dervīš, in the Pre-Islamic Period” by Mansour Shaki, which provides useful information about driyōš, particularly from the 6th book of the Dinkard.
In this paper, the concept of true dervish or “driyoš ī rāst” as appears in the Middle Persian texts, is discussed. It is also tried to answer the following questions: who is “driyoš ī rāst” in the Middle Persian texts? What specific traits separate the “driyoš ī rāst” from a poor beggar? Which customs of true driyošīh can be found in the corpora of Middle Persian texts?
The term “driyōš ī rāst”, in the strictest sense of the word, conveys a humble poor person who is satisfied with what he has, does not look down on wealthy people, and is kind to them. Therefore, the foremost trait of a driyōš in the Middle Persian texts, is satisfaction. The second trait is to respect the affluent persons. A driyōš is self-effacing and right-minded (MP: bowandag-menišn), but the poor and needy ones may abase the rich and behave in an offensive manner (MP: tar-menišnīh).
These two traits, satisfaction (MP: hunsandīh) and self-effacement (MP: bowandag-menišnīh), are the necessary characteristics of a driyōš. In the 6th book of the Dinkard, four traits are enumerated for a driyōš, two of which are apt (MP: cār), namely diligence and moderation (MP: tuxšāgīh ud paymānīgīh), whereas the other two, satisfaction and self-effacement (MP: hunsandīh ud bowandag-menišnīh), are considered necessary (MP: a-cār).
All of these features together help us define a special kind of driyōšīh, i. e. “driyōš ī rāst”, in the Middle Persian texts. It stands against the general meaning of “poor, needy” (MP: škōh) who is unsatisfied with his poverty and indigence and craves more wealth and property. “Driyōš ī rāst” or satisfied and humble dervish is the specific meaning of driyōš in the Middle Persian texts, which, moreover, found its way into the Persian literature.
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The sole beneficiary in this market is the content dervish
O Lord! Make me so rich to be a satisfied dervish
According to the Middle Persian texts, the true driyōšīh is a useful element in the society, and a “driyōš ī rāst” has a dignified and respectable position. The benefit of this kind of life is for both the body and the soul. The driyōšīh brings peace and serenity to the body, and it brings freedom from apprehension of the day of reckoning for the soul.
In the Middle Persian texts, the driyōš is depicted as a mighty person who destroys Devil. A person who has willingly chosen the customs of the driyōšīh only for the sake of “goodness and acclamation” (MP: wehīh ud burzišn), has the power to push Ahriman and all other dēws out of the good creation; such a person will never go to Hell. If we consider the world as the greater cosmos and the man as the minor cosmos, then we can understand that the driyōš’s attempts to get rid of greed (MP: āz) and need (MP: niyāz) is a try to reduce the power of evil in the universe, and it is one of the main reasons why he enjoys such a dignified position in the society. Āz, who is the most powerful and dreadful dēw after Ahriman, is the evil power of greed, avarice, lust and gluttony. The primary aim of Āz is satisfaction (MP: hunsandīh) which is a trait of the driyōš. Pushing Āz dēw out of the world is obligatory for all the human beings who are created to fight against Devil.
In the Middle Persian texts, we can find some tales from the lives of Zoroastrian disciples (MP: hērbed) which are narratives of the ascetic lives of driyōšes in the past. These hermits had very simple lives; they collected firewood themselves and carried them on their back, drew water from the well, worked on the farm and ate only from their own wage. They were sometimes educated hērbeds and priests (MP: kard-hērbedstān hērbed) who knew the Avesta and Zand, and performed religious ceremonies; but we should bear in mind that not all the driyōšes were necessarily hērbeds, and not all the hērbeds lived ascetic lives.
However the driyōšes were skilled men (MP: kardagār ud abzārōmand), but curiously there is barely any traces of their names and reputation in the Middle Persian texts. Some instances of their lives can be found in the Middle Persian texts, which show an old rite of the driyōšīh in this country. These stories belong to the ascetic hērbeds who have chosen this type of life and believe in the Zoroastrian faith. Their doctrines and beliefs have been repeated in the Zoroastrian texts: to fight against greed and try to reduce the power of Ahriman.