Inspiration and Industry in the Opinion of Persian Mystic Poets (The Opinion of Sanai, Attar and Mowlavi about the Origin of Poetry)

Determining the origin of poetry has always been one of the oldest issues of literary criticism. This debate began firstly in Greece where, based on existing sources, Plato and Aristotle presented their theories about it. It has also been taken into consideration in the Arab literature. During Jāhilīyah period, the Arabs believed in "subsidiary"(Tābi'ah). This belief also existed in Ancient Persia, and it remains intact even after the arrival of Islam into Iran. Moreover, it is also reflected in the poetry of mystics, in a way that the mystic poets' references to this issue can be divided in two categories of intermediate and immediate inspirations. The poets also tended to religious personalities, using Gabriel and other characters instead of inspiring Satan for instant, in choosing subsidiaries (Tābi'ahs),with regard to the social context of Persian literature and the influence of religious thoughts in Iranian society. The contrast between poetry and sharia has always been influential in choosing religious figures as inspiration for poetry in Islamic period; however, mystic poets did not believe in just spiritual nature of poetry and considered their own efforts important to compose poems. Their point of view about the attempting scope of the poetry can be explored through a careful focusing on the verbs they have used in their poems.