A comparative study of the themes of the lyrical poem "Hasht Behesht" by Amir Khosrow Dehlavi and "Jawaher Al-Asmar" by Al-Saghari

Amir Khosrow Dehlavi (651-725 AD) is one of the famous Persian mystics of India in the second half of the seventh century and the early eighth century. In Masnavi, he is a subordinate of Nezami Ganjavi. One of Amir Khosrow's Masnavi which imitating "Haft Peykar" of Nezami has written the poem "Hasht Behesht". In compiling the anecdotes of "Hasht Behesht", he referred to the book "Jawaher Al-Asmar" by Emad Ibn Muhammad Al-Saghari. Amir Khosrow has quoted several anecdotes of "Hasht Behesht" from the book "Jawahar Al-Asmar" and even in many parts of the text of "Hasht Behesht", he has borrowed and adapted the phrases and sentences of this work. The book "Jawaher al-Asmar" contains a hundred stories that are told in the language of parrots for fifty-two nights to prevent a young business woman from betraying her husband. Most of the anecdotes and legends of "Jawaher al-Asmar" and "Hasht Behesht" are based on women's ruse. Part of the theme of the anecdotes is the effect of women's breaking the treaty and pretending to veil. Considering that the book "Jawaher al-Asmar" is one of the most important models of Amir Khosrow's work in "Hasht Behesht" and that both works have been compiled in India, they have many things in common. The present article tries to examine the common themes of both lyrical works.