An Analytical Study on the Portraits of Prophets and Imams in the Lyric Poetry of Samanid Period

Persian lyric poetry in its long history has profited from diverse themes in all its different styles. One of these themes which has promoted the Persian poetry is the story of religious personalities. In the present essay, this important poetical theme is studied in Samanid period (819–999), the first era of Persian poetry. More than 3775 lines of verses, written by poets who lived in this period, are studied. The results are analyzed to answer questions such as the presence of Iranian and non-Iranian personalities, the attention paid to each of prophets or the Shiite Imams and the role of these themes in the promotion of each genre of Persian lyric, descriptive or panegyric poetry.