Forms of Compatibility in Sa′di's Ghazels with Current Radif in Persian Music

Almost in most of Classical Works of Persian Music since the old days when they were recorded on Gramophone disks, traces of Sa′di’s Ghazels have been found. Sometimes this trace is so salient that some type of intention and insistence in using Sheikh's Ghazels for musical narration of states and interiors- by singers [and musicians]- and its harmony with listener's spiritual enjoyment springs to the mind. The following questions are posed: why Sa′di’s Ghazels have been integrated with Classical Persian Music? What is specific about Sa′di’s language that has made his pears of wisdom so popular in narration of Radif? Did Sa′di compose the Ghazels with this purpose per se or had he been familiar with current Radif? More precisely, with no assertion of musical skill the pleasantry hidden in Sa′di’s narration has made his poems congruent with musical Radif, while some other poets such as Manoochehri, Roodaki and Farrokhi vividly mentioned their skill in playing musical instruments and singing. This paper, with reliance on method of contents analysis, is endeavoring to find answers to these whys.