On the Literary Significance of Drakht-iAsurik

Drakht-iAsurik (the Babylonian Tree) is a poetic work in the Parthian language، written in Pahlavi script. Due to several reasons، this work is considered as one of the most important Iranian literary works in the Middle Period. Despite the fact that the methodical studies of the structure of Middle Iranian poetic compositions began along with this work، this text، by itself، represents various literary experiences in the Middle Period; experiences that found the opportunity to manifest themselves once again in post-Islamic Persian poetry، particularly in Persian poets’ Qasidas. This article reviews and investigates the important literary features in Drakht-iAsurik، including strife poem (munadhareh)، boasting poem (mufakhareh)، enigma، fable، envoy (sharitah) and the figures of speech used in it.