Inquiry and Reply in the Works of Nasser Khosrow

Nasser Khosrow (394-481 AH), the authoritative poet-author, is one of the outstanding figures of the 5th century AH. He considered science and knowledge as the highest levels, and valued them greatly. His scientific approach accompanied by his pragmatism can be a perfect model for any human being. One of the instructional methods used by Nasser Khosrow is inquiring or asking questions through different methods. He had the knowledge of various sciences of his age such as philosophy, religion, etc. and he used each of these sciences for expressing his ideas. His questions are posed among his odes, but the answers to these questions are presented through different methods. Sometimes, one should look for the answers to these questions in his prose works. At times, he uses rhetorical questions as an alert for the audience, at other times he may ask a question in his ode and provide the answer somewhere in the same ode. On the whole, Nasser Khosrow uses all rhetorical methods in his works to impress his audience. This study classifies these questions based on their content, investigates his purposes, and determines the methods of answering the questions in order to illustrate his way of thinking. Examples have been extracted from some of his works including his Divan, Zaad-ol-Mosaferin, Safarnameh (Travelog), Goshyesh va Rahayesh, Jaame-ol-Hekmatein, Vajh-e Din, and Khan-ol-Ekhvan.