The Role of the Kufans in the Formation of the Karbala Episode: Evidence from Arabic and Persian Poems

The general characteristics of the Kufans have long been regarded as a factor in the formation of the Karbala episode. Despite this disloyalty had been highlighted in the pre-Ashura periods, its more prominent manifestation was certainly in the Karbala episode. As for the Arabic literature, the Karbala episode received the highest attention in the Abbasid Arabic literature. For Persian literature, it marked a restoration period, too.
Based on an American literary school, the present paper compares and contrasts common features in Arabic and Persian Ashura literature, as it deals with the role of the Kufans.
The analysis shows that such moral characteristics as excessive attention to this worldly life, animosity, duplicity, and hypocrisy make the main features of the Kufan's behavior. Arab poets seem more outspoken, while Persian poets make allusions, rather than making explicit references. Arab poets seem more exact in their diction.