The Literary Theory of Indian Style, with Emphasis on the Poems of Saib Tabrizi

The poet's attitudes of each period about the definition of poetry enlighten the characteristics of the type of poetry in which was accepted in that era. In general, the outcomings of these attitudes can theoretically make the definition of a favorable poem clear in each period. Therefore, we can interpret these attitudes as "literary theories" of the periods. The poets in the Safavid era, especially SaibTabrizi as the most prominent of them, have also expressed their views about poetry in their poems and have provided a definition of poetry different from earlier periods. It has been tried, in present study, to explain and explore the features of the poetic theory of this age through analysis taking advantage of the works of prominent poets. The major focus has been on SaibTabrizi's poems, as the most famous character of Indian style. The results show that the definition of poets of the type of poetry in this era is quite different from what in earlier periods. Irrelevant meaning and content are considered as the most important elements in defining and evaluating poetry which leads to the rejection of poem by the poets, if not followed.