Velāyat Nāmeh; Folk Literary Genre in Shiite Tradition

With a variety of themes, approaches, functions and poetic forms in different periods of history, Shiite poetry has stabilized itself as a kind of continuous and dynamic flow. The lovers of Ahl al –Bayt have created the most passionate and diverse themes, and forms of Shiite literature before the establishment of Safavid dynasty in spite of obstacles and threats. Despite the lack of comprehensive research done in this field , the recent and new-born fields of research in this area shows the significance of Shiite poetry and its themes either in form or in function and can enrich the diversity of forms in Persian literature. The authors have tried to introduce the genesis of genres and sub-genres of this field according to samples extracted from manuscripts. This literary genre has been totally current among the lovers of Ahl al –Bayt in Shiite residential area (town, alley …). By this means, they were trying to prove their love for The purpose of this article is to introduce and revise the type of "Velāyat Nameh" according to divans and manuscripts that are given as witness, for instance as new types of Shiite poetry.