Abdi Beig and His Method of Poetry in Masnavi Haft Akhtar (Seven Stars Mathnawi)

Revival of poems and prose and analyzing them through different approaches is an effective step toward the further realization of the rich Persian culture and language. Zeinolabedin Abdi Beig Navidi Shirazi is one of the lesser known of prolific and skilled poets from the Safavid era whom while serving at the court of Shah Tahmaseb as a treasurer, should also be recognized for his writings in the style of Mathnawi similar to the works of Hakim Nezami Ganjavi. Abdi Beig (921-988 AH) started writing his poems during the first half of the 10th century, in the rise and popularity of the Hindi style and therefore the perfected characteristics of this style is not greatly present in his poems and his writings, due to following the works of such masters as Nezami and Amir Khosro Dehlavi, possess a style similar to both Iraqi and Hindi. His Haft Akhtar collection which is written similar to Haft Peykar of Nezami, while being influenced by and on a lower level compared to the masterpiece of Nezami, cannot be considered as pure imitation due to the poet’s efforts towards innovation and creating new images and concepts, new compositions and using short and fast anecdotes and narratives and still requires research and recognition by the literary community for having other characteristics such as dynamic and relative language correctness, pleasant descriptions, social critique and thoughtful tips. The present essay, while generally introducing Abdi Beig Shirazi and his Haft Akhtar work, tries to review its main stylistic components from the three aspects of linguistic, rhetorical and intellectual and tries to define the status of Abdi Beig in poetry.