Defenses of Vis and Rāmin in the Morality Court: Investigating the Causes of Immoral Actions in Vis and Rāmin

Vis and Rāmin, by Fakhruddin Aschr('39')ad Gorgani, is one of the first love poems in Persian literature that has been morally rejected in the history of Persian literature as it is the first story of marital infidelity in both ancient and Islamic Iran. Regardless of the poem’s content, one cannot deny its literary, social, and cultural values as well as its unique status among the ancient works of Persian literature. Although the poem has immoral content, there are reasons behind the immoral actions of the characters in the story that need due attention to some points for the analysis of the poem from a moral criticism perspective. They comprise knowledge about the poet and the society, religious beliefs affecting the actions of the characters, and the four main themes of the poem: “pleasure”, “fatalism”, “conflict between seniority and youth” and “love”. Vis and Rāmin can be considered as a literary example of art for art’s sake doctrine and morally as an example of the moral relativity of the characters in the story.