Epic-religious language and tone in Mokhtarnameh by Shoaei Qajar

The epic is one of the ancient literary types that recounts the events of the warriors' bravery in the best. Now, if the hero of these epics is a religious figure, this type of literature tends to become religious. By using linguistic possibilities such as words and compositions, images, rhetorical figures, and outer, side, and inner music, the poets try to represent the spirit and epic atmosphere in their works.In the Qajar period, epics had a religious form. Most of the works that appear in this area are in various religious fields, especially religious poems (Debiri-nejad, 2001:86). The Holy Prophet (pbuh) or Imams (pbuh), especially Imam Ali (pbuh) and Imam Hussein (pbuh), and great personalities such as Hamza, the uncle of the Prophet (pbuh), Mokhtar Thaghafi, etc., are the heroes of those poems. So, the author tries to look at the language and tone of two epic religious poems, Mukhtarnameh of Isfahani Khayali and Shoua'i Qajar, from a stylistic point of view.

The research method in this research is documentary as well as descriptive and analytical. Manuscripts of Shoua’i Mokhtarnama No. 1718 and Khayali Mokhtarnama No. 1/6081 were prepared. In the reference, the number of the photos was also referred to, and since each of the images of the Khayali version was on two pages, in the reference, "A" was placed next to the right page and "B" was placed next to the left page to make it easier for the audience to find the examples. The statistical data included 400 verses of each poet's poems.

3.1. The influential factors in creating an epic tone in Shou'ai and Khayali s’ Mokhtarnameh 3.1.1. Poetry music The music of the poem is an important part of making the poem have movement and tone. This can be seen by looking at meter (outer music), rhyme and radif (lateral music), verbal figures (outer music), and phonological processes, words, and compositions.  The poems of the Qajar era were written in the meter of the epic and in the convergence of prosody. The examined Mukhtarnamehs are long and written in Masnavi format. Both kinds of rhyming syllables were avaliable in both poets’ collections, the syllables CṼC and CVCC were more frequently used than other syllables. Also, in the Khayali ’s Mukhtarnameh, except for the two syllables CVC and CṼC, the other types of syllables are superior to the Shou’ai Mukhtarnameh in terms of frequency. In the examined mukhtarnamehs, various types of verbal, nominal, and lateral radif were available, which were often short and simple due to the epic atmosphere of the poem. The verbal and nominal radif had the highest frequencies, respectively. But in Shou’ai Mukhtarnameh except verbal radif, other types in terms of frequency were higher than the ones used in Khayali ’s collection. The composers of Mukhtar's poems have given their poems grandeur and an epic feeling by using repetitions and words that have long phones. Phonological processes (reduction, gemination, devoiced, elimination, substitution, addition, a- ending) are among the linguistic elements that influence the tone. The comparison of phonological processes of the two collection shows that, except for substitution, in the rest of the processes, Shou’ai is more successful than Khayali. 3.1.2. vocabulary and compositions Due to their knowledge of the ways of creating eloquent words, words and compositions, Shoua’i and Khayali paid more attention to the epic type in their mukhtarnames. Due to the number of wars in these two collocations, there are many words related to war tools and terms; because mentioning war tools plays a significant role in creating and strengthening the epic atmosphere. These two poets, by combining nouns with one or two epic components, added to the epic compositions and increased the epic tone. In 400 verses, 30 epic compositions were found in Shoua'i's collocation and 14 epic compositions were found in Khayali ’s collocation, which shows the power and artistic taste of Shoua'i in creating epic compositions. 3.1.3. The most important forms of imaginary features Simile, metaphor and exaggeration were the most important forms of imaginary features in these two collections. Simile, metaphor and exaggeration were the most important forms of imaginary features in these two collections. In two works, many metaphors such as lion, sword-wielding lion, leopard, etc. were used for heroes. Similes in these two collections have a higher frequency than other types of imaginary forms, and most of these similes are of a sensory type, which due to exaggeration, magnification and recognition have created novel and new images and an epic language and tone. Exaggeration is the most powerful element among the types of imaginary features and plays the main role in creating epic language; therefore, both epic poets tried to strengthen the epic aspect of their compositions by using this feature. Out of 400 studied verses, 13 similes, seven metaphors, and five epic exaggerations have been seen in Shoua’i, but only six similes, three metaphors, and three epic exaggerations have been used in Khayali’s Mukhtarnamah. 3.1.4. Epopee One of the tricks of epic poets is to use irony in their poems. Both Shoua’i and Khayali have included epopee in different parts of their Mukhtarnames. Epopee has been used 33 times in the Shou’ai and 21 times in the Khayali’s collection, and the authors of these works have used similes, metaphors, irony, and exaggeration to enhance them. 3.1.5. Introducing mythical and epic characters in to story The composers of Mukhtarnameh's poems have used mythological characters in making the space of the poem epic; because these heroes have played an important role in creating an epic atmosphere with courage, valor and fighting. This use of mythological characters, especially kings and Shahnameh warriors, is seen more in Mukhtarnameh Shouai. 3.1.6. Influential factors in creating a religious atmosphere in Shou’ai and Khayali’s mukhtarnamehs Religious epics have two aspects. One was the epic language that was spoken about. The other is the religious aspect, which we will discuss it. Poets have their own methods and use special elements to create an epic atmosphere. The poets discussed by us have shaped the religious aspect of the poem by using religious hints, attributing religious attributes to the characters of the poem, using dreams and true dreams and voice of unseen in the text of the poem. The names of the Prophet (pbuh) and Imams (pbuh) were mentioned 31 times in Shoua’i's Mokhtarnama. It has been used 54 times for religious characters and heroes. True dreams and dreams, as well as hearing the voice of the unseen, have been mentioned nine times. The names of the Prophet (pbuh) and the Imams (pbuh) were mentioned 41 times in Khayali Mukhtarnamah. It has been used 123 times for religious characters and heroes. Six times (3.4%), true dreams and dreams and four times about hearing the voice of the unseen have been mentioned.In both collections, the use of religious attributes for characters and heroes and referring to the names of the Prophet (pbuh) and Imams (pbuh) were among the most frequently used religious factors in creating a religious atmosphere.

In this research, the language, epic tone, and religious atmosphere were examined in the Shoua’i and Khayali Mukhtarnamehs of Qajar era poets. Investigations showed that both Shoua'i and Khayali used multiple elements and components in making the epic language and tone in their poems. They made poetry sound more musical by adding meter and prosody, different kinds of rhyme, radif, and repetition. By using phonetic processes, words, and epic and war compositions, and related tools and terms, they set the tone and atmosphere of the Mukhtarnamehs epic. Another trick of these poets is to use imagery features, i.e., metaphor, simile, and exaggeration. On the other hand, the poets added to the epic aspect of the Mukhtarnamehs with great skill and by using epopee (exaggerated epopee) and introducing mythological and epic characters into the space of the story.Another result of this research is to find out the effective elements in creating the religious atmosphere of the khayali and Shoua'ai mukhtarnamehs, which two Qajar poets did by referring to the names of the Prophet (pbuh) and imams (pbuh), the use of religious attributes for characters and heroes. True dreams and dreams have played in the space of stories and unseen voices and created the religious epics of Mukhtarnameh. Examining the charts shows that Shoua’i Qajar has paid more attention to the epic factors and contexts of his Mukhtarnameh, while Khayali Esfahani has paid more attention to the religious contexts of the Mukhtarnameh.