The Images of Iranian Characters in the Poetic Mirror of al-Buhturi (the Case Study of Āl Sahl)

According to historical books, "’Āl Sahl" was an original Iranian family who played a prominent role in the first Abbasid government after the Barmakids. Fadl ibn Sahl, known as Dhu al-Ri'āsatayn (The man of two chairmanships), Hasan ibn Sahl, his brother and wazir of al-Ma'mun), and Ibrahim bin Hasan, hajib (chamberlain) of al-Mutawakkil, were the most distinguished characters of this family. Al-Buhturi (d. 284 H.) despite of his Arab origin, praised this family, after familiarity with them, in several of his odes and confessed their merits, and of course received their generous gifts. Al-Buhturi mixed ’Āl Sahl praises with the names of Sassanid kings, which manifests the desire of this Arab poet to Iranian civilization and culture. The method of this research is comparative one relied on imageologic approach from French school. We can conclude that al-Buhturi, due to his abundant interests in ’Āl Sahl, reflects also in his poems numerous dimensions of the Iranian civilization and culture. He manifested clearly through 'Arab I' the transcendental characteristics of the human beings in the portrait of 'Iranian the other'.