Types of Stylistic Influences of Sa’di on Nasser Bokharaei

Sa’di is a prominent ghazal-writer whose poetry has unique and distinctive stylistic characteristics. He is one of the outstanding poets in writing love ghazals. Sa’di writes his poems with absolute simplicity and distinctive eloquence. These characteristics have made him a pre-eminent poet in Persian literature. Also, he has influenced many poets such as Nasser Bokharaei, Khajouy-e Kermani, and Homam-e Tabrizi. The present study uses a descriptive-analytical method to demonstrate how Bokharaei is influenced by Sa’di by the use of similar aspects in axes such as external and marginal music, language, literary devices, literary aspects and content.

This study uses descriptive-analytical methodology and library research to analyze and interpret Sa’di’s influences on Bokharaei in the above-stated axes.

The findings of this research show that Sa’di’s and Bokharaei’s ghazals have common and similar aspects in four axes of external and marginal music, language and literary devices, literary aspects and content: in the first axis, elements such as rhythm and rhyme (in sixteen ghazals); in the second axis, the similarity of descriptive combinations and their relationship with the common love theme; in the third, literary axis, the similarity between similes and metaphors; and in the fourth, thematic axis, the similar love themes (specially the beauty of the beloved), and mystical themes and Saqi-nameh. These similarities attest to the influences of Sa’di on Bokharaei.

Bokharaei not only follows Sa’di in writing ghazals, but also regards Sa’di’s simplicity and fluency in his ghazals as a model for writing his own ghazals. It should be noted that Sa’di’s ghazals are sweeter and subtler compared to Bokharaei’s; however, the simplicity and fluency of Bokharaei’s ghazals reminds one of Sa’di’s ghazals. As a consequence, Bokharaei has managed to make his poetry enduring and eternal.