Djonouni-e Ardabily, Unknown Poet of Safavid Era

Mohammad Taqi Djonoun Ardabil, known as Djonoun is a poet of  second half of the 11th century and the first half of  12th aentury.As its represented inhid poem, he spent  most of his life far away from his homeland. Forthermore his name hasn’t been recorded in any Tazkirahs or literary history books. “Al-Dharīʿa ilā Taṣānīf al-Shīʿa” (List of Shia Books) by Agha Bozorg Tehrani is the oldest reference with a little information about him and all other resources have referred their claims to this book. His 86-page manuscript divan in Persian language is the only reliable source about Djonouni, which can provide information about his life by searching through his poems. The only available hand-written manuscript of his Divan is kept in the Parliament Library, which isn’t  even complete and  some of its pages are missing. Because of all the reasons above, further investigation is needed on his personal and literary life. Pursuing both the Khorasani and Iraqi style, Djonouni has viewed romantic epigrams with his critical and his own specific literature in poetry. He, as in Indian style, is closer to Saeb Tabrizi. Djonouni’s poems are categorized in 8 forms: Qaṣīda, Ghazal, Quatrain, Tarjīʿ-band, Mukhammas, Part, single verses and "Jangnameh mas̄navī " in Azeri language. The main content of his verses is often about the praise of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Shia imams and the noble men of Safavid era. Another manuscript attributed to Djonouni dated 1100 A.H. is available in the "Malik" National Library and Museum, which was edited by "Iraj Afshar" and apart from his name,pen name and the date of its writing, there is just little information about the poet. Apparently, in addition to poetry, Djonouni is also involved in calligraphy and in that described manuscript, he wrote the works of a number of poets and writers before and after him with his individual composition in Nastaliq script and signed them with his name "Muhammad Taghi Djonouni".  He has also added some verse paragraphs of his Mukhammases. In this article, an attempt has been made to obtain information about the poet's biography along with analyzing Djonouni’s poems, and also to correct his two unique Mukhammases.