مجله متن شناسی ادب فارسی
سال چهاردهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 56، زمستان 1401)

Dowalrānī Xezerkhān tells the love story of Xezer (xażer) Khān, Ala-edin khalji’s son, and the princess of Gogojrāt named Dīveldī. This Masnavi written in the poet’s late life comprises two parts. The first part was written at the request of Xezer Khaan in 715/1315 and the second part, including 319 extra verses about murders of Khalji's prince and his brothers, was appended between 720 & 721/1320 & 1321. The poetic language of this historical tragedy is mature, simple, pleasant, and free from conventional conservatism. Multiple literary compositions, simple but skillful illustrations, Amr Khusraw’s special subject headings, and new styles on writing Dah-Nameh are the most outstanding particularities of Dowalrānī Kheżerkhān. None of Amr Khusraw’s historical Masnavis have as much special names as Dowalrānī Kheżerkhān, including good historical, cultural, political, geographical, and social information about the history of the rulers of India, especially Khalji dynasty, their methods of government, political relations, prince's choice, royal wedding, names of people, places, and positions, and also government officials. Dowalrānī Kheżerkhān is the only work of Amr Khusraw, which has a version belonging to the poet's lifetime. This manuscript under the number 178 is preserved in Arg Library of the Republic of Afghanistan. Another feature of the book is illumination of the new aspects of Amr Khusraw’s life and thoughts, as well as mentioning of his son’s name, Ein-ud-dīn Mobārak, and the poet's story of desertion from Mongols.

The path of mystical journey is a path that is full of meanders. A mystic must overcome obstacles heroically to reach God. These are not physical barriers. According to the theory of image schemas first presented by Lycoff and Johnson, the mystic thinks and speaks about these obstacles by using force schemas. This study tried to compare Sanā'ie and Ayn al-Quzāt Hamadāni’s views about obstacles in the path of mystical journey by analyzing force schemas in their two works of Hadiqah al-Haqiqah (Garden of Truth) and Tamhidāt (Preparations) through a descriptive-analytical method. The units of analysis were the distiches and stanzas that contained force schemas in the mentioned works. The scope of our research was all their contents. The similarities of the intellectual foundations of the two mystics were reflected in the schemas of the second and third types. The word of God, moral vices, dependence on the world, soul, and knowledge of God were the main axes of these two types of schemas in the two works. The differences between the lived experiences and types of mysticism of the two mystics were found to have led to a significant difference in their use of the first type of schema. Also, they were different in their frequencies of using schemas, such as appearance of Shari'a, the devil, moral vices, divine zeal, and status, because of their varied lived experiences and intellectual foundations.

The present study investigates a brief poem attributed to Abu al-Wafa Kharazmi and verifies the attribution. The verse has been composed to explain the suitability of the hours of an entire day with the twelve modes (maqāms) of ancient Persian music, and its content has a history in older writings that can be traced back to its origins. The purpose of the study is to introduce, describe, analyze, and critically correct this literary piece using recorded materials and sources as well as library documents and manuscripts. In the course of the discussion, the content of the poem has been comparatively studied with two other musical treatises, an earlier work (Kanz al-Tuhaf by Hassan Kashani), and a later one (Treatise on the Science of Music written by Mir Sadr al-Din Mohammad Qazvini). The findings show that the aforementioned trans-musical topic is one of the favourite subjects among the authors of the transition period of Persian music (late fourteenth century AH to the end of the Safavid era), which can be detected with the slightest modification in several treatises of this period. The actual source of this topic is the Kunz al-Tuhaf treatise, but it is allegedly based on the ideas of Avicenna; however, this attribution is quite far from the historical truth. Based on the evidence, the authors have concluded that the work in question in this study is by a lesser-known poet and Sufi named Khajeh Abu al-Wafa Kharazmi (760-835 AH) who, according to historical accounts, was familiar with the science of music (Advār) and had a treatise on music, which is not available today. Most likely, the poem was extracted from his lost musical treatise. So far, the validity of the attribution of this work to Khajeh Abu al-Wafa has not been scrutinized and no research has been done regarding its content.

The main issue of this study, which was conducted with a descriptive-analytical method, was the critique and analysis of Naser Khosrow's cosmological ideas and the search for its origins. In Naser Khosrow’s view, the world, which consists of top-down levels, is divided into two main parts: the spiritual world and the physical world. The levels of innovation, general intellect, and general soul are located in the spiritual world, while the physical world is comprised of the six levels of hyle, general nature, body, planets, the fourfold natures, and the birth. The creation is purposeful and occurs through innovation. From the matter of truth arises the general intellect and from the general intellect arises the general soul, which is the mastermind of the universe and mediator of the transmission of the benefits of the general intellect to the lower levels. The hyle is the shadow of the general soul and from the view point of the general soul, in its shadow, the general nature emerges. The body is a substance, which has length, width, and depth. The planets and the celestial bodies are also the instruments of the general soul in the creation of the lower level universe and its governance. The fourfold elements of soil, water, wind, and fire establish the pillars and from their composition with the fourfold natures emerges the ternate of births. Human being is the last stage of existence and the aid of the general soul in reaching to the world of intellect and his (man’s) contentment is dependent on the teachings of Nātiq and Imam with the efforts of other levels of the Ismaili religion, which has a high position in the world system. The roots of some of Naser Khosrow's cosmological beliefs can be traced to the Greek scholars’ views and the works of Ismaili thinkers, such as Abu Ya'qub Sajestani and Hamid al-Din Kermani.

Ghazali Mashhadi is one of the poets who migrated to India in the 10th century for some reason. He has some works in verse and prose, one of which is his Divan of poems known as Asar al-Shabab. This Divan includes an introduction in prose and some poems in the form of Ghasideh (ode), Tarkib-band (poem of several stanzas of equal size), Tarji’-band (strophe poem), Ghazal (sonnet or lyric poem), Mathnavi (couplet poem), Qet’eh (an elegy consisting of only two lines and rhyming in the last hemistiches), and quatrain, which were published with Hossein Qorbanpour Arani’s corrections by Elmi va Farhangi (Scientific and Cultural) Publications in 2009. In this edition, despite the mentioned correcting efforts in the introduction, many errors have found their way into different parts of this Divan. Most of the errors were related to punctuation. These slips could cause the wrong reading of the poems and might even cause misunderstanding of the poet’s intention. Another problem that could make the reader’s job difficult was that the references given to Ghazali's poetry or even to other scholars’ works were incorrect both in the introduction and notes of the Divan in many cases. In addition, the mistakes and carelessness in the steps of typing the poems had sometimes caused (an) extra letter or letters or a sign to enter the words or be omitted from them in the texts. Also, in the section of notes, the honorable editor had only explained the literal meanings of the words or terms, which had nothing to do with the meanings intended by the poet in many cases.

Gulshan-e Raz is one of the famous mystical works written by Sheikh Mahmoud Shabestari, who composed this mystical work under the influence of ibn Arabi’s mysticism in the 8th century. The reflection of Shabestari’s thoughts and poetry in this work can be clearly seen in the later sources. About 50 descriptions and margins there have been written on it over time. Dr. Mohammad Reza Barzegar Khaleghi has recently given a description and explanation on Gulshan-e Raz and named it The Secrets of Gulshan-e Raz. In general, the present study aimed at introducing the poet and his text and the mystic style. The major goal of this article was to report the shortcomings and defects contained in Barzegar Khaleghi’s great work, which was comprised of 3 main parts: introduction, the text of Gulshan-e Raz, and Barzegar Khalegi’s description and explanations of it. Barzegar Khaleghi has not corrected the text and has tried to describe the verses of Gulshan-e Raz in a simple, intense, and concise language. In the section of description and explanations, he has been able to give a certain meaning to vague and ambiguous things and give the reader an acceptable and appropriate religious meaning. He has avoided a disciple-like attitude towards Shabestri and ibn Arabi unlike the traditional commentators. However, in some cases, the meanings inserted in the section of explanation and description can be criticized.

One of the most important components in editing ancient texts is paying attention to the different forms and readings of words and phrases and studying the semantics of each of these possible forms. In the meanwhile, recognizing the correct recording of Arabic words entered in Persian language requires more care and investigation because these words often get more distorted due to the strangeness of their uses. In addition, some of these words have two or more different meanings in the original language and have this feature in the second language as well. However, the editor's neglect of these multiple meanings and readings can impair the recording and description of words and phrases. The less commonly used word "Ofāt/Afãt" is an example of the same words used in a verse of Sanā’ie's Hadiqat al-Haqiqa, but it has been incorrectly recorded in all contemporary scientific and critical editions. In this research, first, besides criticizing the corrections and explanations of Hadiqat al-Haqiqa, the correct recording of the word and verse was examined and then, a semantic analysis of it was presented by considering the double readings of the word and how it was used in other texts.