Qasemi Gonabadi’s Leyli and Majnoun, Compared to other prominent 16th century versions of Leyli and Majnoon

Document Type : Research Article

Author

• Zahra Ekhteyari

10.22067/jls.v43i4.10193

Abstract

Qasemi Gonabadi, (1523-1575), a fine imitator of Nezami whose surviving book is HashtMasnavi, composed Leyli and Majnoon twice, the second one, dedicated to the Safavid prince Sam Mirza, ended in 1569. The book, in addition to its linguistic and literary beauties, shows the poet’s descriptive talent. In this paper, the writer first introduces the book and critically examines its various copies, and then compares and contrasts this version of the story with three other 16th century versions written by Jami, Hatefi and Maktabi. In his version, Qasemi has presented innovations that are not found in other versions. For example, he says that the two lovers did not bring gifts to their teacher on the festival day, so that their teacher would not dismiss them from class like other children and that they could attend school on holiday. Also, In Qasemi’s version, unlike the other versions, the two lovers meet before they die together. And yet another innovation of this version is the subtle prediction of the final event occurring in the first lines of the poem. It is these features that has made Qasemi’s version superior to the other versions.

Key words: Leyli and Majnoon, Qasemi Gonabadi, Jami, Maktabi, Hatefi

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