Typology of Naphthat al-Masdour (sighs taken) in Persian prose works

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• aliakbar ahmadidarani ¹
• akram Haratian ²

¹ Department of Persian Language and Literature, University of Isfahan

² Department of Persian Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Isfahan, Iran

10.22067/jls.2024.88649.1602

Abstract

Among the elegant prose texts in the Persian literature, one comes across certain letters in which the authors have depicted their personal conditions along with the undesirable circumstances of the time. The best-known letters of this type were written by Zaidari Nesavi in the early 7th century (AH) and labeled as Naphthat al-Masdour (sighs taken). There are other texts under this label in the Persian prose, but they have not been written by anthologists. Besides, the style of those texts is of no elegance, and their contents are different from those of anthological Naphthat al-Masdour versions. Considering the stylistic features of Zaidari’s Naphthat al-Masdour, researchers commonly believe that his text is exclusive in the history of elegant prose. However, with regard to such textual features as format, theme, content, structure, and rhetorical traits, as well as the audience of the text and its similarities to the anonymous letters written before and after Zaidari, the present study seeks to show that his text is not the only one available. Rather, referring to similar letters by anthologists like Anoushiravan Khalid, Nasrollah Monshi, Baha al-Din Mo’ayed Baghdadi, Najm al-Din Abu al-Raja Qomi and Atamalek Joveini, this research makes conviction that writings of such a type spanned from about the mid 6th century to the late 7th century (AH). They are, indeed, introduced as a special literary genre within the set of prose letters of complaint known as Naphthat al-Masdour.

Keywords

• "؛ Literary genre"؛ Elegant prose"؛
• "؛ Letters of complaint
• "؛ . "؛ Naphthat al-Masdour"؛
• "؛ Atamalek Joveini"؛

Main Subjects

• Literary Studies

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