An Analysis of the Occurrence School of Poetry in the Poems of Wahshi Bafqi

Transcription

1 An Analysis of the Occurrence School of Poetry in the Poems of Wahshi Bafqi Dr. Sayyed Mojtaba Hosseini (Corresponding Author) Assistant Professor at Department of Persian Language and Literature, Bushehr branch Islamic Azad University, Bushehr, Iran. ( Bahram Saki PhD Student, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Bushehr branch Islamic Azad University, Bushehr, Iran A b s t r a c t The occurrence school of poetry emerged in the Persian poems at the first quarter of the tenth century (Hijri Qamari) and became prevalent by the second half of the same century. This new school is something between the poems of Teimouri era and Indian style of poetry and its aim is to express the feelings of people in love. To whomever we give the credit of starting this school, still the high place of Mowlana Wahshi in this genre is undeniable. Despite, previous attempts to use this school in Persian poems but Wahshi s creativity in this genre is truly worthy of investigation. This paper tends to analyze some interesting examples of realism in the poems of Wahshi Bafqi. Keywords: Wahshi Bafqi, School of Occurrence, Poem (Ghazal). Page 2205

2 Introduction The school of occurrence found its way into the Persian literature by the first quarter of the tenth century. The basic principle of this school is to express romantic events occurred in poet s life. Thus, the poet portrays an accurate image of the events of his life for his readers. This school is something between the Iraqi and Indian styles of poetry. This style tends to present a realistic image of romantic events, which is why followers of this style avoid falling into romanticism. These poems freed the poets from fantastical styles and brought versatility into the world of odes. The occurrence school is a plain speaking method of ode writing that is free of romanticism. The protagonists of these odes are: lovers and their relationship is stated by means of a plain and realistic language, which is a characteristic of this school. Wahshi Bafqi, a follower of Baba Faghani and a poet of occurrence style, was also the founder of this style of poetry. As he states in his book Mathnavi of Khald Barin: : I novelized the way of speech I changed the old ways of speech I don t have a friend nearby So he could mock me, tell me I am dumb His speech is plain and somehow slang and he says it like it is. These are mostly odes but combined verses can be found in them as well. A Brief Look at the Life of Wahshi Bafqi Wahshi Bafqi was the poet of Safavids era in the tenth century HQ (ruling era of Shah Tahmasb I). He was one of the most intelligent, most sensitive and the most underrated Persian poets. He lets his readers listen to the song of his heart. Now 400 even 500 years after his death he can make us grieve by reminding us of the hardships of life. His book of poems is full of sorrows and disappointments. He had reached the state of perfection in describing the pain and troubles of humans. What he has left behind for the future generations are mostly warm ashes which are hotter than fire and brighter than a bonfire at night. Wahshi s odes are of high quality and mostly describe his sorrowful heart. Two of his poems are very beautiful and extremely popular. In all fairness, one can testify that Wahshi was the best follower of Nezami s style. He had written his book Khald Barin in response to Nezami s The Safe of Secrets (Makhzan Alasrar). His famous four and five verse combined odes are written in accordance with occurrence school of poetry (Maserat, 2012). The Characteristics of Safavids Era: In the ruling era of Safavids in which Mowlana Wahshi was living Safavids s policy was to promote religion (especially shiaism), thus they were interested in religious subjects., that is why most of the writings of this era is focused on religious matters. Safavid rulers didn t care for adoring poems and odes, while Indian rulers encouraged this style of poetry. Therefore, most Persian poets of that time would travel to India in order to receive valuable gifts in return for their flattering poems. Sa eb Tabrizi, Kalim Kashani, Orfi Shirazi and Naziri Neyshabouri were Page 2206

3 amongst those mentioned poets. Therefore, in Safavid era the writing of odes went out of style and poem writings became prevalent. In fact, two styles of poetry became well known in Safavids era, one is the occurrence school which Wahshi and his followers have used and is the subject of this paper, and the other is a style which is in accordance with the occurrence style and is known as the Indian style,.wahshi Bqfqi and Baba Faghani were the prominent figures of the occurrence style, while Sae b Tabrizi, Kalim Kashani and Orfi Shirazi were the game changers of the Indian Style (Hakemi, 1994). The Occurrence School of Poetry: In the first quarter of the 10 th century a new school of poetry emerged and revolutionized the cold, soulless poetry style of the 9 th century. This novel school became most popular in the second half of the same century and kept on flourishing until the 11 th century (Golchin M aani 1995). This school of poetry is something between the poetry style of Teimouri era and the Indian style. In the 10 th century two major poetry movements used to exist, one was the smooth and easy poems of Baba Faghani which made Hafiz s poems look like poems written in Indian style in terms of meaning and smoothness. The other was the occurrence school of poetry whose emergence was due to poet s frustration with cheesy poems of that time, which was the reflection of that era s social situation (Shamisa, 1994). The emergence of the occurrence style of poetry (whose founder is considered to be Wahshi Bafqi in this paper) was almost simultaneous with the emergence of the Indian style in the late 9 th century and the early 10 th century; these styles flourished and grew together as well. Wahshi s style however reached the state of perfection earlier that the other mentioned style, and ended with him. The other style continued its progression until one century later and ended with Sa;eb Tabrizi (Mo tamen, 1992). The occurrence school of poetry has been dubbed with this name because it describes the occurred events. In this style the poets describe some personal events that has the poet is a fearless lover who retells the hardships of his love life in his poems. The basic principle of this school is to describe the events that have occurred to lovers in the most realistic language and without any trace of romanticism. But, alas that this realism is restrained to describing the feelings of lovers and mostly the male lovers (Shamisa, 1994). Focusing solely on the male lovers is one of the negative aspects of occurrence style poems. This characteristic makes us devalue the poems of the 10 th century. The following poem of Wahshi Bafqi is a good example of this style s obsession with the male lover: O Boy I ve seen you distressed lately Seen you drunk by the wine of the others lately Reason of joy I see you are distressed all the time I ve seen you bring wine to other s ceremony at all times (Wahshi Bafqi, 2013) It is worth mentioning that homosexuality was prevalent at that era and the following eras, especially in provinces such as: Kashan, Yazd and Isfahan. Therefore, the poets of that time restrained realism to the affairs of male lovers (homosexuals) and didn t bother to use it in order to retell the social events occurring around them (Wahshi Bafqi, p: 272). The poets of occurrence style were seeking new horizons but failed to add any major novel aspect to the poetry of their time. Their language is free of any unrealistic romanticism and their Page 2207

4 sole focus is on the different moods of lovers and their amorous experiences (Golchin Ma ani, 1995). The mentioned poets used slang words and phrases in their poems in order to explain themselves with a plain language. Another characteristic of these poems is their number of verses which is much lesser that the poems of Indian style. However, they don t differ much in terms of rhyming, thus the only major difference between them would be in the number of their verses (Hakemi, 1994). The Founding Fathers of the Occurrence School of Poetry In the second half of the 10 th century the occurrence style became very popular amongst the poets, some poets of that time were even knows as Occurrence Poets. Baba Faghani, Wahshi Bafqi, Shani Taklou, Sharaf Jahan Qazvini, Lessani Shirazi and Mohtasham Kashani were amongst prominent poets of this style. Lessani Shirazi is considered to be the first user of this style (F: 941), but Golchin Ma ani suggests that Shahidi Qomi has used this style before him. This scholar believes Mirza Sharaf Jahan to be one of the high ranking poets of this school for he wrote almost all of his poems in the occurrence style (Shamisa, 1994). Some documents such as Arafat Al Asheqin consider Sharaf Jahan Qazvini to be the first user of this style and went as far as to declare him its founder (Shamisa, 1994, p:194). Baba Faghani s poems are mostly based on an overwhelming pain felt by the poet and are the statements of his distressful life. The realism style used in Faghani s poems became popular amongst other poets as well, thus poets such as Wahshi, Naziri, Vali Dasht Biazie, Zamiri Isfahani and Mohtasham continued his style and are known as Faghani s followers (Shamisa, 1994, p: 158). The chief reasons that make Faghani the founder of this style are as follows: 1. Baba Faghani has lived in an earlier era than all other poets mentioned, and the documents (F: 954) of his life proves that. 2. Since he was almost contemporary with Kamal Al din Ismail, Mowlavi, Amir Khosro, Sa die and others, it makes sense to consider him the founder of this style. 3. The language used by Baba Faghani is plain and free of romanticism and bears traces of realism, thus he can be considered as one of the earliest poets of realism style. 4. Based on what most scholars and researchers of that time have wrote about Faghani s style and its popularity amongst other poets, therefore he can be declared as the founder of realist poetry. Other points that are worth mentioning are as follows: The author of Arafat Al Asheqin has stated that Lessani was a follower of Baba Faghani. Other poets such as: Wahshi Bafqi, Naziri Neyshabouri, Orfi Shirazi, Mohtasham Kashani and Sa eb Tabrizi have also followed his style. Taqi Al Din Ohedi has written the following about Hozouri Qomi: The Book of Faghani s Style is amongst his famous works. Sadeqi Ketabdar also states the following about Shani Taklou and Nesari: My lord Shaani has a great talent and has successfully perfected Baba Foqqani s style. He has also written a book full of poems in that style. And: My lord Nesari, has written a book full of poems in the style of Baba Faghani and Amir Shah, (Kargar, 2011). However, Baba Faghani and Wahshi can both be considered as the founders of the occurrence style.. As Tamim Dari states in his book: Two prominent poets of occurrence style are Baba Page 2208

5 Faghani and Wahshi Bafqi. As Mohaqeq points out: The realism, found in Faghani s poems, is proof that he was indeed a poet of occurrence style. It is interesting that they have written the following about Wahshi as well: He is one the followers of Baba Faghani s style of poetry. Traces of the Occurrence School of Poetry in the Early Poets Works: A: Khalagh Alma ani, Kamal Aldin Ismail Isfahani I was passing him last night when suddenly he cursed me But I helped him anyway, so he thought I didn t heard him Even though the stars testify to his illness but they say Haven t heard of no one better than him I might say I see that you have become rude recently So I stayed away from you for two days conveniently B: Rumi (Mowlana Jalal Aldin Muhammad Balkhi) Your eyes and my eyes have this quarrel between them It is understood, cause in the course of love Lessons have discussions in them You close your eyes; it means that it is time to sleep It is not a simple sleep though It s your answer to your rivals ****** Does your eye make me sleepy? Or you are stealing my heart again? No I swear to God that that you roll eyes To deceive me time and again C: Sheikh Sa die Shirazi who was himself a peot of realism style: Even though I m in love with you with my all I keep looking at my left and right This way rivals won t find out That you are my all My heart is in your hands But I look at the others So our foes won t catch me Staring at you in the presence of others O Boy you got drunk last night Your eyes testifying it This time drink with someone That would keep your secret within *** D: The illustrator of Manowi drawings, amir khosro Dehlawi, who was himself an occurrence poet states: Page 2209

6 Good is the time when I can looks at his face And if he would glance back at mine I d look away in a second, dying of embarrassment I m the servant of that breath Which said get him out of here When I went to his place near As I kept going to his door The door man said with a pitiful voice That this poor fellow has no choice But to drop by at his love s door (Golchih Ma ani 1995) Examples of 9 th century and beyond poems which remind one of Wahshi s style of poetry: A: Jaami: Why did that beauty turned away when he saw me last night? And why did he turned back to look at me I might say If his friends did not even knew my name Then why he pointed at me giggling at my face B: Baba Faghani Your love made such a solitary man out of me That people of this town seem like strangers to me Went to the gardens and meadows in order to smell your perfume I d put my face on a flower then I passed out feeling not myself out of the blue O my flower, go and sit with whomever your heart desires from now on For I have died in this garden like a flower grieving the loss of a dear unkind one Oh those times that you crossed my way lost and confused I couldn t bring myself to say hi due to excitement and gratitude C: Sharaf Jahan Qazvini I ll go seek the advice of the good hearted men So they could guide me What to do with beautiful but stone hearted men He answers me in such way as if the my rivals is near Every time I want to talk to him in private I m so out of my mind that I don t fathom that angel s words So ask others what did he said to me what was his words? When he wasn t looking I stared at him long Suddenly he glanced at me and I got embarrassed feeling small (Mo tamen, 1992) Page 2210

7 The Content and Style of Wahshi Bafqi s Poems: The most prominent aspect of Wahshi Bafqi s poems is his plain language. His verses are so simple that anyone can easily understand them. He sometime preaches and encourages his readers to humbleness and kindness by means of beatufl symbols and phrases (Maserat, 2012). There is not much difference between Wahshi s style and Indian style of poetry in terms of the choice of words, way of sentencing and using compounds. The special rhythm that can be found in the poems of Indian style is actually what distinguishes it from other styles of poetry. However, the mentioned rhythm can be sensed in Wahshi s and his follower s poems as well, perhaps with a slight difference. Just like the followers of Indian style of poetry, Wahshi has used a plain and simple language, which is fathomable by ordinary folks. Words such as: inconsiderate, it calls for, the cause, stone hearted, ignoring, dying of love, Bazaar, right now etc used in the following poems are very close to our modern slang vocabulary. (Mo tamen, 1992). Be scared of their inconsiderate sword Even though we are matchless fighters of virtue If everything would go on the way it is I ll be afraid that my acts of loyalty Would seem to you as disloyalty I m dying of sorrow oh this sorrow s killing me Where is the one who makes me shed happy tears? God bless you and your cold hearted ways For it s my bad luck that you treat me with this coldness You are the one who ignore and embarrasses me Even though feeling small for loving you is not a flaw to me Here s the Bazaar of jewelers Don t open the safe For it is full of stones and pearls Beat me up like there s no fairness in the world Enjoy your power, now that a beautiful face rules Phrases and figures of speech such as: half dead of being ignored, crazy old sould, love that drives one to tear his clothes, warming up the rival, lost in conversation, beauty who burns strangers, confused by a conversation, minding one s business, becoming unhappy with someone etc portray the influence of Indian style of poetry on the following verses (Mo tamen. 1992). I m half dead for you keep ignoring me Page 2211

8 Glance upon me once bring me to life I beg thee The dusty wild face comes again like a storm Where does it come from? This crazy old soul A kind of love has got a hold on me That drives me to tear my clothes from anguish Isn t it good news for my tailors? yes it is! O lord I see you re warming up my rivals like making their wishes come true Being lost in deep conversation Nay I wish that on no one! My beauty that kills his friends and burns all strangers with his looks Made me know myself better This is really true If my confusion would stay with me the same It would probably get worse, not actually better I said you are driving me out of business when you laugh at me like that He laughed and said: I don t have any business with you, go away just like that My love what is the matter Tell me what did I do wrong? Why you turned cold suddenly Tell me what did I do wrong? There are numerous examples of Wahshi s use of Indian style in his poems: My bad fortune makes me lose a diamond in a haystack My tree grows swords instead of leaves and that s that Every regret get buried with us in the ground Then they grow on our grave from under the ground It s only you who can light up my fire Just as butterflies that only rest when reunited with fire? Butterflies like to hang out with candles For the wind avoids candles, Blowing them it s something it can t handle He has hands that are bleeding him to death Page 2212

9 And that s the fate of a hunter Who waits for his hunt but suddenly forgets himself Realism has been used in poems before the emergence of Wahshi, poets such as : Sa die,, Amir khosorow etc have all written poems of realism style. However, the era of Wahshi was the peak of realism style. For example, consider the following verses: I watch your door day and night Cause I want my place of worship To be free of dust Yes, I ll go to him and describe how I feel I ll tell him about what I d kept secret within According to legend, Wahshi has written the following verses when he was taking his last breaths: I feel the fever of sorrow more than ever tonight So take care of me tonight, I ll beg thee with all my might Do you see the signs of death upon my face? Is that why my good friends are crying in pain? In the following poem, Wahshi remembers former favors of his lover with regret and pain: My love is not loyal anymore, the way he was before Doesn t do me favors, the way he did before He does not pity me no more, the way he did before The kindness he bestowed I will not feel anymore What I did wrong to that beauty? I don t know But I know he doesn t look down to see his poor servant anymore If he knew of the pain of love I m sure he wouldn t treat me so cruel and unkind It s no surprise if Wahshi would shed tears of blood For he doesn t look at him, the way he did before The following poem describes his concern over his lover s naïve heart and prays for his safety from the evils of the world: O dear Lord keeps him safe from the hands of evil Keep him safe from the deceive of charlatans The ominous sound of danger comes from every place Keep him safe and sound; lock the doors to his place O Lord you make him treats me bad and I m thankful for that As long as you make him treat everyone like that Make him cold hearted with everyone I don t want him too kind; yes that suits him better after all Page 2213

10 Ignorant, cruel, wild and stone hearted Ain t that a shame? But that s the way I want him Popularity of Wahshi Bafqi and the Characteristic of his Poems The popularity of Wahshi Bafqi is due to his poems which represent a realistic image of love. Most of his poems bear all the characteristics of the occurrence style of poetry, they ve been written with a plain language, and represent a realistic image of a hopeless lover whose hardship attracts the sympathy of the readers. Perhaps this is the reason for the spread of rumor that the poet was killed by his lover (Zarrin Koob, 1984). As Dawari the author of Riaz Al Shoa ara points out: He was a follower of Baba Faghani in style, however, he brought wit to the style of Faghani which some found to be sweet and entertaining and some find cheesy and cheap, (Zarrin Koob, 1984). Most of Wahshi s poems have long and heavy verses which is another common feature between his style and Indian style of poetry. However, he has short poems that only had 5 to 7 verses. He even has a 4 verse poem (Moa tamen, 1992), which the following verse is from : I deserve to be killed, I know it myself, kill me with humiliation You ve killed me while innocent, now s the time for my guilty execution Even though wahshi s language is not a strong one, but one can tell from his sorrowful verses that he was truly a hopeless lover, this proves that deep feelings along with a plain language can create perfect poems (Mo tamen, 1992). What distinguishes Wahshi and his followers from the followers of the Indian style is the spiritual aspect of their poems; moreover the subject of love has not been sufficiently discussed in the poems of Indian style. On the contraire Wahshi s sole subject of poetry is love that is why his poems are considered to be the purest poems of Persian language, because love was the sole motivation behind their writings (Mo tamen, 1992). Even poets such as Sa die and Hafiz don t entirely focus on the subject of love, however Wahshi describes the hardships and stages that a lover goes through in full detail and this makes his poems and books to be the ultimate reflection of lover s feelings and moods. Shebli No maani the author of She r Al Ajam or Persian Poetry describes wahshi s poems as realistic and points out that only Sa die and Amir Khosrow have attempted poems like that before. Now for further illumination let s take a look at some examples of Wahshi s poems in realism style: What is the matter? Why you leave soon and show up late I haven t seen you in ages; sit down with me for Lord s sake If you only knew of your influence upon me You wouldn t think twice to kill my heart with cruelty Sit with whomever you desire even though that s not your style Page 2214

11 For I never allow myself to doubt your true heart You make yourself sweet when you ask my name Every time that I show up Of course it s me; my love You mean you don t know your own Farhad? One can write anything on a piece of paper Even insults and curses Memorabilia, that s the point of this paper Most of the above contents refer to events that occur in the personal affair of lovers. The way of sentencing in these poems is in accordance with slang everyday conversations. Thus they sound plain, friendly and warm. In most cases the poet has written these poems based on a true event that has occurred to him. Thus they are realistic poems which express their poet s state of mind. Now let s take a look at poet s chronology: The love has found a new lover and the old lover states the following to him: Your flower garden smells of a fresh scent Congrats to your garden for the new gardener I say Your kingdom of beauty has its own privileges Congrats to your new guest, he receives them with pleasure The one who claims you now tried so hard I ll admit I wish him more strength, for he held on tight to your feet I wish your vows with the stranger to stay safe and secure Even though one cannot count on your promises no more Here, the lover is hurt by his love and indicates it with the following harsh words: I m a kind of man who doesn t look back when says goodbye If I lose my hope for us, I won t wait I ll leave you behind The heart is not a bird that sits again every time it flies I won t sit on a roof top I ve fled from twice You made a mistake when you shooed your own hunt But don t think twice it s alright The following has been written by Wahshi on a night of his death in a state of love and drunkenness: I feel the fever of sorrow more than ever tonight So take care of me tonight, I ll beg thee with all my might My friends don t ignore me tonight For it s the last night, I won t trouble you again Do you see the signs of death upon my face? Page 2215

12 Is that why my good friends are crying in pain? In the occurrence poems the beauty of the lover is superficial and the lover tends to describe their love making shamelessly. It is worth mention that poems of other style describe a vague state of affairs between lovers. The love in Wahshi s poems is based on physical pleasure and that is why the lover is prepared to leave his love at any moment, thus threats his love with abandonment constantly. Oh you need a servant? Then why you ignore your own? Don t do it love, for I will find a new master for sure Generally, love as described in the occurrence school of poetry is of virtual form, and even Wahshi points it out himself: There s long way to the destination of lovers Let s settle nearby then, there is always virtual love and lovers Another aspect that proves the mentioned point is that the kind of love described in these poems is the love between people of the same gender: Tell me which country you rule young boy? God bless the land which you own young boy Even thou, these poems seem cheesy and free of mysticism. However, traces of mysticism can still be found in them: I m sick of worshiping; I ll leave for the pub There I will find a rival and kiss the bowl of wine Lack of mysticism does not however reduce the values of Wahshi s poems, it is that his poems are exclusively about love and there is nothing wrong with that. Poets of occurrence style write with a plain language and avoid using strange and complex words: I m leaving your place, come on; grant me a glance goodbye You know you are to blame, so come on, and grant me a smile Where I m bound, I can t tell, my eyes are filled with regret So come on utter me a fare well and look me in the eye I was the door man of your house Guarded it like it was the house of God So I ask you dear God Kill me if I m leaving my post for no good reason at all The plain language of occurrence style freed poetry from the hands of a few individuals and proved that ordinary people could be poets as well. That is why seeking deep meanings and content in this style of poetry would be in vain. Page 2216

13 Conclusions: The occurrence style was the new style of poetry which was founded in the 10 th century, poems written in this style are plain and free of romanticism, what made this style so novel in the eyes of the poets of 10 and 11 th century would be its realistic language and its plain description of poet s love life. Wahshi the famous poet of the school of occurrence, was a free spirited man of love who was against hypocrisy and bigotry, his poems makes the bird in our hearts restless with sorrow. It is his great talent that makes his readers reach the climax of excitement only by implementing a plain language. Just like him, Wahshi s poems are full of life and soul which makes them more beautiful. Therefore, no one can deny the artistic value of his poems. Page 2217

14 References Golchin Ma anie, Ahmad, 1995, The School of Occurrence in Persian Poetry Mashad, Ferdows Publications Hakemi Ismail, 1994, A Conversation Regarding Wahshi s Style of Poetry Kayhan Newspaper, no , Wed. May 13th Kargar, Shahram, 2011, A Critique s Look at the Founders of the Occurrence School Literature Book of the Month, no.51, consecutively (165), June Mo tamen Zeinoalbedin, 1992, The Evolution of Persian Poetry 4 th edition, Tahouri Publications Masserat, Husain, 2013, The Soul Burning Fire 1 st edition Spring of 2013, Tehran, Tolou e Fardaa Publications Shamisa, Sirous, 1994, A Look at Ghazal Writing in Persian Poetry 4 th edition, Tehran, Ferdows Publications Shamisa Sirous, 2003, Stylistics of Poems 9 th edition, Tehran, Ferdows Publications Wahshi Bafqi, Kamal Aldin, 2013, Wahshi Bafqi s Book of Poems (with the prologue of Saied Nafisi), 1 st edition, Tehran, Thaleth Publications Zarrinfkoob, Abdul Husain, 1984, Exploring the Persian Poetry Tehran, Novin Publication Page 2218