Böcker i Iranian Studies Series-serien

"For us non-Iranian readers of Hafiz's 14th-century ghazal poems, Iranianattitudes toward the premier lyric poet in the 1,000-year history of Persianliterature, are almost as intriguing as Hafiz's poetry itself. First is theinclination of Iranian readers to find deep, spiritual meaning in that poetry.Second is their personal identification with what they perceive as Hafiz'sphilosophy. Third is their linking of Iranian cultural identity with Hafiz's life and works to the point where some educated Iranians define part of theirIranianness by referencing Hafiz and even consider him a relevant politicalvoice. These features of Iranian appreciation of Hafiz come alive on pageafter page in The Reception of Hafiz in Nineteenth and Twentieth-CenturyPersia, while author Bahman Solati himself epitomizes Iranian love of andidentification with the poet's stances and themes in his poems."Michael Craig Hillmann, The University of Texas at Austin-Bahman Solati is Assistant Professor in Persian Language. He is the authorof several publications, including Rubaiyyat-i-Hakim Umar Khayyam, andPersian Proverbs in three volumes.

Abu ¿Abdollâh' Jafar ibn Mohammad Rudaki (c. 880 CE-941 CE) was a poet to the Samanid court which ruled much of Khorâsân (northeastern Persia) from its seat in Bukhara.He is widely regarded as "the father of Persian poetry, for he was the first major poet to write in New Persian language, following the Arab conquest in the seventh and eighth centuries, which established Islam as the official religion, and made Arabic the predominant literary language in Persian-speaking lands for some two centuries.In the tenth century the Caliphate power, with headquarters in Bagdad, gradually weakened. The remoteness of Khorâsân, where Rudaki was based, provided a hospitable atmosphere for a "renaissance" of Persian literature. Persian poetry¿now written in the Arabic alphabet¿flourished under the patronage of the Samanid amirs, who drew literary talent to their court. Under the rule of Nasr ibn Ahmad II (r. 914-943), Rudaki distinguished himself as the brightest literary star of the Samanid court.This book presents Rudaki as the founder of a new poetic aesthetic, which was adopted by subsequent generations of Persian poets. Rudaki is credited with being the first to write in the rubâi form; and many of the images we first encounter in Rudaki's lines have become staples of Persian poetry.