The document discusses the history and genres of Persian literature from pre-Islamic to modern times. It covers major genres like poetry, short stories, and the evolution of modern Persian poetry. It summarizes the key periods in the development of Persian poetry and prose works, major poets and their contributions, as well as the transition to modern styles of writing in the 20th century.

1. Behzaad Bahreyni

2. In keeping with the ethical dimension of Persian
Literature, it is worth to say, that a large part of
Persian Literature are ethical works, both in
poetry and prose, with two faces: pre- and post-
Islamic one.
Pre- Islamic Iranian history is considered almost
moral and cultural, because the struggle
between goodness and evil was a principle issue
in Zaraostirian teaching. The main issue of pre-
Islamic culture was 'wisdom' and a kind of
rationalism, which have been appeared in a
numerous independent treatises and books
which have been composed in this subject.

3. After adapting Islam as a new religion in Iranian
post-Islamic culture the combination of Iranian and
Islamic thoughts has been occurred. In this mixed
culture a lot of principles of Iranian rationalism have
been accepted in our new formation of Iranian
society and consequently we can observe this
tendency in early Persian poetry.
The presence of Iranian oral traditions, like Gosan's
folk songs (a kind of Iranian minstrels) and festivals
(such as Now rouz and Mehragan) in Neo-Persian
literature were modified the figure of literature into
an Iranian one, rather than Islam.

4. Persian Poetry
Classical Persian poetry is always rhymed. The principal verse
forms are the Qasideh, Masnavi, Qazal and Ruba'i.
The qasida or ode is a long poem in monorhyme, usually of a
panegyric, didactic or religious nature.
The masnavi, written in rhyming couplets, is employed for
heroic, romantic, or narrative verse.
The ghazal (ode or lyric) is a comparatively short poem, usually
amorous or mystical and varying from four to sixteen couplets,
all on one rhyme. A convention of the ghazal is the introduction,
in the last couplet, of the poet's pen name (takhallus).
The ruba'i is a quatrain with a particular metre, and a collection
of quatrains is called "Ruba'iyyat" (the plural of ruba'i). Finally, a
collection of a poet's ghazals and other verse, arranged
alphabetically according to the rhymes, is known as a divan.

5. FAMOUS TYPES OF PERSIAN POETRY
Ruba'i
"Rubāī" is a poetry style. It is used to
describe a Persian quatrain.The plural
form of the word, rubāʿiyāt often
anglicised rubaiyat, is used to describe
a collection of such quatrains.There are
a number of possible rhyme schemes
to the rubaiyat form, e.g. AABA, AAAA.
In Persian verse, a ruba'i visually
contains only four lines, its rhyme
falling at the middle and end of the
lines.
Famous Poet : Khayyam

6. Ghazal
The ghazal is a poetic form
consisting of rhyming couplets
and a refrain, with each line
sharing the same meter. A ghazal
may be understood as a poetic
expression of both the pain of
loss or separation and the beauty
of love in spite of that pain. The
structural requirements of the
ghazal are similar in stringency to
those of the Petrarchan sonnet.
Ghazals were written by the
Persian mystics and poets Rumi
(13th century) and Hafiz (14th
century)

7. Masnavi
Masnavi, or mathnawī, is the
name of a poem written in
rhyming couplets, or more
specifically, “a poem based on
independent, internally rhyming
lines”. Most mathnawī followed a
meter of eleven, or occasionally
ten, syllables, but had no limit in
their length.
Rumi’s Mathnawi-i Ma’nawi

8. Early Literature
Though existing fragments of Persian verse are
believed to date from as early as the eighth century
CE, the history of Persian literature proper begins
with the lesser dynasties of the ninth and tenth
centuries that emerged with the decline of the
Caliphate. The most important of these were the
Samanids, who established at Bokhara the first of
many brilliant courts that were to patronize learning
and letters.

9. The Thirteenth Century as a New Chapter
The Thirteenth century produced two poetic
geniuses of the first rank, Saadi and Rumi. It is also
particularly notable for histories, of which many
were inspired by these singularly troubled times.
Hamdullah Mostofi produced notable works both of
history and geography, as well as an epic, the Zafar
Nameh or Book of Victory, in 75,000 couplets, and
Nasir ud-Din Tusi wrote on philosophy and logic.
Three notable poets of the period are Iraqi, author
of the mystical Lama'at or Flashes; Amir Khosrow,
known as "The Parrot of India" and author of no
less than five divans, and Zakani the satirist.

10. Persian short stories
Historically, the modern Persian short
story has undergone three stages of
development: a formative period, a
period of consolidation and growth,
and a period of diversity

11. The formative period
The formative period was ushered in by Mohammad Ali
Jamalzadeh's collection Yak-i Bud Yak-i Nabud , and gained
momentum with the early short stories of Sadeq Hedayat
.Jamalzadeh (1895–1997) is usually considered as the first
writer of modern short stories in Persian.
In contrast, Sadeq Hedayat, the writer who introduced
modernism to Persian literature, brought about a
fundamental change in Persian fiction. In addition to his
longer stories, "Buf-e kur" (his masterpiece; see above ii.)
and "Haji Aqa" (1945), he wrote collections of short stories
including Se Ghatra-ye Khun (Three Drops of Blood) and
Zenda be Gur (Buried Alive, 1930).

12. Period of growth and development
This second period in the development of the modern Persian
short story began with the coup of 19 August 1953, and ended
with the revolution of 1979. Jalal Al-e Ahmad is among the
proponents of new political and cultural ideas whose influence
and impact straddle the first and the second periods in the
history of modern Persian fiction. His writings show an
awareness of the works of Franz Fanon and the new generation
of third-world writers concerned with the problems of cultural
domination by colonial powers.

13. Period of diversity
In this period, the influence of the western literature on the
Iranian writers and authors is obvious. The new and modern
approaches to writing is introduced and several genres have
developed specially in the field of short story. The most popular
trends are toward post-modern methods and speculative fiction.

14. Poetry
Notable Persian poets, modern and classical, include
Mehdi Akhavan-Sales, Simin Behbahani, Forough
Farrokhzad, Fereydoon Moshiri, Sohrab Sepehri, Ahmad
Shamlou, Nima Yushij, Mirzadeh Eshghi (classical),
Mohammad Taghi Bahar (classical), Aref Ghazvini
(classical), Parvin Etesami (classical), and Shahriar
(classical).

15. Classical Persian poetry in modern times
A few notable classical poets have arisen since the 19th
century, among whom Mohammad Taghi Bahar and Parvin
Etesami have been most celebrated. Mohammad Taghi
Bahar had the title "king of poets" and had a significant
role in the emergence and development of Persian
literature as a distinct institution in the early part of the
20th century. The theme of his poems was the social and
political situation of Iran.
Parvin Etesami may be called the greatest Persian poetess
writing in the classical style. One of her remarkable series,
called Mast va Hoshyar (The Drunk and the Sober), won
admiration from many of those involved in romantic
poetry

16. Modern Persian poetry
Nima Yushij is considered the father of
modern Persian poetry, introducing many
techniques and forms to differentiate the
modern from the old. Nevertheless, the
credit for popularizing this new literary form
within a country and culture solidly based on
a thousand years of classical poetry goes to
his few disciples such as Ahmad Shamlou,
who adopted Nima's methods and tried new
techniques of modern poetry.

17. Ahmad Shamlu
discovered the inner characteristics of
poetry and its manifestation in the literary
creations of classical masters as well as the
Nimai’ experience. He offered an individual
approach. By distancing himself from the
obligations imposed by older poetry and
some of the limitations that had entered
the Nimai’ poem, he recognized the role of
prose and music hidden in the language. In
the structure of Sepid poetry, in contrast to
the prosodic and Nimai’ rules, the poem is
written in more "natural" words and
incorporates a prose-like process without
losing its poetic distinction. Sepid poetry is
a developing branch of Nimai’ poetry built
upon Nima Youshij's innovations.

18. Forough Farrokhzad
is important in the literary history of Iran for
three reasons. First, she was among the first
generation to embrace the new style of
poetry, pioneered by Nima Yushij during the
1920s, which demanded that poets
experiment with rhyme, imagery, and the
individual voice. Second, she was the first
modern Iranian woman to graphically
articulate private sexual landscapes from a
woman's perspective. Finally, she
transcended her own literary role and
experimented with acting, painting, and
documentary film-making.

19. Faravahar, true Iranian symbol
Good Thoughts
Good Words Good Deeds

20. BEHZAAD BAHREYNI
Adamson university
Manila
Philippines
Sep 2012
bahreyni@gmail.com