Shahin Shirazi

Mowlānā Shāhin-i Shirāzi Our Master, the Royal Falcon of Shiraz (born in Shiraz, Iran) was a Persian Jewish poet of the 14th century. He carried the honorific "Mowlānā".

Biography

The details surrounding his biography are not clear. It is known that he worked during the reign of Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan (1316-1335), and that he was also a contemporary of the Persian poet Hafez (d. 1390).[1] It is not clear whether '"Shahin" is the poet's first name or his pen name. It is possible that he was from Kashan and that he was buried in Shiraz.[2]

It is clear from his epic poems that he had a serious knowledge of classical Persian poetry. It is also clear that he was familiar with many Jewish and Muslim sources, and he often references many Talmudic and Midrashic works. Despite this, his work was not known outside of the Jewish communities of Iran and Bukhara.

Works

His works include epic cycles from the Pentateuch, and epic cycles from the later parts of the Bible. The Musā-nāmah was composed in 1327, and includes narratives from Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. The work contains close to 10,000 couplets. His versification of the Book of Genesis, Bereshit-nāmah, was composed around 1358 and contains close to 8,700 couplets.

His epic poem on the tale of Queen Esther, Ardashir-nāmah, includes multiple stories in addition to the well known biblical narrative. For example, Shāhin also expounds on the adventures of Shiru, the son of Ardashir (Ahaseurus) and Queen Vashti.[3]

See also

Further reading

  • Amnon Netzer: "Literature of the Jews of Iran, A short survey." Padyavand Vol 1. Los Angeles 1996, pp 5–17.
  • E.G. Browne. Literary History of Persia. (Four volumes, 2,256 pages, and twenty-five years in the writing). 1998. ISBN 0-7007-0406-X
  • Jan Rypka, History of Iranian Literature. Reidel Publishing Company.
  • Vera Basch Moreen (tr. and ed.), In Queen Esther's Garden: An Anthology of Judeo-Persian Literature (Yale Judaica): Yale 2000, ISBN 0300079052
  •  Gottheil, Richard; Bacher, Wilhelm (1901–1906). "Judæo-Persian Literature". In Singer, Isidore; et al. Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.

References

  1. ↑ Vera Basch Moreen (tr. and ed.), In Queen Esther's Garden: An Anthology of Judeo-Persian Literature (Yale Judaica): Yale 2000, ISBN 978-0-300-07905-0
  2. ↑ Vera Basch Moreen (tr. and ed.), In Queen Esther's Garden: An Anthology of Judeo-Persian Literature (Yale Judaica): Yale 2000, ISBN 978-0-300-07905-0
  3. ↑ Vera Basch Moreen (tr. and ed.), In Queen Esther's Garden: An Anthology of Judeo-Persian Literature (Yale Judaica): Yale 2000, ISBN 978-0-300-07905-0


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