GREGOR
SCHOELER
Neo-Persian
stanzaic poetry and its relation to the Arabic musammat
by
Gregor Schoeler, Basel
SUMMARY:
Neo-Persian stanzaic poetry was modeled on the Arabic musammat.
The earliest extant Persian stanzaic poem stems from the great poet
Rudaki (d. c. 940); as to the form, it is a musammat murabba’ (rhyme-scheme:
bbb a ccc a), as to the content it is a wine poem (khamriya). I shall
argue that this poem is a m’arada (emulation, imitation) of a musammat
by Abu Nuwas. In the 11th century, Manucihri introduced the musammat
musaddas (bbbbb a ccccc a ddddd a) into Persian literature; this type of musammat
has Arabic models, too.
The
targi’-band (first documented in Farrukhi) and the tarkib-band
(first documented in Qatran) also appeared in the 11 th
century. They are Persian innovations; however, the invention of these genres
can only be understood on the basis of the hitherto extant musammat system
– just as the Andalusian tawshih can only be explained as a further
development of the tasmit.