British Institute of Persian Studies

Two Blind Poets of ShirazAuthor(s): George MorrisonSource: Iran, Vol. 4 (1966), pp. 93-95Published by: British Institute of Persian StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4299577 .

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93

TWO BLIND POETS OF SHIRAZ

By George Morrison

Among the poets discussed by Mirzd Hasan Fasd'i in the section " Poets of Shiraz " of his Fdrsndmeh-yi N•siri are two blind poets, Shafi'd Asar1 (seventeenth/eighteenth century) and Shfirideh2 (nineteenth/ twentieth century), both of whom lost their sight in their youth owing to smallpox.

Both poets had a penchant for light and satirical verse but, with the versatility of the Persian poet, turn their hand to many genres of writing. Just as the reader of the works of Burns may by turning over a few pages pass from earthy satire to songs of bewitching beauty, the works of these two poets contain sardonic verses and delicate lyrics in equally striking juxtaposition. One is again reminded of Burns by the use, by both Asar and Shirideh, of local language.

It is arguable whether a blind Persian poet finds himself at a disadvantage to the same degree as some others; the highly stylized nature of Persian poetry (of the classical style at least) demands the manipulation of a huge repertoire of stock images and conceits. The eye occurs in numerous lyric figures employed by the Persian poets, and in the hands of a blind poet these are lent a certain force and poignancy. Milton writes:

So much the rather thou, celestial light, Shine inward, and the mind through all her power Irradiate: there plant eyes; all mist from hence Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell Of things not visible to mortal sight.8

Professor 'Ali Asghar Hekmat writes on the subject of Shafi'd Asar and blind poets in general :

" Ayant perdu leur vue, ils se tournaient vers leur vision interieure, et celle-ci, aiguisee par le receueillement, renforcee par l'isolement, leur permit de voir la nature, de concevoir la societ6, d'en tirer des images d'autant plus nettes et vivaces qu'elles jaillissaient du plus profond de leur esprit interieur."

Persian poetry is, too, something first and foremost recited and remembered rather than written down and read.

Shafi'd Asar was born in Pirshekaft, 57 km. west of Shiraz, in the seventeenth century. Information about his life is scanty; it appears that he left the region of Shiraz and lived for some time in

Isfahmn; he may have died in Ldr, in Firs, in about 1713. He refers to his blindness in the course of his poems:

The almond blossom yields no oil- Why tears, then, when your eyes are blind ?

One of his celebrated poems is the Masnavi-yi Hammdm or " Bath poem ",5 which describes in satirical style a journey from the city (presumably Shiraz) to Pirshekaft; the somewhat unsatisfactory horse upon which he has to make his journey and finally the baths at his destination. Asar may here be drawing on experiences prior to his blindness.

First, the horse: Roadworthy ? he and a road have this in common- The road is flat and he's flat out asleep ! Speed ? have you ever watched an hourglass work ? That sand's about his class--one yard an hour !

x Asar (Athar) is the poet's takhallus or pen-name. The Ateshkadeh of Lu.tf'Alu Beg has, inexplicably, " Athir ".

2 Also a takhallus. 8 Paradise Lost, book III. 4 In an article on Asar in Milanges Massignon, Damascus, 1957.

I gratefully acknowledge here not only my debt to this article but also the unfailing kindness and help I have received from Professor Hekmat during the past few years.

6 The subject of an article by H. Fert6 in the Journal Asiatique of I886.

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94 JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES

Eventually he reaches the village:

Fertile and pretty as the Garden of Eden -Adam, however, nowhere to be found.

So he yearns for human company but finds none:

My only friend the echo of my voice.

He makes his way to the baths:

I saw a building quite on its last legs, Low enough down for Korah's treasure-trove.6 The ceilings so encrusted with black soot You have to squat and hobble on all fours. As for the really spacious dressing-room, It's like a shoe-it caters for one foot !

He suffers at the hands of the barber:

Talk of a close shave ! when you take your turn Death (and that razor !) circle round your head.

These lines are from the ghazals of Asar:

I said to her, " Love's pain Tortures my heart again."

She said, " The lowliest Host tolerates a guest."'

Sharideh is one of a distinguished line of Shiraz poets; he was a descendant of the great poet Ahli (died, sixteenth century), one of the few granted the honour of burial next to the grave of Hf4fiz. One of Sharideh's sons,

I.asan Fasihi,8 prefaces to his edition of his father's ghazals9 a biography of

Sharideh, of which the main points are as follows: " He was born in Shiraz in 1858 and christened Muhammad Taqi. His father, called 'Abbds, was

gifted as a poet. Owing to an attack of smallpox he lost his eyesight at the age of seven. He made the pilgrimage to Mecca and travelled to the southern ports of Iran. In 1891 he went to Tehran where he stayed three years; he was honoured by

Ns.ir ud-Din Shdh with the title of Fasih ul Mulk.

He died in Shiraz in 1926 and was buried at the shrine of Sa'adi. His works comprise about 15,ooo verses. He also wrote a work called Ndmeye Roushandeldn about the lives of blind poets and scholars, the Ms. of which is lost." Sayyid Mulhammad 'Ali Jamdlzddeh relates that his father made the acquaintance of Shirideh in

Shiraz; the poet confided in him that the Shirazis credited him with second sight; he gave an example, however, of how he had contrived to gain this reputation. When the servant brought tea Sharideh said to him, " I see you haven't swept the room properly again! " After the man had withdrawn Shirideh lifted a corner of the carpet and showed Jamdlzddeh's father a matchstick. " I make a habit of secreting one of these here ", he said, " and if I find it left here I know they haven't swept the room properly !"

Sharideh makes frequent references to his blindness in the course of his poems, for example:

Since my heart's eye can see, and sees your face Why should I make complaint at being blind ?

(from his ghazals)

* The Biblical Korah (Persian and Arabic Qdran) of Numbers XVI, swallowed up by the earth, according to the Qur'an also, with all his possessions. I have used for the poems of Asar Bodleian MS. Elliot 45 and Collection of Divans no. I 186 of the Library of the Majles-i Shourd-yi Mellf, Tehran. I have to thank Dr. Tafazzoli, the Majles Librarian, and his staff for the trouble they have taken

in placing MSS. at my disposal in the Majles Library. ' Himself a poet with the takhallus " Ihsdn ". 9 Kitdbkhaneye Sand'i, 1337 H.S. Another son of Shiarideh,

Husain Fa4i.f,

also a poet with the takhallu.

" Shifteh ", kindly presented me with a copy of this edition in Shiraz, as well as giving me generous hospitality and help. I must also thank Miss Shdddn Pourkamdl for help with material on Sharideh.

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TWO BLIND POETS OF SHIRAZ 95

Sharideh was a devotee of the poet Sa'adi (in whose shrine, as we have seen, he was buried). On one occasion a publication called Zabdn i A-zdd published some strictures on his works. Sharideh wrote the

following :10 One night as I lay fast asleep I dreamt that Sa'adi came to me In tears; I said, " What can it be That makes the great poet Sa'adi weep ?

What's wrong? Has Chingiz Khan come back With massacres galore ? Or wait-are Kharazm and Cathay Belligerents once more ?11 Or is the Tigris at Baghdad Running blood-red ? And the poor Caliph once again Battered and dead ? "

He shook his head at first, then gave a shout- " Help! Murder! Tongue of Freedom's just come out; If you wade through their article on me The Mongol Conquest's like a picnic tea! "

Sharideh's son, Husain Fas~ii has carried on this tradition by paying Sa'adi the compliment of

composing an attractive tazmin on one of his ghazals. Mr. Fasihi was kind enough to record this poem for me on my last visit to Shiraz. Its conclusion may serve as a postscript to show how lively is the tradition of which the blind poet Shiirideh represents one generation:

Sentenced to die of love for you? Well, the condemned cell was my choice- A little late to raise my voice! " Saadi loves this prison cell Where the chains of captivity Are sweeter far than going free! ",1

10 From Adamjyyat, Ddneshmanddn-i Pdrs, vol. III. See now on Sharideh: Machalski, La Litterature de I'Iran Contemporain, p. 21.

11 In the Gulistdn, book V, Sa'adi describes a conversation be- tween himself and a schoolboy in Kasghar whom he hears reading from a grammar book, " X struck Y "; Sa'adi says to

him, " Kharazm and Cathay have made peace, and are X and Y still at it ?"

12 A poem in which lines from a poem of another writer are introduced, for example, at the end of each stanza; Sa'adf's lines are here in inverted commas.

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