Fresh lyric pieties
Figuring the Prophet Muḥammad in the Safavid-Mughal Persian Ghazal
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21726546 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Shaahin Pishbin (0009-0007-8184-3286, The Queen's College, University of Oxford, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 315-336 |
| Publication date | 2024-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Middle Eastern Literatures (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1475-262X • E-ISSN: 1475-2638 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/1475262x.2025.2568505 |
| OpenAlex | W4416126848 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 4 |
The Persian ghazal underwent remarkable experimentation during the Safavid-Mughal period. This article examines a little-studied microtrend of this era: ghazals that explicitly figure the Prophet Muḥammad as the beloved object of lyric address. Focusing on an imitative sequence beginning with the early-Safavid poet Bābā Fighānī (d. 1519), I trace how Fayzī (d. 1595), court poet to Mughal emperor Akbar, and Jalāl Asīr (d. 1648), a prominent Safavid poet, adapted this model. Their poems integrate Quranic allusions and popular Prophetic lore into the established lyric idiom, creating a space for non-sectarian devotional expression. Through a close reading, I show how these ghazals functioned as a cosmopolitan devotional form, performing a mode of piety that contrasts with more doctrinally constrained Islamicate genres. In doing so, the article also contributes to debates on Persian literary decline and the utility of the term tāzah-gūʾī as a stylistic label for this period
Figuring · Five Dynasties · Persian · Poetry · Architecture and Cultural Influences · Historical and Architectural Studies · Islamic Studies and History
| Highly cited | No |
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