Literary History of Persia

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and Chair of the Faith,’ or ‘Russian Horse of Religion.’ Fine days were those indeed, which were in truth the time of King Wizwizak⁸⁵²!

“But to be brief. One day the Persian Government collected its armies and quietly advanced to the back of the wall of Greece. Now to enter Greece there was only one way, by which way the Persian army must needs pass. Yes, but behind that way there was a lane like the Áshtí-kunán⁸⁵³ of the Mosque of Áqá Sayyid ‘Azízu’lláh, that is to say, there was another narrow lane, but the Persian army did not know about it. As soon as the Persian army arrived behind the wall of Greece, they saw that these seven-fold rascals of Greeks had blocked the road with troops. Well, what dust must Persia now scatter on her head? How, if she would advance, should she advance, or bow, if she would retreat, could she retreat? She was left abased and confounded. God have mercy on the poet who so well says, ‘Neither does my heart rejoice in exile, nor have I any honour in my native land,’ etc. But, since things must somehow come right, suddenly the Persian army saw one of those Ja‘far-qulí Áqás⁸⁵⁴, a son of the Begler-Áqá of Cossacks, in other words a certain friend of the foreigner and hospitable humanitarian, gently detach himself from the Greek army, and, stepping softly⁸⁵⁵, approach the Persian host. ‘Peace be upon you,’ said he; ‘Your arrival is fortunate! You are welcome! Your visit is a pleasure! May your journey be without danger!’ All the while he was quietly pointing out to the Persians with his forefinger that Áshtí-kunán lane. ‘We Greeks,’ said he, ‘have no troops there. If you go that way, you can take our country.’ The Persians agreed, and by that road entered the Greek land.

“This, however, is not the point…. By the bye, while I remember, let me mention the name of this foreigner’s friend, though it comes a trifle heavy on our tongues; but what is to be done? His name was Ephialtes…God curse the Devil⁸⁵⁶! I don’t know why it is that whenever I hear this name I think of some of our Persian Ministers…. But let us return to the point.

“When His Excellency, that double-distilled essence of zeal and

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sum of science and political acumen, Mírzá ‘Abdu’r-Razzáq Khán, engineer, and lecturer in the School of the Cossack barracks, after a three months’ pedestrian tour drew for the Russians a military map of the road through Mázandarán, we his friends said, ‘It is a pity that such a man of spirit should not have a title.’ So some twenty of us sat for three days and nights considering what title we should obtain for him, but nothing occurred to our minds. Worst of all, he was a man of taste. ‘Any title obtained for me,’ says he, ‘must be virgin; that is to say, no one else must have borne it before me.’ We enquired of the State Accountants, who said there was no ‘virgin title’ left. We opened our dictionaries, and found that neither in the languages of the Persians, Arabs, Turks, or Franks from A to Z was there one single word left which had not been employed as a title at least ten times over. Well, what were we to do? Would it be pleasing to God that this man should thus remain untitled?

“However, since such things must come right, one day, being in a state of extreme dejection, I picked up a history book which was at hand in order to distract my mind. No sooner had I opened the book than I read in the first line of the right-hand page: ‘Ever afterwards the Greeks stigmatized Ephialtes as a traitor whose blood might lawfully be shed.’ O you cursed Greeks, what had poor Ephialtes done to you that you should call him a traitor? Is hospitality to strangers blasphemy in your creed? Do you not believe in kindness to foreigners?

“In short as soon as I saw this name I said, ‘Nothing could be better than that we should adopt this name as a title for Mírzá ‘Abdu’r-Razzáq Khán, both because it is “virgin,” and because these two persons have the closest resemblance to one another. This one was kind to strangers and so was that one. This one was hospitable to guests and so was that one. This one said, “Had I not acted thus, another would have done so,” and so did that one. There was only one difference between them, namely, that the buttons of Ephialtes’s coat were not made of native forest-wood. Well, supposing they were not, such trifles are unworthy of consideration.’

“In short, we friends assembled and gave an entertainment and made great rejoicings. We also instantly despatched a telegram to Káshán bidding them send quickly five bottles of Qamṣar rose-water and two boxes of sugared walnuts, so that we might present them [to the Sháh] and secure the title. In the midst of these proceedings Ḥájji Maliku’t-Tujjár⁸⁵⁷ conceded the Astárá road to the Russians.

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I don’t know what scoundrel told him the history of this title, but he put his two feet in one shoe⁸⁵⁸ and declared that he was a heaven-sent genius, and that this title was his rightful property. Now for some months you don’t know what a hullabaloo is going on, with Mírzá ‘Abdu’r-Razzáq Khán on the one hand, supported by his science of Geometry, and Ḥájji Maliku’t-Tujjár on the other with his persuasive eloquence and his quotations from the poems of Imru’u’l-Qays and Náṣir-i-Khusraw-i-‘Alawí. O Kablá’í Dakhaw, you don’t know in what toil and moil we are caught! If you can deliver us from this calamity it would be as though you had freed a slave for God’s sake, and may God, if He will, forgive your sons!

“May God make one day of your life a hundred years! Today is a day for zealous endeavour. For the rest, you are the best judge. I have nothing more to submit.

“Your faithful servant, Gadfly.”
It is difficult in a translation to do justice to these articles, which mark an absolutely new departure in Persian satire, and are written in a style at once idiomatic and forcible. Though they appeared under various pseudonyms, I fancy they were all written by Dakhaw, who, little as he wrote, on the strength of them and a few of his poems⁸⁵⁹ deserves, in my opinion, to occupy the first rank amongst contemporary Persian men of letters. It is to be regretted that, though a comparatively young man, he has apparently produced nothing during the last ten or twelve years.

Of the last twelve years I have little to say. The beginning of 1912 saw the culmination of Russian violence and oppression in Persia, and, for the time being, the end alike of liberty and literary effort. Then came the War, when Persia became the passive victim of three contending foreign armies,

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with little profit to expect from the success of any one of them, while there was scarcity everywhere and famine and devastation in the western provinces. To Persia at least the Russian Revolution came as a godsend, while the subsequent withdrawal of Great Britain after the failure of the Anglo-Persian Agreement left her at last more or less mistress in her own house. How far she will be able to make use of the breathing-space thus accorded her remains to be seen.

Surprise has sometimes been expressed that during the War there should have existed in Persia a considerable pro-German party, largely composed of prominent Democrats and Reformers. The explanation is simple enough. Imperial Russia was hated and feared, and with good reason, and any Power which diverted her attention from her victim and threatened her supremacy was sure of a large measure of popularity, while Persia had no reason to fear or dislike Germany, which lay remote from her borders and had at no time threatened her independence. Germany, of course, took advantage of this sentiment, and carried on an active propaganda, of which the curious history remains to be written. One of the chief organs of the propaganda was the Káwa (Kaveh) newspaper published at Berlin, nominally once a fortnight, from January 24, 1916, to August 15, 1919. There was a long gap between the combined Nos. 29 and 30, July 15, 1918, and Nos. 31 and 32, October 15, 1918; between No. 33, Nov. 15, 1918, and No. 34, March 1, 1919; and between this last and the final number of the old series mentioned above, which appeared five months and a half later. On January 22, 1920, appeared the first number of the New Series (Dawra-i-Jadíd), which definitely renounced politics in favour of literature and science, while keeping the same external form and high

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standard of style and typography. In this form the paper, now appearing only once a month, endured for two years more, the last number (No. 12, Jahrg. 2, Neue Folge) being dated December 1, 1921, and containing no less than 33 large pages, closely printed in double columns.

During its propagandist days the contents of the Káwa were, of course, chiefly political, and, though valuable for the light they throw on events in Persia, and especially on the doings of the Nationalist “Committee of Defence,” have little bearing on literary matters until after the armistice, though here and there exceptions to this rule occur. Thus No. 4 (March 14, 1916) contains a Kurdish poem⁸⁶⁰; No. 20 an obituary notice of that eminent man of letters Sayyid Muḥammad Ṣádiq “Qá’im-maqámí⁸⁶¹,” better known by his title of Adíbu’l-Mamálik, who died on the 28th of Rabí‘ ii, 1335 (Feb. 21, 1917); No. 21 an account of some of the scientific results obtained by Captain Niedermayer’s mission to Afghánistán⁸⁶²; No. 23 an article by Professor Mittwoch on the artist Riḍá-yi-‘Abbásí⁸⁶³; No. 26 an account of Persian students in Germany; No. 33 (Nov. 15, 1918), à propos of a new publication, which, though bearing the Persian title Ráh-i-Naw (the “New Road”), was written in German, a brief sketch of various attempts to reform or replace the Persian alphabet; No. 34 (March 1, 1919) an account of the foundation in Berlin of a Persian Literary Society, and a letter from Mírzá Muḥammad of Qazwín on a point of Persian orthography; and No. 35 (August 15, 1919) a long and very interesting article by the writer last named on the

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oldest recorded Persian verses subsequent to the Arab conquest in the seventh century after Christ⁸⁶⁴.

The Káwa of the New Series, which began on Jan. 22, 1920, is, on the other hand, almost entirely literary, and contains numerous articles of the greatest value and interest. The Persian colony in Berlin, though comparatively small, included several men of great intellectual distinction, and, though ardent patriots, keenly alive to the national faults, and eager to absorb what was best of European learning. The special characteristic of the best German scholarship is its sobriety, thoroughness, painstaking accuracy, and exhaustive examination of relevant material from all available sources. This steadying influence is exactly what the Persians, with their tendency to ingenious but rash conjectures and premature theories, most need. In the leading article which opened the New Series the editor, Sayyid Ḥasan Taqí-záda, thus defined his aims:

“The Kawá [sic] newspaper was born of the War, and therefore its conduct was correlated with the situations arising from the War. Now that the War is ended and International Peace has supervened, the Káwa considers its War period as concluded, and now enters on a Peace period. It therefore adopts, as from the beginning of the Christian year 1920, corresponding with the 9th of Rabí‘ ii, A.H. 1338, a new basis and line of conduct. It has nothing to do with the former Káwa, and is, indeed, a new paper, the contents of which will for the most part consist of scientific, literary, and historical articles. Above all else, its object will be to promote European civilization in Persia, to combat fanaticism, to help to preserve the national feeling and unity of Persia, to endeavour to purify and safeguard the Persian language and literature from the disorders and dangers which threaten them, and, so far as possible, to support internal and external freedom … In the opinion of the writer of
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these lines, that which is today in the highest degree necessary for Persia, which all patriotic Persians should exert themselves to promote, literally, with all their strength, and should place before everything else, is threefold.

“First, the adoption and promotion, without condition or reservation,

of European civilization, absolute submission to Europe, and the assimilation of the culture, customs, practices, organization, sciences, arts, life, and the whole attitude of Europe, without any exception save language; and the putting aside of every kind of self-satisfaction, and such senseless objections as arise from a mistaken, or, as we prefer to call it, a false patriotism.

“Secondly, a sedulous attention to the preservation of the Persian language and literature, and the development, extension, and popularization thereof.

“Thirdly, the diffusion of European sciences, and a general advance in founding colleges, promoting public instruction, and utilizing all the sources of material and spiritual power … in this way ….

“Such is the belief of the writer of these lines as to the way to serve Persia, and likewise the opinion of those who, by virtue of much cultural and political experience, share his belief.

“Outwardly and inwardly, in body and in spirit, Persia must become Europeanized.

“In concluding this explanation of fundamental beliefs, I must add that in the writer’s opinion perhaps the greatest and most effective service of this sort which one could render would be the publication in Persia of translations of a whole series of the most important European books in plain and simple language.”

In pursuance of this programme, there are a certain number of articles on the German system of education, the proceedings of the Perso-German Society⁸⁶⁵, and the arrangements for facilitating the studies of Persian students in Germany; but matters connected with the language and literature of Persia supply the subject-matter of most of the articles. Thus we find in the year 1920 a series of admirable articles by Taqízáda [sic] (signed Muḥaṣṣil) on the most notable Persian poets of early times⁸⁶⁶; an original article written in Persian by
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Dr Arthur Christensen of Copenhagen on the existence of verse in Pahlawí⁸⁶⁷; a discussion on the evolution of the Persian language during the last century⁸⁶⁸; articles entitled “Bolshevism in ancient Persia” on Mazdak⁸⁶⁹; comparisons between Eastern and Western research and its results (greatly in favour of the latter), entitled Munáẓara-i-Shab u Rúz (“Dispute between Night and Day”)⁸⁷⁰ ;the four periods of the Persian language since the Arab conquest⁸⁷¹; “a Touchstone of Taste,” on good modern Persian verse and what the writer calls “Karbalá’í verse”⁸⁷²; Pahlawí, Arabic and Persian sources of the Sháh-náma⁸⁷³; ancient and modern translations from Arabic into Persian⁸⁷⁴; and a very interesting article on the “Sources of eloquent Persian and ‘Khán-i-Wálida Persian””⁸⁷⁵, in which the writer ridicules and condemns the slavish imitation of Turkish idiom and style practised by certain young Persians resident in Constantinople. These articles, in most cases, display a wealth of knowledge, critical ability, and originality which I have nowhere else encountered in Persian, and deserve a fuller analysis than can be accorded to them in this volume.

During the last year of its existence (1921) the Káwa maintained the same high standard, publishing many articles, both historical and literary, which were fully up to the level of the best European scholarship. A series of important historical articles on “the Relations of Russia and Persia during the period of the Áq-Qoyúnlú and Ṣafawí dynasties, down to the beginning of the reign of Áqá Muḥammad Khán

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Qájár,” written by Sayyid Muḥammad ‘Alí Jamál-záda, also appeared as a monthly supplement, and showed very wide and judicious use of all available sources, both Eastern and Western. The sudden cessation of the paper after December, 1921, was a great loss to Persian learning and scholarship.

In June, 1922, there appeared at Berlin a new Persian literary and scientific review entitled Írán-shahr, edited by Ḥusayn Káẓim-záda, which, though described as a “Revue ... bimensuelle,” actually appeared only once a month. It is of a lighter and more popular character than was the Káwa, and shows a more marked preference for matters connected either with pre-Islamic Persia, or with the problems with which the progressive Persians of today are confronted. No. 7 (December, 1922) contains a long article on the sending of Persian students to Europe, in the third section of which, “on the place and manner of study” (pp. 162-4), the writer argues that such students should go to England or Germany rather than to France, for the following reasons:

“We Persians (with the exception of the people of Ádharbáyján, whose nature and character agree better with those of the Anglo-Saxons), in respect to character, nature, capacity and mental tendencies, more closely resemble and approach the French, that is to say the Latin races, since quick and piercing intelligence, self-confidence, versatility of thought, wit and acuteness of perception, sociability and amiability in intercourse on the one hand, and inconstancy, fickleness of character, quickly-developed weariness and want of perseverance, recklessness, and lack of moderation in action on the other, are characteristic of the nature and disposition both of ourselves and of the French.”

This view seems to have commended itself to the Persians generally, for while in August, 1922, there were seventy

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Persian students in Germany, in the following December the number had increased to over 120⁸⁷⁶.

In Persia itself the Press, paralysed for a time after the Russian aggressions of 1912, has resumed its activities, especially since the conclusion of the War; but owing to the badness of the communications and the irregularity of the posts one has to be content with somewhat fragmentary information about it. No. 4 of the Káwa for 1921 (pp. 15-16) contained a brief list of Persian papers and magazines which had come into being since the beginning of A.H. 1334 (November, 1915). These, forty-seven in number, were arranged alphabetically, the place of publication, name of the editor, and date of inauguration, being recorded in each case. Ṭihrán heads the list with eighteen papers, next comes Shíráz with seven, Tabríz and Rasht with four each, and Iṣfahán, Mashhad, Kirmán, Kirmánsháh, Khúy, Bushire, Bákú, Herát, Kábul and Jalálábád (the last three in Afghánistán) with one or two each. More than half of these-papers (twenty-five) first appeared in A.H. 1338 (began on Sept. 26, 1919). That the list is far from exhaustive is shown by the fact that of nine Persian magazines of which copies were sent me by their editors or by friends, only two, the ‘Á1am-i-Niswán (“Women’s World”) and the Armaghán (“Gift”), appear in the above list. The latter is one of the best, containing many poems, including some by the late Adíbu’l-Mamálik, and accounts of the proceedings of the “Literary Society” (Anjuman-i-Adabí) of Ṭihrán. The others are the Bahár (“Spring”), very modern and European in tone, but including some interesting poems; the Furúgh-i-Tarbiyat (“Lustre of Education”); the Dánish (“Knowledge”), published at Mashhad; the Mimát u Ḥayát (“Death and Life”), entirely devoted to European inventions and material progress; the Firdawsí, edited and written by diplomés of the American College at Ṭihrán; the Párs, written half in

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Persian and half in French, which first appeared at Constantinople on April 15, 1921; and the Ganjína-i-Ma‘árif (“Treasury of Sciences”), of which the first number appeared at Tabríz on October 24,1922. None of these approach the Írán-shahr, still less the Káwa, in excellence of matter or form. An exception should perhaps be made in favour of the Gul-i-Zard (“Yellow Rose”), which appeared in Ṭihrán about the end of August, 1920, and in which the editor, Mírzá Yaḥyá Khán, used to publish the poems he composed under the nom de guerre of Rayḥání.
The establishment in Berlin of the “Kaviani” Printing-press (Cháp-khána-i-Káwayání) owned and managed by Mírzá ‘Abdu’sh-Shukúr and other Persians anxious to meet the growing demand for cheap, correct, and well-printed Persian books, marks another very important stage in the Persian literary revival; and at the present time there exists no other Press which can rival it in these respects. Besides modern plays and treatises on Music, Agriculture and the like, and tasteful editions of such well-known classics as the Gulistán of Sa‘dí and the “Cat and Mouse” (Músh u Gurba) of ‘Ubayd-i-Zákání, the managers have had the spirit and enterprise to print such rare works of the great writers of old as the Zádu’l-Musáfirín (“Travellers’ Provision”) of Náṣir-i-Khusraw, a book of which only-two manuscripts (those of Paris and King’s College, Cambridge) are known to exist; and are now (November, 1923) printing the Wajh-i-Dín (“Way of Religion”) of which the unique manuscript has recently been discovered at Petrograd, though books of this sort, recondite in character, costly to print, and unlikely to command a large sale, must almost inevitably be published at a loss. In Mírzá Maḥmúd Ghaní-Záda the Press possesses a most competent scholar, who carries on the high traditions of criticism and accuracy established by Mírzá Muḥammad Khán of Qazwín.

INDEX
In the following Index where many reference-numbers occur under one heading the more important are printed in Clarendon type, which is also used for the first entry under each letter of the alphabet. To save needless repetition, all references to any name common to several persons mentioned in the text are brought together under one heading, the individuals bearing this name being arranged either in chronological order, or in order of importance, or in classes (rulers, men of letters, poets, etc.). The letter b. between two names stands for Ibn (“Son of…”), and n. after the number of a page indicates a footnote. The addition in brackets of a Roman number after a name or book indicates the century of the Christian era in which the man lived or the book was written. Prefixes like Abú (“Father of…”) and Ibn (“Son of…”) in Muhammadan, and de, le, von in European names are disregarded in the alphabetical arrangement, so that names like Abú Sa‘íd, Ibn Síná, le Strange, de Slane, etc., must be sought under S, not under A, I, L or D. Titles of books and foreign words are printed in italics. A hyphen preceding a word indicates that the Arabic definite article al- should be prefixed to it.

1 It is, however, ascribed, as I have ascribed it, to Isma‘íl Khán Sarbáz by Edwards in his Catalogue of Persian Books in the British Museum, col. 302-3. The life of Mullá Áqá-yi-Darbandí, who died at an advanced age sometime before A.D. 1873, is given in the Qiṣaṣu’l-‘Ulamá (Ṭihrán lith. ed. of 1304/1886, pp. 75-9). Amongst his works mention is there made of one entitled Iksíru’l-‘Ibádát fí Asrárí’sh-Shahádát.

2 I have been unable to find any trace of this alleged discovery or of the French term connoting it (which I think should be empilement), though I have consulted two eminent physicians on the subject.