Literature as a Means of the Revolution
Literature is a means of persuading and flourishing the soul and thought as well as promoting ideas and values. Literature also shapes the orientation of thinking and regulates thoughts and feelings causing one to have a broad view and scientific emotion. Moreover, literature and poetry serve as the most important and effective means in the Islamic Revolution, and they have been very effective in consolidating revolutionary ideas as well as the development and evolution of spiritual concepts after the victory of the Revolution. The Islamic Revolution underpinned the dynamism and spirituality of Persian literature and gave it a new orientation.
The poems were written during the first decade after the Revolution reflect the strength and profoundness of this thought because the Revolution was founded on strong thoughts and religious thinking. After the Revolution, poetry became widely socialized and committed to certain principles.
Committed poetry also has a special orientation, that is to say, the poet’s literary thinking, worldview and attitude are reflected in the form of literature, especially poetry.
The most important intellectual influences of the Islamic Revolution on poetry and poets are as follows:
1) Creating a New Literary Thinking
Literary thinking refers to the way of knowing, worldview and attitude of a person who is aware of literature. It can be said that the attitude and worldview of the poets of the Revolution or revolutionary poets were formed and strengthened by the influence of the spiritual and popular atmosphere of the Revolution. While the Persian poetry in the works of many poets was reflecting the limited individual or probably material and sometimes purely national ideas, after the Revolution, this view has attained profoundness, yet, the poets did not confine themselves to addressing merely the “I” as an individual or a “patriotic”; rather, they sought to reach out and convey their message to the whole world. That is a transnational and humanistic vision that seeks the happiness of all human societies, avoiding oppression, the freedom of oppressed nations and masses, and the establishment of friendly and close relations with other nations. The poets do not want the Islamic Revolution only for the liberation of the Iranian people, but they consider it a reflection of the demands of all the oppressed people of the world and on the other hand a call for the freedom of oppressed nations which breaks the chains of the captivity of the masses. Here are some examples of such views:
This is the cry of freedom rising from the East,
It is the cry of the humans rising from each corner.
This is the volcanic anger of the enslaved nations,
This is the Habl al-Matin (strong cord) for the hopeful mass.
We overthrew the emperors,
We defeated and failed the criminals.
We sacrificed souls for the sake of freedom,
We are the guardians of freedom, Islam and the Quran.
We seek human comfort and ascension.
2) Reviving Human and Islamic Values
Values refer to a deep and sincere belief in the principles and etiquettes that have existed in the Islamic scriptures and the life of the Holy Prophet, the infallible Imams as well as religious leaders, but at times have been forgotten or greatly overlooked. These values include sincere service, worship, serving the Truth, not surrendering to falsehood and tyranny, showing brotherhood and kindness towards all oppressed people, self-sacrifice, seeking martyrdom, self-belief, and trust and faith in God.
The poetry of the Revolution is lively, challenge-seeking, aggressive and mobilizing in terms of appearance. Also, in terms of meaning, it is tranquillizing, inspiring and stabilizing the spiritual beliefs and thoughts. The following example illustrates some of these issues.
We are the people of the country of blood and martyrdom,
An exemplification of epic, self-sacrifice and unity.
We are the descendants of the Abel of sun,
Whom, in the face of Cain, have been plagued by darkness.
In the battle of falsehood and truth, and with the sword of victory,
W always stand on the peak of bravery.
A poet is answering the children’s sincere questions:
“Why are you fighting?”
My son asks.
Carrying the gun and backpack, I tight my shoelace.
My mother holds a glass of water, a mirror and Quran by her hands, light would enter into my heart.
My son asks again: “why are you fighting?”
I say from the bottom of my heart: “so that the enemy will not take the light from you.”
3) The Socialization of Poetry
After the Revolution, the poets were more inclined to address issues such as the sufferings of the people, exposing the oppression of the tyrants, the invasion of the devils, the belief in the victory of the oppressed, the denial of the oppressors, and the universal thought of altruism, rather than writing poetry for their own desires and wishes. This phenomenon even influenced some of the poets who had been isolated and despaired before the Revolution. The poets who had reached the peak of poetry before the victory of the Revolution, although not being revolutionary, accompanied the Revolution because of their opposition to the monarchy.
The poets who wrote poems about the Revolution and the subsequent events can be divided into the following groups:
1) The ones whose poetic personality was formed before the Revolution and were not known as revolutionary poets, but they showed an inclination towards the Revolution in their works during the Revolution and afterwards. Mahdi Akhavan-Sales, Simin Behbahani and Houshang Ebtehaj are examples of this group.
2) The poets who were poets before the Revolution, but secretly or openly opposed to the regime and were affiliated with the Islamic Movement. Shahriar, Hamid Sabzevari, Ali Mousavi, Garmoudi, Mahmoud Shahrokhi, Nasrollah Mardani, Tahereh Saffarzadeh, Moshfeq Kashani, Simindokht Vahidi and Sepideh Kashani are among this group.
3) The poets who began composing poetry at the beginning of the Revolution or years later started writing poetry for the generation who had experienced the Revolution. Of course, there was an age difference between them; some, more or less, had written poems before whereas many were taking the first steps to become a poet. A lot of figures fall under this category: the past poets include Salman Herati, Sayyed Hasan Hoseyni and Qeysar Aminpour and the contemporary ones are Soheyl Mahmoudi, Saed Bagheri, Alireza Qazveh, Abdol-Jabbar Kakaei, Yousef-Ali Mirshakak, Ahmad Azizi, Fatemeh Rakaei, Qader Tahmasebi (Farid), Hoseyn Esrafili, Abbas Baratipour, Parviz Beygi Habibabadi, Akbar Behdarvand, Parviz Abbasi-Dakani, Mohammad-Ali Bahmani, Saber Emami, Abbas Khoshmal and Vahid Amiri. Of course, it should be noted that some of the contemporary talented and committed poets, who have precious works, were young and beginners at that time. They are the pioneers of the poetry of the second and third decades after the Revolution; figures such as Abdol-Jabbar Kakaei, Reza Esmaili, Mohammad-Reza Torki, and Mortaza Amiri-Esfandaqeh.
4) A New Approach towards Life and Death
The Islamic Revolution affected people’s lives in various ways. The people’s view regarding life and death is one of these cultural developments. On the other hand, avoiding aristocratic life, serving fellow human beings, sympathizing with the poor and oppressed, kindness and charity, participating in constructive jihad and, most importantly, defending Iran and Islam are some of the achievements of this development. The purpose of life is to be a servant of God and serve His servants, and death is the end of the journey to this world and the beginning of eternal life in the Hereafter. However, martyrdom and self-sacrifice led people to choose “martyrdom” over fearing death such that a poet considered them as among his ideals.
In the poetry of this period, death is associated with epic and has a spirit of glory. The following examples show the poets’ insights in this regard:
Oh God, please purify my heart from darkness,
and make me the one You want.
We fight against those who talk in vain,
Oh my God, my God, my God.
No one took the path of devotion and purification like you did,
and no one was awarded the medal of pride with sacrifice like you did.
So far, no one like you,
has ignored the prestige of death.
5) Reviving the Culture of Mahdawiyyah (Mahdism) and Awaiting Imam al-Mahdi (a)
The issue of the Promised Saviour and composing poetry in praise of Imam al-Mahdi (a) has long been addressed in Persian poetry and the works of some poets. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution and under the influence of Imam Khomeini’s thoughts as well as the spiritual atmosphere of the Revolution, the issue of constructive and positive expectation of the reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi (a) created a new wave in the poetry of religious and revolutionary poets. The struggle against oppression, standing up against the oppressors and the arrogant, being prepared for the coming of the one who will spread justice, the rule of the oppressed, purification of the soul, and establishing ties between the Revolution and the Ahl al-Bayt (a) constitute the motifs of Mahdavi poetry and the culture of Awaiting Imam al-Mahdi (a) in post-revolutionary poetry.
For instance, in the following example, the poet, while referring to the narrations influenced by the revolutionary atmosphere of the early years of the Islamic Revolution, considers Iran and specifically Tehran as the promised land of the reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi (a):
I am always waiting for you
without sitting unmoved,
I am always waiting for you.
Because I am
always on the road and,
I am always on the move.
When it comes to comparison,
you are like the moon, the star, and the sun.
You are always there and you shine,
you come from the Ka’bah
and Kufah is Tehran.
You would come,
raise the sword Dhulfiqar
and eliminate oppression.
I am always waiting for you,
Oh promised justice.
There are some marks of waiting for you in the alley and street,
they are tired
and you know, because you are watching.
Please come, I am m waiting for you,
please come, I am waiting for you.
Hope Instead of Despair and Isolation
The continuation of the authoritarian system and tyranny and suffocation had severely disappointed and isolated the general public, especially the artists and poets. Poets who reflected social issues in their poetry in some ways expressed such frustration using the language and various forms of poetry (especially allegory). For example, Mahdi Akhavan-Sales, whose pen name was Omid, composes poetry about suppression and tyranny with much despair and disappointment. But, after the uprising of the revolutionary people and the victory of the Revolution, an atmosphere of enthusiasm and hope spread throughout the country. There are expressions such as “the night of tyranny has passed” and “the sun of freedom and hope has risen” in the poetry written during the early years after the victory of the Revolution.
Also, in another poem, “Herati,” with hopefulness and peace of mind, talks about the passing of dangers and the stability of hopes:
Poisonous tornadoes are coming and going,
to crush the belief of the garden.
But you shine,
and the seas roared
and the trees will become green because of a new belief.
How the Revolution Affected the Formation of Literary Works:
1) Political and Social Conditions: Conditions refer to the state of society, the predominant culture and worldview of an era, political tendencies, social changes and the prevailing spirit of thought.
After the victory of the Revolution, these factors either underwent changes or were completely replaced by other conditions. Society was experiencing an atmosphere of passion and emotion resulting from the great victory. The prevailing worldview in the society was also based on the monotheistic worldview and reliance on God. On the other hand, the intellectual atmosphere of the society, especially among the educated, artists and poets, was changing. The prevailing intellectual spirit of the time was constituted of self-sacrifice, brotherhood, altruism, service and God-seeking. The Islamic Revolution separated the poets’ thinking from the issues related to the self and egos and even human loves linking it to social and humanitarian issues.
2) Literary Traditions: A literary tradition is a collection of ideas, rhetorical images, and literary language. Sometimes, the insights and ideas embedded in literary works, are transmitted from generation to generation and from one era to another.
In these literary traditions, the poetic forms, as well as the artistic ways of expressing ideas, would undergo changes and innovations. Some of these forms are as follows:
Ghazal (Sonnet): It is a form of poetry in all centuries which after the Revolution varied in terms of subject matter and motif because of the spiritual atmosphere and changing of the public opinion. Since most of the years of the first decade of the Revolution witnessed epic, war and self-sacrifice and the poets were living in such an atmosphere, composing epical sonnets was so common. Such sonnets were either epical or epical-mystical. In epical sonnets, praising the heroes and those who showed courage on the battlefield, calling for participation in the war, defending the Islamic land, and boasting and repeating honours, constitute the motif.
Mathnawi (Rhymed Couplets): After the Revolution, this format was considered by poets and they made some innovations in it. Ali Moallem-Damghani and Ahmad Azizi were among the poets who, more than others, considered this format.
Ruba’i (Quatrain): This kind of poetry was revived after the victory of the Revolution. New language and contemporary compositions, as well as thematic innovation, are among the features of the motif of quatrains in this period.
Do-Bayti (Quatrain): This format, like ruba’i, was revived after the victory of the Revolution, and poets who made innovations in writing ruba’is, used new languages and themes in Do-Bayti poems as well. Aminpour, Hoseyni, Alireza Qazveh and Salman Herati are among the most famous poets who used to write Do-Bayti poems after the Revolution. Themes such as love and mysticism, grieving for the martyrs and the nostalgia caused by the spiritual atmosphere of the war can be seen in the quatrains composed in this period.
Qasidah (Ode): In this period, the format of the ode has not received much attention. But poets whose poetic personality had been formed many years ago, also composed qasidahs in accordance with the then situation; people like Akhavan-Sales, Mehrdad Avesta, Moshfeq Kashani, Hamid Sabzevari, Ezzatullah Fouladvand and to some extent Mousavi Garmoudi.
New Poetry
After the Revolution, new poetry and new formats were revived and almost all the themes related to the Revolution and the epic of the Sacred Defence were addressed in the new poetry. War and its related issues, martyrdom and martyrs, Imam Khomeini (ra) and elites of the Revolution, praising the Ahl al-Bayt (a) and religious leaders, expressing sympathy with the fighters and the oppressed people of the world, Islamic mysticism, raising an objection to the negligence in social affairs and the decline of its values, avoiding the urban life and reminding the life in the village are among the most important themes of new poetry written during the period in question. Tahereh Safarzadeh, Salman Herati, Qeysar Aminpour, Sayyed Hasan Hoseyni, Mousavi-Garmoudi, Saed Bagheri, Mohammadi Nikou, Soheyl Mahmoudi, Abdol-Jabbar Kakai, Alireza Qazveh, Mansour Oji, Mohammad Reza Abdolmakian, Yousef-Ali Mirshakak, Fereshteh Sari and Bahman Salehi are among the poets who used to compose new poems in that period.
Factors Influencing the Poetry of the Islamic Revolution
With its characteristics and the subsequent events, the Islamic Revolution has made an impact on today’s poetry. In this regard, two factors are considered the most influential. The character of Imam Khomeini (ra) and the epic of eight years of Sacred Defence with its martyrs and sacrifices.
The poets, who act as the mirrors of the society, have chosen the issue of praising and describing the characteristics of the great leader as one of the main themes of their poetry; as the poetry books were written after Imam Khomeini’s demise, are full of poems that reflect the people grieve and sorrow over losing him. In general, the image of Imam Khomeini (ra) is reflected in the epical, lyrical, allegorical, moral and educational forms of the poems composed by the poets of the Revolution, and in each case, so many themes and expressions were employed to describe his personality.
Perseverance, determination, fearlessness, courage and being vocal, are the epical aspects of Imam Khomeini’s personality while feeling sorrow, being popular, humility, reflecting the divine will, purity, honesty, intimacy, having guiding attitudes and the like are among the lyrical and moral aspects of his personality.
An Example of Describing Imam Khomeini’s Personality
Before you, the water did not mean to become a sea,
night stayed and not dare to be tomorrow.
There were many rivers in that dark and ambiguous time,
but unfortunately, still, they did not have the courage to become a sea.
The spring was rooted deeply into the earth,
without you, however, it found no ground to rise up.
Hearts, though pure, but because of the fear of stone,
were like mirrors and did not want to be watched.
Reference: Journal of Islamic Revolution Studies. Vol 7, No 22, Fall 2010, Pages 101-126.
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