User:Livelygoose/Haft Peykar

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Haft Peykar (Persian: هفت پیکر Haft Peykar) also known as Bahramnameh (بهرام‌نامه, The Book of Bahram, referring to the Sasanian emperor Bahram V) is a romantic epic by Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi written in 1197. This poem forms one part of his Khamsa.

The original title in Persian Haft Peykar can be translated literally as "Seven Portraits", with the figurative meaning "Seven Beauties". Both translations are meaningful and the poet doubtless exploited intentionally the ambiguity of the words.[clarification needed] The poem was dedicated to the Ahmadili ruler of Maragheh, Ala-al-Din Korpe Arslan bin Aq-Sonqor. The poem is a masterpiece of erotic literature, but it is also a profoundly moralistic work and even religious.

Around the time Haft Peykar was written, there were various ways in which Persian lyric poetry was presented and written '''. The style we see in Haft Peykar is one of epic literature where characters change moods and complex feelings in heroic tales. Here Nazimi's hero is searching for a sort of spiritual satisfaction.'''

Story[edit]
The Haft Peykar is the story of King Bahram Gur, known for his hunting ability and seven wives. The story goes that Bahram visits seven princesses in their seven pavilions. Each princess dedicated to one day of the week, governed by the day's planet and bearing its emblematic color. Bahram visits each pavilion in turn, where he feasts, drinks, enjoys the favors of his brides, and listens to a tale told by each. And not only does each bride represent '''a color and a story, but a deeper meaning. They each have regions, climes of the world, but virtues and religious significance. It was even thought that the colors of the brides were stages of love in the Sufi traditions . These stages going from an impure black to a pure white.'''

Editions and translations[edit]
A critical edition of the Haft Peykar was produced by Helmut Ritter and Jan Rypka (Prague, printed Istanbul, 1934) on the basis of fifteen manuscripts of Khamsa and the Bombay lithograph. There is also an uncritical edition by Wahid Dastgerdi (Tehran, 1936 and reprints) and an edition by Barat Zanjani (Tehran, 1994). More recently, the poem was re-edited by the Azerbaijani scholar T. A. Maharramov (Moscow, 1987).

A poetic German translation of a passage from the poem named Bahram Gur and Russian princess by orientalist Franz Erdmann [ru] was published in 1832 in Kazan.

There are three complete translations in western European languages from original Persian language. First, in 1924 Charles Edward Wilson translated the poem to English in two volumes with extensive notes. '''Wilson's translation was a "literal translation". His use of literal translation in Haft Paykar resulted in incorrect translation and omissions of the story .''' Second, Alessandro Bausani in 1967 translated it to Italian. Finally, there is an English version by Julie Scott Meisami published in 1967. This translation was a rhymed version that included explanations to help the reader understand more allusive meanings. There is also an English metatranslation[clarification needed] by E. Mattin and G. Hill (Oxford, 1976). A partial translation was also made by Rudolf Gelpke in German prose (Zurich, 1959). There is a complete poetic translation in Azerbaijani by Məmməd Rahim [az] (Baku, 1946). There are three complete translations in Russian: a poetic translation by Ryurik Ivnev (Baku, 1947), a poetic translation by Vladimir Derzhavin [ru] (Moscow, 1959), and a prose translation by Rustam Aliyev (Baku, 1983).

Cultural influence[edit]
'''The story of the Seven Beauties presented an allegorical story with a religious significance. Religious symbolism in paintings or illustrations was not widely accepted. There has never been religious iconography officially adopted in Islam, so it is believed Nazimi hid the moral and divine messaging in a narrative. This may be thought of as a way that the poem and its illustrations changed the reading of manuscripts.'''

In the early 1940s, to mark the 800th anniversary of Nizami Ganjavi, Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov planned to write seven songs for the seven beauties of the poem. However, he only wrote two songs: "Sensiz" ("Without You", 1941) and "Sevgili Janan" ("Beloved", 1943).

In 1952 Azerbaijani composer Gara Garayev composed the ballet Seven Beauties based on motifs of Nizami Ganjavi's Seven beauties.

In 1959 a fountain with a bronze sculpture "Bahram Gur" depicting the hero of the poem killing serpentine dragon at his feet was erected in Baku. This statue references the ancient Iranian narrative of the deity Bahram slaying the evil serpent.

In 1979 the Nizami Gəncəvi subway station in Baku was decorated by Azerbaijani painter Mikayil Abdullayev with mosaic murals based on the works of Nizami. Three of these murals depict heroes of the Seven Beauties poem.

The opera Turandot by Giacomo Puccini is based on the story of Tuesday, being told to King Bahram by his companion of the red dome, associated with Mars.

Gallery[edit]

 * Bahram Gur Visits the Dome of Piruza on Wednesday. Page from the Haft Paykar from a manuscript of Nizami. Brooklyn Museum.

References[edit]

 * 1) ^ Jump up to:a b c d Haft Peykar at Encyclopædia Iranica
 * 2) ^
 * 3) ^ Крымский А. Е.. Низами и его изучение // Выдающиеся русские учёные и писатели о Низами Гянджеви / Составитель, автор предисловия и редактор Рустам Алиев. — Б.: Язычы, 1981. P. 259
 * 4) ^ Nizāmī of Ganja, The Haft Paikar (the Seven Beauties), Containing the Life and Adventures of King Bahrām Gūr and the Seven Stories Told him by his Seven Queens, trans. by Charles Edward Wilson (London: Probsthain, 1924).
 * 5) ^ Nizami, Haft Paykar: A Medieval Persian Romance, trans. by Julie Scott Meisami (Hackett, 2015), ISBN 9781624664304.
 * 6) ^ Jump up to:a b Сафарова З. Узеир Гаджибеков. — Баку: Язычы, 1985. — P. 61.
 * 7) ^ Эфендизаде Р. М.. Архитектура Советского Азербайджана. — М.: Стройиздат, 1986. — P. 108.
 * 8) ^ Абдуллаев Микаил Гусейн оглы // 225 лет Академии художеств СССР. Каталог выставки. — Изобразительное искусство, 1985. — V. II. — P. 6.
 * 9) ^ Эфендизаде Р. М. Архитектура Советского Азербайджана. — М.: Стройиздат, 1986. — P. 289.
 * 10) ^ Nizami (21 August 2015). Haft Paykar: A Medieval Persian Romance. Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated. p. xviii. ISBN  978-1-62466-446-5.

Sources[edit]

 * François de Blois. Haft Peykar // Encyclopædia Iranica. — 15 December 2002. — V. XI. — pp. 522–524.