Journal | Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale
Journal issue | 60 | 2024
Research Article | «Il racconto rimase così, appeso alle labbra»: The Ending of the Farhād va Širin by Vaḥši Bāfqi
«Il racconto rimase così, appeso alle labbra»: The Ending of the Farhād va Širin by Vaḥši Bāfqi
Abstract
For centuries, the maṯnavi Farhād va Širin by Vaḥši Bāfqi (d. 1583‑84 AD) has been read in the light of the idea, credited by most taḏkerẹ authors, that it was an unfinished poem. Mir Taqi od-Din Kāšāni, who authored the taḏkerẹ Xolāṣat ol-ašʿār va zobdat ol-afkār between the second half of the sixteenth century and the early years of the seventeenth, was of a different mind. The quality of the mise en page of text, illuminations and illustrations of some manuscripts of Vaḥši’s Farhād va Širin, in this case the copy from The Berenson Collection at I Tatti, raises the idea that the poem was regarded as concluded. There is, indeed, a stark contrast between the claims made by taḏkerẹ authors and luxury copies of the maṯnavi that reached us. A close reading of the poem, and in particular of its concluding section, supports the thesis that Vaḥši brought his maṯnavi to an end.
Submitted: March 4, 2024 | Accepted: June 6, 2024 | Published July 25, 2024 | Language: it
Keywords The Berenson Collection • Close reading • Farhād va Širin • Tadkerẹ • Vaḥši Bāfqi
Copyright © 2024 Piero Donnini. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2024/01/006
