Статьи

Invocation of God in the formal structure of letters in Ferdowsi’s Shah-nameh

русская версия

DOI https://doi.org/10.31696/2618-7043-2023-6-5-986-1000
Authors
Affiliation: Институт востоковедения РАН; Российский государственный гуманитарный университет
Magazine
Sections LITERATURE OF THE EAST. Literature of the peoples of the world
Pages 986 - 1000
Annotation

Invocation of God opens more than 60 letters in Abulqasim Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh (10–11cс.). It constitutes a part of a letter’s formal structure along with benedictions, salutation, etc. In some cases, the invocation is merely mentioned, in others it is presented in full, in up to 16 lines. Invocations of God mention God’s actions towards the sender or recipient of a letter, towards humanity in general, and towards the world, as well as God’s attributes and power over the universe. Then it can morph into an expression of gratitude or be followed by another part of the formal structure, usually a benediction, or by the main body of the letter. The specifics and the length of such invocations set them apart from other parts of the letter’s formal structure, as they are the only parts that deviate considerably from Sasanian as well as Arabo-Persian epistolary traditions. The paper deals with the methods by which the invocations of God are introduced in the text of the poem, principal themes of such invocations, and their role in the formal structure of a letter and in Shah-nameh in general.

Keywords:
Download PDF Download JATS
Bibliography:
  1. Lahuti L.G. National Iranian epos between the Sufi tradition and the pre-Islamic past of Iran. Problems of Translation and Interpretation. Selected papers. Proceedings of the I—V annual conferences of the Institute of Oriental Studies 2011—2015. Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS, 2017, pp. 223–242 (in Russian).
  2. Lahuti S. V. Formal Structure of the Letters in Shah-nameh: between the Iranian Pre-Islamic and Iranian-Arabic Traditions. Herald of the Russian State University for the Humanities. ‘History. Philology. Culturology. Eastern Studies’ series. 2015. No. 8, pp. 30–43 (in Russian).
  3. Lahuti S. V. A Healthy Body and a Lively Spirit, or a Stab From a Sword: What to Wish a Highborn Addressee (Based on the Letters from Abulqasim Shah-Nameh By Ferdowsi). Papers of the Institute of Oriental Studies. Issue 32: Textual Criticism and Source Study of the East: Problems of Translation and Interpretation. Selected Papers. Vol. 5. Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS, 2022. Pp. 223–242 (in Russian).
  4. Piotrovsky M. B. Al-asma' al-ḥusna. Islam. Encyclopaedic dictionary. Moscow: Nauka, 1991 (in Russian).
  5. Ferdowsi. Shah-nameh. Critical Edition. Academy of Sciences USSR Institute of Oriental Studies. Moscow: Nauka, 1970 (in Persian).
  6. Ferdowsi. Shah-nameh. Critical Edition. Academy of Sciences USSR Institute of Oriental Studies. Moscow: Nauka, 1971 (in Persian).
  7. Ferdowsi. Shah-nameh. Critical Edition. Academy of Sciences USSR Institute of the Nations of Asia. Moscow: Nauka, 1960 (in Persian).
  8. Ferdowsi. Shah-nameh. Critical Edition. Academy of Sciences USSR Institute of the Nations of Asia. Moscow: Nauka, 1962 (in Persian).
  9. Ferdowsi. Shah-nameh. Critical edition. Academy of Sciences USSR Institute of the Nations of Asia. Moscow: Nauka, 1965(1) (in Persian).
  10. Ferdowsi. Shah-nameh. Critical edition. Academy of Sciences USSR Institute of the Nations of Asia. Moscow: Nauka, 1965(2) (in Persian).
  11. Ferdowsi. Shah-nameh. Critical edition. Academy of Sciences USSR Institute of the Nations of Asia. Moscow: Nauka, 1967(1) (in Persian).
  12. Ferdowsi. Shah-nameh. Critical edition. Academy of Sciences USSR Institute of the Nations of Asia. Moscow: Nauka, 1967(2) (in Persian).
  13. Ferdowsi. Shah-nameh. Critical edition. Academy of Sciences USSR Institute of the Nations of Asia. Moscow: Nauka, 1968 (in Persian).
  14. Encyclopaedic Dictionary (first ed. of the new version). Vol. 1‒14. Tehran: Tiehran University Publications, 1372/1993. Электронный ресурс: URL: www.parsi.wiki (accessed: 20 October 2022) (in Persian).
  15. Rajabzadeh H. CORRESPONDENCE iii. Forms of opening and closing, address, and signature. Encyclopaedia Iranica. Электронный ресурс: URL: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/correspondence-iii (accessed: 13 October 2023).
  16. Weber D. Ostraca, Papyri und Pergamente. Textband. Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum. Part III: Pahlavi Inscriptions, vol. IV/V: Ostraca and Papyri. Texts, vol. 1. London, 1992.
  17. Zaehner R. C. Nāmak-nipēsišnīh. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 1937. No. 9, pp. 93–109.
For citations: Лахути С.Ф. Апелляции к Богу в формальной рамке писем из «Шах-наме» Абулькасима Фирдоуси. Ориенталистика. 2023; т. 6, 5: 986-1000