Reflections of the Persian ‘Canon’ in Tazkirahs of Poets

The body of research on the Persian ‘tazkirah of poets’ genre has seen noteworthy growth in recent years. This trend has been made possible in part by Iranian scholars’ publication of critical editions of a number of important tazkirahs, which were previously available only in manuscript or in unreliable printings. (The ‘Arafat al-‘ashiqin of Taqi Awhadi is one prominent example.) Researchers use tazkirahs to address questions of various kinds, including the following: tracing the reception of a given poet across generations (e.g., Losensky’s book on Baba Faghani); and studying the development of theories of language and aesthetics in Persianate societies (e.g., Arthur Dudney’s recent dissertation on Khan Arzu).

One aspect of tazkirahs that remains understudied is their connection to the ‘canon’ of classical Persian poetry. Was there a group of poets—especially from the period before the 15th century CE, when modes of literary patronage and production began to shift in earnest—whose works were considered to have attained canonical status? If so, how might the acknowledgment of that status be reflected in tazkirahs? This paper suggests that by the late Timurid period, there was something akin to a canon of earlier authors, at least in a limited sense. Focus is placed on two ways in which a literary biographer may reveal the acknowledged status of certain poets: selection and omission. In the former category, we have the Baharistan of Jami (1487), which presents a small group of poets whose works are expected to be well-known to any member of polite society. In the latter category, we have the Tuhfah-i Sami of the Safavid Sam Mirza (ca. 1550), which discusses only contemporary and recent poets. Prominent figures from earlier generations, such as Hafiz, are mentioned casually throughout the Tuhfah, but the impression is that they need not be addressed specifically, since their status is entirely secure. From both sides—selection and omission—we see reinforcement of the idea of a ‘canon’ of Persian poetry.