Using allusion in Mahvi’s Persian poems

Abstract

Allusion is a kind of indirect reference or allusion that a poet or writer uses to refer to something or someone without directly mentioning it. Allusion makes the language of poetry beautiful and the expression elegant. By using allusion, poetry can create different and sometimes contradictory meanings in the mind of the reader. Instead of directly expressing the subject or concept, the poet uses symbols, myths, historical or cultural events, etc. Mahvi, a great Kurdish poet and mystic, is among the poets who have used allusion extensively in his Persian poems. Mahvi's Persian poems are a collection of mystical and romantic poems with a language very rich in allusion, simile, metaphor, and imagery, in the style of later Persian poets such as Bidel Dehlavi, Saeb Tabrizi, and poets of the Indian school. Mahvi's poems sometimes even contain references to classical mysticism (Hallaj, Mansur, Khalil). This type of combination is common in Sufi texts that express the concepts of divine love, annihilation, and union through cryptic language and allegory. The purpose of this article is to examine the allusions and references, and to show their references to mystical, religious, and literary sources. Allusions that require extensive knowledge in various fields of the Quran, Hadith, Islamic mysticism, Persian literature, and the history of Islam and Iran to understand. The poet has used these elements with great skill to create complex layers of meaning that will be very rich and enjoyable for the familiar audience. In this article, a collection of Persian verses of Mahvi in ​​which a valuable set of religious, mystical, literary, and historical allusions has been identified and categorized to clarify intertextual connections.