Naheed Khanzadeh Amiri
M.A in General Linguistics
Email: nakhanzade@yahoo.com
Hope in Persian Classic Literature
Studying personal, cultural, and social aspects of human life throughout the history we
encounter one characteristic which has not only helped mankind all through the life but also
survive him of being destructed in critical periods. History is full of these ups and downs in
personal or national levels. Undoubtedly it has happened to all of us that sometimes even for
a short period of time in this turbulent world we experience a kind of nostalgic or alienation
feeling that we even cannot know ourselves. We drown in such a deep and sever sorrow that
everything seems impossible. But after a short while an astonishing spark twinkles from an
indistinct corner of our soul , illuminates our entire existence, and convert the dreadful storm
to pleasure and confident. It is hope which bestows a new strength to our lives. As Martin
Luther king says, ‘‘If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving,
you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of all’’ .
This study is based on the hypothesis that hope is an innate and inborn quality in human
beings and attempts to take into consideration its application in literature. Since the goal of
literature is helping people to know themselves, strengthen their faith in achieving the truth,
and combat against ignobility as Maxim Gorki believes, it can also express and reflect the
way people can choose to achieve this goal. In this regard three masterpieces in Persian
Classical Literature were chosen: Shahnameh by Hakim Ferdowsi in epic genre which
explains national struggles, Mantegh al teyr by Sheikh Fariddin Atar which is the story of
human beings travel to achieve the truth, and Mathnavi Ma'navi by Jalal-el-din Rumi which
is a mystical teaching about individual transcendence. The latter masterpieces are in mystical
genre.
Studying theses masterpieces illustrated how these poets represent their thoughts which
transcend the spirit and treat bewilderment of the soul in their poems. They indicate the form
of life that may not exist but is of vital importance for our salvation and illuminates the path
toward the light when we lose ourselves in darkness.
Key Words: Persian Classic literature, Mysticism, transcendence, spiritual struggles
Introduction
Human being and his existential dimensions are the subject matter of various research
domains in humanities. One of these dimensions is spiritual aspect and hope is one of its
features.
Jafari1 as a philosopher and Islamic scholar states ''hope is one of the supreme psychological
phenomena and we cannot study our perception of it directly unless we consider its impacts
and properties''.2 He also talks about false hope and disappointment. He says when we are
hopeful a two-way relation is being formed within us between our soul and what we hope. A
magnetic field in which soul and what it desires absorb each other. This attraction generates
various streams of thought in mind such as logical thoughts, disjointed thoughts, associations,
reviews and investigations. He believes that hope to issues related to natural or spiritual life is
being raised when natural and intellectual preliminaries are provided. In this case the hopeful
person is every minute with his goal and steps toward it. Now if the preliminaries are not
provided an unnatural source is being shaped for hope and the person drown into dreams and
fantasies. He calls this case false hope and states ''these fantasies and dreams have no relation
with real life and if they occupy the surface of soul they will have no results but wasting time
and energy''.3 First story in this article is a sample of false hope. He also talks about
disappointment. He says disappointment is the situation in which the surface of soul is empty
of hope to any special topic. Nevertheless he believes this hopelessness does not always lead
to depression. Introducing three kinds of disappointment he argues that hopelessness can be
effective only if the individual becomes aware of his incapability and surrenders himself to
the conditions. In this case the disappointment can open a window to the soul which leads to
triumph. It seems that such hopelessness can be effective only when the individual has done
all his efforts in achieving the goal, because hopelessness at the beginning of the way can
hardly trigger any movement. Second story is a sample of this kind.
Psychology and Religion have also addressed the issue of hope. In Positive Psychology hope
is defined as a crucial component of the good life; an attribute which contributes to happiness
and well-being. Barbara L. Fredrickson,4 a positive psychologist, believes that hope is the
result of dire and uncertain circumstances. She argues that hope can remove the obstacles,
fears and despairs. It can make us more creative and optimistic. Therefore she makes a kind
of relation between the role of hope and undesirable situation.
On the other hand Goldstien, cited Snyder and states ''hope is cultivated when we have a goal
in mind, determination that a goal can be reached, and a plan on how to reach that goal".5
Snyder declares that "Hope is the sum of the mental willpower and way power that you have
for your goals''.6 Snyder considered three underlying components in his definition: Goal,
Willpower and Way power. He based hope on two cognitions in particular: Agency thinking
which refers to people's perception, when they think they can do something and remove the
obstacles; and pathway thinking which refers to people ability to find or generate plausible
routes toward the goals.
There is also another definition in psychology which is stated by Sharifinia,7 developer of a
new approach in psychotherapy known as Monotheistic Integrated Therapy. He says that to
help the clients to achieve improvement and better life the therapist should be able to activate
hope and love in clients.
In general considering above mentioned points we can conclude that after establishing the
goal, process to achieve it is being started. This process contains a sequence of events which
can be preventing or stimulating. However as Jafari says if the target is correct, a typical goal
or a transcendental one like the perfection and promotion of soul, the individual will be
always moving toward the goal.
Hope has been also discussed in different religions. Piper says "Christian hope is when God
has promised that something is going to happen, and you put your trust and confidence in the
promise. Hope is a portion or part of faith; and like faith, is also strengthening by the word of
God''.8
In Islam hope is also one of the most important religious concepts and being hopeless is
severely condemned. There are many verses in Quran,9 which refer to Hope and show how
Hope relates three pillars of religion, i.e. Monotheism, Resurrection, and Prophecy; such as
''Our Lord, in thee we trust; to thee we turn; to thee is the homecoming'' (60:4); and ''Say: O
my people, who have been prodigal against yourselves, do not despair of God's mercy; surely
God forgives sins altogether; surely He is the All- forgiving, the All- compassionate (39:53).
However hope in religion mostly refers to the issue of trust which is based on a belief.
Believe in God and His promises.
Literature also deals with the concept of hope. Literature, as a context in which the word and
meaning offer a beautiful and desirable form of life, can be a promising setting to bring hope
to the lives of the readers. It can purify, transcend, and orientate their attitudes toward the
world and their goals. In this article the role of hope in transcending the spirituality and life is
studied in domain of Persian Classic Literature, since Iranian authors and poets specifically in
Classic Literature have been interested in human being spiritual growth and taken advantage
of their religious teachings in their works.
Why Persian Classic Literature
Persian Classic Literature has a cultural and religious richness which indicates that Iran has
been a cultural and religious society before Islam in Zoroaster era and after that in Islamic
period. Some of the stories in Shahnameh by Hakim Ferdowsi are rooted in Avesta (holy
Book of Zoroastrains) and the others from religious, historical tales, and Islamic ethical
teachings. The country has witnessed different historical and social bitter-sweet and great
events over the time. Persian Literature has reflected most of these events in different levels:
individual, group, and nationwide as a mirror of human beings struggles. Among these
precious literature three masterpieces of Iran great poets: Ferdowsi, Rumi, and Attar have
been selected for this study. All the three works have followings in common:
1- They are among the masterpieces of Persian Literature.
2- All these works are in form of Mathnavi which is a literary form in Persian literature
and suitable for long stories and mystical teachings.
3- The three works are samples of didactic literary genre.
These poets have sought human way to happiness through religion and ethic. They have
shown that pathway to spiritual transcendence begins from the person himself. Mathnavi
Ma'navi and Mantegh al teyr respectively show the role of hope in individual and group level
and Shahnameh represents the role of hope not only in historical transitions and massive ups
and downs in nationwide level but also in growth process of individuals. All the national
heroes and social reformists in Shahnameh are good natured and ethical people.
This article is based on the hypothesis that hope is a mental state and inner attribute which
arises after the establishment of the goal and goal determination flourishes and activates it.
Hope in Literature
Mathnavi ma'navi, (Jalal-el-din Rumi)
This book is a spiritual writing that teaches people how to reach their goals of being in true
love with God. Rumi presents his ideas in form of stories derived from Holy Quran, Hadith
sources, and every day tales. The book runs to six volumes and has been interpreted and
described by several people. Among them the interpretation of two people, Jafari and Zamani
have been considered in this article. The story which has been studied briefly is from volume
three that according to Zamani,10 is the heart of Mathnavi. Although it is a very simple story
but deals with basic and fundamental issues of false hope and its negative consequences. The
story is titled the urban man journey to village. It is about the journey of an urban man to a
village upon the invitation of his friend who is a rural man. The urban man does not accept
his invitation because he knows that the rural man is dishonest and a hypocrite. But his
family, who is the symbol of temptation, insists too much and he finally forced to go to the
village. They think they can be happy in village and enjoy their time. They pass a long, hard
road to reach the village. But when they arrive the rural man pretends that he does not know
them and do not let them enter his house. They spend very harsh time with no food and no
shelter for five days. At the end a quarrel occurs between the two men and the urban man
reminds his services to the rural man and proves that he is a cheater and liar. The story
represents that false hope can also trigger some action but since it is based on dreams and
unrealities it has no result but suffering and pain. In this story the urban man learns that he
should rely on his own wisdom and insights and makes decisions upon realities.
Mentioning some verses of holy Quran Rumi talks about ethical points including the fact that
outward journey is premise to inward journey. He describes the role and nature of real hope
and authentic spiritual interests which result in individual perfection. He also points out that
goals, typical or transcendental ones, should be based on truths in order to bring success to
life.
The interpreters believe that Rumi has used similes in his story. According to Zamani,11 rural
man is the symbol of Satan and infernal people; village as the limited material world; urban
man as the one who is deceived by false promises and temptation; and the city as the Devine
world. On the other hand Jafari,12 believes that village is the symbol of a person who is not
trained and urban man is a wise man who defeated by temptations. Regarding these verses he
mentions two spiritual phenomena: spiritual expansion (joy) and spiritual contraction
(sorrow). He remarks that in both moods one should not lose the power of wisdom otherwise
he will be destroyed.13 He states hope has the capacity to generate happiness and joy in
human beings even if they hope to ordinary things (minor targets). He also refers to the role
of false hope which has no effect but misery and despair. The story apparently expresses pain
and suffering, but clearly proves the futility of false hope which is based upon dreams and
fantasies.
Group Level
Mantegh-Al-Teyr, (Sheikh Farid-eldin Attar)
Mantegh al teyr is a mystical epic in an allegorical manner. The book is comprised of two
distinct parts: the main story, which is a narrative, and anecdotes which are stated among the
main sector.
Shamisa ,14 believes that the book is the story of thought. Telling stories and anecdotes Attar
describes the human beings trip from the origin to the destination up to extreme end.15 He
uses personification to express his thought. He describes the hard pathway to eventual
destination and explains the difficulties of the path by planning multiple nodes and solutions.
In fact he talks about an inner journey toward the Truth. The main story titled as The
Conference of Birds is discussed in this article. In this story all the characters are birds of
different kinds. Each bird symbolizes a person with his interests and dependencies, a
representative of a social type with various ideas and complexes. Therefore a very strong will
and determination is needed to start the trip and pass the hard road. The story is composed of
9 stages: introduction, beginning, orientation/setting without mentioning place and time,
complication, evaluation, resolution, and coda. It begins with introducing the characters and
their characteristics or what they are expected to be. One bird among them becomes the
central character which is present in all the scenes. Goal of the story and the hard path are
being defined by the central character. The story begins with the conference of birds. They
look for a king (named Simorgh) to rule their country (stage-1). One of the birds (central
character) by the name of Hodhod (a hoopoe) says that he knows the king and the way to
him. After listening to Hodhod their initial motif is being strengthened so that they decide to
start the journey (stage-2). In this stage the goal is formed. Then Hodhod informs the birds of
the difficulty of the path. Some of them frightened and refuse to go by making excuses
arising from their material interests. Hodhod talks about the attributes of the king and
encourages them to trip (stage-3). Then they look for a leader and guide and elect Hodhod
(stage-4). They set off the journey although they have frightened (stage-5). Whenever they
get tired during the way they want Hodhod to talk to them. Hodhod urges them to continue.
In fact these words cultivate their hope and passion to meet the king (stage-6). They pass
seven hard phases each of which indicate a stage in spiritual growth process. Many die in this
path and finally only thirty birds reach to Simorgh place (stage-7). When they reach the
king's place they are not permitted to meet the king. The birds become very disappointed and
confess to their weakness but still hopeful to meet the king (stage-8). This inner confession
changes the situation. Simorgh accepts them and meets them (stage-9). When they see
Simorgh (this word is equal to thirty birds in Persian language) they find him in their own
image, a picture of thirty birds gathered in one place, as if they were present before a mirror.
When they look at themselves they see themselves as a unit, a complex in shape of Simorgh.
Reminding the famous saying that God created man in his own image. Then they find out that
Simorgh has been with them all through the way and observed them. They become happy and
the story ends.
Here the king is the symbol of God and his place is the symbol of human heart. As
interpreters remark this is a journey from the self to reach desired perfection, an inner trip
which is fostered by hope to achieve the Truth, to reach God who is the symbol of ultimate
Truth. As you see in this story both hope and disappointment play great role in fulfilling the
goal and achieving success.
Nationwide Level
Shahnameh, (Ferdowsi)
Shamisa says: ''Epic of each nation expresses the ideals of that nation and narrates the next
generation the nation efforts in gaining dignity and independency. The epic hero is an ethnic,
national or racial hero''.16
Shahnameh is one of the world's greatest epics. It is the most important letter of Iran political
thought and a national epic. It has been composed in thirty years and contained almost 60
thousand verses. It is the description of events, victories, failures, defeats, losses and
heroisms of Iranians through the history. In fact Ferdowsi himself is the symbol of hope and
his masterpiece a sample of ''literature as hope'' which represents life goals. We Iranian
consider Shahnameh as comprehensive historical evidence and a sample of our identity.
Homaee,17 considers Shahnameh as the most important proof of value and grandeur of
Persian language and the clearest evidence of Iranian culture and civilization. 10% of the
poems in Shahnameh are didactic literature.18 The story of Zahhak and Faridun which was
selected for this study is one of the first mythological stories in this genre. The story refers to
the era that Iran was ruled by an alien tyrant king (Zahhak). One night the king dreams that a
young man conquers him. Thus he begins to kill every new born boy. At this time Faridun
was born. Her mother gave him to a man who lived in the mountain to raise him. The king
continued his savage actions until a man by the name of Kaveh, who is the symbol of the
wise old man, got up for justice and people right. He breathed the spirit of hope in people's
heart and encouraged them to go after Faridun. He guided the people to Faridun's place. They
met Faridun and helped him to defeat Zahhak and saved the nation and the country. This is
the story of people struggles, efforts, and hopefulness toward future. They are seeking a
better life so when they awake they do what they could to make a glorious future. Although
Ferdowsi describes a social movement; meanwhile he refers to human beings inner journey
too. At the end of the story through outstanding verses he advises that everyone can be
Faridun if he learns liberality and justice and save his inner world of the evil.
Conclusion
Human beings have the capacity to tolerate hard and crucial circumstances. In fact it is the
hope which provides this tolerance whether we perceive it or not. It is inside, hidden
somewhere in our soul. When it comes up from the deepest layer of the soul we can feel it
clearly. Therefore before goal determination we need a motif which can activate the hope.
Indeed awakening of a special incentive provides the potential to unfold this inner power.
The three literary works confirm the fact. In Rumi's story what made the urban man to travel
to the village was the motif of enjoying the benefit of the village. In the story of birds finding
out that they need a ruler, and in Zahhak and Faridun story, the need of a society to establish
its identity are strong motifs to determine the goals, pass the stages and achieve desired
results. The three poets, although using metaphor and similes, describe the processes
eloquently and induce motivation and hope to their readers. So Literature has the potential to
provide a set of information to promote its readers' self-knowledge and self-evolution.
Notes
1
M. T. Jafari, An Interpretation and Critique of Rumi'sMathnavi: Vol.6, 16th edition, (Tehran: Islamic Press,
2008).
2
Jafari, An Interpretation and Critique of Rumi's Mathnavi, 350
3
Jafari, An Interpretation and Critique of Rumi's Mathnavi, 352
4
B. L. Fredrickson, Why Choose Hope? Psychologytoday, viewed 23Nov 2012,
http: // www.psychologytoday.com/blog/positive
5
E. Goldstein, Breaking Down Barak Obama's Psychology of Hope and How It May Help You in Trying Times.
viewed 5 Nov 2012,
http://www. Mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type= doc&id=28966
6
C. R. Snyder, Understanding hope (para7), viewed 20 Nov 2012,
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hope
7
M. H. Sharifinia, Monotheistic Integrated Therapy Models. (Qom: Pashooheshgah howzeh&daneshgah, 2012).
8
J. Piper, What is so important about Christian hope?,viewed 7 Dec, 2012,
http://www.desiringgod.org/searches/christian%20hope?utf8
9
A. J. Arberry , trans. , Holy Qu'ran, (Qom: Ansariyan press, 1995).
10
K. Zamani, Comrehensive Interpretation of Mathnavi Ma'navi. Vol.3, 16th edition, (Tehran: Etellaat Press,
2008).
11
Zamani, Comrehensive Interpretation of Mathnavi Ma'navi.
12
Jafari, Interpretation and Critique of Rumi's Mathnavi.
13
Jafari, Interpretation and Critique of Rumi's Mathnavi. 335.
14
S. Shamisa, Literary Genres, (Tehran: Baghe aeeneh Press, 1991).
15
16
17
18
S. Goharin, Mantegh al Teyr by Sheikh Farid el din Attar Neyshaboori. (Tehran: Elmi farhangi, 1997), 18.
Shamisa, Literary Genres. 61.
R.Homaee, Shahnameh Stories, (Tehran: Ebtekar Danesh, 2012).
M.J.Yahaghi, Shahnameh Ferdowsi, (Mashhad : Sokhan gostar Press, 8th edition, 2009).
References
Fredrickson, B. L. Why Choose Hope? Psychologytoday, viewed 23 Nov 2012,
http: // www.psychologytoday.com/blog/positive
Goharin, S. Mantegh al Teyr by Sheikh Farid el din Attar Neyshaboori. Tehran: Elmi farhangi, 1997.
Goldstein, E. Breaking Down Barak Obama's Psychology of Hope and How It May Help You in Trying Times.
Viewed 5 Nov. 2012,
http://www. Mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type= doc&id=28966
Homaee, R. Shahnameh Stories. Tehran: Ebtekar Danesh, 2012
Jafari, M. T. An Interpretation and Critique of Rumi's Mathnavi. Vol.6. 16th edition. Tehran: Islamic Press, 2008
Piper, J. What Is So Important about Christian Hope? Viewed 7 Dec 2012.
http://www.desiringgod.org/searches/christian%20hope?utf8
Qu'ran. Translated by A. J. Arberry. Qom: Ansariyan Press, 1995.
Shamisa, S. Literary Genres. Tehran: Baghe aeeneh Press, 1991.
Sharifinia, M. H. Monotheistic Integrated Therapy Models. Qom: Pashooheshgah howzeh&daneshgah, 2012.
Snyder, C. R. Understanding Hope (para7). Viewed 20 Nov 2012
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hope
Yahaghi, M. J. Shahnameh Ferdowsi, Mashhad:Sokhan gostar Press, 8th edition, 2009.
Zamani, K. Comrehensive Interpretation of Mathnavi Ma'navi. vol.3. 16th edition. Tehran: Etellaat Press, 2008.