Fewzi’s Bulbulistan as Indicator of Equivalency Aesthetics

Abstract

This paper represents an attempt to answer the question on how much was Fewzi genuine in writing Bulbulistan and to what extent he borrowed the themes and motifs from other sources. To answer this question, Bulbulistan is placed in the context of intertextual dialogues with other works of classical Persian literature, specifically with Sa’di’s Gulistan and Jami’s Beharistan, which represented models and ideals for Fewzi in his writing of Bulbulistan. Comparing Bulbulistan with his literary models, at the level of intertextual penetration of such texts, one can notice many similarities, which are reflected in a number of literary borrowings on the structural-content level of the text and the linguisticstylistic level of the text.

In addition to his literary idols, Fewzi in thematic terms was influenced by other famous works of Persian literature, such as Jami’s works Breaths of Fellowship (Nafahāt al-’ons), which is one of the most famous Sufi biographical works, then Memoirs of Saints (Tadhkarat al-Awliya) by Farid al-Din al-Attar, one of the greatest Persian poets with Sufi orientation, and the famous Sufi work Unveiling the Veiled (Kašf al-mahğūb), written by Ali Bin Othman al-Hujwiri. Fewzi incorporated all the stories and thematic units that were incorporated into his work with certain thematic and stylistic expansions. In fact, he extended the stories, enriching them with dialogues, numerous descriptions and verses and thereby left them with a completely new imprint. In addition to the mentioned motifs that Fewzi borrowed from other works, in Bulbulistan there are also some motifs and themes from the Qur’an and Hadith.

His borrowing of the plot, motifs and themes of these works suggests that Fewzi was very well acquainted with the tradition, which in the period of classicism was one of the preconditions for the development of works worthy of attention, having in mind that tradition represented a reservoir of motifs.

Given that the Fewzi’s Bulbulistan conveyed themes, motifs, phrases and actions that are repeated and modified from one part of the work to another, from one generation of authors to another generation, we can say that Bulbulistan is indicator of equivalency aesthetics.