The aim of this contribution is to show the way Jāmī may have influenced the famous Chagatai poet Mīr ‘Alī Shīr Nawā’ī (1441-1501) within the framework of the khamsanawīsī tradition, which was itself initiated by the imitation of Nizāmī...
moreThe aim of this contribution is to show the way Jāmī may have influenced the famous Chagatai poet Mīr ‘Alī Shīr Nawā’ī (1441-1501) within the framework of the khamsanawīsī tradition, which was itself initiated by the imitation of Nizāmī Ganjawī’s (1141-1203) famous cycle of five narrative poets (Khamsah). In particular, our study will focus on the rewriting of the poem devoted to the life of Alexander The Great, and examine what kind of relationship might exist between the Persian version composed by Jāmī, the Khiradnāmah-i iskandarī (‘The Alexandrian Book of Wisdom’), and the Turkish response, the Sadd-i iskandarī (‘The Alexandrian Wall’), which forms the last part of Nawā’ī’s Quintet.
An argument for establishing this significant coherence between the two works can be first supported through historical and chronological data. It is well known that Jāmī and Nawā’ī who lived in Herat during the reign of the last great Timurid ruler Husain Bāyqarā (1469-1470 and 1470-1506) had a close relationship, particularly in terms of literary interests. They both wrote their Khamsah during the same period of time, and we learn in one of the introductory chapters of the Sadd-i iskandarī (VII, 33) that they composed their life of Alexander in roughly the same year (1485). In addition, as regards the epic tradition dedicated to the life of Alexander the Great in Persian literature, similarities are also evident in the way Jāmī and Nawā’ī tell the quest of the Macedonian king which indicate that the two epics could be somehow closely linked. Needless to say, the structure of the two masnawīs appears to be rather different: while Jāmī’s poem devotes only a few chapters to the adventures of the conqueror (keeping more space for sapiential matters), the stories of the various campaigns are much more developed in the Chagatai poem. Meanwhile, by comparison with Nizāmī’s Iskandarnāmah (‘Alexander’s Book’) and Amir Khusraw Dihlawī’s Ayna-yi sikandarī (‘The Alexandrian Mirror’), there are a certain number of common features which Nawā’ī and Jāmī’s poems share which make their narratives closer than one could initially expect. This similarity of approaches regarding the imitation of Nizāmī’s work is what we intend to investigate in order to characterise the nature of the influence that might have existed between the two poems.
