Falaki Shirvani

Falaki Shirvani
Falaki Shirvani
Born	1107; Shamakhi,Shirvan
Died	c. 1155 (aged 47–48); Shirvan
Occupation	Poet;
Genre	Habsiyat

Muhammad Falaki(Persian:محمد فلکی‎; 1107–1155), commonly known asFalaki Shirvani(فلکی شروانی) was a poet who served at the court of theShirvanshah Manuchihr III(r. 1120 – after 1160). A student of the poetKhaqani,Falaki is known to have authored a Persiandivan(collection of poems), of which 1,512 verses have survived. He played a leading role in the early development of thehabsiyat(prison poetry), a genre inPersian literature.

Like other poets of his time, Falaki was imprisoned due to thelibelspread by his rivals. It has been surmised Falaki died soon after his release as a result of the stress he had endured there.

Biography

Of Persian descent,^[1]Falaki Shirvani was born in 1107 in the city ofShamakhiinShirvan,^[2]a region now located in present-dayAzerbaijan.^[3]The city served as the capital of the rulers of Shirvan, the Shirvanshahs.^[4]In his work, Falaki calls himself "Muhammad Falaki", but sometadhkirahs(collection of biographies) refer to him by other names, such as Abu'l-Nizam Jalalu'd-Din, Afsahu'd-Din, Najmu'd-Din, or Mu'ayyidu'd-Din Uthman.^[5]"Falaki" was hispen namewith his real name being Muhammad. Due to the former meaning "astronomer" and the poet Khaqani mentioning that Falaki was "aware of the mysteries of the nine spheres" it could be surmised that Falaki was a professional astronomer. However, this could have also been a word-play by Khaqani.^[1]Falaki was a student of Khaqani, despite being older.^[6]

According to a story reported by later biographers such asDawlatshah Samarqandi,both Falaki and Khaqani were students of the poetAbu'l-Ala Ganjavi.Khaqani married Abu'l-Ala Ganjavi's daughter while Falaki was given 20,000dirhams,which he was let down by. Abu'l-Ala Ganjavi told Falaki that with that money he could buy fifty Turkish handmaidens more beautiful than Khaqani's new wife.^[7]IranologistAnna Livia Beelaert does not consider this story to be real, arguing that no parts of it is mentioned in Khaqani's writings, which mentions both Falaki and Abu'l-Ala Ganjavi.^[8]Falaki had a wife who died shortly after giving birth to their daughter. His remaining relatives (with the exception of his daughter) also died.^[9]Like Khaqani and Abu'l-Ala Ganjavi, Falaki served as a court poet of the Shirvanshah Manuchihr III (r. 1120 – after 1160).^[10]

Like other poets of his time (Khaqani,Mujir al-Din Baylaqani,and probably Abu'l-Ala Ganjavi), Falaki was imprisoned due tolibelspread by his rivals.^[2]His imprisonment took place in the fortress ofShabaran,where he stayed for some time.^[1]After being freed, Falaki wrote anodein which he claimed that his confinement had almost killed him and left him a "mere skeleton". It is uncertain whether Falaki was allowed back into the royal court or not. The Indian scholar Hadi Hasan, noting that Khaqani reported Falaki's death as "premature", considered it more plausible that Falaki soon died as a result of the stress he had endured during his imprisonment.^[11]

The death of Manuchihr III is not mentioned in Falaki's writings, which indicates that Falaki died before him.^[10]Based on this, the suggestion by authors such as Taqi Kashi that Falaki died in 1181/82 has been dismissed by historian Francois de Blois.^[1]Hadi Hasan surmised that Falaki died inc. 1155in Shirvan.^[12]^[10]According to Taqi Kashi, Falaki was buried in Shamakhi.^[11]Khaqani dedicated aneulogyto him.^[1]

Works

Falaki is known to have authored a Persiandivan(collection of poems), of which 1,512 verses have survived.^[10]In 1929, Hadi Hasan published his collection of Falaki's poems which he had gathered from ananthologyinMunichand poetry referenced in other works. In 1958, he published a updated version based on newly-found poems in a manuscript fromMadrasand a revised version of his previous collection.^[1]The only ruler that appears in Falaki's work is Manuchihr III,^[13]whom Falaki describes in several scenarios, such as his victory against theAlansand "Khazars" (Kipchaks), how he seized parts ofArran,how he had the cities of Kardinan and Sa'dun constructed, and how he restored the Bakilani dam.^[10]

Falaki is the first known Shirvani composer of thehabsiyat(prison poetry) genre, and also played an role in its early development. There are three important words in the genre:gham(sorrow),mihnat(affliction) andranj(suffering). These words began to set themselves apart from one another at the early stage of the development of genre.Ghamcommunicates a gloomy resignation.Mihnatconveys enduring injustice that is connected to a universal state. Poets in Shirvan started to use the wordmihnatto convey the same physical tiredness as its equivalentranj.This lexicon was first assembled by Falaki:^[14]

I drown in such affliction [mihnat], that I don’t care [gham] for this endless suffering [ranj].

The prison poetry genre was created by a Persian poet under theGhaznavids,Masud Sa'd Salman,^[15]whom Falaki claimed to be below him in terms of style. Falaki displayedanxiety of influence,trying to make the accomplishments of Masud Sa'd Salman seem less important, whilst also using the latter's trademark genre.^[16]HistorianRebecca Gouldconsiders Falaki's impact in prison poetry to pale in comparison to Masud Sa'd Salman's, but maintains that he still played an important role in the genre, contributing to its geographical and cross-generational transmission.^[6]

Falaki considered himself to be on the same level asAbu Nuwas(died 810) andAbu Tammam(died 846). The Czechorientalist Jan Rypkaconsidered it "strange" that Falaki did not think of any contemporary poet who merited mention.^[2]BothSalman Savaji(died 1376) andIsmat Bukhara'i[fa](died 1425/26) are known to have copied Falaki's style of poetry, though the former never admitted it.^[17]According to Gould, the works of Falaki, Khaqani, Abu'l-Ala Ganjavi and Mujir al-Din Baylaqani fully supports the claim made by academics that thePersianateCaucasus developed a distinctive literary tradition comparable to that ofBukhara,Khwarazm,andKhurasan.^[18]

References

^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^fde Blois 2004,p. 277.
^^a ^b ^cRypka 1968,p. 575.
^Bosworth 2011b.
^Bosworth 2011a.
^Hasan 1929,p. 52.
^^a ^bGould 2022,p. 92.
^Hasan 1929,p. 55.
^Beelaert 2010,pp. 522–523.
^Hasan 1929,pp. 55–56.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^eHasan 1965,p. 764.
^^a ^bHasan 1929,p. 59.
^Hasan 1929,pp. 59–60.
^de Blois 1999,p. 169.
^Gould 2022,p. 78.
^Gould 2022,p. 59.
^Gould 2022,p. 90.
^Rypka 1968,p. 576.
^Gould 2022,p. 99.

Sources

Beelaert, Anna Livia (2010)."Ḵāqāni Šervāni i. Life".InYarshater, Ehsan(ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume XV/5: Ḵamsa of Jamāli–Karim Devona.London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 522–523.ISBN 978-1-934283-28-8.
de Blois, Francois (1999)."Falakī Šarvānī".InYarshater, Ehsan(ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume IX/2: Excavations IV–Fārābī V. Music.London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 169.ISBN 978-0-933273-27-6.
de Blois, Francois (2004).Persian Literature - A Bio-Bibliographical Survey: Poetry of the Pre-Mongol Period (Volume V).Routledge.ISBN 978-0947593476.
Bosworth, C. E. (2011a)."Šervānšāhs".Encyclopaedia Iranica.
Bosworth, C. E. (2011b)."Šervān".Encyclopaedia Iranica.
Gould, Rebecca Ruth(2022).The Persian Prison Poem.Edinburgh University Press.ISBN 978-1474484015.
Hasan, Hadi (1929).Falaki-i-Shirwani: His Times, Life, and Works.University of London.
Hasan, Hadi (1965)."Falakī S̲h̲irwānī".InLewis, B.;Pellat, Ch.&Schacht, J.(eds.).The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.Volume II: C–G.Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 764.OCLC 495469475.
Rypka, Jan(1968). "Poets and Prose Writers of the Late Seljuq and Mongol Periods". InBoyle, John Andrew(ed.).The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 5: The Saljuq and Mongol Periods.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 550–625.ISBN 0-521-06936-X.

Biography

Works

References

Sources

Further reading