The Image of "Sovereign Power" in the Mirror of Poetry from the 4th to the 8th Century AH (Hijri)

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Assistant Prof. Department of Public law, NT.C. Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

10.22099/jls.2025.52572.5287

Abstract

Introduction: In the initial identification and encounter with a phenomenon such as power, two fundamental questions arise: The first question pertains to whether such a phenomenon has an independent existence, free from the influences of fields and contexts such as literary, social, philosophical, cultural, economic, legal, and political? Or is it the resultant of several backgrounds and origins from among these diverse types? The second question also relates to how the concept of a phenomenon like power is evaluated and raises the point: what are the criteria for knowing, measuring, and testing power? Is the understanding of power monolithic? Or does considering a set of voices and contexts lead to an accurate understanding and evaluation of power? In answer to the first question, it must be admitted that power is the product of a multi-faceted and specifically socio-political relationship between individuals and groups, wherein typically one side has the upper hand and the other is the weak hand; in answer to the second question, it must also be said: since power is the organizer and regulator of the relations of political actors; knowing it is primarily possible through a legal understanding of this human phenomenon and then through multiple interpretations, including a literary understanding of power.
Methods: In stating the  research method and organizing the materials, accepting the conventional research method which always first defines a problem and then gathers evidence and examples for it, it must be said that in the forthcoming section, due to the dual nature or essence of power—the divine force or demonic force present within it—without beginning our discussion in the usual manner with lexical semantics, conceptual understanding, and the perceptions and conceptions arising from it; at the outset, we will raise and trace the understanding of the concept of power within the realm of Persian poetic literature in specific centuries. The author's purpose in raising this discussion is to reveal what the mindset, perception, underlying design, and consequently the common imagery in the minds and language of poets and awakeners from the 4th to the 8th century AH was, in encountering and relating to a phenomenon like power? Did they, according to the common, inevitable, and compelled belief, consider it a necessary evil? Or were they fundamentally pessimistic and reproachful towards it and pursued the path of raising awareness and warning against the afflictions and corruptions of power؟
Findings: The author is well aware that if one wishes to find a precise and meticulous trace of the turbulent currents of power across the sphere of Persian political literature, in the realms of poetry and prose and the opinions of the knowledgeable on this matter, and take that as a criterion, then even a lifetime of research would be insufficient. Also, he firmly believes that if he wished to dissect and understand the literary-semantic intricacies of power considering the tendency or nature and temperament of states towards the accumulation or disintegration of power, undoubtedly life would end, the trumpet would be blown, and he would still be falling down, bewildered and distraught, running hither and thither in search of a new document and source. Despite these, merely considering that in the world of literature in general and in Persian political literature in particular, power has a place and stature, he strives, through a specific process and within the realm of poetry from the 4th to the 8th century AH, to pause momentarily on the encounters of power and literature and, to the extent the theoretical framework of the research requires, process it. It must be mentioned beforehand that this processing only contains a view from the surface and upper layers of the subject or, in other words, represents the superstructure of the matter.
Conclusion: In the present article, the author, believing that the common and conventional perception of poets of the aforementioned century, based on experience and living with the manifestations of power, was the evilization and evil perception of the sovereign's power in the public sphere, seeks to uncover aspects of these perceptions, conceptions, and poetic images.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Journal of Legal Studies
Volume 17, Issue 3 - Serial Number 57
October 2025
Pages 357-388

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