The Life and Works of
Dr. Ali Musavi Garmarudi

By

Iraj Bashiri

Copyright, Bashiri 2001, 2008

    Sayyid Ali Musavi Garmarudi, first of eight children, was born on April 20, 1941, in the "Chahor Mardan" of Qom, to a family of scholars. His father, a teacher of Islamic theology from Alamut, paid special attention to his son's education. His mother is from Tonkobun. Although from Qom, the family is known as Garmarudi, recalling the family's roots in the beautiful village near Alamut on the Shahrud River. Some of the vocabulary in Garmarudi's poetry stem from the early years of his life when his family used to visit Garmarud and spend the summers there. He also incorporated some of the beautiful scenery of the region in his poetry.

    Garmarudi's early education began at a very early age by reading the Qur'an, Nisab al-Sabiian, Taqdis, and the Khamsa of Nizami at home with his father. His formal education began after he was tested and placed in the third grade. In 1960, Garmarudi studied with Shaykh Muhammad Taqi Adib Nishapuri. In the course of four years, he completed the Bihjat al-Marziyyah of Suyuti, Mutawwal, and a couple of other books.

    Garmarudi's formal higher education began in 1967 when he entered the Faculty of Law of Tehran University. His doctorate degree, however, is in Persian language and literature. His dissertation was on the life and works of Adib al-Mamolik-i Farahani. In 1970, he garnered the Yaghma literary prize for modern poetry or "she'r-i now." The 16-page poem that launched his career, a fairly long piece inspired by Nima, was entitled "Khastgah-i Nur." Jalal Al-i Ahmad, Simin Daneshvar, Tahereh Sattorzoda, and Ali Shari'ati are among authors and intellectuals to have shaped his thought. He gained a great deal, however, as a result of his study of Sharh-i Manzumah and particularly his discussions with Shaykh Ishraq Ayatullah Murtiza Mutahhari.

    In 1974, SAVAK arrested first Garmarudi's wife and soon after Garmarudi himself. He spent the next five years in various Iranian prisons, often experiencing torture. The second edition of his "Ubur," as well as "Dar Sayesari Nakhl-i Veladat," and "Sorud-i Ragbar" happened at this time. This was followed by "Chaman-i Laleh," "Khatt-i Khun," and "Ta Nakoja."

    Over the past thirty years, Garmarudi has published a considerable amount of materials, mostly poetry, on the literature and culture of Iran. Indeed, in certain circles, he is recognized as a major figure in the intellectual life of the country. The following list is indicative of the extent of Garmarudi's contribution to a better understanding of the social, cultural, and spiritual dynamics of contemporary Iranian society:

    • "Ubur," 1978
    • "Sorud-i Ragbar," 1979
    • "Dar Fasl-i Murdan-i Surkh," 1979
    • "Dar Saye-i sar-i Nakhl-i Velayat," 1980
    • "Khatt-i Khun," 1985
    • "Chaman-i Laleh," 1985
    • "Ta-Nakuja," 1986
    • "Baran-i Akhm," 1995
    • "Seda-i Sabz," 2006

    "Ta Nakoja" is a volume consisting of sixty poems of Garmarudi selected by Ricardo Zipoli and published in Italian translation. Another similar selection of Garmarudi's poetry appears under the title of "Guzinai Shi'r-i Garmarudi." The volume with an impressive introduction was presented by Bahauddin Khurramshahi in 1997.

    In these collections, Garmarudi, following the examples of Nima Yushij and Ahmad Shamlu, presents a full spectrum of both traditional -- stanzas, quatrains, sonnets, odes -- as well as new poetry (shi'ri now). However, it's neither fair nor correct to deny Garmarudi his own singular view of poetry. He is the poet who usually provides the last word in the sense that when other poets are satisfied with the expression of their views about a theme, Garmarudi joins in with a fresh view of the same. To him movement and lack of it, light and dark, and life and death are inseparable aspects of the same element. Yet, our human capacity to discriminate discerns a fine difference. It is this fine line that his critics miss, but Garmarud's keen vision of the dynamics of existence detects. In his poetry, therefore, we observe a reaction to the contradictory aspects of life that is unique. Furthermore, Garmarudi expresses this unique view in a most economic, didactic, and poignant manner. His "Epic of a Tree" is a telling example of his artistic and iconoclastic approach to Persian poetry. In fact, scholars like Ahmad Mahdavi Damghani and poets like Amiri Firuzkuhi, Mahmud Munshi, and Mehrdad Avesta praise Garmarudi's creative genius for this very unique feature.

    Garmarudi's language is simple, his style is fluid, and his imagery is realistic and expressive. He chooses his themes from amongst contemporary issues both in terms of disclosing secular values as well as of spiritual direction.

    To understand Garmarudi's poetry, we cannot but proceed beyond form and examine the semantic matrixes that control the form. It is the freshness of Garmarudi's collage of meanings that imparts a special sense of concreteness to his verses.

    Garmarudi has also published a noteworthy number of prose works. These include:

    • "Maslakhi 'Ishq" (collection of short stories), Daftari Nashri Farhangi Islami, 1979.
    • "Dar Bara-i Hunar va Adabiyyat-i Mo'aser," Kitabsarai Babul Publishers, 1990.
    • "Qalam Andaz" (collection of articles), Surush Publishers,1999.
    • "Dastan-i Paiombaran" (vol. 1, from Adam to Jesus; vol. 2, Muhammad), 11th edition, 2000.
    • "Degarkhand," Moassese-i Motali'at-i Mo'aser-i Iran, 2002.
    • "Az Saqeh ta Sadr," Qadiyani Publishers, 2006.

      Garmarudi is the recipient of the following awards:


Samples of Garmarudi's Poetry

The Epic of a Tree

by
Ali Garmarudi
Translated by
Iraj Bashiri
Copyright 2001

Star, my mother,
Has been my only teacher;
She is distant,
Oft not seen by a sole creature,
Enormous is she, larger than many suns,
"Unique" is, indeed, her distinctive feature.

She provided sufficient light,
For my poorly equipped sight;
As for herself,
Afar sat she;
Viewing creation like a tree,
An enormous existence standing free.

Do not raise,
For the river,
Any praise;
It roars involuntarily,
From phase to phase.

Respect the narrow lifeline
Of the little plant;
That recalls the labor,
Of the tiny ant.
Not of the tumultuous river,
That flows in the bed you give'er;
The swollen, unhealthy river,
For it, no praise I raise.

Beautiful is the sound of the tree,
A life-long worker, complaint free;
Neither with the cutting saw,
Nor the roaring thunder,
Nor the whip of the wind,
Nor with the autumn freeze,
The giving tree disagrees.

Beautiful is the tree's word,
As it stands mute, even before a horde
To the Lord it offers
With giving hands its coffers
Neither children with rocks
Nor the elderly on ladders
Nor the youth using force
Are denied aught as a matter of course.

Greet the tree
The tree that is of possession free
The tree that gives its all
Yet stands up, gracious and tall.

When the soldier returned
His mother intoned,
"Your brother is shot.
In the Garden,
Find a spot.
Let us bury him
In this very lot."

"I know, mother dear,"
Said the soldier, "Do not fear;
The murderer is nearby, My brother,
I myself shot, clean and clear.

"And actually, I can argue,
That sacrifice was his due.
As was Chingiz Khan's cruelty,
And of the Times he knew..

The bow is now a gun,
It kills father and it kills son.
If you're placed before it,
Your life, too, is done."

I greet the tree again,
My love being far from vain.
A living tree never yields a gun,
On a fiend or foe to train.

You Are My Nowruz...

by
Ali Garmarudi
Translated by
Iraj Bashiri
Copyright 2001

You are my Nowruz, you are my night and day;
You are my morning sun, you are my moonlight ray.
We pass on, but love, like the sun, remains;
My victorious love, I adore you every day.
Glorious is the name of love, like the Almighty's name;
You are my eternal love, toward whom I pray.
I am the target, waiting your speedy arrow;
End it all, oh speedy arrow, end it all my fairest fay.
You were my yesterday, you are my today;
You are my tomorrow, you are my every day.

Hope

by
Ali Garmarudi
Translated by
Iraj Bashiri
Copyright 2001

Gently the breeze, her locks weaves
The pond holds a mirror to her leaves
The prairie spreads
Beneath her feet
A green carpet
Over her head
The moon sprinkles Silvery rays
Nights and days
The solitary tree below
Beside the pond of hope
Is the symbol of our desires
The willow.

Look

by
Ali Garmarudi
Translated by
Iraj Bashiri
Copyright 2001

The mirror complained:
You look at me and cry, why?
I sighed.
The mirror's face went dark
I passed my hand
Over the mirror's face
I removed the sigh
The mirror smiled.

Cloud and Memory

by
Ali Garmarudi
Translated by
Iraj Bashiri
Copyright 2001

Like a happy scene,
Slumbers in the sky,
A cloud piece, pure and white.

Visible through this open window
Is a white ship,
With open sails
Anchored in the vast expanse of the night.

A vague feeling
Steps out of memory,
I wish
Like a cloud piece,
My heart was torn to pieces
Also, like a cloud from afar,
I wish
My heart was free.
A pure resting place for a star.

No Time to Lose

by
Ali Garmarudi
Translated by
Iraj Bashiri
Copyright 2001

There is little time to lose
We must get on with it
We must greet the plants individually
And keep vigil by the springs of the world
In their serene face, we must adorn ourselves
We must rise.

We must pray on the lofty surges of the highest seas
We must become humble
And pass the nights in the begging shell of a snail
We must crawl into a shell
And imprison loneliness under the light of the pearl.

We must, in the company of caravaneers, share the desert night; we must drink it.
We must, with the humility of loess, kiss the callused hands
      of a million brick workers.

There is little time to lose
We must get on with it.
We must pummel a thousand leeches on the Silk Road
We must remove the leeches from the rice paddies
We must take a couple of steps back
      And mend the hedges
We must pick up the walnuts that have fallen to the ground,
We must plant.
We must replant the asparagus and discard superstition.

We must learn flying from the migrating birds --from the red breasts.
We must remove the crane plumes from victorious helmets and, using those feathers,
      rewrite the entire Nun wa al-Qalam book.

Using a shout,
We must operate on the narrow throat of midnight,
We must send the dawn to Africa,
And exile whiteness.
There is little time
We must get on with it.

The Ocean

by
Ali Garmarudi
Translated by
Iraj Bashiri
Copyright 2008

I stand, as if,
holding an empty cup,
I face the waves
That beat against the rock.
Tumultuous waves,
That wash against the rock,
Beneath where I bend
To fill my cup
With the rising wave.
But alas! Each time,
The wave crumbles,
And each time,
I straighten my back
Resolved to fill my cup.
The wave returns.
In a scythe-like motion,
I pass my cup across it,
But to no avail.
My cup remains empty,
And the wave subsides,
The distance between us
A span, nay, an eternity!
The ricochet of the wave
Against the cup
Deposits a couple of drops
That bless me
With the sight of the Muse.
*
I close the Nahj al-Balaghah

Lucky Ciziev1

by
Ali Garmarudi
Translated by
Iraj Bashiri
Copyright 2008

I have carried the boulder
On weak shoulders
To the top
I have carried it
       Through the dark valleys of youth
       Over the restive rocks of adolescence
       And the cliffs of middle age
Now, I stand at the apex,
Boulder on shoulder
Over the crest
       No option to remain
       No option to return
**
Lucky Cyziev.
He had the option to repeat
**
But I
I stand on the last peak.

In the Lofty Shadow of the Palm of Velayat

by
Ali Garmarudi
Translated by
Iraj Bashiri
Copyright 2008

Auspicious is the name of God,
The Kindest Creator,
Your Creator.

I am beyond awe,
At your overwhelming greatness,
Too great for my small eyes.

Would the ant know,
whether he climbs the pyramid,
Or a clay brick?

You are the tallest pyramid,
Build by the imagination of a pharaoh.
I am the insignificant ant whose eye
Cannot accommodate your height.
*
You stand gigantic over the universe,
With the earth a play-toy in your hand,
Time a string tied to your finger,
And the mighty river of history,
A brook the highest wave on which
Is only ankle-deep.
*
With one foot comfortably on Saturn,
You have bloodied the sun with the pure water of the stars,
Broken the stars with jest using your finger tips
And place them in the pocket of Gabriel,
Or bestowed them on other angels,
With the same ease that you break
The eftar barley bread at dawn.
Or in the battlefield
Where you planned killing the idol worshipers.
*
How is it possible,
To stand that tall over the world,
And occupy the corner of a hag's oven pit?
Or suffer the whip of orphans
And the goings-on in the narrow bazaar of Kufah?!
*
Before knowing you,

I knew of no ocean
That stood perpendicular to the ground...
Before knowing you,
I knew no commander
Who wore mended footgear,
Carried an old water-skin
And counted the slaves among his brothers.
O light of the Lord!
During the long night of history,
O spirit of Lilat al-Qadr!
Even idha matla' al-fajr,
If you are not from God,
Why has the Hijaz dynasty of gods come to an end?...
No. You are not from the line of the Arabian thorns.
*
By God,
If the blood of the hypocrite still drops from your sword,
Do not sympathize with the orphans of Kufah.
Your elegance boggles the mind,
And places logic on the path of self-destruction.
*
Sagacity kisses the blade of your sword,
And the heart washes its dross in your tears.
But, if a cup of that blood is offer to a stone drunk
He will perish instantly.
*
The night receives its calm from you,
The storm its loud cry.
Your word grows the plant,
Your breath blooms the flowers.
Since when you cried in it, the well is full.
The morn dawns because of the white of your eyes
The night stands at prayer in their darkness
All stars are indebt to your look.
Your smile
Is the license to live!
*
In your anger, Time becomes barren,
Your sword cuts with the certainty of hell,
Passes the arteries as would blood
And lodges itself in the mind as easily as poetry.
When it descends, it rises only with life.
*
The eye set on you is a different eye.
O worthy of sight!
In the socket of 'Ammar's eye
Or in the skull of Nowzar.
*
O you who pass the Dar al-Khilafah!
O date sellers of Kufah!
O simple camel drivers of the village!
May all my discernment be the slave of your eyes
At mid-day
     When you passed through the alleys of Kufah
     You made an alley with your eyes for Ali
     But I imagine... You never got to know him.
*
How did a poisoned sword,
Split your long forehead,
And the Book of God, asunder?
How can the sea be cut in two by the sword!
I cry at your foot,
With a sorrow greater than one created by love
And the continuity of sadness.
I cry for you with the eyes of the deprived
With eyes, orphaned by not seeing you.
My weeping is the poetry of your mighty sorrows...
*
When accompanying the sun,
You shone into the abode of a widow's orphans
And brought joy to them with your might;
When you placed the children on shoulders,
Unfamiliar with the Prophet's foot.
When childish utterances issued from the mouth that roars
Was not history standing at the gate, astounded and trembling?
*
At Uhud,
When the kisses of the sword had turned,
Your body into a field of tulips,
Of what wine of love were you intoxicated,
That should punish yourself with eighty lashes of the whip?
*
Who owes more to whom,
You to religion, or religion to you?
All religions owe you a debt.
*
The door you have opened to our vision
Surpasses the Khaibar Gate a thousand times.
Congratulations for your sagacious reach and mighty act.
My blank verse, has a black face
Losing its meter in your presence
Because, you bestow meter to poetry.
How can I accommodate your grandeur,
In the narrow vessel of words?
Where should one end you?
You who, like meaning, are an absolute point.
Allahu Akbar
Does not God view you with wonder?
Fatabarak allah Ahsan al-Khaliqin
May the name of God remain suspicious!
He is the finest Creator
And your name
Who are the best of the creation!


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A Visit With Garmarudi:

A Collection of Essays
Summarized by Iraj Bashiri
Copyright 2008

Dr. Ali Musavi Garmarudi is a well-known Iranian poet who has had the distinct honor and privilege of serving as the cultural attache of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Tajikistan. During his four-year tour of duty (2000-04), he undertook an unprecedented spectrum of activities to introduce Tajik and Persian cultures to each other. He explains the nature of these activities as follows:

    Daily meetings with Tajik intellectuals, instruction at both the Dushanbe and Khujand universities, participation in cultural programs, establishment of seminars and poetic recitals in Dushanbe, supervision of some fifty classes of instruction in calligraphy in more than eleven cities in Tajikistan, delivering speeches in literary circles, providing responses to questions regarding literature and culture, radio and television interviews...

In this regard, Dr. Garmarudi traveled extensively in Tajikistan, especially between Khujand and Dushanbe; he managed to reach almost all potential individuals who could benefit from his activities. Although unique in Tajikistan, such gatherings are not unusual. Poets routinely recite their poetry to audiences and respond to questions fielded by their fans. The valuable aspect of Garmarudi's effort is that these activities amounted to two volumes on literary criticism and Tajik poetry. The volume that pertains to the following discussion of Dr. Garmarudi's poetry is called Didar ba Garmarudi (A Visit with Garmarudi), a collection of articles, intellectual points of view, especially of Tajik literary critics regarding his own Iranian view of poetry and of literature in general. Published in 2003, the book is written in both Persian and Cyrillic scripts by Dr. Khuda'i Sharif and published by the Iranian Cultural Center in Tajikistan. What follows this brief note is an appreciation of the efforts of Garmarudi, Sharif, and the contributors to the volume.

The other volume called Az Saqeh ta Sadr (from the Bottom to the Top), is a survey of the lives and poetry of 254 deceased and 313 living Tajik poets of the twentieth century. About the criteria for choosing poets to be included, Garmarudi explains that he was not looking for "great poets" but for talented individuals who might, in the future, serve as the great poets of Tajikistan. This kind of approach is necessary, Garmarudi further explains, because the Tajiks were subjected for a long period of time to Sovietization, a process that has affected their script, language, and ideology. These damages cannot be repaired, Garmarudi believes, unless every Tajik is given an even chance at presenting his or her poetry to their peers.




Olimov and Garmarudi

There is nothing comparable to the gathering of the Tajiks and the Persians; two people who are genuinely fond of their shared legacy in poetry, a legacy to the treasure trove of which they add daily. Often these additions are spontaneous which makes the stories that prompt the additions even more compelling.

Two friends of this author, Dr. Karomatullah Olimov, former Minister of Education of Tajikistan, Head of the Institute of Philosophy of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, and a poet and Dr. Ali Musavi Garmarudi, former Iranian Cultural Attache in Tajikistan, and a poet, were attending the "Yad-i Yar" Cultural Exhibition (September 22, 2002) in Dushanbe. Dr. Garmarudi opened the session with his "Mehrabani" poem in which he praised the Tajiks for their generosity, perseverance, and tolerance. Because the meeting was taking place on a rainy day, Garmarudi concluded his poem with a mild complaint about the Tajik weather, calling it inhospitable. Dr. Olimov took exception and, spontaneously, responds to Dr. Garmarudi with the following:

    Blame not Tajikistan; because,
    In the guise of her rainy weather,
    Guests are showered upon,
    With a most lovely treasure.

Olimov follows up the next day by sending Garmarudi a complete poem on the subject using Garmarudi's meter and rhyme.

I have translated some of Dr. Garmarudi's wonderful poems, therefore, I am familiar with his poetry. But I was not familiar with the poetry of Dr. Olimov until recently when I met him in a friendly gathering in Dushanbe (2008). There, he recited some of his poetry dealing with the Tajik civil war and with the regrettable situation in which Tajik women find themselves. I hope to, in the near future, translate some of Dr. Olimov's poetry to complement the poetry of Garmarudi.




Shakuri's View of Garmarudi's Poetry

Research scholar and literary critic Muhammadjon Shakuri Bukhara'i agrees with Baha al-Din Khurramshahi that Garmarudi belongs to the group of poets who create literature rather than merely employ poetic devices to create pieces that perish on the vine. Khurramshahi and Shakuri divide poetic forms into two groups: shi'ri amadeh (poetry that happens) and shi'ri avardeh (poetry that is brought in). In a more technical sense, we can call them poetry that is in-born and instantaneous as opposed to poetry that is crafted. The first takes source in the poet's heart and imagination and flows from his pen with ease. This poetry is generally simple in diction and is picked up by the reader without much effort. The latter poetry, i.e., the poetry that is crafted, is burdened with devices that turn prose into poetry. While creating beautiful poetry, these devices encumber the semantic matrixes of the poem so that the reader cannot easily grasp the intent of the poet as is the case with in-born poetry

Another point that Dr. Shakuri attributes to the poetry of Garmarudi and discusses it in some detail is innovation. The poet, he says, must bring something to the reader that surprises him or her. The mere repetition of the old themes, albeit in a different format, is unsatisfactory. Neither is the abandonment of the old school altogether and taking refuge in the new poetry (shi'r-i now) the answer. After all shi'r-i now is the product of materialism, a philosophy that emphasizes openness, while the old poetry thrived on mystery. Shakuri provides Garmarudi's "Epic of a Tree" as an example of how an old theme, developed by several major authors, is revisited by Garmarudi with a new vision and a reintroduced with a revolutionary diction.



Amonov's View of Garmarudi's Poetry

Tajik intellectual, author, and folklorist Rajab Amonov emphasizes the importance of symbolism in the works of Garmarudi. To illustrate his point, he by provides instances from Tajik literature. His examples are drawn from the state of Tajik women, on the one hand, and the civil war that swept southern Tajikistan in the early years of 1990's, on the other hand.

With respect to women, he discusses the concept of qalin or bride price as a result of which most Tajik girls remain unmarried until they turn into spinsters. He also sympathizes girls who, at a tender age, are forced into marriage with old. In either case, Amonov says, it is the woman who suffers the most.

During the 1993-97 civil war, too, it was the Tajik woman who was separated from her father, brother, husband, and son, who were killed in the war or disappeared with no trace. It was also the Tajik woman who was forced to leave her homeland and move into neighboring countries, especially Afghanistan, where she had to fend for herself.

Amonov concludes that without the difficulties outlined above, there would be no viable themes to compose poetry about. Garmarudi, he says, draws on similar Iranian themes that reveal the truth about his countrymen's daily lives, as well as the sweet and bitter facts of human beings everywhere.




Khorramshahi's View of Garmarudi's Poetry

One of the most prominent leaders in contemporary Iranian language and literature, Baha al-Din Khorramshahi has reviewed the entire corpus of Garmarud's poetic works and has come to an understanding of the structural make-up and semantic matrices of Garmarudi's poems. "Before reviewing Garmarudi's work as a whole," he says, "I considered Garmarudi to be a very close follower of Shamlu. After the review, I realized that Garmarudi's work is not only more innovative, but more fluent and accessible." Both poets respect the classical heritage of Persian poetry and both introduce new dimensions to its genres. But, up close, Garmarudi's work is less crafted and more in tune with Sohrab Sepehri's vision for Persian poetry, i.e., seeing in the obvious what others fail to see. In other words, in the same way that Maulana Jalal al-Din Rumi saw heart-rending music that soothes the soul in a piece of reed; or Hafiz saw the serenity of paradise in wine; or Umar Khayyam saw eternity in a piece of clay, Khorramshahi says, Garmarudi sees all that and more in the simple, upright, and uncomplaining tree.



Sharifov's View of Garmarudi's Poetry

Tajik literary critic Khudoi Sharifov compares the appearance of Garmarudi on the Tajik literary scene circa 2000 with the appearance of Abu al-Qasim Lahuti on the Tajik scene literary scene circa the early 1920's. He then explains that the circumstances around the appearance of each of these two worthy poets tells a great deal about their relationship to Tajikistan, the Tajiks, and Tajik literature. He describes Lahuti as an Iranian who, driven from his homeland, found a new home in Tajikistan. He further states that the barren literary scene of Tajikistan of that time provided Lahuti with an atmosphere in which his contributions stood out. Consequently, Lahuti was recognized as an ally of the down-trodden and of labor in Tajikistan.

Garmarudi, on the other hand, he says, is a representative of the Islamic republic of Iran. He has come to Tajikistan with a mission to propagate the literary wealth of a country that has not been subjected to the type of cultural destruction to which Tajikistan and the Tajiks have been subjected. In spite of all that, the literary Tajik scene at the beginning of the 21st century is quite different from the barren scene on which Lahuti appeared. For instance, today, more than 300 active writers, poets, authors, playwrights, critics, and translators who participate in the meetings of the Writers' Union. And there are many more in the towns and villages about whom we don't have information.

Sharifov then reviews Garmarudi's views and responds to some of his contention. A major contention of Garmarudi is that because it takes source in realms of imagination to which human beings do not have access, poetry cannot be defined. Since the time of Aristotle, Garmarudi says, poets and critics have concerned themselves with the apparent levels of the poetic endeavor, ignoring, as it were, the cauldron in which the poem takes shape before it is poured out into the mould that critics evaluate. What is in that cauldron and what process that contnt undergoes are totally unknown and beyond our reach. Sharifov, by citing concrete examples from Garmarudi's education, erudition, access to philosophy, theology, and an incredible mind singles out experience as the common denominator in Garmarudi's new poetry. The main difference between Garmarudi and other poets, Sharifov says, is that Garmarudi follows experience beyond its physical boundaries. In other words, while other poets are satisfied with describing what rests on this side of the veil, Garmarudi insists on looking beyond the veil. In this regard, he puts Garmarudi in the group of poets to which Rumi and Hafiz belong. Only we should not forget, he says, that Garmarudi is a poet of the new school of Persian poetry.



 

Khaki's View of Garmarudi's Poetry

Nur al-Din Khaki provides a textual analysis of Garmarudi's poem, the Ocean. He illustrates how the poet keeps the reader tantalized until he reads the very last line. If the last line somehow disappeared, he says, the reader would have no recourse for finding what the poem was about. Even Saturn, or the Muse, would take the imagination to a task. It is in the last line that the reader learns that the poems is about Nahj al-Balaghah (Peak of Eloquence), a compendium of sermons, letters, orders, and sayings of Amir al-Mu'minin Ali.



Mulloahmad's View of Garmarudi's Poetry

Dr. Mirzo Mulloahmad reviews Garmarud's "Qalam Andaz: A Collection of Articles, Travel Notes, Criticism, and Research." He begins with "Gotogu dar Mowrede She'r," an interview conducted by Naser Hariri in 1990. Distinguishing it as the best article in the collection, Mulloahmad praises Garmarudi's dexterity in illuminating difficult issues in both poetry and prose. Each of the topics discussed in the article, he says, deserves a separate treatment. He discusses Garmarudi's three, rather than two (cf., Malak al-Shu'ara Bahar) types of poetry, i.e., inborn poetry (she'r-i nab), crafted poetry (nazam), and versed prose (sukhanvari). Rather than making a judgment at this point regarding Garmarudi's division of poetry three ways, he advocates a wait and see osition. He reminds us, however, that the role of inspiration (ilham) in poetry must not be overlooked. He then goes on to discuss the role of symbolism in Firdowsi's Shahname, especially in relation to the role of Turan (cf., Turkistan) in the epic.

Regarding the contribution of "the era of literary introspection," he disagrees with Garmarudi's assertion that the era saw only a revival of Khurasani and Iraqi styles, replacing the decadent Hindi style. The "era of literary introspection," Mulloahmad says, served as a bridge between the old school of Persian poetry and the new school established by Nima Yushij.

Regarding the role of the critic in evaluating poetry, too, Mulloahmad and Garmarudi are not in total agreement. Garmarudi states that the critic does not have access to the creative genius of the poet, therefore, he or she remains an outsider to the intellectual activities of the poet. Mulloahmad says although that might be true for modern Persian poetry, it not true as a rule. Were it not for critics like (Vissarian Gregor'yevich) Belinsky and (Nikolay Aleksandrovich) Dobrolubov, he says, Russian literature of the 19th century would never had reached the greatness that it enjoys.

Mulloahmad discusses a number of other themes from "Qalam Andaz," but below we shall consider two more. Regarding the role of the Orientalists in the development of an awareness of Persian literature, he agrees with Garmarudi. Orientalists like Nicholson, Browne, Lazard, Rypka, Bechka, Barthold, and Zhukovskii, they both agree, spent many years of their creative life on resolving the knotty problems of Persian culture. Dismissing a dedicated scholar like Henry Rawlinson, who spent eighteen years deciphering the ancient Iranian reliefs, as colonialists, points to ignorance of the role of those scholars, if to nothing else.

Mulloahmad and Garmarudi have different points of view about the origin of Modern Standard Persian as well. Garmarudi relates the genesis of Modern Persian to the fall of the Sassanian Empire and the forced migration of the monarch and his entourage east. Mulloahmad believes that Modern Persian already existed in the east. Arrival of new speakers could have influenced it. A small contingent, such as a king's entourage, he says, is not substantial enough to establish a language.



Ajami's View of Garmarudi's Poetry

Muhammad Ali Ajami introduces Garmarudi's work with a statement from the Russian poet, Pasternak, who says, if the poet does not have any new ideas to reveal, it is best if he left his pen alone. Ajami then goes on to describe Garmarudi's poetry as saz, 'ishq, and iman. Garmarudi is a poet who brings you poetry itself, not the shadow of poetry:

    O, poetry
    Be happy
    I adore the pleasure of your birth
    When you come to life
    You are more frightening than the crumbling mountains
    And more beautiful than the growth of colors in spring
      * * *
    O eternal canvas
    Placed in the field
    More naked than the sun

The mainstay of Garmarudi's poetry, Ajami says, is structure (sakht), fabric (baft), and image (surat). Using these three devices, Garmarudi expresses his latent sentiments irrespective of the social, cultural or literary origin of each. And he does that in delightful poetic terms.

Ajami attributes Garmarudi's dexterity in juxtaposing diametrically different ideas and image in what he calls the poet's basirat, a combination of God-given talent, experience, and erudition. In this he echoes Khurramshahi's statement that "art means a different take on things."

Lastly, Ajami describes Garmarudi as a poet of the soul as opposed to a poet of emotions. Garmarudi rises above feelings, Ajami says, and touches the core cord of creation. This flight equips him with the Ishraq that enables him to discern the dhat of life and make it flow like the life-giving sap that makes the tree of life grow.



 

Abdullah's View of Garmarudi's Poetry

Dr. Safar Abdullah, who rendered Dr. Garmarudi's "Baghi Ma'na" into Cyrillic script and published it in Tajikistan, distinguishes two distinct strains in Garmarudi's poetry. One is related to Garmarudi's keen sense of patriotism, the other is related to his unbending devotion to Islam. Abdullah analyzes Garmarudi's poetry in light of these distinctive lines and concludes that in both cases Garmarudi successful. His poetry, he says, is innovative and directed toward a particular land and ideology. More importantly, he finds Garmarudi to be endowed with the poetic power necessary to express his ideas in ways that are not only thought provoking but also at the cutting edge of life's never-ending conflict between good and evil. When reading Garmarudi's poetry, the reader, Abdullah says, instinctively knows that he must make an effort to understand his poetry. That is because in both his patriotic and ideological flights Garmarudi soars above the mundane and above the conventional poetic devices to express his philosophy of life. To grasp that the reader needs to be well equipped.



 

Dara Nejat's View of Garmarudi's Poetry

Dara Nejat, one of the successful composers of Nima'i poetry in Tajikistan, describes Garmarudi's poetry as words and images that, like color on a painter's canvas, merge into each other to present a larger idea that has taken shape in the poet's ceative intellect. In other words, he is an artist, who can stand aside and allow, nay watch, his thoughts take their desired shape. As an example of this creative process, Nejat analyzes Garmarudi's poem entitled "Get Up and Find a Word." In this poem, he says, Garmarudi presents the exact vocabulary and images necessary to express the relationship between man and word from the dawn of creation. In this sense, Nejat echoes the same views that were expressed earlier in relation to Garmarudi and his understanding of the eternal relationship between man and nature.


1 Sisyphus is a trickster of gods and men. In Tartarus, he was forced to push a huge rock up a steep hill. Once the rock rolled back from the top, he had to push it up again. Zeus had condemned Sisyphus to this repetitive action because Sisyphus had obtained a second life through deception.1



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