Qur’anic Borrowing in the Dīvān of Boland-Eqbāl

Abstract

The miraculous nature of the Holy Qur’an, along with its attractiveness, eloquence, rhetorical excellence, and uniqueness, has led poets to draw upon the Qur’an in order to deepen and enrich their poetry. Great poets have employed this heavenly book in various ways, and this engagement has contributed to the enduring quality of their works. Among them, Mirza Seyyed Reza Mostowfi, known by the pen name Boland-Eqbāl, is one of the lesser-known contemporary religious poets who, through gleaning from the Holy Qur’an, succeeded in creating a lasting literary work within the elegant framework of poetry. This article, employing a descriptive–analytical method, examines the influence of Qur’anic verses on the poetry of Boland-Eqbāl. In some instances, the poet directly borrows a Qur’anic word or part of a verse; in other cases, he employs allusion, while in certain instances he resorts to the literary device of translation. In addition to being influenced by divine revelation, this religious poet has also devoted himself to praising the divine prophets and the Infallible Imams, especially Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali. The findings of the study demonstrate that the manifestation of the Qur’an throughout the poet’s Dīvān, in its diverse forms, reflects his mastery of the Qur’an and his successful utilization of it. Indeed, scarcely a page of the poet’s Dīvān can be found in which the divine revelation does not appear.