The Influence of Poetic Citation on Iranian Authors

Abstract

Unlike most historical books, which often exhibit a cold and rigid prose, many of Parizi's ancient historical writings are filled with stories, proverbs, anecdotes, and poetry, making the text more accessible and enjoyable for readers. Poetry can be considered a form of artistic creativity that consistently adopts new frameworks across different eras, appeals to a specific audience, and is composed by poets with their unique readership in mind. Since its inception, poetry has been inherently associated with meter across all cultures and peoples, and no language has ever accepted unmetered speech as poetry. However, the value attributed to meter has not been universally consistent among nations. Poetry forms an inseparable part of Parizi's writing and intellectual world. He was both a poet himself and deeply versed in the literary heritage of both Persian and Arabic. Accordingly, he occasionally employed poetic evidence in his historical works out of necessity. In other words, Parizi’s historical writing is interwoven with poetic language. Given that poetry and humor were two dominant and favored literary elements in Parizi’s historiography, he typically included verses from Persian poets aligned with the theme of each historical topic and viewed humor in historiography as sugar added to bitter coffee. Several significant functions of poetry in Parizi’s historical analysis can be identified: establishing a link between history and politics, connecting society and social issues, incorporating satire, and even addressing key aspects of historical events such as place, time, human agency, and notably, women's issues.