Poetic network from Isfahan to Tehran
The network among the early ‘literary return’ poets in some cases cut across professional lines. Mirza Muhammad Nasir ‘Tabib’ Isfahani (died in 1771), who accompanied Karim Khan Zand from Isfahan to Shiraz to become the ruler’s special physician, instructed Seyyed Ahmad ‘Hatif’ Isfahani in medicine and philosophy in Isfahan.
Azar Bigdeli (died in 1781) displayed his admiration for Mirza Muhammad Nasir ‘Tabib’ Isfahani (died in 1771), in several poems, praising his exceptional knowledge of poetry, philosophy and medicine. One of the poems is written in the same metre and rhyme scheme as Rudaki’s famous poem in praise of Bukhara, pointing to an early example of an Isfahani Circle poet modelling his verse according to the specific form and style of a classical master.
One modern critic even credits ‘Tabib’ with being one of the crucial founders of the early ‘return’ movement, alongside Mushtaq.
The presence of another ‘Tabib’ among this early grouping of ‘literary return’ poets demonstrates how the greater network incorporated familial connections as well. Mirza ʿAbd al-Baqi ‘Tabib’ Isfahani (died in 1758-9), a onetime mayor of Isfahan and Nadir’s Shah physician, became affiliated to the Isfahani Circle.
He was also the elder brother of Mirza ʿAbd al-Vahhab, who played a crucial role in the ‘return’ movement after Mushtaq’s literary society disbanded, and a relation of Nashat Isfahani (died in 1828-9), the major figure in the later ‘literary return’ movement at the Qajar court in Tehran.
The role of this particular family was indeed central to nurturing the activity of the ‘return’ movement during its early stages in Isfahan. Nashat Isfahani, for example, first came to prominence by convening a literary society in Isfahan dedicated to imitating the style of the ancients in early Qajar times.
Having attracted the notice of Fat’h-Ali Shah, he followed the future monarch to Tehran and rose to the position of chief letter writer and served the court in a variety of other functionary roles.
At the Qajar court he continued to be an avid supporter of the Qajar ruler’s promotion of ‘literary return’ poets.
In his own poetry he imitated the style of Hafez and wrote the introduction to Fat’h-Ali Khan ‘Saba’ Kashani’s (died in 1822-3) famous Book of Kings (Shahnameh Saba).
Relational threads connecting members of the early ‘literary return’ poets in Isfahan to like-minded poets in Qajar Tehran extend beyond the above case of family connection. While the nature of the ‘literary return’ movement at the Qajar court falls outside the scope of this study, it bears mention that instructor–student relationships developed between several poets active in late eighteenth-century Isfahan and in early nineteenth-century Tehran.
The above is a lightly edited version of part of a chapter, ‘Reformation and Reconstruction of Poetic Networks:
Isfahan 1722–1801’, from a book entitled, ‘Remapping Persian Literary History, 1700-1900’, written by Kevin L. Schwartz, published by Edinburgh University Press.