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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2022
Although the predominant language of Iran's literature is Persian, a trickle of literary works has always been written in other languages, most notably in Azeri Turkish, the language spoken in Iranian Azerbaijan as well as in the Republic of Azerbaijan to the north of the Araxes river. The following two poems, translated from the original Azeri Turkish, demonstrate the presence of that minority voice.
With regard to the translated poems, a reference to a historical event is necessary here. From 1946, when the autonomous movement in Iranian Azerbaijan was defeated, to the downfall of the Iranian monarchy in 1979, contact between the people of the two regions was discouraged on both sides, and Azeri Turkish was aggressively suppressed by the state, which defined Iranian nationalism through the increasing dominance of the Persian language. However, individual poets of the two regions were in sporadic contact.
1. Both poems are taken from Shahriyar, Mohammad-Hossein, Kulliyat-e divan-e torki (Collected Turkish Poems), (Tehran: Negah/Zarrin Publications, 1987), 210–212Google Scholar, 229–230.
2. ᶜAli Sharᶜati (1933–77), Iranian philosopher and religious reformer whose activities and teachings were subjected to constraints during the reign of the last Iranian monarch.
3. Gholam-Reza Takhti (1930–68), Iranian wrestling champion who is believed to have committed suicide under pressure from the last Iranian monarch's secret police, SAVAK.
4. Bakhtiyar Vahabzada (b. 1925) is a contemporary Azerbaijani poet who lives in Baku, the Republic of Azerbaijan.
5. Samad Vurghun (1906–56) was an Azerbaijani poet and playwright whose poems have turned into popular songs. The present national anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan is one of his compositions.
6. Heydar Baba is a small mountain near the poet's birthplace of Khushkanab. Shahriyar's famous poem “Heydar Babaya Salam” addresses this mountain.
7. Dr. Mehdi Roshan-Zamir is an Azeri scholar who used to teach French literature in Tabriz University. He is now retired and lives in Tehran. Dr. Roshan-Zamir has written an introduction to the first edition of Shahriyar's “Heydar Babaya Salam.” Shahriyar refers to this fact when he says, “Here, I recall the art of Roshan-Zamir, the enlightened heart, /I turned his pen into a speaking parrot.“
8. Mohammad ᶜAli Farzana is a contemporary Azerbaijani author who has written many books on Azeri language and literature. Mr. Farzana lives in Tehran; that is why Shahriyar says, “See how I have enthralled the Farzanas (i.e., wise ones) of Tehran!”
9. Yahya Sheyda is a contemporary Azerbaijani poet and editor of Forugh-e Azadi, a paper published in Tabriz, Sheyda's place of residence for most of his life. In the line following Mr. Farzana's name, Shahriyar has reference to Mr. Sheyda when he says, “See how I fascinated the Sheydas (i.e., ecstatic souls) of Tabriz!”
10. “Sahandiyya” or “Sahandim” is Shahriyar's very famous poem, considered by many scholars of Azeri poetry to be one of the greatest pieces in their literature. This poem was occasioned as the response to another Azerbaijani poet, Bulut Qarachorli (1926–79). Qarachorli had chosen Sahand, a mountain in Azerbaijan, as his pen name. Shahriyar refers to both his own poem and his fellow poet Qarachorli when he says, “My poem on Mount Sahand raised that peak to the sky. / You may say I have done my duty to my brother poet as well.”