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The Poetry and Politics of Farrokhi Yazdi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Ali Gheissari
Ali Gheissari*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of California at San Diego
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Extract

Farrokhi Yazdi‘s career as a poet first and foremost, a journalist now and again, and finally a Majles deputy has generally been identified with the more radical trends of outlook during the post-Constitutional era and into the reign of Reza Shah. By virtue of subjects such as freedom, patriotism, syndicalism, and the class struggle—recurrent themes both in his poetry and in the articles which appeared in his well-known newspaper Tūfān—he has been classified amongst the pioneers of revolutionary literature in modern Iran. Therefore, in any discussion of literature and society in Iran between the two world wars, he deserves special attention. His political life fits almost exactly into the period mentioned: having begun his political and journalistic activities in the years prior to the First World War, he died in prison shortly before the beginning of the Second.

Type
Research Article
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 26 , Issue 1-2 , Spring Winter 1993 , pp. 33 - 50
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 1993

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Footnotes

*

The idea for this paper was first suggested to me by Bahram Semsarzadah, and an earlier version was presented at a conference on “Literature and Society in Iran between the Two World Wars,” organized by Paul Luft and Reza Navvabpour at the University of Durham (17–19 April 1986). I am grateful to Mohsen Ashtiany and Homa Katouzian who made several suggestions for the improvement of this essay. The responsibility for all shortcomings remains entirely mine.

References

1. See Machalski, F., La Littétrature de I'Iran contemporain (Warsaw, 1965), 1:143Google Scholar; and Kadkani, M. R. Shafi'i, “Persian Literature (Belles-Lettres) from the Time of Jami to the Present Day,” in Morrison, G., ed., History of Persian Literature from the Beginnings of the Islamic Period to the Present Day (Leiden, 1981), 135–206Google Scholar, especially note on p. 183.

2. See, for example, Kubickova, V., “Persian Literature of the 20th Century,” in Rypka, J., History of Iranian Literature, ed. Karl Jahn (Dordrecht, 1968), 353–418Google Scholar. See, especially, part III of Kubickova's article, “Literary Life in the Years 1921–1941,” 379–96. There are several publications on Farrokhi Yazdi and a few translations of his poetry in Russian. For some references see Nawabi, Y. M., A Bibliography of Iran (Tehran, 1971), 2:205–6Google Scholar. See also Hajizadah, A. K. Okli, The Poetry of Farrokhi Yazdi (Baku, 1965)Google Scholar, in Azari Turkish.

3. See Dīvān-e Farrokhī Yazdī (hereafter Dīvān), ed. H. Makki, 7th edition (Tehran, 1363 Sh./1984). All six previous editions of the Dīvān were also published in Tehran and appeared respectively in 1321 Sh./1942, 1322 Sh./1943, 1328 Sh./1949, 1332 Sh./1953, 1341 Sh./1962, and 1357 Sh./1978. See also idem (ed.), Behtarīn ash'ār-e Farrokhī Yazdī (Tehran, 1942)Google Scholar; and Haddadi, A. (ed.), Montakhabī az ghazalīyāt va rubā'āyāt-e Farrokhī Yazdī (Tehran, 1961)Google Scholar.

4. Makki's Introduction to the Dīvān, though not flawless, is a fairly extensive and standard source on Farrokhi. Further information on Farrokhi can be found in Hashemi, M. Sadr, Tārīkh-e jarā'ed va majallāt-e Irān (Isfahan, 1950–1953), 2:87–91Google Scholar, 3:168–86 (which also points to some discrepancies in Makki's version), and 4:321. On Farrokhi see also Bamdad, M., Sharḥ-e ḥāl-e rejāl-e Irān, 2nd ed. (Tehran, 1978), 6:201–3Google Scholar; Javan, J., “Mohammad Farrokhi Yazdi (1267–1318),” repr. in Golbon, M. and Sharifi, Y. (eds.), Moḥākemah-ye moḥākemah-garān: ‘āmelān-e koshtār-e Sayyid Ḥasan Modarres, Farrokhī Yazdī, Taqī Arrāni, Sardār As'ad Bakhtīārī) (Tehran, 1984), 157–83Google Scholar; and Tabataba'i, M. M., Tārīkh-e taḥlili-ye maṭbū'āt-e Irān (Tehran, 1988), 267Google Scholar.

5. An account of the missionary school in Yazd can be found in Malcolm, N., Five Years in a Persian Town (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1907), 239–48Google Scholar.

6. Dīvān, 13–14. The original flow and music of this and all the subsequent poems have regrettably been compromised in order to give way to a more literal translation.

7. Mosammaṭ is a multiple poem in which one line has a different rhyme from the rest, and in some cases each couplet can consist of three additional rhymes. See Elwell-Sutton, L. P., The Persian Metres (Cambridge, 1976), 257–8Google Scholar.

8. Dīvān, 186–9.

9. Ibid., 14–17. Some twenty years later Khalil Fahim al-Molk (now Fahimi), still a deputy but this time a vocal member of the pro-government majority in the Seventh Majles, was among the opponents of Farrokhi, who was in the opposition. See below for Farrokhi's somewhat uncomfortable tenure in the Majles.

10. Ibid., 18–19.

11. Ibid., 190.

12. Machalski, Littérature, 143.

13. Dīvān, 20

14. Aryanpur, Y., Az Ṣabā tā Nīmā, 3rd ed. (Tehran, 1974), 2:351Google Scholar.

15. Bahar, M. T. (Malek al-Sho'ara), Tārīkh-e mokhtaṣar-e aḥzāb-e sīāsī-e Irān, 3rd ed. (Tehran, 1978), 1:27Google Scholar.

16. Some references are cited in Shafaq, S. R., “Patriotic Poetry in Modem Iran,” The Middle East Journal 6 (Autumn 1952): 417–28Google Scholar. See also Kubickova, , “Persian Literature of the 20th Century,” in Rypka, op. cit., 387Google Scholar.

17. Kohen, Go'el, Tārīkh-e sānsūr dar maṭbu'āt-e Irān (Tehran, 1982), 2:639Google Scholar.

18. Dīvān, xx; Machalski, Littérature, 144.

19. Dīvān, 117. Janusiyar (or Janusipar) was a satrap of Darius HI who murdered the king following his defeat by Alexander.

20. Bamdad, Sharḥ-e ḥāl, 201.

21. Also reprinted in Dīvān, 244 (rubā'ī no. 268).

22. Bamdad, Sharḥ-e ḥāl, 201. For more information about this event, see also Bahar, Tārīkh-e mokhtaṣar, 203–5, and Makki, H., Tārīkh-e bīst sālah-ye Irān, 4th ed. (Tehran, 1980), 2:43–8Google Scholar.

23. Bamdad, Sharḥ-e ḥāl, 201.

24. Dīvān, 218.

25. See Tabataba'i, Tārīkh-e taḥlīli, 267.

26. Dīvān, 57.

27. Ibid.; Mohammad, Eshaq, Sokhanvarān-e Irān dar ‘ar-e ḥāżer (Delhi, 1933), 1:313Google Scholar.

28. See Moẕākerāt-e majles (dawrah-ye haftom-e taqnīnīyah), 2nd Meeting, Monday, 14 Aban 1307/5 November 1928, 20. Farrokhi's election to the Majles was thus ratified in the same meeting. Other elected deputies from Yazd were Sayyid Kazem Jalili Yazdi and Dr. Shaykh Hadi Taheri. See Majles Publications, Asāmī-ye namāyandegān-e majles-e shūrā-ye melli az āghāz-e mashrūtiyat tā dawrah-ye bīst-o chahār-e qānūn-goẕārī (Tehran, 1977), 88Google Scholar.

29. For a complete list of the 136 deputies of the Seventh Majles see ibid., 83–8. The composition of the deputies of the Seventh Majles by professional background was as follows: landowners (55%), merchants (11%), clergymen (8%), civil servants (20%), other (6%) (Sālnāmah-ye āmāri-ye keshvar [Tehran, 1977], 696Google Scholar, Table 12).

30. Tolu', born in Rasht (c. 1888), was the son of Hajj Aqa Reza Mojtahed. In his early days he was a pro-Constitutional activist in his home province of Gilan. When czarist Russia intervened in Iran's northern provinces to suppress the Constitutional movement, Tolu' fled to Europe and spent a few years in France, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. During the First World War he returned to Iran and joined the newly formed Jangali movement in Gilan, collaborating closely with its leader, Mirza Kuchek Khan, and was appointed commissar of justice. Following the suppression of the Jangalis, Tolu' founded his paper in Rasht, the first issue appearing on Monday, 25 December 1923. He was elected to the Constituent Assembly which ratified the termination of the Qajar dynasty and endorsed the new Pahlavi reign. Tolu' later became highly critical of Reza Shah's autocratic rule. Nevertheless he was elected from Lahijan to the 6th, 7th and 8th sessions of the Majles. He died suddenly in Rasht on 6 January 1941. See Sadr Hashemi, Tārīkh-e jarā'ed 3:157–63. For additional information on Tolu', see Rezvani, M. E., “Ostād Ebrāhīm-e Fakhrā'ī va rūznāmahnegārī,” in Langeroudi, R. Rezazadah, ed., Yādgārnāmah-ye Fakhrā'ī (Tehran, 1984), 544–60Google Scholar, especially the note on pp. 551–2.

31. Two such occasions were 12 and 26 Bahman 1308/1 and 15 February 1930. For details see Eṭṭelā'āt, 13 and 27 Bahman 1308/2 and 16 February 1930, respectively. The text of these speeches, normally not included in the Majles proceedings, appeared the following day in Eṭṭelā'āt. See the following issues: 19 Aban 1308/10 November 1929; 15 Day 1308/5 January 1930; 19 Day 1308/9 January 1930; 10 Bahman 1308/30 January 1930; 13 Bahman 1308/2 February 1930; and 27 Bahman 1308/16 February 1930. I am grateful to Bahram Saleh for providing me with copies of Farrokhi's pre-agenda speeches.

32. Jones, G., Banking and Empire in Iran: The History of the British Bank of the Middle East (Cambridge, 1986), 1:224Google Scholar. For a full text of the concession of the Imperial Bank of Persia and its appendices, see ibid., 341–9.

33. For the Majles debates and Farrokhi's opposition regarding this issue, see Moẕākerāt-e majles, 7th Session, No. 125, 1 Khordad 1309/22 May 1930, and no. 126, 6 Khordad 1309/27 May 1930. I would like to thank the Library staff of the Faculty of Law and Political Science, Tehran University, for their kind assistance during my study of the Majles proceedings.

34. The attacker was ‘Ali Haydari, a deputy from the Kurdish town of Savojbolagh (later Mahabad) (Dīvān, 58).

35. Ibid.

36. Ibid.; Bamdad, Sharḥ-e ḥāl 6:202.

37. See Sadr, Hashemi, Tārīkh-e jarā'ed 2:89; Kh. Shakeri (ed.), Asnād-e tārīkhī-e jonbesh-e kārgārī, sosīyāl-demokrāsī va komūnīstī-ye Irān (repr., Tehran, 1979), 6:148–63Google Scholar.

38. Dīvān, 59.

39. Sadr Hashemi, Tārīkh-e jarā'ed 4:321. See also Shakeri, Asnād-e tārīkhī, 148, 164–71.

40. Dīvān, 59. Sadr Hashemi indicates that Farrokhi was given a three-month sentence by the German court (Tārīkh-e jarā'ed 4:321).

41. Dīvān, 59–60.

42. See Makki, Tārīkh-e bīst sālah 5:84, 85.

43. For further details of this incident, see Bamdad, Sharḥ-e ḥāl 6:202; Sadr Hashemi, Tārīkh-e jarā'ed 3:176; and Dīvān, 60–61.

44. Ibid., 62. According to Makki (Tārīkh-e bīst sālah), Farrokhi also expressed his imminent death in the following rubā'ī:

In this narrow prison I opened the door and escaped,

I tore asunder the chains of injustice and escaped.

Poor, hungry, and with nothing to my name,

I left by the way I had first come to the world, and escaped.

45. Ibid., 63–1; and Bamdad, Sharḥ-e ḥāl 6:202.

46. Khamah'i, A., Panjāh nafar va seh nafar (Tehran, 1983), 214Google Scholar.

47. Ibid., 222. According to Makki the above ghazal was composed on Nawruz 1318/1939 (Dīvān, 106). For another reference to Farrokhi's loud remonstrations in prison, see Maleki, K., Khāṭerāt-e sīāsī-e Khalīl Malekī, ed. Katouzian, H. (Tehran, 1981), 267–8Google Scholar.

48. Dīvān, 71.

49. J.A.M.I. (Jebhe-ye āzādī-ye mardom-e Irān), Goẕashtah cherāgh-e rāh-e āyandah ast: tārīkh-e Irān dar fāṣelah-ye do kūdetā (repr., Tehran, 1978), 143. See also Golbon and Sharifi, Moḥākemah, 181–2.

50. See Sayfi Fami Tafreshi, M., Polīs-e khofyah-ye Irān, 1299–1320 (Tehran, 1989), 293Google Scholar; Golbon and Sharifi, Moḥākemah, 405.

51. Ibid., 10, 363.

52. Khamah'i, Panjāh nafar, 215–16.

53. See Sadr Hashemi, Tārīkh-e jarā'ed 3:179.

54. Kadkani, M. R.Shafi'i, Advār-e she'r-e Fārsī: az mashrūṭiyat tā soqūṭ-e salṭanal (Tehran, 1980), 36, 48Google Scholar.

55. Ibid., 51.

56. Gh. Mosahab, H., Dā'erat al-ma'āref-e Fārsi (Tehran, 1977), 2:1869Google Scholar.

57. Bausani, A., “Europe and Iran in Contemporary Persian Literature,” East and West (New Series) 11 (March, 1960): 3–14Google Scholar, esp. note on pp. 6–7. For the original, see Dīvān, 80–81.

58. “Darband” (literally, “bound“) is also the northern suburb of Tehran where, before his final imprisonment, Farrokhi was put under house arrest (c. 1933). The above line can therefore be translated as follows: “To you who ask how long we shall be bound in Darband … “

59. Interpreting the original term nākhodā, Bausani observes that it “may however also mean ‘godless,’ ‘impious,’ referring to the unjust and impious governors of the time” (“Europe and Iran,” 14). This line can also be translated as: “O God, our ship has been wrecked by its captain …”

60. See Lahuti, A. Q., Dīvān-e Abul-Qāsem Lāhūtī (Moscow, 1957)Google Scholar.

61. Dīvān, 223, 225 (respectively, rubā'īs nos. I l l , 130, 131), emphasis added. Sangalaj was a district in Tehran; Shemiran, Kan, and Lavasan were small electoral constituencies around the capital.

62. These terms were used in one of his earliest works entitled Fatḥnāmah, a eulogy to Sardar Jang Bakhtiari lithographed in Yazd in 1910. See Dīvān, 261–93, especially note on p. 291. For his use of leader, see ibid., 225 (rubā'ī no. 127).

63. My thanks are due to Mrs. Qolizadah of the Tehran University Central Library who facilitated my access to the original and rare collection of Tūfān.

64. Sadr Hashemi, Tārīkh-e jarā'ed 3:169.

65. The proprietor of Setārah-ye sharq was Hosayn Saba.

66. Tūfān, vol. 1, no. 1, 26 August 1921, 1.

67. Ibid.

68. Also reprinted in Dīvān, 220 (rubā'ī no. 96).

69. Also reprinted in Dīvān, 255 (rubā'ī no. 351).

70. Fakhr al-Din Shadman (1907–1967) had studied at Tehran's Dar al-Fonun and at the Teachers' Training College before graduating from Tehran University's School of Law. He subsequently studied at the Sorbonne and at London University, and later taught at Tehran University and held many official positions. See Mohebbi, M. Khodayar, “Doktor Sayyid Fakhr al-Dīn Shādmān, zendegī va āār-e ū,” Vaḥīd 4 (1346/1967): 873–5Google Scholar. Shadman is also known for a collection of his essays entitled Taskhīr-e tamaddon-e farangī (Tehran, 1948)Google Scholar, which deals with the question of Iranian modernism and the relation between identity and language. For a discussion of this collection, see the section on “Shadman on the Primacy of Language,” in Gheissari, A., “The Ideological Formation of the Iranian Intelligentsia (From the Constitutional Movement to the Fall of the Monarchy)” (D.Phil, thesis, Oxford University, 1989), 216–27Google Scholar.

71. See Sadr Hashemi, Tārīkh-e jarā'ed 3:184–6.