Previously Unknown Translation of “Davazdah-band-e Muhtasham” by Rafi

• Published in: Sarkiyat mecmuasi no. 43; pp. 225 - 261
• Main Author: Murat Güneş
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Arabic
• Published: Istanbul University Press 01.10.2023
• Subjects: davazdah-band-e muhtasham; dirge; muhtasham kashani; rafi; translation
• ISSN: 2717-6916
• DOI: 10.26650/jos.1341070

Muhtasham Kashani was one of the poets of Iranian literature who lived during the Safavid era. He became famous for his tarkeeb-band poem about the Karbala incident and was given the title Shams-ush-Shuara for his success with this verse. The lament Muhtasham wrote in tarkeeb-band form is known as “Davazdah-band-e Muhtasham”. The lament brought great fame to its poet within its literary tradition, and its sphere of influence was recognized to extend beyond its own literary circle, being followed by Turkish poets as the subject of a poem modeled after another as well as translations. A poem modeled after another and translations for the lament Muhtasham wrote about the martyrdom of Hazrat Husayn can be observed to have increased mainly in the 19th century. For example, Musa Kazim Pasha, Othman Nevres, and Avni Beg of Yenisehir are names that worked on this lament in the 19th century in the context of translation and a poem modeled after another. This article discusses one translation of “Davazdah-band-e Muhtasham” that has not been previously mentioned in studies on the subject. A poet using the pseudonym of Rafi translated this dirge into Turkish, with one manuscript copy of the translated text having been identified. Although the text of this translation was published by Mirliva Safvet in Nilüfer, Bursa’s first literary magazine, only the first three bands were published. The aim of the study is to bring to light this previously unknown example of Muhtasham Kashani’s dirge in the history of Turkish literature and thus contribute to the Turkish lament literature.