ADĪB-AL-MAMĀLEK FARĀHĀNĪ

 

ADĪB-AL-MAMĀLEK FARĀHĀNĪ, MOḤAMMAD ṢĀDEQ B. ḤOSAYN, poet and journalist, b. 1277/1860 in the village of Kāzarān near Solṭānābād in ʿErāq-e ʿAǰam, d. 28 Rabīʿ II 1335/21 February 1917. Both his parents were related to Mīrzā Abu’l-Qāsem Qāʾem-maqām (q.v., d. 26 June 1835), prime minister to Moḥammad Shah Qāǰār. His early education occurred in his native town, where he also began writing poetry under the pen name Parvāna. His literary fame dates from his move to Tabrīz in 1897; he attached himself as court poet to Ḥasan ʿAlī Khan Garrūsī Amīr Neẓām, governor of Azerbaijan. He was there honored with the little of Amīr-al-šoʿarāʾ, and he then changed his pen name to Amīrī. He traveled extensively in Iran and also visited Ḵīva (Ḵᵛārazm) and the Caucasus (1900), residing for some time in Bākū. Feeling drawn toward journalism, he founded the paper Adab, which was published from 1898 to 1906 (at Tabrīz, Mašhad, and Tehran). As one of Iran’s earliest literary papers, it has a significant place in the history of Persian journalism. Adīb-al-mamālek also, in 1321/1903, wrote for the official bi-weekly newspaper, Rūz-nāma-ye Īrān-e solṭānī (printed in Tehran); and he contributed a half page Persian supplement to the Bākū Turkish-language daily, Eršād (published December, 1905-April, 1906). With the promulgation of the constitution in 1324/1906, he became chief writer for Maǰles, which reported the National Assembly debates and was published by the prominent politician, Moḥammad Ṣādeq Ṭabāṭabāʾī. Publication began on 25 November 1906, and Adīb-al-mamālek was associated with it for seven months. He then started a Tehran weekly called ʿErāq-e ʿAǰam, which functioned as the organ of the political society (anǰoman) of the same name. His non-literary interests included freemasonry (the subject of a long maṯnavī; see his Dīvān, pp. 577-93), and in 1898-99 he worked briefly as assistant principal of Loqmānīya secondary school in Tabrīz. During the last years of his life he worked in several provinces for the Ministry of Justice.

A prolific writer, Adīb-al-mamālek left a large corpus of poetry; his Dīvān was collected and published by Waḥīd Dastgerdī (Tehran, 1312 Š./1933). His verse deals both with traditional subjects and with many new themes indicative of the political and intellectual awakening in Iran during the late 19th and early 20th century. Adīb-al-mamālek may be regarded as a major link between late Qajar and constitutional period poets. He was perhaps one of the first Iranian poets to voice patriotic sentiments; his many poems with political themes feature such topical events as the inauguration of the National Assembly in 1906, the signing of the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, the bombardment of the National Assembly in 1908, and the restoration of the constitution the next year. His concern went beyond the cause of national freedom and extended to the welfare of Islam and the goal of Islamic unity. Adīb-al-mamālek’s work adheres in form to classical models, the qaṣīda and qeṭʿa being the most common. He shows a predilection for Arabic borrowings and often makes allusions to persons and events of classical Islamic history.

Bibliography:

Kāva, Berlin, 1916-19, no. 20, pp. 7-8.

Browne, Lit. Hist. Persia IV, pp. 346-49, 484, 489.

Idem, Press and Poetry, pp. 37-39, 88-89, 118-19, 132.

M. Ṣ. Hāšemī, Tārīḵ-e ǰarāyed va maǰallāt-e Īrān, Isfahan, 1327-32 Š./1948-53, I, pp. 80-98, 115-117; IV, pp. 11-12.

Rypka, Hist. Iran. Lit., pp. 348, 367, 375-76.

Examples of Adīb-al--mamālek’s poetry are found in: F. Machalski, La littérature de l’Iran contemporain I, Krakóv, 1965, pp. 48-56.

M. Esḥāq, Soḵanvarān-e Īrān dar ʿaṣr-e ḥāżer II, Delhi, 1937, pp. 48-63.

Munibur Rahman, Post-Revolution Persian Verse, Aligarh, 1955, pp. 128-34, 143.

Idem, Bargozīda-ye še ʿr-e fārsī-e moʿāṣer I, Aligarh, 1958, pp. 3-8, 140-45, 242-45, 291-94.

Ḏ. Ṣafā, Ganǰ-e soḵan III, Tehran, 1340 Š./1961, pp. 249-61.

(Munibur Rahman)

Originally Published: December 15, 1983

Last Updated: July 22, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 5, p. 459

Cite this entry:

Munibur Rahman, “ADĪB-AL-MAMĀLEK FARĀHĀNĪ,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/5, p. 459; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/adib-al-mamalek-farahani-mohammad-sadeq-b (accessed on 8 February 2014).