FĀŻEL, MOḤAMMAD-JAWĀD (b. Āmol, 1295 Š./1916; d. Tehran, 1340 Š./1961), popular fiction writer and translator. Son of a cleric, Mīrzā Abu’l-Ḥasan Fāżel Lārijānī, Fāżel went to primary and secondary schools in Āmol. He also studied Islamic jurisprudence as well as Arabic and Persian literature with scholars of his native town. He worked as high school teacher, first in Sārī and Bābol until 1938, and later (1939-61) in Tehran. In 1945, he earned a B.A. degree in philosophy from the Faculty of Theology of the University of Tehran (Šāyān, p. 169).
Fāżel began his literary career as a writer in 1942 with a translation of the Nahj al-balāḡa by ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭāleb (q.v.). It appeared as Soḵanān-e āsmānī in the newspapers Nabard and Irān-e mā, which were associated with Ḵosrow Eqbāl’s Peykār party (Ḥezb-e Peykār). In book form it was published under the title Soḵanān-e ʿAli in five volumes; the work went through seven printings between 1948 and 1966. Fāżel’s translations from Arabic also include Ḵoṭbahā-ye Moḥammad (Moḥammad’s sermons; Tehran, 1337), and Doḵtarān-e Moḥammad soḵan mīgūyand (Moḥammad’s daughters speak; Tehran, 3rd. ed. 1340 Š./1961). In the mid-1940s, Fāżel began to write regularly in the daily and weekly Eṭṭelāʿāt (q.v.), as well as in other newspapers. A prolific popular fiction writer, Fāżel published some thirty works, most of which were love stories appealing to high school students. Fāżel’s most popular fiction was Doḵtar-e yatīm (The Orphan girl), which had eleven printings.
Bibliography: J. Fāżel, Yak zendagī, Tehran, 1343 Š./1964. ʿA. Šāyān, Māzandarān II, Tehran, Bahman 1327/February 1949.
(PARVIZ AHUR)
(Parviz Ahur)
Originally Published: December 15, 1999
Last Updated: December 15, 1999
