YUSOFI, GHOLAM-HOSAYN

 

YUSOFI, GHOLAM-HOSAYN (Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi, b. Mashad, 2 Bahman 1306 Š./23 January 1928; d. Tehran, 14 Āḏar 1369 Š./5 December 1990; Figure 1), prominent scholar of Persian literature and history, literary critic, and outstanding university professor.

LIFE

Gholam-Hosayn was born to ʿĀbed and Ḥešmat Yusofi in Mashad. His father died when he was only four years old. He and his elder sister, ʿEṣmat, were raised by their mother, who ensured they got a quality education. His sister became a teacher, and subsequently the principal of Šāhdoḵt School in Mashad. Yusofi completed his primary education at Mashad’s ʿOnṣori School in 1940. He often mentioned his sister and also Sayyed Moḥammad Ašrafzāda, ʿOnṣori’s schoolmaster, as those who instilled in him the desire for reading and learning (Yusofi, 2007a, pp. 821-26). His sister had made arrangements with bookstores in the neighborhood so that he could rent books from them as he wished. Ašrafzāda encouraged him to read and take notes, and he put him in charge of the school’s small library (Yusofi, 1977, p. 823). Yusofi received his high school diploma from Shah Reza High School in 1946 (Dehbāši, 1990, p. 7). During those years, he also studied theology, Arabic grammar, and prosody (Yāḥaqqi, 2009b, p. 7).

In 1946, Yusofi moved to Tehran to study at the Faculty of Letters and Humanities of the University of Tehran. There, he found the opportunity to attend classes given by such renowned scholars of Persian and Arabic language and literature as Moḥammad-Taqi Bahār, Badiʿ -al-Zamān Foruzānfar, and Jalāl Homāʾi. Yusofi received his Bachelor’s degree in Persian language and literature in 1949 and entered the doctoral program at the Faculty of Letters and Humanities in the same year. He defended his doctoral dissertation on “Description of Nature in Persian Poetry” under the supervision of Foruzānfar on 8 September 1956. He also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Law (1950) and one in Political Science (1951) from the University of Tehran (Ḡolāmzāda, pp. 8-9).

Yusofi’s lifelong involvement with teaching and education began early. During his primary school years, as the top student in class, he was entrusted with helping other students with their assignments. While studying at the University of Tehran, he also attended the Teachers Training College. He was employed in 1950 by the Ministry of Education as a high school teacher in Mashad to teach Persian literature and Arabic language. In 1953, the Ministry of Education sent him to the United States to study and survey the American education system. Upon returning to Iran in 1954, he was assigned to supervise the teachers training programs, as well as the model schools (madāres-e nemuna) in Khorasan province. He also headed Khorasan’s Teachers’ Training School for a brief period of time in 1957 (Farḵonda payām, p. IX).

In 1955, while he was working on his dissertation, the University of Mashad’s (later, renamed Ferdowsi University) Faculty of Letters and Humanities was inaugurated. Yusofi joined the Faculty and taught part-time at the Department of Persian Language and Literature (Yāḥaqqi, 2009b, p. 9). He was employed by the University as a tenured associate professor (Letter no. 629, 1336/6/17 Danešgāh-e Mashad) after defending his dissertation in 1956, and was promoted to full professor in 1963. Yusofi married Niku Bāzargān in November 1958. Her loving care and support for Yusofi proved instrumental in his outstanding academic achievements that followed. They had two daughters, Rowšanak (1960) and Soruš (1969).

Yusofi chaired the Department of Persian Language and Literature from 1964 to 1977, with a brief hiatus in 1972-1973, when he was invited to spend his sabbatical leave at Columbia University in New York and teach Persian literature for two semesters. Enthusiastic student response led to an extension of the invitation for a third semester (Yarshater, p. 704). Yusofi’s tenure in Ferdowsi University’s Department of Persian Language and Literature proved most rewarding. There he founded the first graduate program in Persian language and literature outside the University of Tehran—a masters course in 1970, followed by a fully-fledged doctoral program in 1976. He relinquished the Department's chairmanship in 1977 but continued to serve as director of its graduate program.

Yusofi took a keen interest in cultural and literary journals. In 1952, when he was twenty four, he founded the literary-cultural monthly journal Nāma-ye farhang in Mashad and served as its editor for two years (Ḡolāmzāda, p. 9). He continued his collaboration with the journal for many years. During this period he also collaborated with two other literary journals in Khorasan; Hirmand and Āftāb-e šarq. Yusofi was instrumental in founding, in 1965, the journal of the Faculty of Letters and Humanities, entitled Majalla-ye dāneškada-ye adabiyāt va ʿolum-e ensāni-e dānešgāh-e Ferdowsi (MDAF), and continued his collaboration with the journal until retirement. He was among the few academics that were intimately involved in and knew the technical aspects of printing and publishing. In his youth, he worked in a printing facility in Mashad, and throughout his life he personally checked and proofread his own works (Nāẓerānpur, pp. 207-12). Among Yusofi’s accomplishments was the formation of the University of Mashad Press in 1960, where he was appointed director, a position he held until September 1965 (Yāḥaqqi, 2009b, pp. 10-11).

Yusofi had formal training in calligraphy and wrote in attractive šekasta nastaʿliq style. His mastery of the art went beyond writing; he was also well informed on the history and evolution of Persian and Arabic calligraphy and contributed the entry on calligraphy to the Encyclopædia Iranica (Ⅳ, 1989, pp. 680-718). Yusofi also had a keen interest in Persian classical music and played the tār in his youth. He knew various modes of Persian classical music and had a large collection of works by masters of the music. His intimate knowledge of Persian classical music was demonstrated in the piece he wrote regarding the renowned vocalist Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Banān’s music after his passing in March 1990 (Yusofi, 1991a, pp. 43-47). There was also another aspect to Yusofi’s interest in Persian music. He believed that Persian poetry could not be properly learned and absorbed without knowledge of Persian music. He encouraged his students to listen to and appreciate the internal music of Persian poetry and familiarize themselves with it (Purḵāleqi-Čatrudi, p. 74).

In February of 1979, shortly after the Islamic Revolution, Yusofi requested retirement after 29 years of service at Ferdowsi University. He retired on 23 September 1979 and moved to Tehran. Relieved of his teaching duties, he devoted his time exclusively to research and writing and produced some of his most significant works during the eleven years that remained of his life. His life was cut short by cancer, to which he succumbed on 5 December 1990 in Tehran; and he was buried in Mashad. Yusofi’s impressive personal library was bequeathed to the Faculty of Letters and Humanities of the Ferdowsi University.

WORKS

Yusofi’s scholarly work covered a wide range of topics, such as historical research into Persian literature and culture, editing of classical Persian manuscripts, literary criticism, and translations into Persian of English, French, and Arabic scholarly works, as well as poetry and fiction.

Critical edition of classical texts. Yusofi’s editing of Persian classical manuscripts began with the Qābus-nāma of Kaykāvus b. Eskandar b. Qābus b. Vošmgir, Amir ʿOnṣor-al-Maʿāli, which was published in 1966 by the Bongāh-e Tarjoma va Našr-e Ketāb as part of the Institute’s Persian Texts series (Majmuʿa-ye motun-e fārsi), “the first attempt in Iran to publish, in uniform binding, critical edition of Persian non-published texts or texts published in uncritical editions” (Joseph, pp. 351-55). Yusofi prepared his edition on the basis of five of the earliest manuscripts. Of those, the earliest from the Fāteḥ collection, housed in the Suleymaniye Library in Istanbul (625/1227), had been discovered and microfilmed by Mojtabā Minovi while a resident in Turkey from 1951 to 1958 (de Bruijn, Kaykāvus b. Eskandar, 2010).

Yusofi was influenced by and made extensive use of Saʿid Nafisi’s views, especially in notes and comments on the text. In all, 190 Persian and Arabic sources, as well as 27 English, French, and German sources were consulted in Yusofi’s edition (Ḡolāmzāda, p. 107). The comprehensive glossaries at the end of the book, including those on the Persian poems and on Arabic names and phrases made the book particularly useful to today’s readers and scholars. Yusofi’s edition of Qābus-nāma is believed to be the definitive work on the text, and to date no other scholar has attempted to offer another edition. The success of this work led to the publishing of several selections of Qābus-nāma by various publishers, intended for the younger and general readers, as listed below (see Bibliography). The earliest of them was published at Ehsan Yarshater’s initiative for university and high school students (Montaḵab-e Qābus-nāma, Tehran, 1968), and the latest in 2001 as part of Persian Literary Heritage series (Mirāṯ-e Adab-e Fārsi) that Yusofi himself had initiated. Qābus-nāma was selected as the book of the year in literary research in 1966 (Afšār, 2004, p. 708).

Yusofi’s critical edition of Taqwim al-ṣeḥḥa, a synopsis of hygiene and medicine in the form of tables by Ebn Boṭlān Baḡdādi (1038-1075), appeared in Tehran in 1971 (Ḵadiv-jam, 1971, pp. 549-50). The edition was based on a translation of the book into Persian by an unknown author. Yusofi’s edition of the book does not include an explanation of terms and phrases, but is preceded by a long introduction and followed by a comprehensive glossary of names of drugs, foods, and phrases. It was followed by the publication of the Laṭāʾef al-hekma of Serāj-al-Din Maḥmud Ormavi (Tehran, 1972). Yusofi’s footnotes on Laṭaʿef mainly address terminology of the text rather than the theological and philosophical terms used in the text.

The most significant contribution of Yusofi in the critical edition of Persian classical texts is his work on Saʿdi’s Bustān, Golestān, and Ḡazals (see Ḡazal). The first two include comprehensive apparatus criticus, as well as explanations and clarifications of the text, whereas the latter only includes the variants. The author’s untimely death deprived the readers of his invaluable explanations and remarks on the intricacies of Ḡazalhā (for a critical commentary on the book, see Kāvus Ḥasanli, 2009). Yusofi’s base copy in editing of Bustān and Golestān was one dated 720-21/1320, whereas in Ḡazalhā he had access to an older manuscript dated 706/1306 (Yusofi, 2006, XXV-XXVI). He also used nine other variants as well as all the commentaries and research done on Bustān in European languages. He further sought and cited many of the sources that influenced Saʿdi’s thoughts (Ḡolāmzāda, p. 132). The first edition of Bustān (Saʿdi-nāma) was published in 1980 in Tehran by the Anjoman-e Ostādān-e Zabān o Adabiyāt-e Fārsi (Society of scholars of Persian language and literature). In Golestān, first published in 2005, Yusofi used sixteen variants other than his base copy. Here, internal substantiation is widely used in the apparatus criticus and in comments and clarifications on the text (Ḥasanli, 2001, p. 645). Yusofi’s Golestān has earned the praise of critics and scholars as the best critical edition of the book (Lewis, p. 85; Šariʿat, 1990-91, p. 392). Dāmani az gol, a selection of Golestān, first published in 1993 as part of Mirāṭ-e adab-e fārsi, continues to be published and widely used in schools and universities.

Yusofi’s Bustān also remains to date the most accurate edition of the work. The detailed explanations of poems made it especially popular in schools and universities. Ḵˇārazmi Publications acquired the right to Bustān and continues to publish new editions of Yusofi’s work. The success of the book led to the introduction of a selection from the Bustān, as Dar ārezu-ye ḵubi o zibāʾi (Gozida-ye Bustān), which was published by Soḵan Publishers in 2004 as part of Mirāṯ-e adab-e fārsi series, with an introduction by the editor, entitled “Seyri dar Bustān.” Like other works by Yusofi, Bustān and Golestān were widely received and highly praised by the literary community. There were also some criticisms of his works, most notably in Jaʿfar Moʿayyad Širāzi’s Bāzyāft-e bustānhā-ye Saʿdi (Shiraz, 1998), Reżā Anzābi-nežād’s “Golestān-e Saʿdi,” Kayhān-e farhangi 6/10, Dey 1368 Š./January 1990, pp. 38-39), and Moḥammad Jaʿfar Šariʿat’s “Seyri dar Golestān,” MDAF, 23/3-4, Pāʾiz-Zemestān 1369 Š./Autumn 1990-Winter 1991, pp. 391-415).

Yusofi’s edition of Ḡazalhā was published posthumously in 2006. His style and method of editing classical Persian manuscripts deserve particular mention; except for Laṭāʾef al-ḥekma and Taqwim al-ṣeḥḥa, of which there were only one extant manuscript, in the rest of his works (Qābus-nāma, Bustān, Golestān, Ḡazalhā, and al-Taṣfiya), his method is copy-text editing. He was influenced by Moḥammad Qazvini, the pioneer of critical editing of Persian classical texts in Iran, in that he chose, as a rule, the oldest manuscript as the base copy. Unlike Qazvini, however, Yusofi allowed for personal judgement and, if necessary, would opt for a later manuscript as the base copy (Ḥamidiān, 1982, pp. 35-36).

Literature and literary criticism. Yusofi’s first major book on Persian literature was Farroḵi Sistāni: baḥṯi dar šarḥ-e aḥvāl o ruzgār o šeʿr-e u (A discussion of the life and times and poetry of Farroḵi Sistāni), published in 1962. The 681-page book about the celebrated court poet of Maḥmud b. Sebuktegin, the Ghaznavid ruler, gives an account of the poet’s youth and his contemporaries who were at the service of rulers and kings. It then proceeds to describe in detail the social, political, and cultural milieu of Maḥmud’s reign, a discussion that is indispensable for the final section of the book on Farroḵi’s poetry. Yusofi used a wide range of sources, including Persian classical texts and manuscripts, historical accounts in Persian, Arabic, English, French, and German, and works on literary criticism. In spite of the use of authoritative and wide-ranging sources, the book lacks a comprehensive bibliography (Ḡolāmzāda, p. 32), uncharacteristic of Yusofi’s works. It was chosen by Anjoman-e Ketāb (The Book Society of Iran), as the book of the year on literary research in 1962 (Yarshater, p. 704).

In Didāri bā ahl-e qalam (Visiting the writers; vol. I, 1976, vol. II, 1979), which was published after ʿAbd-al-Ḥosayn Zarrinkub’s Bā kārevān-e ḥolla on major works of Persian poetry (Tehran, 1964), Yusofi introduces twenty major works of Persian prose. Each volume includes ten works. The first volume discusses such classical works as Bayhaqi’s History, the Safar-nāma of Nāṣer-e Ḵosrow, Neẓām-al-Molk’s Siāsat-nāma, and the Golestān of Saʿdi. The second volume deals with more contemporary works, including the Siāḥat-nāma of Ebrāhimbeyk, Čarand parand by Dehḵodā, and the writings of Sadeq Hedayat. Each chapter begins with an introduction of the works of the author in review, followed by the critical analysis of one or more of the author’s works (Qayṣari, 1979, pp. 71-72). Yusofi’s Didāri bā aḥl-e qalam was praised as the first such work on Persian prose (Aḥmadi Birjandi, 1977, p. 269).

Čašma-ye rowšan; didāri bā šāʿerān (The clear fountain: visiting the poets; Figure 2), first published in 1990, is comprised of 72 chapters, each dealing with a selected poem from 70 Persian-speaking poets. It includes poems from the early classical period, such as Rudaki and Ferdowsi, to contemporary works by Fereydun Tavallai, Forugh Farrokhzad, Ahmad Shamlu, and Nader Naderpour. Čašma-ye rowšan secured for itself an outstanding position for a number of reasons; unlike other works on Persian poetry that typically dealt with biographies of poets, Čašma-ye rowšan deals with one poem from each poet (except for Saʿdi and Rumi, from each of whom two poems are selected). Each poem is analyzed in terms of content, form, music, etc. Yusofi’s analytical approach in Čašma-ye rowšan demonstrates his literary knowledge of both classical and contemporary periods. At a time when believers in classical and modern Persian poetry ignored or rejected each other, Čašma-ye rowšan dealt with both (Ḥātami, p. 143) and guided “the discourse on the new poetry away from the polemics of the 1960s” (Karimi-Hakkak, p. 5). Furthermore, it deals with the subject with fairness, emphasizing the essence of art within each genre, rather than other considerations that arise out of bias and prejudice (Dabāši, p. 741).

Translations. Yusofi translated many articles and several books into Persian from French, English, and Arabic. His translations of scholarly works were mainly of literature and literary criticism and included, from French, Henri Massé, Essai sur le Poète Saadi (1919), as Taḥqiq dar bāra-ye Saʿdi (with Moḥammad Ḥassan Mahdavi Ardabili, Tehran, 1985; Figure 3), and from English, Rene Wellek and Austin Warren, Theory of Literature (1956), as Čašmandāzi az adabiyāt o honar (with Moḥammad Taqi Ṣadaqiāni, Tehran, 1991). His translation from English of David Daiches’ Critical Approaches to Literature (1981), as Šivahā-ye naqd-e adabi (with Moḥammad Taqi Ṣadaqiāni, Tehran, 1988), won the book of the year award in the field of translation (Yāḥaqqi, 2009c, p. 229). In fiction, Yusofi’s translations included a novel from French, Gilbert Cesbron’s Mais, moi je vous aimais (1977), as Ammā man šomā rā dust midāštam (with Moḥammad Ḥassan Mahdavi Ardabili, Tehran, 1983). He also translated from Arabic Nezār Qabbāni’s Qeșșati maʿa al-šeʿr (1988), as Dāstān-e man o šeʿr (Tehran, 1979), and Moḥammad M. Badawi’s Moḵtārāt men al-šeʿr al-ʿarabi al-ḥadiṯ (1969), as Gozida-ʾi az šeʿr-e ʿarabi-e moʿāṣer (Tehran, 1990), both with Yusof Ḥosayn Bakkār. Yusofi’s lucid translations are generally accompanied with extensive footnotes, and description of unfamiliar terms and phrases with references to the sources of the authors. As with other Yusofi’s works, his translations were widely reviewed and highly praised. However, his translation of Critical Approaches to Literature was criticized for loose rendering into Persian of technical terms and imprecise footnotes (Ḥosayni, pp. 32-36).

Other works. Yusofi’s earliest work was an illustrated exercise book for first-year elementary Persian (Tamrin-e fārsi barāye kelās-e avval), which he published with three colleagues in 1955 when he was twenty-eight years old. Seemingly insignificant, it nevertheless marks the beginning of his life-long commitment to both teaching and exploring the Persian language.

First published in 1966, his Abu Moslem Sardār-e Ḵorāsān, is a historical research on the popular Iranian character, who had been instrumental in ending the Arab Omayyad rule and bringing the Abbasid Caliphate to power. Despite Abu-Moslem’s popularity, there had never been any scholarly research done on this larger-than-life character. His life story, therefore, was sketchy and shrouded in myths and exaggerations found in such popular accounts as the Abu Moslem-nāma of Abu Ṭāher Ṭarsusi (or Ṭarṭusi), in which Abu Moslem has been turned into “a mythical upholder of right and suppressor of tyranny and injustice (Yusofi, 1983, p. 343). Yusofi’s work remains to date as the sole scholarly historical research done exclusively on Abu Moslem. Based on over 131 sources, it makes use of all available Persian and Arabic primary sources as well as works done by Iranian and European scholars (Yusofi, 1999, pp. 216-27). The book gives a concise, yet detailed account of Abu Moslem’s early days, his rise to power, his role in toppling the Omayyad rule in Iran and installing the Abbasids in power and serving under them, his demise and eventual death under the Abbasids, as well as the later movements that emerged motivated by revenge. The book was also published in 1978 as part of Ketāb-e javānān (Book for the Youth) series under the supervision of Moḥammad ʿAli Eslāmi Nodušan. Yusofi eliminated all the in-text references and scholarly details and moved them to the end of the book. Yet, the heavily researched book that encapsulates a vast range of material in 178 pages, as well as the sheer number of names of people and places attracts mostly serious scholars and not its intended audience, the youth.

Aside from works cited above, Yusofi’s life-long research is also reflected in some 292 articles published in academic journals and encyclopedias, twenty six of them entries contributed to the Encyclopaedia Iranica (see Bibliography). There are also over thirty-six papers in the proceedings of international conferences he attended and lectures he gave at academic gatherings and universities over the years (Farḵonda payām, pp. X-XXII; Yāḥaqqi, ed., 2009c, pp. 230-66, 271-74).

Yusofi’s articles ranged from the purely technical regarding manuscripts to inspirational pieces on Persian music and literature. Many of his articles and papers were later published as books. Nāma-ye aḥl-e Ḵorāsān (1967), the first of such books, included sixteen articles on poetry and literature, manuscripts, travel accounts, translations, and book reviews. It was followed by Barghāʾi dar āḡuš-e bād in two volumes in 1977, which included 65 articles (28 in vol. I, and 37 in vol. II). In the first volume, eight articles deal with aspects of Ferdowsi’s Šāh-nāma, thirteen are reviews of classical Persian poetry and prose, and the rest are commentaries on the works of more contemporary figures such as Malek al-šoʿrāʾ Bahār, Żabiḥ-Allah Ṣafā, and Sadeq Chubak. The articles offer a wealth of information on the sources Yusofi consulted in formulating his concepts, and the criteria he took into consideration while commenting on literary texts. The second volume includes articles on Persian language and culture, history, book reviews, and travel diaries of the author. Kāḡaḏ-e zar: yāddāšthā-yi dar adab o tāriḵ was first published in 1984. It includes fourteen articles on literature and history, a number of which had been published before (Yusofi, 2007b, pp. 7-8). Seven of these articles were entries in the Encyclopedia of Iran and Islam (Dāneš-nāma-ye Irān va Eslām), and the Encyclopædia Iranica, both edited by Ehsan Yarshater. Yāddāšthā; majmuʿa-ye maqālāt was the fourth in the collection of articles series that was published in 1991, shortly after the author’s death. It is a collection of twenty-five short articles on a variety of topics ranging from the music of the Iranian vocalist Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Banān to theories on poetry, most of which appeared for the first time in this collection (Yusofi, 1991b, p. 5). Finally in these collections, there is Yāddāšthāʾi dar zamina-ye farḥang o tāriḵ (Tehran, 1992), which is Persian translation of entries that Yusofi wrote for the Encyclopaedia Iranica. Yusofi had high regards for the Encyclopaedia Iranica and its editor and contributed twenty-six entries to it, most of them in the final years of his life.

Throughout his career as a university professor, Yusofi emphasized the importance of methodology in doing research and also of evaluating sources. The graduate courses he offered on research and methodology were most useful to students who were about to embark on writing their dissertations. His notes on two of the mentioned courses were published posthumously in Yāddāšthā-ye dars-e manābeʿ o raveš-e taḥqiq dar adabiyāt o farhang-e Irān, va tāriḵ-e taṣavvof-e Eslāmi (2009).

The breadth of Yusofi’s knowledge and his wide ranging interests gave his prose a colorful and vivid character. His prose is flowing and refined. It is graceful and rich. He noted the great potential of the Persian language in producing new vocabulary through its suffixes, prefixes, and compounds. In “Zabān-e Ferdowsi o zabān-e mā” (Yusofi, MDAF 10/4, 1975, pp. 545-64), he demonstrated how Ferdowsi made extensive use of this potential in Persian language for creating new vocabulary and in expressing new concepts and ideas. His numerous articles on writing in and translating into Persian demonstrate his passion for elegant prose and were frequently praised by masters of Persian fiction and the literary community (Jamālzāda, 1961, p. 987; Ḥamidiān, 1985, pp. 30-33). Jalāl Matini included four of Yusofi’s pieces in his book Nemunahāʾi az naṭr-e faṣiḥ-e fārsi-e moʿāṣer (Examples of eloquent contemporary Persian prose, pp. 296-98).

Yusofi also wrote poems, but he chose not to publish them. His poems, mostly in the form of eḵvāniyāt, are to be found in literary journals and jongs of other literary figures with whom he had corresponded.

Yusofi was a member of a number of national and international literary and academic societies. He met, consulted with, and/or collaborated with world-renowned scholars, including Ehsan Yarshater, Frantz Taeschner, Henri Massé, Emile Benveniste, Henri Laoust, Jean Aubin, Vladimi Minorsky, Harold Walter Bailey, Reuben Levy, Arthur John Arbery, Anne K. S. Lambton, Bernard Lewis, Meredith Owens, James D. Pearson, and Hubert Darke (Ḡolāmzāda, 2006, p. 287). Yusofi took part in numerous international conferences, and was invited to present lectures at such universities as Columbia, Harvard, and Princeton (see ʿAli Dehbāši ed., Yādgār-nāma-ye Ostād Doktor Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi, Kelk 8, Ābān, 1369 Š./November 1990).

Ultimately, Yusofi was a teacher. “The most beautiful moments of my life,” he reminisced in the final months of his life, “were those during which I was engaged in teaching. In a class environment, I tend to forget everything else” (Yusofi, 2009, pp. 9-11). He had an interesting philosophy in teaching; he believed in the necessity of loving to teach, loving the students like one’s own children, being sincere and truthful with them, and striving to be an inspiration and a spiritual pillar to them. He believed that without research, teaching would be dull and ineffective. Yet, it went beyond mere transference of knowledge to the students; teaching, he believed, was instrumental in forming the students’ personalities, shaping their values, and building their characters.

Gholam-Hosayn Yusofi had a relatively short life, but had a lasting influence on several generations of students and scholars. He is remembered as an inspirational figure, an exemplary teacher, an outstanding scholar, a literary critic, and a fine human being (Āšuri, 1991, pp. 171-72; Aḥmadi-Birjandi, 1991, pp. 6-8; Atābaki, 1992, pp. 48-60). That his life and scholarship has been the subject of several books and over seventy articles is testimony to his lasting influence on intellectual life in Iran. The books dedicated to Yusofi include: Arj-nāma-ye Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi: zendegi, āṯār, jostārhā-ye matn-pažuhi (ed., Moḥammad Jaʿfar Yāḥaqqi, Tehran, 2009a); Farḵonda-payām: yādgār-nāma-ye Ostād Doctor Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi, (Mashad, 1981); Zendegi-nāma va ḵadamāt-e ʿelmi o farhangi-e Ostād-e dānā o pažuhešgar-e tavānā, šādravān Doktor Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi (ed., Omid Qanbari, Tehran, 2004).

Several journals have also dedicated special issues to Yusofi, including, Binālud 1/4-5 (Ābān-Āḏar 1372 Š./November-December 1993); Iranshenasi 2/4 (Zemestān 1369 Š./Winter 1991); Ketāb-e Pāž 3 (Āḏar 1370 Š./December 1991); Ḵāvarān 2 (Dey 1369 Š./January 1991); Kelk 8 (Ābān, 1369 Š./November, 1990); MDAF (Majalla-ye dāneškada-ye adabiyāt va ʿolum-e ensāni-e dānešgāh-e Ferdowsi, 23/3-4, Pāʾiz-Zemestān 1369 Š./Autumn-Winter 1990-1991; MDAF 31/3-4 (Pāʾiz-Zemestān 1377 Š./Autumn 1998-Winter 1999); Rošd: āmuzeš-e zabān o adab-e Fārsi 6/26 (Pāʾiz 1370 Š./Autumn 1991).

For a comprehensive list of articles on Yusofi’s life and scholarship, see Ḡolāmzāda, 2006, pp. 295-300; see also “Fehrest-e maqālāt-e montašer šoda darbāra-ye zendegi va šaḵṣiyat-e ʿelmi-e Doktor Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi,” in Yāḥaqqi, ed., 2009a, pp. 93-100.

 

Bibliography:

1. Selected Publications of Gholam-Hosayn Yusofi.

Books:

Tamrin-e fārsi barāye kelās-e avval, (with ʿAbd-al-Ḥosayn Pāzuki, Akbar Qandehāriān, Ḡolām-Reżā Qahremān), Mashad, 1954; 2nd ed., Mashad, 1955.

Farroḵi Sistāni: baḥṯi dar aḥvāl o ruzgār o šeʿr-e u, Mashad, 1962; 3rd ed., Tehran, 1994.

Abu-Moslem, Sardār-e Ḵorāsān, Tehran, 1966; 3rd ed., Tehran, 1999.

Nāma-ye ahl-e Ḵorāsān, Tehran, 1967.

Didāri bā ahl-e qalam: dar bāra-ye bist ketāb-e naṯr-e fārsi, Mashad, vol. I, 1976; 2nd ed., Tehran, 1978; vol. II, Mashad, 1978-9; 2 vols., Tehran, 1988; 7th ed., Tehran, 2001; also in Braille, Tehran, 1998.

Barghāʾi dar āḡuš-e bād: majmuʿaʾ-i az maqālahā, pažuhešhā, naqdhā o yāddāšthā, 2 vols. Tehran, 1977; 4th ed., Tehran, 2007.

Yādgār-nāma-ye Ḥabib Yaḡmāʾi (ed., with Moḥammad Ebrāhim Bāstāni Pārizi and Iraj Afšār), Tehran, 1977.

Kāḡaḏ-e zar: yaddāšthāʾi dar bāb-e adab o tāriḵ, Tehran, 1984; 2nd ed., Tehran, 2007.

Čašma-ye rowšan: didāri bā šaʿerān, Tehran, 1990; 11th ed., 2009.

Yāddašthā: majmuʿa-ye maqālāt, Tehran, 1991.

Yāddāšthāʾi dar zamina-ye farhang o tāriḵ, Tehran, 1992.

Yāddāšthā-ye dars-e manābeʿ o raveš-e taḥqiq dar adabiyāt o farhang-e Irān va tāriḵ-e taṣavvof-e Eslāmi, ed., Farhād ʿAṭāʾi, Tehran, 2009.

Critical edition of classical texts:

Qābus-nāma, Tehran, 1966; 12th ed., Tehran, 2003.

Montaḵab-e Qābus-nāma, Tehran, 1968.

al-Taṣfia fi aḥvāl al-motaṣawwefa (Sufi-nāma) of Qoṯb-al-Din Amir-Manṣur Moẓaffar b. Ardešir ʿAbbādi, Tehran, 1968; 2nd ed., Tehran, 1987.

Tarjoma-ye taqwim al-ṣeḥḥa (critical edition of a translation of Ebn Boṭlān’s book into Persian by an unknown author), Tehran, 1971; 3rd ed., Tehran, 2003.

Laṭāʾif al-ḥekma, (Serāj-al-Din Maḥmud Ormavi), Tehran, 1972.

Gozida-ye Qābus-nāma, Tehran, 1974; 14th ed., Tehran, 2010.

Bustān-e Saʿdi, Tehran, 1980; 10th ed., Tehran, 2010.

Molaḵḵaṣ al-loḡāt, (with Moḥammad Dabirsiāqi), Tehran, 1983.

Golestān-e Saʿdi, Tehran, 1989; 9th ed., Tehran, 2010.

Dāmani az gol: gozida-ye Golestān-e Saʿdi, Tehran, 1991, 13th ed., Tehran, 2008.

Dar ārezu-ye ḵubi o zibāʾi: gozida-ye Bustān-e Saʿdi, Tehran, 1991.

Dars-e zendegi: gozida-ye Qābus-nāma, Tehran, 1993; 8th ed., Tehran, 2000.

Ḡazalhā-ye Saʿdi, Tehran, 2006.

Translations into Persian.

From French:

Marcel A. Boisard, L’humanisme de l’Islam (Paris, 1979), as Ensān-dusti dar Eslām (with Moḥammad Ḥassan Mahdavi Ardabili), Tehran, 1983.

Gilbert Cesbron, Mais, moi je vous aimais (Paris, 1977), as Ammā man šomā rā dust midāštam (with Moḥammad Ḥassan Mahdavi Ardabili), Tehran, 1983.

Henri Massé, Essai sur le Poète Saadi (Paris, 1919), as Taḥqiq dar bāra-ye Saʿdi (with Moḥammad Ḥassan Mahdavi Ardabili), Tehran, 1985.

From Arabic:

Nezār Qabbāni, Qeșșati maʿa al-šeʿr (Beirut, 1988), as Dāstān-e man o šeʿr (with Yusof Ḥosayn Bakkār), Tehran, 1979.

Moḥammad Moṣṭafā Badawi, Moḵtārāt men al-šeʾr al- ʿarabi al-ḥadiṯ (1969), as Gozidaʾi az šeʿr-e ʿarabi-e moʿāṣer (with Yusof Ḥosayn Bakkār), Tehran, 1990.

From English:

Critical Approaches to Literature (London and New York, 1981), as Šivahā-ye naqd-e adabi (with Moḥammad Taqi Ṣadaqiāni), Tehran, 1987; 5th ed., Tehran, 2000.

David Daiches, Theory of Literature (New York, 1956), as Čašmandāzi az adabiyāt o honar (with Moḥammad Taqi Ṣadaqiāni), Tehran, 1991.

Encyclopedia entries.

Abu Bakr Ḥaṣiri”, EIr Ⅰ, 1983, pp. 261-62

Abu Bakr Qohestāni”, EIr Ⅰ, 1983, p. 264

Abu Moslem Ḵorāsāni”, EIr Ⅰ, 1983, pp. 341-44

Abu Sahl Ḥamdovi”, EIr Ⅰ, pp. 1983, 369-70

Abu Sahl Lakšan”, EIr Ⅰ, 1983, pp. 371-72

Abu Sahl Zuzani”, EIr Ⅰ, pp. 1983, 373-74

Aḥmad Maymandi”, EIr Ⅰ, 1984, pp. 650-52

“Andarz-nāma”, EIr ⅠⅠ, pp. 23-24

Bābak Ḵorrami”, EIr ⅠⅠ, 1988, pp. 299-306

Badd”, EIr ⅠⅠ, p. 366

Bāḡ-e Piruzi”, EIr ⅠⅠⅠ, 1988, pp. 401-02

Bahār”, EIr ⅠⅠⅠ, pp. 1988, 475-76

Bayhaqi, Abu al-Fażl”, EIr ⅠⅠⅠ, 1988, pp. 889-94

Bāyrāmšāh”, EIr VI, 1988, p. 5

Behāfarid”, EIr Ⅳ, 1989, pp. 88-90

Belqis”, EIr Ⅳ, pp. 1989, 129-30

Bistgāni”, EIr Ⅳ, pp. 1989, 306-07

Čāhārbāḡ-e Mashhad”, EIr Ⅳ, 1989, pp. 626-27

Čahār Maqāla”, EIr Ⅳ, 1989, pp. 621-23

Calligraphy”, EIr Ⅳ, 1989, pp. 680-718

Čarand-Parand”, EIr Ⅴ, 1990, pp. 792-95

Čāvuš”, EIr V, 1990, pp.101-02

Čehel ṭuṭi”, EIr V, 1990, pp. 117-18

Čegel”, EIr V, 1990, p. 109

Historical Lexicon of Persian Clothing EIr V, pp. 856-65

Čub ḵaṭṭ”, EIr VI, 1993, p. 449

Yusofi also contributed the entry “Kāšefi” to the Encyclopedia of Islam (EI², Ⅳ, 1978, pp. 704-5.

2. References.

ʿAli Dehbāši, ed., Yādgār-nāma-ye Ostād Doktor Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi, Kelk, 8, Ābān 1369 Š./November 1990, pp. 3-183.

Idem, “Sāl-šomār-e zendagi-e Doktor Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi,” Kelk, 8, Ābān 1369 Š./November 1990, p. 7.

Dāriyuš Āšuri, “Yād-e raftagān: Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi,” Iran Nameh 9/1, Zemestān 1369 Š./Winter 1991, pp. 171-72.

Jaʿfar Āqāyāni Čāvoši, “Barrasi-e enteqādi-ye ketāb-e Taḥqiq dar bāra-ye Saʿdi, aṯar-e Hānri Māse, tarjoma-ye Moḥammad Mahdi Fulādvand,” Āyena-ye mirāṯ 5/1, Tābestān 1381 Š./Summer 2002, pp. 53-58.

Iraj Afšār, Nādera-kārān: sug-nāma-ye nāmvarān-e farhangi o adabi, Moḥammad Nikuya, ed., Tehran, 2004.

Idem, Fehrest-e maqālāt-e fārsi, Tehran, 1961-2004.

Aḥmad Aḥmadi-Birjandi, “Qābus-nāma,” Rāhnemā-ye ketāb, 10/5, Šahrivar 1347 Š./September 1968, pp. 494-98.

Idem, “Laṭāʾif al-ḥikma,” Rāhnemā-ye ketāb, 16/4-6, Tir-Šahrivar 1352 Š./July-September 1973, pp. 249-54.

Idem, “Didāri bā ahl-e qalam,” Rāhnema-ye ketāb, 20/3-4, Ḵordād-Tir 1356 Š./June-July 1977, pp. 268-75.

Idem, “Ostād Doktor Yusofi moḥaqeqi nemuna,” Rošd: āmuzeš-e zabān o adab-e Fārsi, 6/26, Pāʾiz 1370 Š./Autumn 1991, pp. 6-8.

Reżā Anzābi-nežād, “Golestān-e Saʿdi,” Kayhān-e farhangi, 6/10, Dey 1368 Š./January 1990, pp. 28-39.

Idem, “Kand-o-kāv dar moškelāt-e motun-e adabi o ʿelmi,” MDAF 30/3-4, Pāʾiz-Zemestān 1377 Š./Autumn 1998-Winter 1999, pp. 569-71.

Parviz Atābaki, “Az tabār-e ādamiyat,” Ketāb-e Pāž 4, 1371 Š./1992, pp. 48-60.

Moḥammad Taqi Dāneš-pažuh, “Laṭāʾif al-ḥikmat al-ʿEzziya,” Rāhnemā-ye ketāb 16/7-9, Mehr-Āḏar, 1352 Š./October-December, 1973, pp. 536-37.

Ḥamid Dabāši, “Čašma-ye rowšan-e Doktor Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi,” Iranshenasi 2/4, Zemestān 1369 Š./Winter 1990, pp. 730-41.

J. T. P. de Bruijn, “KAYKĀVUS B. ESKANDAR,” in EIr., online ed., 2010.

ʿAli Dehbāši, ed., “Sāl-šomār-e zendegi-e Doktor Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi,” in Yādgār-nāma-ye Ostād Doktor Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi, Kelk 8, Ābān 1369 Š./November 1990.

Farḵonda-payām: yādgār-nāma-ye Ostād Doctor Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi, Mashad, 1981.

Dāvud Ḡolāmzāda, “Didāri bā čašma-ye rowšan: zendegi, āṯār, ārāʾ va andišahā-ye šādravān Doktor Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi,” MA. thesis, Ferdowsi University, 2006.

Saʿid Ḥamidiān, “Naqd-e Kāḡaḏ-e zar,” Našr-e dāneš, 6/1, Āḏar-Dey 1364 Š./December 1985-January 1986, pp. 30-33.

Idem, “Ḥosn-e ruz-afzun-e Bustān,” Našr-e dāneš 2/4, Ḵordād-Tir 1361 Š./June-July 1982, pp. 32-49.

Kāvus Ḥasanli, Farhang-e Ṣaʿdi-pažuhi, Shiraz, 2001.

Idem, “Kāri nima-tamām az mardi tamām,” in Yāḥaqqi, ed., 2009a, pp. 277-87.

Ḥasan Ḥātami, “Šegerd-e šegarf-e Ostād Yusofi,” Kelk 8, Ābān 1369 Š./November 1990, pp. 143-45.

Manṣur Ḥešmat Moʾayyad, “Kāḡaḏ-e zar,” Iran Nameh 3/4, Tābestān 1364 Š./Summer 1985 , pp. 733-38)

Ṣāleḥ Ḥosayni, “Nedā-ye āḡāz,” Našr-e dāneš 46, Ḵordād-Tir 1367 Š./June-July 1988, pp. 32-36.

Moḥammad ʿAli Jamāl-zāda, “Nāma ba modir-e majalla-ye Rāhnema-ye ketāb,” Rāhnemā-ye ketāb, 4/10, Dey 1340 Š./January 1962, p. 987.

Edward Joseph, “Bongāh-e tarjoma va našr-e ketāb,” in EIr. IV, 1989, pp. 351-55.

ʿAziz-Allāh Jovayni, “Qābus-nāma,” Rāhnemā-ye ketāb 14/9-12, Āḏar-Dey 1350 Š./December 1971-January 1972, pp. 802-9.

Idem, “Naqdi bar Taṣfia fi aḥwāl- al-moteṣawwifa,” MDAT, 23/3, Pāʾiz 1355 Š./Autumn 1976, pp. 232-44.

Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, Recasting Persian Poetry: Scenarios of Poetic Modernity in Iran, Salt Lake City, 1995.

Ḥosayn Ḵadiv-jam, “Tarjoma-ye taqwim al-ṣiḥḥa,” Soḵan 21/5, Āḏar 1350 Š./December 1971, pp. 549-50.

Franklin Lewis, “Golestān-e Saʿdi,” in EIr. XI, 2002, pp. 79-86.

Jalāl Matini ed., Nemunahāʾi az naṭr-e faṣiḥ-e fārsi-e moʿāṣer, Tehran, 1979.

Jaʿfar Moʾayyad Širāzi, Bāzyāft-e bustānhā-ye Saʿdi, Shiraz, 1998.

Maḥmud Nāẓerānpur, apud Yāḥaqqi, ed., 2009a, pp. 207-12.

Moḥammad Nikmaneš, “Naqd o naẓari bar šarḥ o taṣḥiḥ-e abyāti az Bustān-e Saʿdi,” Pažuhešhā-ye adabi, 1/3, Bahār 1383 Š./Spring 2004, pp. 103-13.

Mahdoḵt Purḵāleqi-Čatrudi, “Dowrān-e tars o ʿešq,” Zendegi-nāma va ḵadamāt-e ʿelmi o farhangi-ye

Ostād-e dānā o pažuhešgar-e tavānā, Doktor Ḡolāmhosayn Yusofi, Tehran, 2004.

Ebrāhim Qayṣari, “Didāri bā ahl-e qalam,” Āyanda 5/1-3, Bahār 1358 Š./Spring 1979, pp. 70-85.

Moḥammad Javād Šariʿat, “Seyri dar Golestān,” MDAF 22/3-4, Pāʾiz-Zemestān 1369 Š./Autumn 1990-Winter 1991, pp. 391-415.

Moḥammad Jaʿfar Yāḥaqqi, “Dāstān-e man o šeʿr,” Rāhnemā-ye ketāb 21/1-2, Farvardin-Ordibehešt 1355 Š./April-May 1976, pp. 51-57.

Idem, “Mā ān šaqāyeqim ka bā dāḡ zāda-im,” Kelk 11-12, Bahman-Esfand 1369 Š./February-March 1991, pp. 347-53.

Idem, ed., Arj-nāma-ye Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi: zendagi, āṯār, jostārhā-ye matn-pažuhi, Tehran, 2009a.

Idem, “Zendegi-nāma-ye Doktor Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi,” 2009b, in idem, ed., 2009a, pp. 7-21.

Idem, “Kār-nāma-ye ʿelmi o āmuzeši-e Doktor Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi,” 2009c, in idem, ed., 2009a, pp. 225-74.

Ehsan Yarshater, “Ba yād-e dust,” Iranshenasi 2/4, Zemestān 1369 Š./Winter 1991, pp. 700-707.

Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Yusofi, “Yādi az moʿallemi bozorgvār,” Barghāʾi dar āḡuš-e bād: majmuʿaʾ-i az maqālahā, pažuhešhā, naqdhā o yāddāšthā, 2 vols., Mashad, 2007a, pp. 821-26.

Idem, Kāḡaḏ-e zar: yaddāšthāʾi dar bāb-e adab o tāriḵ, Tehran, 1984; 2nd ed., Tehran, 2007b.

Idem, “Āvāz-e Banān,” Kelk, 11-12, 1991a, pp. 43-47.

Idem, Yāddašthā: majmuʿa-ye maqālāt, Tehran, 1991b.

(Farhad Atai)

Originally Published: January 1, 2000

Last Updated: June 28, 2013