Mohammad-Taqi Bahar (; also

romanised In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

as Mohammad-Taqī Bahār; 10 December 1886 in

Mashhad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...

– 22 April 1951 in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

), widely known as Malek osh-Sho'arā () and Malek osh-Sho'arā Bahār ("poet laureate," literally: ''the king of poets''), was a renowned

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian poet, scholar, politician, journalist, historian and Professor of Literature. Although he was a 20th-century poet, his poems are fairly traditional and strongly nationalistic in character. Bahar was father of prominent Iranist, linguist, mythologist and Persian historian Mehrdad Bahar.

Biography

Mohammad-Taqí Bahār was born on 10 December 1886 in the Sarshoor District of

, the capital city of the

Khorasan Province Khorasan ( ; also transcribed as Khurasan, Xorasan and Khorassan), also called Traxiane during Hellenistic and Parthian Empire, Parthian times, was a Provinces of Iran, province in northeastern Iran until September 2004, when it was divided in ...

, north-eastern

. His father was Mohammad Kazem Sabouri, the Poet Laureate of the shrine in Mashhad who held the honorific title of ''Malek o-Sho'arā'' ("King of Poets"), while his mother was a devout woman named Hajjiyeh Sakineh Khanum. Bahār was of Georgian descent on his maternal side. His mother's forebears were Georgian notables who had been captured by the troops of

Abbas Mirza Abbas Mirza (; 26 August 1789 – 25 October 1833) was the Qajar dynasty, Qajar crown prince of Qajar Iran, Iran during the reign of his father Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (). As governor of the vulnerable Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan province, he played ...

during the Russo-Iranian Wars and were taken to mainland Iran, where they eventually converted to Islam. Bahār's paternal great-great-grandfather was Hajj Mohammad-Baqer Kashani, who in turn was the son of Hajj Abd ol-Qader Kharabaf of

Kashan Kashan (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kashan County), Central District of Kashan County, in the northern part of Isfahan province, Isfahan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. History Earlies ...

. Bahār began his primary education when he was three, with his father, Mohammad Kāzem Sabouri, as his

tutor Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

. In addition to his private schooling, Bahār attended one of the traditional schools, ''Maktab Khāneh'', in Mashhad. To enhance his knowledge of

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and Arabic, he further attended the classes of Adib Nai'shābouri, a traditional poet and literary scholar who promoted the style of the poets of Khorasan in the early Islamic era, in the tradition of the so-called ''

bāzgasht-e adabī ''Bazgasht-e adabi'' (; "literary return") is the name of a literary style and movement that emerged in Fath Ali Shah Qajar Rule in 18th-century Iran, which advocated for the return of the Khorasani and Iraqi styles in Persian literature ...

'' (literary regress). It has been said that Bahār knew by heart a very good portion of the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

at a very early age. According to Bahār himself, at seven he read

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

and fully grasped the meaning of

Ferdowsi Abu'l-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi (also Firdawsi, ; 940 – 1019/1025) was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a single poet, and the gre ...

's Epic poems. Bahār composed his first poem at age eight, at which time he also chose the name ''Bahār'', meaning Spring, as his pen name (''takhallos'' in Persian). It is known that Bahār chose this pen name after

Bahār Shirvāni Bahar Shirvani was a 19th-century poet from Shirvan, who was active under Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (), the Qajar shah (king) of Iran. Bahar Shirvani's birth date has been put as 1831, 1835 and 1837. In Tabriz, he served as the secretary of the Fren ...

, a poet and close friend of his father's, after Shirvāni's death. Shirvāni was a renowned poet during

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (; ; 17 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. During his rule there was internal pressure from the people of Iran, as well as external ...

. At 14, Bahār was fluent in Arabic, and later he achieved spoken and written fluency in French. At 18, he lost his father and started to work as a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

preacher and clergy. It was during this time that he composed a long

ode An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...

(''

Qasideh The qaṣīda (also spelled ''qaṣīdah''; plural ''qaṣā’id'') is an ancient Arabic word and form of poetry, often translated as ode. The qasida originated in pre-Islamic Arabic poetry and passed into non-Arabic cultures after the Arab Mus ...

'' in Persian) and sent it to Mozzafar-al-Din Shah who became so deeply impressed by this ode that he immediately appointed Bahār as his Poet Laureate and by

Royal Decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, royal figure, or other relevant authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislative laws, or customary l ...

conferred on him, at the age of 19 (1903), the title of ''Malek o-Sho'arā'' at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashad. At the onset of the

Constitutional Revolution of Iran The Persian Constitutional Revolution (, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911 during the Qajar Iran, Qajar era. The revolution led to the establishment of a Majl ...

(1906–1911), Bahār laid down his position of Poet Laureateship and joined the revolutionary movement for establishing the parliamentary system of democracy in Iran. Bahār became an active member of the Mashhad branch of ''Anjoman-e Sa'ādat'' (Society for Prosperity) that campaigned for establishment of Parliament of Iran (''

Majles (, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning 'sitting room', used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to the Mus ...

''). He published the semi-covert newspaper ''Khorāsān'', in collaboration with Hossein Ardebili, ''Nou-bahār'' (New Spring), and ''Tāzeh-bahār'' (Fresh Spring), both in collaboration with his cousin

Haj Sheikh Ahmad Bahar Ahmad Bahar (1889– 1957) was an Iranian politician, poet, journalist, and farmer. Literary career Bahar was a student of Abdoljavad Adib Neishaboori in Mashad in the field of Persian and Arabic literature. He was a journalist and started his ...

who operated a printing company and who acted as the Senior Editor first in Mashhad and later in

. Bahār published numerous articles in his newspapers in which he passionately exhorted his readers to stand up and help bring about the establishment of a functioning Parliament. He equally forcefully advocated the creation of new and reformed public institutions, a new social and political order and of new forms of expression. After the triumph of the Constitutional Revolution, Bahār was repeatedly elected as a Member of Parliament. In 1918, when

Ahmad Shah Qajar Ahmad Shah Qajar (‎; 21 January 1898 – 21 February 1930) was the List of monarchs of Iran, shah of Iran (Name of Iran, Persia) from 16 July 1909 to 15 December 1925, and the seventh and final ruling member of the Qajar dynasty. Ahmad Shah ...

, the seventh and the last ruler of the

Qajar dynasty The Qajar family (; 1789–1925) was an Iranian royal family founded by Mohammad Khan (), a member of the Qoyunlu clan of the Turkoman-descended Qajar tribe. The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's '' Majlis'', conven ...

, was in power, Bahār reinvented himself: he ceased all his clerical activities and became an entirely new man. At the same time, he together with the writer and poet

Saeed Nafisi Saeed Nafisi (also Naficy) (; June 8, 1895 – November 13, 1966) was an Iranian scholar, fiction writer and poet. He was a prolific writer in Persian. Nafisi was born in Tehran, where he conducted numerous research projects on Iranian culture, l ...

, the poet and historian Gholam-Reza Rashid Yasemi the historian Abbas Eqbāl Ashtiāni, and his talented friend

Abdolhossein Teymourtash Abdolhossein Teymourtash (; 25 September 1883 – 3 October 1933) was an influential Iranian statesman who served as the first minister of court of the Pahlavi dynasty from 1925 to 1932, and is credited with playing a crucial role in laying the ...

founded The Literary Association of the academy (''Anjoman-e Adabi-ye Dāneshkadeh''). The Magazine of the academy (''Majaleh-ye Dāneshkadeh'') was the monthly publication of this Association, in which, in addition to works of prose and poetry, other very informative and useful articles were published, under such diverse titles as "Literary Revolution", "How other nations view us" and "The Literary History of Iran". In fact, this magazine became Bahār's vehicle for publication of the results of his literary researches and introduction of

Western Literature Western literature, also known as European literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, and is shaped by the periods in which they were conceived, with each period containing prominent weste ...

to Iranians. The magazine also played a key role in developing and strengthening the present-day form of Persian Literature. Following establishment of

Tehran University The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

in 1934 (during the reign of

Reza Shah Pahlavi Reza Shah Pahlavi born Reza Khan (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941 and founder of the roughly 53 years old Pahlavi dynasty. Originally a military officer, he became a politician, serving as minister of war an ...

), Bahār became Professor of Persian Literature at the Faculty of Literature of this university. In the course of his tenure as Professor, he dedicated most of his time to writing and editing books on Persian Literature and History. Notable amongst numerous works written and edited by Bahār are: * ''Tārikh-e Sistān'' (History of Sistān), * ''Tārikh-e Mokh'tasar-e Ahzāb-e Siāssi'' (A Concise History of the Political Parties), * ''Sabk Shenāsi'' (Methodology), which concerns the variety of styles and traditions of Persian prose, * ''Moj'malal ol-Tavārikh o val Qesās'' (Concise Histories and Tales), * ''Javāme' ol-Hekāyāt'' (Anthology of Stories), * Two volumes of verse, consisting of his own poems. In 1945, during

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution, which ...

's reign, Bahār served for a short period as the Minister of Culture and Education in the Cabinet of the then Prime Minister

Ahmad Qavam Ahmad Qavam (2 January 1873 – 23 July 1955; ), also known as Qavam os-Saltaneh (), was an Iranian politician who served as Prime Minister of Iran five times. Early life Qavam was born in 1873 to the prominent Iranian Qavam family. His un ...

(also known as Qavam os-Saltaneh). Earlier in the same year he and Ahmad Qavam had created the ''Tiran'' Democratic Party (''Hezb-e Demokrāt-e Tirān''). In the last years of his life, Bahār suffered from

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. He sought medical treatment in

Leysin Leysin is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in the Aigle (district), Aigle district of Switzerland. It is first mentioned around 1231–32 as ''Leissins'', in 1352 as ''Leisins''. Located ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, in a sanatorium, where he stayed between 1947 and 1949. It was not long after his return to Iran that his health quickly deteriorated. He died on 21 April 1951, at his home in

. He is entombed in

Zahir-od-dowleh cemetery Zahir-od-dowleh Cemetery () is located in Darband, close to Tajrish, Shemiran (now a neighbourhood inside Tehran's city limits). It serves as the final resting place for numerous Iranian artists, poets, and musicians. History Ali Khan Zahir ...

in Darband, located in

Shemiran Shemirān (, ) is the capital of Shemiranat County, Tehran Province, Iran, but is actually located just north of the borders of Tehran County along Chamran Expressway and Sadr Expressway and it is the northernmost district of the city of T ...

, northern Tehran.

His poems

Although Bahār was a 20th-century poet, his poems are quite traditional and decidedly patriotic. Many scholars have strongly emphasised and documented that Bahār's style of writing and the beauty of his poetry, in addition to his deep passion for

and his persistent opposition to

fanaticism Fanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal or an obsessive enthusiasm. The political theorist Zachary R. Goldsmith provides a "cluster account" of the concept of fanaticism, identifying ten main attributes that, in various com ...

, have indeed made him one of the greatest cultural icons of modern Iran. Although he worked for some period of time as a clergyman and preacher, his first and foremost passion had always been writing, especially of poetry, as well as carrying out historical researches and teaching. Through his literary magazine, The Magazine of the academy (''Majaleh-ye Dāneshkadeh''), Bahār had a significant impact on the development of modern Persian poetry and literature. One may argue that, to varying degrees, almost all the early advocates of modernism in Persian Poetry and Literature found their inspirations in the new developments and changes that had taken place in

Western literature Western literature, also known as European literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, and is shaped by the periods in which they were conceived, with each period containing prominent weste ...

. Nonetheless, such inspirations would not have easily resulted in changes without the efforts and support of such figures as Bahār, whose literary contributions were, and remain consonant with Iranian culture. In Bahār's collection of poems, one finds poems composed in almost every tradition of Persian Poetry. To name a few, he wrote

Panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of - ' ...

(''Setāyeshi'' or ''Madiheh''),

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

(''Hamāsi''), Patriotic (''Mihaní''),

Heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

and Mystic (''Ramzi'' or ''Sufi'āneh''), Romantic (''Āasheghāneh''), Ethical (''Akhlāghi''),

Didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasises instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is a conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain. ...

(''Āmuzeshi'' or ''Pandi''),

Colloquial Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...

(''Goft-o-gu'í''), and

Satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

(''Tanzi'' or ''Hajvi''). Bahār's Official WebsiteAli Mostafavi, editor, Selected poems from the poetical works of Malek o-Sh'sho'arā Bahār (''Gozideh-ye Divān-e Ash'ār-e Malek o-Sh'sho'arā-ye Bahār''), in Persian, 56 pages, Bahār's Official Website:
pdf
. has made a selection of Bahār's poetry available to the general public, which the interested reader may wish to consult.

The Chained White Beast

"The Chained White Beast" is a poem by Bahar, written in 1922, in which he praises

Damavand Mount Damavand ( ) is a dormant stratovolcano and is the highest peak in Iran and Western Asia, the highest volcano in Asia, and the 3rd highest volcano in the Eastern Hemisphere (after Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Elbrus), at an elevation o ...

, the highest mountain in Iran, and presents it as a symbol of patriotism. The opportunity had come for the nationalists to take the floor and criticise the regime. Bahar's symbol for provoking patriotic upheavals is a reflection of the growth of the notion of nationalism which had been introduced to Iranians only few decades before. Bahar describes Damavand as a beast, and asks it to rise and wipe out injustice, and let the real Iran flourish.

References

Sources

* * * Mohammad-Taqi Bahār's Official Website, in Persian
''Malek o-Sh'sho'arā Bahār''
* Manuchehr Saadat Noury, ''First Iranian scholar who challenged the Islamic fundamentalism'', Persian Journal, 4 June 2006

; his biography

his biography

External links

* ''Malek o-Sh'sho'arā Bahār'', Mohammad-Taqi Bahār's Official Website, in Persian

* Note: At present this website offers the following biographical section also in French

* Ali Mostafavi, editor, Selected poems from the poetical works of Malek o-Sh'sho'arā Bahār (''Gozideh-ye Divān-e Ash'ār-e Malek o-Sh'sho'arā-ye Bahār''), in Persian, 56 pages, Bahār's Official Website
pdf
* ''M.T. Bahār'', Iran Yellow Pages, Iranian Poets

.