Haft Peykar

Haft Peykar
Haft Peykar
by Nizami Ganjavi
	Bahram sees the portraits of the seven beauties. Behzad School, 1479. Nizami Museum of Azerbaijani Literature, Baku
Original title	Haft Peykar
Language	Persian

Haft Peykar (Persian: هفت پیکر Haft Peykar) also known as Bahramnameh (بهرام‌نامه, The Book of Bahram, referring to the Sasanian emperor Bahram V) is a romantic epic by Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi written in 1197. This poem forms one part of his Khamsa.

The original title in Persian Haft Peykar can be translated literally as "Seven Portraits", with the figurative meaning "Seven Beauties". Both translations are meaningful, and the poet doubtless exploited intentionally the ambiguity of the words.^{[clarification needed]} The poem was dedicated to the Ahmadili ruler of Maragheh, Ala-al-Din Korpe Arslan bin Aq-Sonqor.^[1] The poem is a masterpiece of erotic literature, but it is also a profoundly moralistic work.^[1] It is also believed to be an inspired by an earlier Timurid book, the Shahnameh.^[2]

Around the time Haft Peykar was written, there were various ways in which Persian lyric poetry was presented and written.^[3] The style we see in Haft Peykar is one of epic literature, where characters change moods and express complex feelings in heroic tales. Here Nizami's hero is searching for a sort of spiritual satisfaction.^[3]

^ ^a ^b "Haft Peykar" at Encyclopædia Iranica
^ Gray, Basil (1961). Persian Paintings. New York: Skira. pp. 89, 94, 113, 115, 118, 133, 248. ISBN 9780847800803.
^ ^a ^b Grabar, Oleg (2000). Mostly Miniatures: an introduction to Persian painting. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 104–105. ISBN 0691049416.

[Blois-1] "Haft Peykar" at Encyclopædia Iranica

[2] Gray, Basil (1961). Persian Paintings. New York: Skira. pp. 89, 94, 113, 115, 118, 133, 248. ISBN 9780847800803.

[:2-3] Grabar, Oleg (2000). Mostly Miniatures: an introduction to Persian painting. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 104–105. ISBN 0691049416.

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