Hajjaj bin Yusuf under Saadi's Blade An Anecdote from Bostan and A Reflection upon Its Historical Roots

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Professor of Shiraz University

10.29252/kavosh.2023.19325.3343

Abstract

In the first chapter of Bostan, there is an anecdote "a good man" that did not revere Hajjaj Yusuf. The context of the story indicates that Saadi depicted a historical event. Except for the name of Hajjaj, other persons and parts of the story are shrouded in mystery. The conversation between Hajjaj and the good man,is a trace through which the accidents of Hajjaj's life can be delved into to figure out more about the verdict of murder. Hajjaj is one of the brutal Umayyad agents who ruled the vast territory of Iraq and the east of the Umayyad caliphate for at least twenty years(from about 75 to 95 AH) with uncontrolled violence and was the leader in suppressing all anti-Umayyad movements during this period. From the historical evidence and their harmony with the elements of the story, including the debate between Hajjaj and Saeed bin Jubeir, the great anger of the caliphate against him and the order to arrest him in Mecca and to transfer him to Kufa, as well as his murder by the order of Hajaj, it follows that the "good man" of the story is Saeed Bin Jubeir, one of the famous Tabeein. Saadi's poetic manipulations in the layers of narration, Saeed's laughter and crying at the last breath, and the fact that the murder of none of the convicts was not accompanied by the prelude to the debate, show that replacing the "good man" with Saeed bin Jubeir in the Sheikh's story is not unfounded

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Journal of Kavoshnameh in Persian Language and Literature

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 07 October 2023

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