She is very critical of her husband and depicts him in several of her poems as a shallow person offering no respect or love. Her poetry is remarkable for dealing with a wide range of subjects related to women such as pregnancy, miscarriage, and women’s position in a patriarchal society. She was reunited with her son after 26 years. Married against her will at the age of 15 to a man in his forties, Zhale runs away from her husband within two years, leaving behind her son. One example is the work of Zhale Qaem-Maqami (1883-1946), whose poetry is a personal document depicting her life at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century in Iran. Nezami’s significance as a feminist medieval poet becomes evident when we look at other cases of sexual harassment in Persian literature.
Detail of a miniature from a 1431 manuscript. Ibn Salam respects the physical space of his wife Layla and finally dies from frustration. Nezami, the author of this splendid romance, does not allow a marital rape. It was as if he had forgotten this saying: He yearned for union with that moon, Layla. Unaware that, even if he was to offer a treasure,Īs he returned to his native land from his journey, He hurried like the wind to find a solution,
To emphasize the fruitlessness of Ibn Salam’s attempts to win over Layla, she is compared to a lamp and the moon, and her husband to a wind: Nezami gives no answer, but both the negative descriptions of Ibn Salam and the fact that Layla slaps him in this way, exhibit his partiality to the female perspective. Nezami creates much tension in this scene, questioning religious and social norms. The fact that Layla, while married, is in love with another man makes the situation even more poignant. According to Islamic law, Layla is Ibn Salam’s legal wife and has to fulfill the sexual needs of her husband. Nezami broaches a sensitive subject in this episode. Miniature painting from the Majalis al-'Ushshaq (“The Assemblies of the Lovers”), 1590-1600. That your selfish intentions cannot be fulfilled through meĮven if your blade may shed my blood.” Layla and Majnun at school. You will be a fugitive from yourself and from me. She then asks him not to approach her again because she is still deeply in love with Majnun: When her wedded husband Ibn Salam approaches her, Layla slaps him in the face with such force that he falls unconscious to the floor. In this romance, Majnun is madly in love with Layla but her parents reject him and marry her off to a wealthy Arab, against her wishes. One example occurs in the romance of Layla and Majnun, which inspired Eric Clapton to write his best-selling album, usually known by its title number "Layla". Nezami’s work contains several episodes in which women successfully defend themselves against men who sexually harass them. They often teach men a lesson, and if necessary, they even fight men to protect their integrity. In this poem, as in his other epics, women shine both in their moral and physical qualities as well as in their learning. Nezami is the most feminist medieval Persian poet that I know.
MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC ARMY PERIAN GARB HOW TO
The answer that Nezami places in the mouth of the chief is so topical today in the Islamic world that opponents of dress codes use these powerful verses to argue that instead of instructing women how to dress, men should be held responsible for their own behavior. Miniature painting from the Walters manuscript W.602, 1618-1619.
Alexander the Great meets Rushanak, the daughter of Darius. People who cover their faces with a burka, Instead of damaging the faces of people with a burka, When the leader of the tribe hears this from Alexander, he gives the following answer:Ĭertainly, this is not part of our ways in Kipchak. Witnessing the commotion in his army, Alexander hurries to the head of the tribe, asking him to cover the women with veils, believing that the men will be less aroused if the women cover themselves. They cannot restrain themselves and storm towards the women. In his Alexander Romance, Nezami narrates how Alexander’s soldiers, who have not seen a woman for over a year, arrive at the plains of the Kipchak people in Central Asia and encounter beautiful, unveiled women, busy with their daily lives. When I first heard the story, I thought of an anecdote about Alexander the Great, recounted by the Persian poet Nezami from Ganja (d. The behavior of the American producer and studio owner Harvey Weinstein has rightfully generated a chain of reactions about the way certain men treat women. Alexander the Great and the unveiled women
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