Mahsati
Mehseti Ganjavi (Template:Lang-fa;Template:Lang-az),
(1089[1] Ganja—after 1159[1], was a 12th century Persian poetess. Mehseti (مهستی) is a compound of two words "Maah" (Moon) and "Sati" (Lady)[2] and the name appears in the works of Saadi, Nizami and Sanai[3]
As an eminent poetess, she was composer of quatrains (ruba'is).Originated from Ganja, she was said to have associated with both Omar Khayyám and Nizami. She is also said to have been a companion of Sultan Sanjar. Her alleged free way of living and peddled verses have stamped her as a Persian Madame Sans-Gêne. Her purported love affairs are recounted in the works of Jauhari of Bukhara.
No details about her life are documented except that she was born in Ganja and was highly esteemed at the court of sultan Sanjar of the Seljuk dynasty. She is said to have attracted the notice and gained the favor of Sanjar by the following verse, which she extemporized one evening when the King, on going out from his audience-hall to mount his horse, found that a sudden fall of snow had covered the ground.
- For thee hath Heaven saddled Fortune’s steed,
- O, King, and chosen thee from all who lead,
- Now o’er the Earth it spreads a silver sheet
- To guard from mud thy gold-shod charger’s feet*
It is also known that Mahsati was persecuted for her courageous poetry condemning religious obscurantism, fanaticism, and dogmas. Her only works that have come down to us are philosophical and love quatrains (rubaiyat), glorifying the joy of living and the fullness of love.
About 200 works of Mahsati remained. A monument to her was placed in Ganja in 1980.
Example of original work in Persian
ما را به دم تير نگه نتوان داشت
درحجره ی دلگيرنگه نتوان داشت
آنراکه سرزلف چو زنجيــــربود
درخانه به زنجير نگه نتوان داشـت
English translation :
We can't be halted by tip of the arrow
In a melancholic cell
The one whose hair is like a chain [for the lover]
Can't be chained indoor
Notes
- ^ a b Template:Ru icon"Мехсети Гянджеви". Ganca.aznet.org. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
- ^ Dehkhoda dictionary, "Mahsati"
- ^ From Dehkhoda Dictionary: مهستی مهستی . [ م َ س ِ / م َ هَِ ] (اِ مرکب ) مخفف ماه ستی (ستی مخفف عربی سَیِّدَتی ). ماه خانم . ماه بانو. || از نامهای ایرانی : داشت زالی به روستای تکاو مهستی نام دختری و سه گاو. سنائی . ستی و مهستی را بر غزلها شبی صد گنج بخشی در مثلها. نظامی . دختر اندر شکم پسر نشود مهستی را که دل پسر خواهد. سعدی .
References
- Jan Rypka, History of Iranian Literature. Reidel Publishing Company. 1968 OCLC 460598. ISBN 90-277-0143-1
- Edward Brown, A literary History of Persia in Four Volumes. Cambridge university Press 1969, vol. 2, p. 344)
External links
See also
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