The Reflection of Iranian Educational Literature on the West-Eastern Divan of Goethe

Abstract

Educational literature is one of the widest and commonest literary genres in the Persian literature. Writer’s purpose within this literary genre is educating and teaching, i.e. teaching science, ethics, art and way of life. The extension of the literary genre in Iranian literature is obvious in a way that majority of poets and writers have included ethnic matters in their works. There are many ethnic exhortations and maxims in Ferdowsi, Sanai, Attar, Nizami, Sa’di, Movlavi and Hafez’s works, which satisfy each insightful human’s needs. Goethe, the great German poet, took the lead over others in using this rich source of the Persian literature. His being impressed by Hafez’s poems in his “West-Eastern Divan” is evidence for the claim. In his “Book of Excommunication” and “Book of Wisdom”. There are such themes as the oppression of the world, the transience of pleasure, easiness against time, grasping our opportunity, being hopeful, truthfulness in good deeds, the wise’s not involving in dispute with the ignorant, reaping our good deeds’ reward in all times and not becoming an oppressor. In comparison with some poems of Hafez, Sa’di and Ferdowsi we reach a conclusion that Goethe has been impressed by the Orient culture and literature therefore in some of his poems it can be felt brightly that these are pure translations of Hafez or Sa’di’s poems.