LOVE IN A PERSIAN MINIATURE: STORIES FROM RUMI (MOLAVI) AND NIZAMI
STORYTELLER: Ariel Balevi
FEBRUARY 14, 2010 from 2-4PM at St. Mary's United Church , 85 Church Street South, ST. MARYS , ONTARIO
Tickets $15 available for reserve via email events@stmarysstory telling.org
Love as a theme has been explored countless times by the great poets of classical Persian literature. The 12th century poet Nizami and the 13th century poet Rumi (Molavi) respectively explore love in its worldly and mystical aspects. Yet neither poet separate these two aspects but rather they are evoked together, every manifestation of love in the world taken as a mirror reflection of the divine.
Both poets have used narrative to evoke love, particularly in two works considered masterpieces of Persian literature which have been illustrated numerous times throughout the centuries in Persian minature painting :the Masnavi and the Haft Paykar.
The Masnavi is one of the longest works of Rumi, demonstrating the great poet's skill as a magical storyteller. It has inspired countless poets and visiual artists throughout the centuries as well as many contemporary novelists and poets. The Masnavi is an intricate tapestry of stories and stories within stories, some as short as a few verses, which Rumi used in his teachings. These stories however are not merely one dimensional moral tales but rather stories open to a multitude of interpretations depending on each listener in each stage of life.
The Haft Paykar is considered by many to be Nizami's masterpiece among his set of five verse romances known as the Khamseh. The romance tells the story of a king of Ancient Iran, Bahram Gur and his marriage to seven princesses, each from a different realm. For the seven princesses he builds a palace of seven pavilions, each with its own colour, each dedicated to one of the planets. When the palace is completed, the king then visits each pavilion where one of the princesses tells him a story that teaches him about love and about himself.
The romance at once exploits a complex network of colour and planetary symbolism, as well as implicitly celebrating cultural diversity in the various points of view which each princess bring to the stories they choose to tell. In each of the pavilion stories is unveiled some aspects of the complexities of love. Yet at the same time the romance uses each of the seven pavilion stories as an episode in the frame story of king's own journey of self-discovery through the seven pavilions
In the first part of the afternoon,a few stories will be told from the Masnavi, while the second part will be taken up with some of the pavilion stories from the Haft Paykar.
For more information:
Email: events@stmarysstory telling.org
Phone: 519-229-6468
Mailing Address
Carol McLeod
Festival Coordinator
St. Marys Storytelling Inc.
2481 Perth Road 163
RR #1,
St. Marys, Ontario
N4X 1C4
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