Journal of the stylistic of Persian poem and prose
volume Number 19، number In Volume 3، June 2026 ، issue Number 121

Sultani Kermanshahi’s Imitations of Earlier Poets

Fatemeh Mirzaei , Mohammad Reza Taghieh (Author in Charge), Sadegh Fallahi

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The literary return style in Iran adopted a revivalist approach that sought to imitate the methods of the great poets of earlier centuries. Sultani Kermanshahi is one of the prominent poets of this period in the field of qasida composition. His divan constitutes a rich treasury of poetic responses and imitations of at least eighteen earlier poets. The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the scope, quality, and different levels of his influence from these poets—on linguistic, literary, and intellectual levels—and to examine how tradition and innovation are combined in his divan.

METHODOLOGY: This study employs a descriptive–analytical method based on library resources and manuscript copies of Sultani Kermanshahi’s divan. Through a comparative examination of numerous paired poems (Sultani’s qasidas and the qasidas he imitated), the research analyzes influence across three levels: linguistic, literary, and intellectual.

FINDINGS: Sultani’s influence from earlier poets is extensive and profound at all three levels. At the linguistic level, he carefully reproduces their meters, rhyme schemes, refrains, and syntactic structures. At the literary level, he adopts their imagery, motifs, and rhetorical techniques—from Khāqānī’s complexity to Farrukhī’s simplicity. At the intellectual level, he integrates Nāser‑e Khosrow’s philosophical worldview, Sanā’ī’s mysticism, Farrukhī’s panegyric orientation, and Saʿdī’s emotional richness with Shi‘i thought and the sociocultural needs of the Qajar era.

CONCLUSION: In the process of iqtifāʾ (poetic following), Sultani Kermanshahi does not merely engage in passive repetition or imitation; rather, through a deep understanding of the capacities of Persian poetry, he achieves a creative re‑creation within the framework of tradition. By synthesizing the linguistic, literary, and intellectual dimensions of multiple earlier poets, he emerges not as a mere imitator but as a figure who reconnects the missing links of the qasida tradition and plays a significant role in its continuation and revival during the Qajar period.

Keyword
Imitation , Sultani Kermanshahi , Return literary style , influence , poetic response , earlier poets.