Nima Yushij

Nima Yushij, ‘Ali Isfandiyari (1896-1960), son of Ibrahim Khan Nuri. A poet with the nom de plume Nima, born in Yush, a village in the district of Nur, Mazandaran, in the Alburz mountains. He learned to read and write in his birth place from the Mulla of the village. He went to Tehran at the age of 11 where he rented a house beside the Dar al-Shifa’ School, opposite the Shah Mosque, a center of constitutionalist activities. He first attended the Hayat-i Jawid primary school, but after a while he went to the Saint Louis Catholic School. Encouraged by a good tempered teacher by the name of Nizam Vafa, he composed poetry and dedicated his long poem Afsana to his teacher. Nima composed the poem Ay Shab wa Afsana in 1921 and published it in the Qarn-i Bistum, a newspaper published by Mirzada ‘Ishqi which was later published by Muhammad Ziya’ Hashtrudi together with a selection of Afsana and some other poems by Nima in a selection of poetry entitled Muntakhabat-i Ash’ar which enraged some traditionalist poets. He published his small collection of poetry entitled Khaniwada-yi Sarbaz in 1926 and married ‘Aliya Jahangiri, a niece of Jahangir Khan Surisrafil in the same year. Accompanied by his wife, he taught in schools in cities in the north of Iran. He went to Astara in 1930 where he taught Persian literature at the Hakim Nizami High School until 1932. He returned to his hometown and later settled in Tehran in 1935 where he taught Persian literature at the Higher Technical School. He joined the editorial board of the Musiqi journal in 1938 engaging himself in journalistic activities with Sadiq Hidayat, ‘Abd al-Husayn Nushin, and Muhammad Ziya’ Hashtrudi. He published two poems, Ghurab and Quqnus and a long article, Arzish-i Ihsasat dar Zindigi-yi Hunarpishagan (The Value of Feelings in the Careers of the Artists) in the same year. He did not have a permanent job until 1947 until he found employment at the Publication Bureau of the Education Ministry, a position which he held till his last years. His duties included the review of and commenting on the plays and film scripts submitted to the bureau. His administrative career came to an end in 1947. He also attended the conference of Iranian Writers and Poets held in August 1946 which was attended by about 60 poets, though only four of them were inclined towards the modern poetical style and appreciated Nima’s style. In the conference, Nima recited his poems, Ay Adamha (O Men!) and Madari wa Pisari (A Mother and a Son), which were welcomed and critiqued by the audience. Notwithstanding some opposition, Nima was welcomed by litterateurs and traditionalists and thus Nima’s poetical style was well received. In his poetry, Nima presents a novel view of nature and the world. Further, his social and critical views bear significance. He gained further experience in his poetical career under Reza Shah, a period which he terms as a period of hardship and pressure. He also composed symbolic and critical poems which were further complicated. He introduced a new style in Persian poetry and he is regarded as an avant-garde of ‘modern poetry’. The majority of his poems approach folk literature and some of his poems, entitled Ruja, have been composed in his mother tongue, Tabari. Although he composed his early poetry in prosodic meters, but they are imbued with novel themes and poetic imagination. He introduced in 1937 a novel form to Persian poetry which was quite different from traditional poetry. He was entitled the father of modern poetry for his novel form and method. His works fall into different categories: his poetry; his numerous articles contributed to the periodicals; his letters, the majority of which are addressed to his friends and like-minded individuals, in some of which he presents critiques of his social milieu and poetry. Some of these letters were addressed to his teacher, Nizam Vafa. He contracted pneumonia late in life in the severe cold climate of his residence in Yush. He traveled to Tehran for medical treatment, but he died of that ailment in Tehran where he was laid to rest. He had requested in his will to bury him in Yush. Consequently, his remains were transported in 1993 to the court yard of the home which was his birth place. In his poetical career, besides violating some traditional principles and forms, he had profound impacts on poetical forms, even in the traditional form of ghazal to the extent that some critiques maintain that ghazals written after Nima and were more developed. He is not unknown to Europeans, particularly to the Francophone audience. Some Iranians and many French orientalists rendered his poems into French and critiqued them. Distinguished critiques, like Hasan Hunarmandi, Roger Lescot, Machalski, and Bausani, who worked in the field of comparative literature maintained that since Nima had been acquainted with the French language, he was significantly influenced by French poetry and thereby by European poetry. According to them, the formation of the Nima style of vers blanc was influenced by the works of symbolists like Verlaine, Rimbaud, and particularly Mallarme. Nima combined the poetics of Mallarme, an advocate of prosody and rhyme, with the revolutionary views of Rimbaud, a supporter of absolute poetic freedom, and introduced his blanc vers to Persian literature. Nima imbued the ordinary words with novel meanings, different from their common meanings and similar to Mallarme, he accorded the purest meanings to primitive words and defined poetry as complete words and a praise of the wondrous power of words. Nima placed particular emphasis on poetic meter, regarding it as a suitable cover for the meanings and feelings expressed by the poet. His collections of poetry include: Qissa-yi Rangparida; Manzuma-yi Nima; Khaniwada-yi Sarbaz; Iy Shab; Afsana; Manili; Afsana wa Ruba’iyyat; Makh Ula; Shi’r-i Man; Shahr-i Shab wa Shahr-i Subh; Naqus-i Qalamandaz; Faryad-ha-yi Digar wa ‘Ankabut-i Abi; Ab dar Khabgah-i Murchigan; Dastan-i Manili wa Khana-yi Saryuyli; Marqad Aqa; Kanduha-yi Shikasta; Ahu wa Parandaha; Tuka’i dar Qafas (the last two are stories in verse); his studies and selected letters and notes include: Du Nama; Arzish-i Ihsasat; Ta’rif wa Tabsira wa Yaddasht-ha-yi Digar; Dunya Khana-yi Man Ast; Namaha-yi Nima bih Hamsharash ‘Aliya Jahangir; Harfha-yi Hamsaya; Kashti-yi Tufan.

Az Nima ta Ruzigar-i Ma (579-627); Sukhanwaran-i Nami-yi Mu’asir-i Iran (6/ 3794-3801); Sharh-i Hal-i Rijal-i Mu’asir-i Mazandaran (149-155).