Sadiq Sarmad

Sarmad, Sayyid Sadiq (1869-1920), son of Sayyid Muhammad ‘Ali and grandson of Mirza Nasrullah.  Contemporary journalist, poet, and Attorney born to a family of clerics in Tehran. His grandfather, Mirza Nasrullah was a litterateur and mystic. Although he had to leave his formal studies owing to financial straits, but, thanks to his strong will and industry, he later resumed his studies and graduated in law. He served as a secretary to an attorney at the age of 18, but he embarked upon his legal career at the age of 23 and his retentive memory and charismatic character led to his early success, serving at the bar and on its directorate board, chief justice of its disciplinary court, attorney and solicitor of the Astan-i Quds-i Razavi and the royal court. He was also a member of the Eighteenth National Consultative Assembly. In love with literature and poetry in his childhood, he composed poetry at the age of 11 and participated at the sessions held by literary societies, the most important of which was the Iran Literary Society, attended by eminent literary figures, e.g. Vahid Dastgirdi, Shahzada Afsar, Adib al-Saltana Sami’i, Hajj Mirza Yahya Dawlatabadi, Muhammad Husayn Shahriyar, Parsa Tu’isirkani, Parwin I’tisami, Pazhman Bakhtiyari, and Husayn Ukhuwwat. Having published his poetry from the age of 15 in the newspapers and journals appearing in Iran and India, e.g. the Shafaq, the Armaghan, the Nama-yi Sukhanvaran, and the Habl al-Matin, he embarked upon his political career, like many other educated youth, after the Allied occupation of Iran. He established a newspaper, the Sida-yi Iran, which he published, despite numerous closedowns, to 1947 when, after the last closedown, he practically abandoned journalism, though he remained a journalist in his mind and had intimate relations with journalists. He served as the director of ‘Iran and Pakistan Literary Society’ and ‘Iran and Turkey Literary Society’ for a while. He studied the classics and attended literary societies to acquire further literary and historical knowledge. He maintained that poetic themes should be innovative and reflect the language of the society; nonetheless, he strictly opposed the modern style of poetry termed as Nima’i in which the classical prosody was ignored. He maintained that poetry is essentially following musical notes which would be impossible without taking lexical harmony into account. He was further under the impression that novel themes with elegant compositions and delicate emotions should be employed in prosodic meters. His works include Dara-yi Karavan (1950); Naghma-yi Kamal (1955); Sarv u Sarmad (1962); Divan-i Shi’r (1968). Suffering from cancer, Sarmad traveled to London for medical treatment in March 1960 where he underwent surgical operation and died after his return to Iran in June. 

Shibh-i Khatirat (303)

Sarmad Tehrani, Sayyid Sadiq (1907-1960), son of Sayyid ‘Ali. A poet and journalist hailing from Tehran. Having received his primary and secondary education, he studied law, obtained his BA, and embarked upon his legal career in 1930. He was on the directorate board of the bar association and served as a legal advisor and attorney at law at the royal court and the Astan-i Qus-i Razawi. He obtained the publication license of the Sida-yi Iran Newspaper after August 1941. In September 1943, he traveled to England with some other journalists upon the invitation of the British government and then departed England for France. He accompanied Muhammad Reza Shah, as the poet laureate, to Pakistan and composed qasidas and qit’as commemorating the journey. He died of cancer in Tehran. He made poetical compositions in his childhood and owing to his poetical talent, he soon gained mastery in composing poetry in different forms. He particularly composed masterly qasidas. His works include Dara-yi Karawan; Naghmih-yi Kamal; Sarw u Sarmad; Diwan; Sa’di; Kabutar-i ‘Ilm.

Asar-afarinan (3/ 219); Sukhanvaran-i Nami-yi Mu’asir-i Iran (3/ 1763-1768).