Nūr al-Din 'Abd al-Ramān Jāmī

Persian poet and mystic. Born in Jam in the Khorasan region of eastern Iran, his pen name was named after the place. His father was from Isfahan and worked as a judge in Jam, but moved to Herat in Afghanistan with his young son Jami. Jami studied at the Nizamiya College in Herat, and then furthered his studies in Samarkand. After returning to Herat, he studied under the famous saint Sa'd-ud-Din and entered the path of mysticism, establishing himself as a key figure in the Naqshbandi school in Herat and becoming a leading scholar and poet. In Herat, he was acquainted with the Timurid Sultan, Husayn Bayqarā (reigned 1469-1506) and the famous vizier, Ali-Shir Nava'i (1441-1501), and gained considerable influence, but he did not pursue fame or fortune and instead lived a simple life of poverty. When he ended his great life in Herat, the princes competed to be the first to carry his coffin.

He is known as a great poet who marked the end of the Persian classical literature era. Jami himself described his process of composing poetry as beginning with lyric poems, then odes, quatrains, and finally epics. His representative works are the seven-part epic poem entitled "The Seven Thrones" and the "Jami Collection" consisting of lyric poems and odes. All of the seven parts are based on mysticism, and the first work, "The Golden Chain" (1472), is a work on philosophical, ethical, and religious issues. The second work, "Salaman and Absar" (1480), is a metaphorical romance poem. The third work, "A Gift to the Free People" (1481), is a moral and philosophical poem. The fourth work, "The Beads of the Pious" (1482), is a didactic poem. The fifth work, Yusuf and Zulayha (1483), is the best-known romance of the seven parts. The sixth, Layla and Majnun (1484), is an Arabian tragic love poem. The seventh, The Book of Wisdom of Alexander (1485), is a didactic poem. His works owe much to the legacy of classical poetry, but he is highly regarded for his mystical romances.

His representative prose works are the collection of biographies of mystical saints, "The Breath of Friendship" (1478), and the biography of Persian poets, "The Garden of Spring" (1487). The former features about 600 mystical saints and is noted as a valuable resource on mysticism.

[Tsuneo Kuroyanagi October 19, 2016]

"Persian Poets by Tsuneo Kuroyanagi (1980, Tokyo Shimbun Publishing Bureau)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ペルシアの詩人、神秘主義者。イラン東部ホラサーン地方のジャーム生まれ。筆名はその地にちなんだもの。父はイスファハーン出身で、判事としてジャームの地に勤めたが、幼いジャーミーを連れてアフガニスタンのヘラートに移住。ジャーミーはヘラートのニザーミーヤ学院で学んだのち、サマルカンドでさらに高度の学問を修めた。ヘラート帰還後、著名な聖者サアド・ウッディーンに師事して神秘主義の道に入り、ヘラートにおけるナクシュバンディー派枢要の地歩を築き、指導的学者、詩人として活躍。ヘラートでティームール朝スルタン、フサイン・バイカラーusayn Bāyqarā（在位1469～1506）と、名宰相アリー・シール・ナワーイーAli-Shir Nava'i（1441―1501）の知遇を受け、かなりの勢力を得たが、自らは名利を追わず清貧に甘んじた。ヘラートにおいて偉大な生涯を終えたとき、王子たちが先を競って棺(ひつぎ)を担いだという。

　ペルシア古典文学時代の掉尾(とうび)を飾る大詩人として定評がある。ジャーミー自身、初めに叙情詩、ついで頌詩(しょうし)、四行詩を経て最後に叙事詩をつくったと自らの詩作過程を詠んでいる。代表作は『七つの王座』と題する七部作の長編叙事詩と、叙情詩、頌詩からなる『ジャーミー詩集』。七部作はいずれも神秘主義を基調とし、第一作『黄金の鎖』（1472）は哲学、倫理、宗教問題に関する作品。第二作『サラーマーンとアブサール』（1480）は比喩(ひゆ)ロマンス詩。第三作『自由な民への贈物』（1481）は道徳、哲学詩。第四作『敬虔(けいけん)な者たちの数珠(じゅず)』（1482）は教訓詩。第五作『ユースフとズライハー』（1483）は七部作のなかでもっとも知られるロマンス詩。第六作『ライラーとマジュヌーン』（1484）はアラビアの悲恋詩。第七作『アレクサンダーの英知の書』（1485）は教訓詩である。彼の作品は古典詩の遺産に負うところが多いが、神秘主義手法によるロマンス詩は高く評価されている。

　散文作品の代表作は神秘主義聖者の伝記集『親交の息吹』（1478）とペルシア詩人伝『春の園』（1487）。前者には約600人の神秘主義聖者が登場し、神秘主義の貴重な資料として注目される。

［黒柳恒男　2016年10月19日］

『黒柳恒男著『ペルシアの詩人たち』（1980・東京新聞出版局）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例