Namaeh Farhangistan

Namaeh Farhangistan

Khaghani and the historical evolution of cyclic meter in Persian poetry

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Permanent member of Persian Language and Literature Academy
10.22034/nf.2026.556916.1481
Abstract
Based on Abul-Hasan Najafi’s theory, this dealt with the question if the two meters of “Mustaf'alo Mustaf'al Mustaf'alo Mustaf'al” (traditionally scanned as “Maf'ulo Mafα’ilon Maf'ulo mafα’ilon”) and “Mustaf’alon Mafα'el Mustafa’alon Mafα'el” (traditionally scanned as: “Maf'ulo Fα’elαton Maf'ulo Fα’elαton”) are cyclic meters or not? According to Abul-Hasan Najafi's structuralist and synchronic approach, these two meters are cyclic, but within the framework of a diachronic or historical approach, answering this question needs some historical information too. These two meters were current in Persian poetry from the second half of the 5th century AH to the end of the 6th century. The poet, using the optional variation of bicep, changes two short quantities at the middle of the two long meters “Mustaf'alo Mustaf'alo Mustaf'alo Mustaf'al” and “Mustaf’alon Mafα'elo Mustafa’alon Mafα'el” into long ones and produce the two meters of “Mustaf'alo Mustaf'al Mustaf'alo Mustaf'al” and “Mustafa’alon Mafα'el Mustafa’alon Mafα'el” respectively. These two latter meters are called pseudo-cyclic meters here and they are briefly represented as “Mustaf'alo Mustaf'al/” and “Mustaf’alon Mafα'elo/”. The most important feature of any pseudo-cyclic meter is that the last syllable of the first hemistich of each line can never be a super-heavy syllable unless the first syllable of the following hemistich begins with "alef". From the late sixth century onwards, the two pseudo-cyclic meters gradually transformed into cyclic meters of “Mustaf'alo Mustaf'al//” and “Mustaf’alon Mafα'elo//”, i.e., the last syllable of their first hemistich in each line could be a super-heavy syllable without the next syllable having to begin with “alef”. It has also been shown how Khaqani made the greatest contribution to the formation of the above procedure.
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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 28 January 2026

  • Receive Date 02 November 2025
  • Revise Date 26 November 2025
  • Accept Date 03 December 2025