Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Department of Persian Language and Literature, Dezful Branch, Islamic Azad University, Dezful, Iran.
Abstract
In older times, people considered the sky as the father and the earth as the mother, a belief reflected in the works of many poets and writers, including Nāṣer(-e) Ḵosrow. However, Nāṣer(-e) Ḵosrow, in some verses, refers to the sky as the "mother" of humans and, elsewhere, as the "sister of Ahriman," thereby indicating its feminine nature. The reason for this can be traced back to ancient Iranian beliefs (Mithraism and Manichaeism), which influenced the Ismailis, including Nāṣer(-e) Ḵosrow. The following points summarize this connection:
1. When worshiping the god Mithra, Iranians also mentioned the sky. Since Mithra was perceived as female by some, they likely considered the sky feminine due to its proximity to Mithra.
2. Iranians believed that the essence of the sky was made of stone; an essence from which Mithra emerged. For the followers of Mithraism, this essence was perceived as female, and thus, a maternal aspect was attributed to it. This belief was later reflected in literary texts such as the Divan of Nāṣer(-e) Ḵosrow.
3. In Nāṣer(-e) Ḵosrow's writings, the feminine sky is equated with Āz ("Avarice"). In Manichaeism, the sky is said to have been formed from the bodies of demons, whose evil mother is Āz, considered to be feminine. Thus, in a Manichaean text, we read that Āz fell from the sky onto the dry and wet, causing suffering in existence. Therefore, Nāṣer(-e) Ḵosrow's depiction of the sky as a mother on one hand and as evil-hearted on the other may stem from this Manichaean perspective. Just as when he refers to the sky (falak) as the sister of Ahriman, it harks back to the Manichaean view of Āz. That is to say, in the same way that in Manichaean texts, the feminine Āz is portrayed as a separate evil principle
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