Azartash Azarnoush, the narrator of the story of the Arabs’ need for Iranian culture / Kazem Mousavi Bojnourdi

11/16/2021 12:21

Much has been said and written about the late Dr. Azartash Azarnoush in these few days. Despite the fact that for 36 years I have benefited from the intellectual companionship of this unique scientist, who was one of the elders of CGIE, writing something not repetitive, worthy, and proper for this cultured character, was difficult for me.

Much has been said and written about the late Dr. Azartash Azarnoush in these few days. Despite the fact that for 36 years I have benefited from the intellectual companionship of this unique scientist, who was one of the elders of CGIE, writing something not repetitive, worthy, and proper for this cultured character, was difficult for me.

We know that the PhD thesis of Professor Azarnoush at Sorbonne University, Paris was The study and translation of a part of “Tabaqāt al-Shoʻarā” by Ibn Muʻtaz. During his stay in France, he prepared another doctoral thesis, in which he edited the tenth volume of Kharīdat al-qasr wa jarīdat al-ʻsr by Emād al-Din Isfahani, which was considered an encyclopaedia of poetry in Arabic until the time of the author. Emād al-Din Isfahani authored another significant book Named Zubdat al-Nusra wa nukhbat al-ʻasra on the history of the Seljuk dynasty, a sentence of which provided the basis for this note. Emād al-Din Isfahani, when discussing Khawaja Nizam al-Mulk Tusi, quotes Suleiman ibn ʻAbd al-Malik, the Umayyad caliph: “I wonder about the Iranians who ruled for a thousand years without needing us for a moment, while we ruled for a hundred years and were not independent of them for an hour.”

If I want to succinctly summarize the dominant feature of Dr. Azarnoush’s intellectual career in one sentence I should refer to the interpretation of the aforementioned quotation. Dr. Azarnoush attempted to extract from primary Arabic sources, the narrative of the Arabs’ need for Iranian culture and the Iranians’ intellectual independence, and make it available to contemporary and succeeding generations. Hafez recited his wishful narrative to the wind, likewise, Azarnoush properly expressed the narrative of the Arabs’ need for the ancient heritage of Iran to the Iranian people.

Possibly, the words of Sulayman ibn ʻAbd al-Malik raise the question in the minds of the readers how the Muslim Arabs still needed Iranian heritage, despite the overthrow of the Sassanid state and ruling over their entire lands from the Mediterranean to the Amu Darya? Hisham bin ʻAbd al-Malik, another Umayyad caliph, gave the best answer to this question to Khalid bin Abdullah Qasri, the emir of Iraq during his caliphate. Khalid wanted to construct a bridge over the Tigris, which Hisham warned him not to do; “Because the Iranians have not done such a thing before.” This narrative has a significant point: although the Sassanids were defeated by the Arab Muslim conquerors, their governance system still prevails in the courts of the Arab caliphs and was a model for their thought and action. Zahir al-Din Neyshabouri wrote in his book Saljuq-nāmeh about Malek-shah Seljuk: “His descendants were conquerors, but he was a governor. They ascended the throne, and he reigned properly after them. They took the crown, and he became the king.” In fact, the Sassanid rule became the model of governance for most of the Arab and Turkish rulers of Iran for centuries. They established a government based on the Sassanid rule and enjoyed its benefits. It is not a strange claim that the first Arab conquerors followed the footsteps of the Sassanids and only advanced as far as the former Sassanid territories.

The role of the Sassanids was not only prominent in post-Islamic Arabic politics and culture, but also in pre-Islamic Arabic literature. Many of the words and expressions used in pre-Islamic poetry were of Iranian origin (moʻarrab). Dr. Azarnoush demonstrated this in the most appropriate way in his valuable works.

Persian culture defeated the Arab conquerors during the reign of the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs in terms of the ruling system and Dabīrī (secretary), and it emerged from the ashes of the conquests and prejudice of the Umayyad Arabs as early as the first half of the second century AH. The Iranians, along with some disaffected Arabs (Abbasids), overthrew the ruling Umayyads and openly and formally entered the structure of power. This entry was so deep and comprehensive that the author of Tarikh al-dawlah al-ʻabbasiyyah mentioned in his book that the Abbasid state was called at that time the “Dawlat Aʻjamiyyah Khorasaniyyah” (non-Arab State of Khorasan).

The rise of the Abbasids spread the presence of Iranian secretaries and ministers in the Arab courts and governing system, which according to a historical narration began in the era of Umar ibn al-Khattab. It is said that Hormozān, the famous Sassanid commander and governor who lived in Medina after his captivity, when recognized the problems of the Muslim agents in the administration of the occupied lands, suggested that the caliph court should follow the Sassanid court system and ruling organization. In the Sassanid period, secretary (Dabīr) of the administration system was of considerable importance and status, and the secretaries were working under the supervision of “Iran Dabīrbaz” (chief secretary). It seems that Umar accepted his offer and since then the Iranian secretaries have been in charge of the administrative system of the Islamic possessions.

The situation continued until the Arabicizing of the administrative system and the alteration of its language from Persian to Arabic during the caliphate of ʻAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan. Since then, there have been Iranians who also run the Arabian courts, and many of their names are mentioned in the sources. With the formation of the Abbasid government, many famous Iranian families such as the Sahl, Nobakhti, and Barmak entered the administrative system of the caliphs and formed the second position as vizier in the power structure. The presence of Iranian ministers and secretaries in the Arab caliphate caused the formation of a broad circle of Iranian poets and cultural dignitaries and the spread of Iranian customs and culture in the house of Arab politics and culture. With the advent of the Samanid dynasty in the east and the Buyids in the north and west of Iran, another aspect of the reproduction of Iranian culture in the Arab caliphate was exhibited. Hundreds of Iranian statesmen, writers, scribes, and poets emerged, each causing a rift in the Arab administrative and cultural system. Creating a kind of dual power in Arab political construction for the first time, reduced the caliph position to a mere symbolic role. Simultaneously, dozens of Iranian poets appeared who influenced the history and culture of the Arabs with their Arabic poems, while being influenced by Islamic and Arabic culture as well.

The role of ancient Iranian culture in the vast geography of the caliphate is not limited to these cases; the fall of the Sassanid dynasty initiated a movement that aimed to revive the Sassanid governing system. Therefore, while a group of Iranians was in the structure of Arab power, other Iranian outsiders, such as Babak Khorramdin, acted against it in the form of heroic movements. For them, the memory of the Sassanids served as a model and nurtured the desire in the hearts of those loyal to it to revive the legacy of the past and overthrow the Arabs. Their stories, aspirations, and destinies are also reflected in Arabic literature, which is another comprehensive narrative, part of which is mentioned in the works of Dr. Azarnoush.

Dr. Azartash Azarnoush in 178 articles compiled during his 36 years of cooperation with CGIE, described in detail the narrative of the Arab need for Iranian culture. He also examined the various dimensions of cultural, historical, and linguistic ties between Iranians and Arabs. For him, the traces of Iran’s pre-Islamic culture (Iraniyāt) in Arabic literature were of crucial importance, and it made no difference whether these Iraniyāt were in the works of the Arabs or Iranian writers of diverse origins. He fervently believed the words of a famous Arab commander and ruler of Kufa, who once said to one of the Arabized Iranians: “Although you speak Arabic, you think Iranian.” For Azartash Azarnoush, researching Iraniyāt in Arabic literature was not just a search for a piece of poem or prose, but the discovery of the hidden Iranian intellect that was dressed in Arabic language and gave a different identity to the Arabic rule and rationality. If today philosophers like Mohammad ʻAbed Al-Jaberi criticize the Arabic intellect, they precisely point to what we mentioned in this note as Iraniyāt. Each of Azarnoush’s articles and books has represented chief aspects of these Iraniyāt in Arabic literature, and it is safe to say that no one has performed like him in this field. Riding the horse of Arabic literature and language, like an accomplished polo player, he snatched the ball from everyone else and shaped a lasting legacy that will remain forever, and all the lovers of Iran and Iranian culture need to refer to it.

May his soul rest in peace; we will always respect his memories.