Investigating the Themes of Vis and Ramin Story

One of the most important literary forms in Persian poetry is Epic Romance. This romantic poems, from the point of view of the type of thought and subject, include the broadest part of the literary genius, which embraces various emotions including love, exhortation, description, etc., but among them, the theme of love is the main theme. Vis and Ramin is one of the most beautiful Persian epic romances written by Fakhruddin Asad Gurgani

writer or poet expresses during his story. Although human emotions cannot be counted, and cannot be due to their complexity, some categorizations are made by literary critics including love, respect, joy, anger, and grudge; sense of fear, humiliation and grief. Although poets' thoughts and intentions are unlimited, and sometimes the meaning and subject matter of the story may be the same, the narrator of the story also uses various other themes during the main theme.
"Theme is the dominant idea in any literary work, the line drawn or implied by the element, and the elements that it links to each other. Theme chooses all the elements of the story. Themes are the coordinator of the subject with the character, scene and other elements of the story, and show the author's intellectual and perceptual direction. Usually, the theme of any literary work should not be less than one sentence. " (Mir Sadeghi, 2009: 56( Theme is fundamentally different from subject. Theme is stemmed from the subject. In fact, it is a commentary on the subject of the story that emphasizes the process of the development of the work.
"Theme is not synonymous with the message. The themes of any work may be interpreted as the message of that effect, but the necessity of each theme cannot be the message of that effect. The message is a moral element that has a positive and informative aspect, and the themes may or may not be of this quality. " (Mir Sadeghi, 2006: 176 and 177 .( Themes should not be synonymous with meaning, concept, or content.
The main theme in this poem is love and its impact on the character and behavior of human beings. But during this we also see that there are several other themes that are transmitted to the audience through different elements in different ways.
Theme is the dominant thought over the story that directly reflects the thoughts of the author. The subject and theme are two separate elements, although they affect each other; but they should not be called one. Asad Gurgani in the verse of Vis and Ramin composes: You composed a sad poem anyway You just talked about departing from a sweetheart As you inhaled the air of regret You exhaled the air of joy into the spring You separated your heart with the sobs That you ran the nightingale from the rustling horns You flowed so much tears of blood from your cheeks، That from the blood of it your feet got stuck in the mud You were the sun but blurry in her eyes A priceless fur, but worthless for her )Vis and Ramin, 1995, 113: 10-14( The restlessness of love has left him lover out of himself, he who finds it hard to control this burning flame. Asad Gurgani describes his love and power as follows: He despises life, and there is no happiness in his heart He cried so much that his clothes became bloody He moaned so much that even gold grow gray in his groans He is dying from the labour of love He has no hope to stay alive The image of the beloved is in his eyes He cannot sleep from day to night )Vis and Ramin, 1995, 114: 1-4( The story of Vis and Ramin can be generalized so that Asad Gorgani expresses this verse in a direct and explicit sense of divine and spiritual love, in as much as we human beings ultimately reach the love of God, and the ultimate goal of every love is even for lovers earthly or lower levels of love are the right to go, and one day this depart from the true beloved will end. This is a reminder of Platonic love, which seeks to reach the end of human in beauty, pure and absolute love. From the viewpoint of the poet, it is only that pure love that is true and luminous love, and the balm of the lives of the wandering lovers. How can we appreciate our God‫؟‬ But by giving him our soul for what he has given us This is the holy religion he gave us By the leader who he sent us What a forgiving and merciful God What a compassionate and generous God He who forgave our bad deeds in deed He who sent us a prophet and guided us We accept that he is our true God We accept that his prophet is our guide )Vis and Ramin, 1995, 8: 1-5( The lover, following a passionate behavior and his obedience, has gradually begun to reach out to his beloved, and when he arrives at this stage, his love is certain: He was on his way to his beloved With his companion she did not accept You did not get the benefit of having heard You could just smell the odour of that beautiful Your life was in danger day and night، You were pleased with the smell of her cradle There are no poorer than the lovers ones There is no better job than being in hers love )Vis and Ramin, 1995, 96: 59-62( Ramin falls in love in moment when he hears a detailed description and seeing a picture of her: As Ramin's job got harder and harder Love made him unfortunate gradually You've always been a great place to sit down alone You did fought the night all nights and cried You counted the stars every night to dawn You did not get annoyed by anything in the days You just ran away from people like zebras and deer As you remembered her everywhere like a beloved Anywhere you saw a beauty you kneeled to worship )Ibid, 113: 1-6( The beloved in the poetry of Vis and Ramin has a tenacious competitor: Always I will be in front of you، Being commanded by you is better than anything I do not like to see anyone except you I am living with the joy of you all the year، I am ready to die for you If I'm with you, night and day My night is my day and each day is my Nowruz (Ibid, 39: 8-11( The couple are struggling to reach their desires and communicate with each other, with goodwill and foresight.
She asked for Harir, Musk, Anner, and raw silk She wrote a letter to Ramin that she is anxious The words in the letter of moan were such that Blood was running from all her words Oh, the kind loving God You can make this letter dear to my lover If you read this letter over a rock The rock starts to play a nice music My kind lover, my poor lover Whose is now made of stone and annoyed of my love He cannot eat anything as I made it to him He is now in love with a princesses looking like the moon Might be the ills far from the lovers Be on the enemies not on true lovers )Ibid, 500: 1-7( In this story, the main characters of the story ends up with the intensity of love and commits suicide because of his beloved life and his lack of desire to survive.
As he did not have the ability to follow her The God asked him to return to his own place He gave his soul back to the God He was all tired from the many enemies His sun was now risen, the sun of the kings The two eminent were now all joined The two were now all together They saw their souls now together in heaven )Vis and Ramin, 1995, 532, 10-15( Vis has been loyal to his love and endures the difficulties of the love path to reach it.
As Ramin walked away from his beloved Joy and pleasure got away from him He was the moon now was the sun He as yellow as restless as the sun He could not rest because of her memories She who was red in blood that beloved one He told his mother to do something right To show him a way to reach to his love That I cannot tolerate this burden anymore I cannot tolerate this pain anymore Harken oh mother this is my story I shall read it for you like the running water )Ibid, 496: 1 -7( The theme and the subject matter of this story is the expression of love and the achievement of the beloved joining and, consequently, the sacrifice of heroes in the way of love and loving, which is one of the fascinating subjects of literature with many readers and fans. One of the most delicate phenomena in the world is the creation of love, which God has in every way laid the foundations of all the components of creation. There are various manifestations each of which in turn leads to the creation of tremendous works in Persian literature. Although this love is but one thing, over the years, thoughts have been influenced by political and social conditions, emotions and spiritual desires and they have led to various spectra in epic romance. Love in Persian poetry by the end of the fifth century is more of a concept of virtual land of love, and the poet who, through the mourning and receiving mercy, is in welfare and love, considers love in the context of sexual matters or courtship with those bondwomen who are appointed by the emirs and ministers as gifts .
The theme of parting from the beloved has been considered in Persian poetry since ancient times and this theme has been extolled with the more exalted beloved in Persian poetry so that the abundance of this theme has led to the emergence of "Departing Sonnets" in Persian literature. This theme is seen everywhere in Vis and Ramin: Without her, moan is my guest Depart pain is now in my soul All my neighbours are aware of my pain They are moaning of my moans They tell me to calm down You burnt our hearts please forgive us We have seen many lovers in the world But not anyone as poor as you! That idol left me that beautiful idol Just as a fire set in the farm of a shepherd I am left here high and dry Just like a king leaves his valet! Wasn't it enough that she left me‫؟‬ She went to another land and is now with another man If I moan I am right to do so Because this is how I feel my dear fellow! )Ibid, 383: 30-37( Sadness is one of the themes that has been existing in Persian poetry since long time ago, and in the poetry of Vis and Ramin, we are often confronted with this theme. The meaning of sadness in many cases is the sadness of love, and this love can have a terrestrial aspect, or a ghastly and rigorous aspect; in any case, survival causes a sense of sadness in the poet of love.
Oh thou the crying cloud of spring Come and learn how to cry from my eyes If you cry with this intensity that i do The world will be destroyed by a rainfall I rain like that and I am afraid I want to rain like this a hundred times Sometimes I rain and sometimes i cry blood When I am still alive how can i cry‫؟‬ Each day that I stay alive despite doing this two I cry blood instead of tears again I should have eyes to see you again Alas, otherwise I did not need them! I cry so that I make Hamoon a sea I moan till I gray every beautiful shining rocks! )Ibid, 382: 1-8(

Complaints
Complaints are expressing pain and describing the painful events of life (Razmjoo, 1995: 110).Complaint poems refer to the lyrics of the poet in the face of the injustices and deprivations of the sufferings and grief and the joy and frustration and unfortunates and failure of its speaker (Moatman, 1984: 288). This kind of poetry, which relates to the poet's personal feelings, forms an important part of the intellectual works of mankind, especially poets of Iran, which may have provided them with the most unfavourable and disadvantaged environment (Ibid, 290). Therefore, it can be said that any poem whose content comes from the inner pain and mysteries of the poet and the purpose of which is to catch up with or become aware of one's personality is considered to be a Complaint Poem (Razmjoo: 110) Usually, this theme can be seen in poetry, but sometimes in the course of poetry with rich themes, it is possible to see some bits of it, for example, in the setting up of Vis for the separation the poet composes: I want to run two rivers from these two eyes These that made my moon and sun as dark as the night If sun did not get away from me Then why my world became so dark‫؟‬ The ill, the moaning is me in the dark night The pain of an ill man is more at night I did not harm anyone then why This is happening to me tell me My heart is so beating of being unfortunate anytime As if a caravan is coming out of it Might this heart be torn into pieces that's full of sadness Might fire be upon it and left it unskinned! )Vis and Ramin, 1994, 273: 4-9( Message A Message literary means "to quote something from someone" (Dehkhoda, under the entry) and it is in fact a speech delivered by someone to another. The message can be either verbal or in written. In other words, the messages are unwritten letters. The various messages in Vis and Ramin poem are as follows: Conversation, letter Example: Ramin's Letter to his Mother and Announcement of Mobad And when he wandered unhappy and unfortunate، And when five or six months passed، Ramin sent a letter to his mother from Ray And made her happy by this act Ramin and Shahgar were two brothers They were both born by the same mother But there was still another brother from another mother I have heard that he was from Indian origin He has sent the message by his messenger from Marv He who came in swifter than the wind At that time the king was not there His mother's tears were always bloody running )ibid, 429: 3-8(

Praise
Praise here means "exaggerated appreciation of God" (Dehkhoda: Under the entry). Praise is one of the varieties of epic poems and refers to poetry that the poet does necessarily praise God, describing his power and sovereignty and uniqueness for the universe.
Praise has a special place in the works of poets. Generally, poetry of classical poets begins with praise. Vis and Ramin begins with the praise of Allah and Imam Ali and ... The poet in this section expresses the power of God in the creation of the creatures, mankind and the universe. It deals with the knowledge of God and the fact that the right to excellence in all the objects is current. He repeats these themes in different terms.
Thanks to that king who created the world and made us With whom this kingdom is beautiful and this property Which should never be separated from his kingdom God is clean and unparalleled and unselfish Both from thought and from visit He cannot be seen by earthly eyes Nor can he be understood by earthly mind No one can detect a defect in him just like the essence He is this and cannot be changed to something else He has no intention in harming anyone As the essence has been due to do it after him )ibid, 1: 1-6( Praise in the Vis and Ramin poem comes with a variety of prayers and educational aspects.

Oath
Oath literary means "the confession or admit that a person makes due to his honour and glory, and finds God as his witness. He might takes the oath to Allah, the Prophet, Imams and elders" (Dehkhoda, below the entry). The Persian word for oath is Sogand and it comes from the Avestaian origin "Sogand Vent", which consists of two parts, "Sogant", meaning "Sulfur" and "Vent", an extension of possession; and on the other hand means sulfur or something which has sulfur "(Kiani, 1992: 1.( In Pahlavi's writings, the term "Sogand" has been used repeatedly as synonymous with Ver. "Ver or godly test was a test in Masdiseni religion which was selected and enforced by the judges to prove the truthfulness or legitimacy of someone." The face of the drinking of sulfur water to the accused and causing him to be harmed to the accused would have been guilty of murder or innocence. "(3) In the verse of Vis and Ramin, there are a few Sogands in which they take the oath to God and the elders of religion have been taken as witnesses.

Eulogy
Eulogy literary means praise, indulgence to the most beautiful characteristics, descriptions of goodness and creation (Dehkhoda, below of the entry) and eulogy poetry "is a praise that the poet takes to his own beloved, while considering his ethical questions and behaviours. He commends his successes and the language he commands " (Razmjoo, 1995: 71( The poets of Eulogy composed their poems to greed and dignity (Rastgar, 2002: 164). Therefore, the books of Eulogy poets are full of that kind of poetry that is in a subtle and intimate language which complains about not reaching that goals (ibid: 165.( In addition to these eulogies, which are written for these material benefits, there are also instructions that "the poet has brought in order to the satisfaction of God and the command of the heart and perfection of faith" (ibid, 17). In the same way, some poems are composed to praise the elders of religion. In the verse of Vis and Ramin there are beautiful and pleasant poems that are composed in the course of the proclamation of the Prophet and ... and the elders of religion, thus showing their dedication to them.
Raised is the sun of the true men Happy be the path seeking guide The light of religion is Abolghasem Muhammad He is the last prophet, Yasin, Ahmed The innocent son of Adam The true prophet of all mankind God created him out of creation He chose him out of the best He gave him the prophecy with two reasons One is his holy Quran, the other his sword! )Vis and Ramin, 1994, 84: 9-13(

Elegy
The term elegy literary means "mourning for the dead, weeping, mourning, crying, honouring the dead, the praises of the dead man, praise and blessing, in the morning of someone" (Dehkhoda, below the entry). Technically, the term "elegy" refers to the mourning of the past and the death of relatives and companions, and the lamentation of the death of the kings, and the issuance of the lords and tribal leaders, and the mention of the afflictions of the leaders of the religion and the Imams, especially Hazrat Sayyid al-Shohada and the martyrs of Karbala. The mankind, the virtue and the worshiper and the glorification of the dignity of the deceased, showing the event and the bow of the tribulation, and the invitation of the mourning to the patience and rest, and other meanings of such a poem. (Muhtman, 1968: 74) The content of such poems is a variety of literary works, and the works of Persian poets have had a great deal of it since the earliest times of the history of Iranian literature until now (Razmjoo, 1995: 99) written for various occasions. Elegy has a variety of types that can be distinguished from ceremonial and official ceremonies of personal, familial, and religious expression. (R.K.Mutman, 1968: 79) There are such poems in the poems of Vis and Ramin.
You have made the world full of loyalty! You passed away and took loyalty with yourself It was enough for me to tolerate the aging pain You added salt to injury and made me a captive! Why did you do this to me‫؟‬ You made me unfortunate by this depart. Poor you are now under the dampened soil I watch your grave from the above You said so with your own sweet tongue sweetheart Might be my body be the carped beneath yours. Now I see this day may darling Your white skin is below my feet Being a king is a joy if you be my queen My heart would be happy if you were here Now this world is but a cage to me I cannot live without you my love! )Vis and Ramin, 1994, 434: 11-18(

Miraj Nameh
The word "Mi'raj" means "ladder, a utensil for ascending, and place of climbing and lifting". And the night of Miraj (the ascension) is the night when the Prophet Muhammad arose to the heaven by cause of Allah, and went to God. He came to him and came to a position where no one was able to reach that position (Dehkhoda, below the entry). Considering this, the epic poetry, which was formerly seen in the poems of many classical poets such as Nasser Khosrow, Asad Gurgani has not used it in this regard, and in his verse there is no discussion of the ascension of the Prophet.

Letter
Nameh (Persian for Letter) which in Pahlavi is called: Namak, is a text on a paper written for someone (Dehkhoda, under the entry). Letters and letter writing, which is referred to in ancient forms with all sorts of tales, is more of prose. The letter may be based on its foundation. They used a variety of logs. The courthouses used letters for various reasons, and the letters had different types: Letters of victory, letter of defeats, letters of announcements, letters of attorney, etc. As a matter of fact, letters and letter writing gradually replaced the dialogue and, as a remarkable technique in poetry and epic poetry, and consequently found various roles in literature. There are several letters in the poems of Vis and Ramin. For example: the letter written by the mother near Shahroo and when Sharoo sends someone to Vis: In the letter she made lots of lectures That there is no one as stubborn as you in the world Neither are you kind to your child Nor that person who is his mother Neither do you feed a hungry child Nor do you go to see him a day! You gave him to me when he was born You did not give your daughter anything Now he is growing up beside me Now he is about flying that little child I am afraid if he flies He captures one for himself I raised him as I should have done With any smell and colour that was necessary )Vis & Ramin, 1994, 93: 2-8(

Description
Description includes painting and showing the taboo, whether the poet embodies the natural and physical attributes and senses, such as describing the various landscapes of nature, the commemoration of martial arts and hunting, or the definition of the beloved, or the spiritual and Imagined emotional effects such as love and hatred, stamp and kin, anger, and despair and so on (Motman, 1966: 106.( Description is not just one of the most important literary subjects and epic poetry, but also in terms of development and attractiveness, one of the most important techniques and the most highly regarded poetry tactics (ibid.) "The poetic description is the result of a delicate poet's feelings with imaginary world. With the help of his constructive imagination, the poet authorizes the inanimate elements of birds, flowers and other beings, human feelings and traits, and with the action of the personification he gives soul to things" (Razmjoo, 1995 : 122( In fact, in the description of the poet, he does not only translate what he has discovered or studied through his sense of observation or study, and his poetry, which is in fact his sense, provokes an unpredictable, but also arises in such a way that he freezes the reader in watching what is interesting to him and captures in his own soul (Zarrinkoob, 1976: 132.( The description in the verse of Viss and Ralmin is as follows : Expression of Justice and Courage of the King: He points out the characteristics of the kings and that the kings must be just, brave, advertising, and by counting the king's attribute, he begins the story like this: However, there is an eminent one among them An Honest, Honoured, good man A spokesman for the subtle artistic arts A delicate, it is strange to anything and every time Where the kingdom of the king is so delicate He is able to manage any situations In victories, happiness he is the best He is Abu-Nasr, Mansour and Mohammed )Vis and Ramin, 1994, 16: 7-11( Then, by listing the qualities and visions of Vis, he creates the following themes: The outward beauty creates a person's reputation: Where, Ramin saw that moon، As if he was shot in the heart arrow after arrow As someone falling from a horse As a leaf falling from a tree From eyes he fell in love He fell in love in the first sight The tree of love grew from his body But his eyes were brightened So that what he had saw in his eyes He could reap Marjan from it! )ibid, 94: 17-22( The beauty of the beloved makes a splash in the world and takes a thousand lovers to fall in love: Out of the many sweethearts and darlings In various colours like peacocks and hawks In appearance like the Rudbarian deer Sports whom could not be seen as sports The best of whom was Shahrbanoo From eyes and lips she was cure and medicine for the soul )Ibid. 37: 79-82( By describing the descriptions of his beloved, he describes their status as follows: Describing the Height and the beauty of the beloved: In height she was like a cedar tree and her head just like the sun Her lips were the ruby in jewellery like the Venus )Ibid, 37: 82( Describing her eyebrows and eyes: They were sun in her eyes Ramin، Two eyes of Narcissus and a body of Daffodils )Vis and Ramin, 1994: 154( Describing the beloved's hair: Two locks are twisted and folded from her head Just like chains and gold interwoven )Ibid, 38: 85( The end of love is in meeting the beloved: As the kings found gradually more hope As if had fetched the sun to Khorasan He took the way happily He had forgotten the inequities in the world He passed the way just like the wind The world became odorous from his odour As if that was a kind of dome That was fallen from Vis lock and was odorous She who was painted in the sun And a golden mask was over her face )Ibid, 93: 4-9( Asad Gorgani, by mentioning the descriptions of the mistress, wants to present his story to the audience, and again devotes the theme to the description of the moral characteristics and beloved behavior. It reminds us of the fact that there is a two-way love: The lover goes along with risky ways and tolerates anxiety when he passes through the problems he was facing in the way. He also experiences this anxiety by seeing his mistress. And this creates the theme that love brings with itself anxiety and stress: Sometimes he is afraid of the relatives sometimes of her husband Sometimes his anxiety increases and sometimes it reduces From one hand he thinks of the fire of the hell On the other hand he thinks of his disgrace Where there will be questions of good and bad deeds There will be no fear of kings and world governors! )ibid, 137: 128-130( The narrator of the story has applied, very effectively, the narrative and behavior of the story's characters in the formulation of the themes, and here we see that it has been used to address the subject in any way, and has used every element to create the subject .
Disclosure of Love : The implication here is that love reveals the mystery of the lover and disguises him.
He is despised by his life، His soul is happy and full of sadness Out of tears all his clothes are in blood Out of moaning all his yellow body got gray Out of the love labour he is about to die There is no hope in him and he has no soul ) Vis and Ramin, 1994: 114: 17-19(