The Analysis of the Relation between virgo and leo in a Verse of Nezami

Nezami Ganjavi is one of the famous figures of Persian poetry whose poetry has been considered to need commentary and interpretation for a long time. One of the reasons of complexity in his poems is the precise usage of astronomical terms and imagery capacities of zodiac and heavenly bodies. This article discusses one of the verses in the preface of Makhzan al-Asrar and the Prophet’s Ascension. In our view، commentators of Makhzan al-Asrar have not understood the delicacy of this verse due to considering it as a simple verse or lack of attention to Nezami’s imagery، and have sometimes proposed a meaning which is incongruent with his exact information about the zodiac. Considering the shape of Virgo and Leo and their location beside each other in the heaven، he has elaborated a prevailing theme in Persian poetry which has been pointed out repeatedly in old and new astrological books، his other verses and poems of great poets like Khaqani. After discussing the view of Makhzan al-Asrar’s commentators about this verse and explaining astronomical terms involved in its imagery، the suggested meaning for this verse is proposed.