Medical Terminology in the Poems of Hakim Shefai Esfehani

Sharafoddin Hassan Hakim Shefai Esfehani (956-1037 AH) was a physician، mystic، and a skilled poet who lived at the Safavid time. He served as the private physician of King Abbas the first and waited on him as an interlocutor and a respected poet. The king granted him the titles “poet laureate” and “Iran’s apex” by virtue of his humorousness، glib tongue، knowledge، and ability to entertain. Shefai was the master of the poets of his time especially Saeb Tabrizi. He is considered similar to Khaqhani in that he introduced medical expressions into poetry. For example: Everything looks foamy-mouthed like an epileptic patient، As though ebony vanes lay among favanya petals. Shefai made a living through practicing medicine. His anthology consists of 12000 verses bundled into 10 pieces (qheteh)، 10 tarkib bands، one refrain، 47 quartets، and 1060 sonnets. Like Khaqhni’s poems، most of his sonnets contain a rhyme pattern. However، what distinguishes Shefai is the vast use of medical words and expressions mostly in his odes and sonnets. His poetry is endowed with a specific elegance created through a variety of concepts that are based on imaginative thinking and to-the-point figures of speech. Among the medical concepts employed in Shefai’s anthology، one comes across 55 herbs and herbal drugs، 60 diseases، and 35 miscellaneous expressions each of which has a certain application and stands in full professional orientation to the poet. The salient presence of such concepts has led to an amazing work of art framing a multitude of images and figures.