Reflection of Themes of the Qur’an andHadith in Shahnameh Sharar, A Newly-found 12-Century Work

The influence of the Qur’an and hadith on Persian language and literature began from the beginning of Islam's entrance to Iran, and the Iranian poets have highly benefited from the invaluable treasure of the Qur’an and hadith. One of the poetry collections influenced by the Qur’an and hadith is the Masnavi of Shahnameh, written by an obscure poet known as Sharar. We know only about him that he was from Bukhara and immigrated to India. His book is about the wars of Mohammad Shah. This work, composed in the twelfth century, is stored in the library of Ayatollah Golpayegani in Qom, under the classification number 2612. This research aims to study the effect of the Qur’an and hadith on Shahnameh Sharar. After mentioning the poet's life and attitudes, his ways of using the Qur’an and hadith are discussed. One of the most prominent stylistic features of this book is the abundance reference of the author to Qur’anic ayahs. The poet has skillfully used these ayahs in various ways, which includes the lexical influence by using the rhetorical device of tazmin in the form of borrowing, translation, and innovation. The statistical analysis of these verses shows that the poet in his religious-epic Masnavi has, more than anything else, paid attention to the ayahs which refer to a narrative of the stories of the lives of the prophets. The findings also show that this poetry collection is influenced by the Qur’an and hadith and the dominant effect is visible in terms of lexical influence.