Comparative analysis of the influence of Hafez on Saeb based on two sonnets

Denotation of phrases in Saeb’s writings show that his works were greatly influenced by the works of Hafez. However, considering the intertextuality among texts and looking deeper into the works of these two poets, we propose that Saeb is semantically defamiliarizing themes and phrases central to the works of Hafez. In fact, Saeb’s use of Hafiz’s themes and phrases was accompanied by a negative connotation, suggesting that perhaps, Saeb was envious of Hafez’s given title - Lesan ol Gheyb. It appeared that Saeb understood Hafez’s poetic language tricks in utilization of phrases and took a step further to manipulate Hafez’s themes and phrases in a way that is not superficially noticeable, but a deeper analysis can reveal this manipulation of lexical semantics. To substantiate this hypothesis, we used intertextuality method to make a comparative analysis of two sonnets of Hafez adapted by Saeb. Our intertextual analysis revealed that Saeb selectively and purposefully took advantage of Hafez’s phrases to ameliorate his own works. The finding supported our hypothesis, using intertextuality method.