Comparative study of couplets in Persian and Arabic literature

Couplets are considered as one of the most extensively used poetic forms in the Persian language and less commonly used in Arabic. The Iranian and Arabic cultures, languages, and nationalities carry a long history of interaction, which has undoubtedly influenced their styles, poetic forms, and prosody. This research aims to investigate the influence of two-couplets in Persian and Arabic literature using content analysis and modern research methods in comparative literature. The results of this research can be summarized as follows, there exists three views on the origin of couplets according to the studied sources. As suggested by the first view, this poetic form has existed prior to Islam. The other perspective suggests that it originated in the third century of Hijri, however, a third view considers its origin outside Persian and Arab literature. Researchers in the field of Persian and Arabic literature have conclusively proven, with logical and scientific arguments, that this poetic form does not exist in the Arabic language and was adopted from Persian literature, spreading under its influence into Arabic. Couplets are counted as one of the most widely used poetic forms in the Persian language and less commonly used in Arabic. The Iranian and Arabic cultures, languages, and nationalities have a long history of interaction, which has undoubtedly influenced their styles, poetic forms, and prosody.This research aims to investigate the impact of Couplets in Persian and Arabic literature using content analysis and modern research methods in comparative literature.Regarding the origin of the couplet, there are three different views in the esisting literature.  The view that considers the origin of that type of poetic form before Islam. Poets like Kikavos, Malek al-Shoara, Shafi'i Kodkani, Jalaluddin Homai and Orientalists such as Ripka and his colleagues insist on this view. A point of view that considers its birth to be in the 3rd century of Hijri, and Zarin Koob, Razi, and Shamisa emphasize on this point of view. The final point of view is the one that considers the origin of the quartet outside the Persian and Arabic literature, and orientalists such as Alul Satin follow this viewpoint. Although in Persian literature, couplets and quatrains, despite the closeness of the structure, are different in prosody and purposes, in Arabic literature, the term "Al-dubite" is used for quatrains and couplets.Two cultures, two languages, and two nationalities, Iranian and Arab, have a historical interaction in different dimensions, and without a doubt, styles, poetic forms, and prosodic style have not been spared from this interaction and its influence. The first conclusive result that is documented and justified and can be deduced from these findings is that the literary relations between Persians and Arabs, like other cultural and social symbols of those two peoples, were mutual. That's why most of the Persian and Arabic literary masters firmly believe that couplets have Iranian and Persian origins or at least they were formed under the influence of the Persian version (Al-dubite). In addition to Persian writers and literary scholars whose names were mentioned in this result, Arab writers and literary scholars such as: Asad Abdul Hadi Qandil, Amil Badie Yaqoub, Ahmad Hashemi, Ibrahim Anis, Muhammad bin Hasan bin Othman, etc. are also of Iranian origin and acknowledge and emphasize the influence of Arab literature from Persian literature in this type of poetry.The results of this research have been summarized in what follows. There are three views on the origin of couplets according to the studied sources. One view suggests that this poetic form existed before Islam, another suggests that it originated in the third century of Hijri, while a third view considers its origin outside the Persian and Arab literature. Researchers in the field of Persian and Arabic literature have conclusively proven, with logical and scientific arguments, that this poetic form does not exist in the Arabic language and was adopted from Persian literature, spreading under its influence into Arabic.