Transcendent Policy

Transcendent Policy

Malek al-Shu'ara Bahar's political thought: points of commonality with the discourse of the Islamic Revolution

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Department of Political Science, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/sm.2025.2043316.2248
Abstract
This research aims to explain and analyze the commonalities between the political thought of Mohammad Taqi Bahar (Malk al-Shuara), as a symbol of committed and intellectual literature of the Constitutional and First Pahlavi eras, and the discourse of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. (Problem) What commonalities does the political thought of Malek al-Shuara Bahar have with the discourse of the Islamic Revolution? (Method) This research uses a descriptive-analytical method and a comparative approach, and uses the technique of qualitative content analysis of texts to analyze these commonalities. (Hypothesis) The value and ideal foundations of Bahar's thought in the areas of anti-colonialism, justice, anti-authoritarianism, and the revival of national-religious identity were the precursor and ground-breaking discourse that was perfected and manifested decades later in the Islamic Revolution. (Achievements) The research data were extracted from primary sources, including Malek al-Shuara Bahar's poetry collection, political articles, and memoirs, as well as the fundamental texts of the discourse of the Islamic Revolution, and were subjected to comparative comparison. The findings of the research show that the commonalities between the two can be found in axes such as: anti-authoritarianism, which explicitly negates the "Shah" and "tyranny" in poems such as "Damavandiyeh". This hostility to the oppressive political structure is clearly reflected in the discourse of the Islamic Revolution, which calls the Shah a "Taghut" and his system "tyranny". The other axis is anti-colonialism and an emphasis on independence. Bahar knew the danger of colonialism well, and in his ode "Victory of Iran" and his articles in "Nobhar" he confronted "foreign influence" and colonial agreements such as the 1919 agreement. This hostility and demand for independence form the central core of the "Neither East nor West" discourse of the Islamic Revolution and the identification of the "Great Satan" (America) as the main enemy. The third axis is the desire for social justice. Bahar's concern for the elimination of poverty and oppression of the masses is evident in poems such as "Morg Sahar" and "Neday Vatan", where he protests against the "oppression of the kings" and pleads for justice for the "oppressed." This quest for justice has been repeated as a key ideal in the slogans of the revolution and the principles of the Islamic Republic's constitution, especially in the emphasis on supporting the "oppressed" and "barefoot." Another commonality should be considered the redefinition of Iranian-Islamic identity. As a cultural nationalist, Bahar considered Iranianness and Islamism to be two sides of the coin of Iranian identity, and in articles and poems such as "Eid Ghadir," he emphasized this fusion. This attitude is precisely present in the discourse of the Islamic Revolution, which emphasizes the revival of a brilliant Iranian-Islamic civilization. Consequently, in the "sphere" of grand values ​​and ideals, the commonalities between Bahar's thought and the discourse of the Islamic Revolution cannot be denied.
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