Transcendent Policy

Transcendent Policy

The Political Thought of Malik ash-Shu‘arā’ Bahār; Points of Commonality with the Discourse ofthe Islamic Revolution

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Department of Political Science, CT.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/sm.2025.2043316.2248
Abstract
This research has been conducted with the aim of explicating and analyzing the aspects of commonality between the political thought of Muḥammad Taqī Bahār (Malik ash-Shu‘arā’), as a symbol of committed literature and intellectualism of the Constitutional and first Pahlavī era, and the discourse of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. The main question of the research is: What points of commonality does the political thought of Malik ash-Shu‘arā’ Bahār have with the discourse of the Islamic Revolution? This inquiry addresses the analysis of these commonalities via a descriptive-analytical method and a comparative approach, utilizing the technique of qualitative content analysis of texts. The value-based and idealistic foundations of Bahār's thought in the arenas of anti-colonialism, justice-seeking, anti-despotism, and the revival of national-religious identity were the prelude and ground-layer for a discourse that reached perfection and manifestation decades later in the Islamic Revolution. The commonalities between these two can be observed in axes such as: anti-despotism, which explicitly addresses the negation of the "King" and "Tyranny" in poems such as "Damāvandiyyah"; this belligerence toward the oppressive political structure is clearly reflected in the discourse of the Islamic Revolution, which calls the Shah "Ṭāghūt" (Idol/Tyrant) and his system "despotic." Another axis is anti-colonialism and the emphasis on independence. Bahār recognized the danger of colonialism well; in the ode "Victory of Iran" and his articles in "Nawbahār," he addressed the confrontation with "foreign influence" and colonial contracts such as the 1919 Agreement. This recognition of the enemy and the demand for independence constitutes the central core of the "Neither Eastern nor Western" discourse of the Islamic Revolution and the identification of the "Great Satan" (America) as the main enemy. The third axis is social justice-seeking. Bahār's concern for eliminating poverty and oppression from the masses is evident in poems such as "Murgh-i Saḥar" (Bird of Dawn) and "Call of the Homeland," where he protests against the "oppression of kings" and seeks justice for the "Maẓlūmān" (oppressed). This justice-seeking has been repeated as a key ideal in the slogans of the Revolution and the principles of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, especially in the emphasis on supporting the "Mustaḍ‘afīn" (downtrodden) and the barefooted. Another commonality should be considered the redefinition of Iranian-Islamic identity. Bahār, as a cultural nationalist, considered Iranian-ness and Islamic-ness as two sides of the coin of Iranian identity and emphasized this synthesis in articles and poems such as "‘Īd al-Ghadīr". This attitude exists identically in the discourse of the Islamic Revolution, which insists on the revival of the brilliant Iranian-Islamic civilization. Consequently, in the "realm" of macro values and ideals, the commonalities between Bahār's thought and the discourse of the Islamic Revolution are undeniable.
Keywords

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