Khayyam is the most famous writer of quatrains in Persian literature and one of the earliest poets to create personal symbols from the motifs of the “pot,” “potter,” and “potter’s workshop.” By making these words distinctive symbols of his own, he expressed and immortalized his philosophical and mystical views and worldview. Various studies have investigated the origins of these symbols in Khayyam’s thought. Taken together, they have identified the Qur’an as a textual source, along with various extratextual sources such as Zurvanism, mythology and the collective unconscious of the Iranian people, the political, cultural, and social conditions of Khayyam’s time, and his individual imagination. Among these studies, only Shafiei Kadkani has suggested the possibility of a textual source outside the Islamic world. Building on this hypothesis, the present study employs a descriptive-analytical method to confirm Shafiei Kadkani’s suggestion and identify the textual source of Khayyam’s symbolism. Based on the findings, and given the striking similarity between the themes and images of the two texts from this perspective, the study argues that the textual source of this motif in world literature, including Khayyam’s quatrains, is the Bible. Intellectuals, philosophers, and possibly leading literary figures of Khayyam’s time were familiar with this motif; however, for political and religious reasons, its literary and symbolic use did not become widespread except among the Ismailis. Owing to his philosophical and free-thinking disposition and the assumption that his quatrains were personal writings not intended for publication, Khayyam broke this taboo. Through his exceptional poetic talent and remarkable skill in symbolic representation, he not only established these motifs as enduring elements of Iranian thought but also paved the way for their widespread appearance in literary and mystical works after him.
Introduction
A poet sometimes repeatedly uses a particular word or group of words in a poem to represent a specific concept. This repeated presence can transform the word into a personal symbol and a distinctive feature of the poet’s style. In Persian poetry, Khayyam of Nishapur is one of the earliest poets to express his worldview and philosophical-artistic perspective on the relationship between human beings, the world, and God. In his poetry, he transformed the “pot,” the “potter’s workshop,” and the “potter” into creative and personal symbols.
In their search for the origins of these symbols and the intertextual relationship between the symbols in Khayyam’s poetry, many researchers have regarded the Qur’an and its verses concerning the creation of Adam as the earliest textual source of these symbols. Shafiei Kadkani, however, has proposed that the textual origin of these symbols may lie outside the Islamic world. On this basis, the present study considers the Bible to be the source of these Khayyamian symbols and seeks to demonstrate the intertextual relationship between Khayyam’s poetry and the Bible.
Research Background
Many studies have been conducted on Khayyam’s quatrains, focusing on such issues as their content, their degree of originality and authenticity, and Khayyam’s intellectual and ideological background. The following are among the studies that have directly examined the origins of prominent symbols in Khayyam’s poetry:
· Arian (2019) considers soil to be Khayyam’s personal myth and identifies the origin of the reflection of soil and related elements such as clay, pottery, and jars in his quatrains in Khayyam’s personal inclination toward this element among the four natural elements. The author also considers Khayyam’s artistic view of soil and its derivatives to be the result of his inclination toward and knowledge of the Zurvanite religion.
· Jalali Pendari and Abbasi (2015) explain such matters as the custom of burying the dead in the Zurvanite ritual, the similarity between jars and temporary tombs among ancient Iranians, and the similarity between the jar and the womb in the beliefs of mythologists. They attribute the origin of Khayyam’s symbolism of the jar as a representation of the human being to this ancient ritual and to the engagement of Khayyam’s empiricist mentality with it.
· Shamisa, in the Dictionary of Allusions in Persian Literature, considers the source of Khayyam’s use of the jar as a symbol of the human being to be the account of the creation of Adam from clay in the Qur’an. He likewise considers the comparison of God to a potter to have the same origin (Shamisa, 2008, p. 1024).
· Shafiei Kadkani, after examining this symbol in Arabic and Persian literature and noting the few references to these symbols in texts predating Khayyam, like Shamisa, considers the origin of Khayyam’s symbolism, provided that no precedent for it is found in pre-Islamic texts, to lie in Muslims’ reflection on Qur’anic verses concerning the creation of human beings from clay (Shafiei Kadkani, 2008, pp. 39–43; 2012, pp. 401–404).
Research Method
The present study was conducted using a descriptive-analytical method. First, the biblical verses concerning the motifs of the pot, potter, and potter’s workshop were examined and compared with Khayyam’s poetry. This comparison revealed a strong similarity between the two texts in this respect. The study then examined historical sources in an attempt to identify logical and substantiated evidence for the possibility of Khayyam’s connection with and familiarity with the Bible. This evidence was drawn from sources concerning the presence of Judaism in Iran and its relationship with the Ismaili religion in Iran during Khayyam’s time.
Findings
The present study demonstrates that the Bible is the earliest text to use the motifs of the jar, potter, and pottery workshop symbolically to refer to the concepts of human beings, God, and the world. The striking similarity and symmetry between the allegorical and symbolic images in the Bible and Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, together with the historical evidence presented, strengthen the possibility that Khayyam was familiar with the textual source of these symbols.
On the basis of certain sociopolitical evidence and Khayyam’s distinctive scientific, liberal, and unconventional disposition, it can be argued that Khayyam derived the essence of his personal motifs from the Bible through the works of esoteric Ismaili thinkers. More importantly, however, Khayyam’s creative imagination transformed these motifs and produced some of the most enduring poems and images in the history of Persian literature concerning the creation and life of human beings and the cycle of birth and death. From this perspective, his treatment of these motifs transcends any preceding text.
Conclusion
Although the present study is not based on intertextuality theory, it assumes that no literary text is entirely independent and that reading involves movement between one text and other texts. Accordingly, and based on Shafiei Kadkani’s hypothesis, the study sought to identify the textual source of Khayyam’s use of the “pot,” “potter,” and “potter’s workshop” as symbols referring to the existential relationship between human beings, God, the creation of humanity, and the world. It identifies the Bible as this textual source.
Previous researchers have sought the origin of Khayyam’s symbolism of the jar in extratextual factors such as the historical and religious perspectives prevalent in pre-Islamic Iran and the historical and cultural conditions of the poet’s time. With regard to its religious and Islamic origin, they have ultimately searched for its source in the Qur’an.
The present study, however, points to the striking similarity between the symbolic account in the Bible concerning the creation of the Israelites and Khayyam’s conception of the creation of human beings, particularly the representation of human creation as analogous to the work of a potter shaping clay in a pottery workshop. Other similarities include the cyclical process of emerging from clay, becoming a pot, and returning to dust; the resemblance between human death and destruction and the breaking of a clay pot; the reference to traces of the bodies of past human beings being present in the potter’s clay; and the similarity between the potter’s work and the idea of predestination in the creation of human beings. From this perspective, Khayyam’s conception of pots and pottery is highly consistent with the biblical narrative.
However, since the biblical account of the similarity between God’s creation of human beings and a potter’s work with clay was intended specifically to refer to the creation of the Israelites, the use of this motif in Persian texts and literature was considered taboo and prohibited. Nevertheless, on the basis of certain sociopolitical evidence and Khayyam’s scientific, liberal, and unconventional disposition, it can be argued that he derived the essence of his personal motifs from the Bible through his familiarity with the works of Ismaili thinkers.
Thus, the Bible can be regarded as the earliest text to employ the motifs of the pot, potter, and potter’s workshop symbolically to refer to human beings, God, and the world. At the same time, Khayyam’s creative imagination profoundly transformed these motifs and produced enduring poems and images in Persian literature concerning creation, the brevity of human life, and the cycle of decay and dissolution. This creative transformation gives these motifs an artistic value and impact that extend beyond those of any preceding text or intertextual relationship.