Non solo ravī. Le altre lettere della rima nel Muʿǧam fī maʿāyīr ašʿār al-ʿaǧam di Šams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Qays al-Rāzī

Abstract

In his treatise on Persian literary theory, al-Muʿǧam fī maʿāyīr ašʿār al-ʿaǧam, Šams-i Qays (13th century) claims that a poem without the main rhyming letter (ravī) is not a poem. However, this letter is not the only recurring letter at the end of the lines of a Persian poem. Šams-i Qays discusses eight other letters (ridf, qayd, taʾsīs, daxīl, vaṣl, xurūǧ, mazīd, and nāyira) as he determines the length and the possible patterns of a Persian rhyme (qāfiya). In this paper, I aim to improve our understanding of the linguistic rationale behind the taxonomy of Persian rhyming letters by providing an annotated Italian translation of relevant passages from the Muʿǧam.

Keywords

• Persian language. Persian poetry. Rhyme. Šams-i Qays. Ḥurūf-i qāfiya