Structural Investigation of the Story of Moses and the Stonecutter by Mirza Ahmad Dawashi

Abstract

The story of Moses and the shepherd is one of the most influential stories that Rumi has built and brought skillfully in Mathnavi. The origin of this story is apparently unknown, but some believe that the story of Moses and the righteous servant in the Holy Qur'an has persuaded Rumi to compare Shari'a with Tariqa. After Rumi this story has been narrated in another form called Moses and the stonecutter which is believed to be written by Obeid Zakani; but with paying a little attention to its style and comparing it with other Obeid's works, this assignation seems improbable. This story has also been welcomed by Kurd singers and they recomposed it in Kurdish language. Among them we came across with Kurd poet Mirza Ahmad Dawashi (1280-1359) who paid a great attention to this story and skillfully versified it in Kurdish. Now in this paper, using the descriptive-analytical method and with a structural critique approach, we attempt to investigate the story of Moses and the stonecutter which is versified by Dawashi in 129 verses, and to analyze its elements. The results show that this story has all the elements of a complete narration and the author has successfully used these elements to develop the theme.

Keywords

• kurdish poetry
• versified story
• mawlavi
• moses and the shepherd
• mirza ahmad dawashi
• moses and the stonecutter