«Il racconto rimase così, appeso alle labbra»: il finale del Farhād va Širin di Vaḥši Bāfqi

Abstract

For centuries, the maṯnavi Farhād va Širin by Vaḥši Bāfqi (d. 1583‑84 AD) has been read in the light of the idea, credited by most taḏkerẹ authors, that it was an unfinished poem. Mir Taqi od-Din Kāšāni, who authored the taḏkerẹ Xolāṣat ol-ašʿār va zobdat ol-afkār between the second half of the sixteenth century and the early years of the seventeenth, was of a different mind. The quality of the mise en page of text, illuminations and illustrations of some manuscripts of Vaḥši’s Farhād va Širin, in this case the copy from The Berenson Collection at I Tatti, raises the idea that the poem was regarded as concluded. There is, indeed, a stark contrast between the claims made by taḏkerẹ authors and luxury copies of the maṯnavi that reached us. A close reading of the poem, and in particular of its concluding section, supports the thesis that Vaḥši brought his maṯnavi to an end.