What is at Stake in the Frame Story? A Timurid Reshaping of the Romance of Bahrām Gūr

Abstract

AbstractThis article examines MīrʿAlī Shīr Navāʾī'sSabʿa-yi Sayyār(889/1484), a Chaghatay rewriting of Niẓāmī'sHaft Paykarand Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī'sHasht Bihisht.In the prologue of hismasnavī, the Timurid poet expresses harsh criticism against his Persian models. He targets his predecessors’ frame stories, and more specifically their depiction of Bahrām Gūr's behavior while listening to the seven nested narratives. In fact, Navāʾī's reshaping of the poem epitomizes several Timurid trends with regard to the Persianate cultural complex: a tendency toward standardization, as well as a keen interest in Naqshbandī Sufism. Incidentally, the latter aspect shows Jāmī's influence on the Chaghatay polymath's literary output.