Journal of History and Culture

Journal of History and Culture

The Influences of the Transformation of the Urban Space and Social Ambience of Safavid Isfahan on Ṣāʾib Tabrīzī’s Ghazals

Document Type : Research Article

Author
Mojde Mokhlesi
PhD Graduate, Comparative and Analytical History of Islamic Art, Faculty of Theoretical Sciences and Higher Art Studies, University of Art, Tehran, Iran
10.22067/jhistory.2025.92278.1366
Abstract
Isfahan and the transformations it underwent in the Safavid era presented a new definition of city and urbanism and depicted a different lifeworld for artists. The Isfahan school of poetry, with Ṣāʾib Tabrīzī as its most prominent representative, displays a significant departure from the norms of Persian poetry. Can a relationship be established between the transformation of Isfahan and the poet’s outlook, and can we discuss the influence of dwelling in this different lifeworld on Ṣāʾib’s poetry? The present article, using grounded theory as its research methodology, aims to answer these questions by seeking and examining the effects of the transformation of Isfahan’s urban space and social ambience on the ghazals of the poet laureate of the Safavid court. This study has found the Safavid capital to be influential in different aspects of Ṣāʾib’s artistic creation: on the one hand, this special city and its newly constructed elements play roles in Ṣāʾib’s poetry for generating poetic concepts and symbols; and on the other, the new ambience of the city brings about changes in the poet’s mindset and his poetry exhibits a different sense of urbanism. The results underline the fact that Ṣāʾib’s outlook has been influenced by the revolutionized city of Isfahan and the findings indicate a kind of social change and bespeak the advent of modern urban culture in eleventh-(A.H.)/seventeenth(A.D.)-century Iran.
Keywords
Ṣāʾib Tabrīzī
City
Urbanism
Isfahan
Isfahan school of Poetry (Indian Style)
Safavid Era
Subjects
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Journal of History and Culture
Volume 57, Issue 2 - Serial Number 115
Autumn & Winter 2025-2026
March 2026
Pages 199-234

  • Receive Date 15 March 2025
  • Revise Date 07 July 2025
  • Accept Date 03 September 2025