Zainab Yousufi: A Modern poetess of Iran
By: Dr. Maqsood Jafri

Zainab Yousufi is a modern contemporary woman poet of Iran. Recently, the book of her Persian poems titled “ تشِ برگ”, has been published. She sent me its copy on WhatsApp and sought my opinion on her poetry. She had reviewed on my Persian poetry and got her article published in the daily news paper of Booshar and in some literary magazines. She is a literary critic as well. I have attentively read these poems. Theses short poems express her deep passion for human relations and also portray love pangs. There are 73 short poems in the book. The Persian word “چامہ” means a short poem.

 Persian language is one of the sweetest Languages of the world. Its literature is very rich. Besides, Iran, we find great poets of Persian language in Tajikistan, India, Afghanistan , Kashmir and Pakistan. The great poets of the Sub- continent like Amir Khusroe, Bedil Dehlavi, Mirza Ghalib, Ghani Kashmiri and Dr. Iqbal are the sheeny stars on the firmament of poetry. The great poets who wrote poetry in Persian language are Roudki, Hafiz Sherazi, Rumi, Sheikh Saadi, Firdousi, Omar Khayyam, Nizami, Nasimi and Jami. So far as the Iranian women poets are concerned, some of them are Parveen Ehtesami, Foroughe Farrukhzad, Fatima Baraghani, Simeen Behbahani, Tahira Saffarzadeh, Maryam Heydarzadah, Roya Hakakian, Asieh Amini, Fatima Ekhtesari, and Zahra Zamani. Theses prominent women poets of Iran earned great name and fame and left undeniable traces on the path of poetry. I had read a book titled “ The Poetry of Iranian Women” edited by Kalbasi Sheema. It is a breathtaking anthology of Iranian eminent Women’s poets. Iran has a rich poetic heritage. The contribution of women is also splendid.

 Zainab Yousufi has drunk from the fountain of theses literary giants and saturated her vision and diction with the fragrance and erudition of theses great creative legends. Her every short poem is like a drop of water that contains an ocean. Her pithy poems placidly divulge the innate and introvert intensity of love pang. Basically, her poetry is romantic but occasionally, theses poems depict psychic and spiritual streaks. I would like to throw light on her few poems that impressed me and attracted me much. In a poem she says:

“I and you 

Under the circumstances 

Can not love

Our pleasant youth

We are wasting our life”.

 This poem speaks volumes. In a traditional and conventional society, the youth suffers love separation, only because of our retrogressive and inhuman culture. In such societies, love is considered as a sin or an abominable unpardonable crime. In such societies Love is a forbidden tree. Some people even kill their daughters for getting involved in love affair. Honor killings are rampant in such societies. This mindset is mostly found in dogmatic, religious , uncivilized and immodest, illiterate societies. This bent and trend of mind is absolutely inhumane, irrational , un- Islamic, un- ethical and unnatural. Every young person has the right to love and marry. Forced marriages are more than a curse. The freedom of choice is the natural right of every man and woman. John Keats says: “ Life is short and youth still shorter”. Alas; the majority of our youth is deprived of their right to love and marry in the name of callous customs. This is the reason ninety percent poetry of the East is based on love pang, depression and melancholy.

 In an other poem she says: “O; unfaithful man,

I am tired of chasing you,

For how long

I will chase you?”

 This poem copiously depicts the deeper pain of segregation and deigns our attention to the cheats who are fake and fraudulent suitors. Then, under the same surge of pensive passions, she laments over odious times and disparaging climes in these words:

“ The promise once we made,

Has lost somewhere”.

 Our poetry is replete with such false promises and pledges of lovers. First, the women were blamed for breaking the promises and being cruel but now the modern era has lifted up all restrictions and the ladies openly accuse the men for their infedility and unfaithfulness. How the men swindle the sincere women is a very tragic aspect of our society. I live in America. It is a free sex country. The ladies enjoy the boon of freedom to love and marry. The law permits them free choice in their personal matters. It is , undoubtedly, a good social norm. But, unfortunately, majority of the men cheat the women and the women cheat the men. The divorce rate is high. The family system has suffered much. Why such abhorrent culture? Has the freedom of love solved the problem? The answer is a big no. Freedom with out morality and social values is the most devastating and dastardly dagger in the hand of a mad man. The East is suffering due to “ Forced Culture” and the West is suffering due to “ Free Culture”. “ Natural Culture”, is the only remedy of our personal and social issues. When Zainab Yousufi wails on the culture of imposters, she ardently desires the purity of passions and affinity of true hearts. 

 I would like to cite an other poem which is inspiring and insightful. She says:

“ Mirror is not trustworthy,

You say

I am yours 

Or

You are mine”.

 Mirror always reflects truth. It shows you, your real face. Your visage is pretty or ugly. Mirror shows you the reality. When the lover rejects the reality and even does not trust mirror, it means there are some scars and blemishes on the face of the seer who looks into the mirror but does not accept the truth. Our society hides the reality of life and duplicity and hypocrisy prevail all around. The lover is not in a state of predicament like the “Hamlet”of William Shakespeare but is intentionally defrauding the beloved. This situation is quite in practice in the society of swindlers.

 After reading the sweet, sober, simple and facile Persian poems of Zainab Yousufi, one concludes that she is a genuine writer who has expressed her heart felt yearnings of communion and love separation with immense intensity in These lyrics. She seeks purity and piety in love and revolts against the suppressed social norms and the trends of the cheats who play with the passions, integrity and dignity of women folk. She is an ardent aspirant of the life of love. She assays through her forceful poems to promote the culture of sincerity, fidelity and humanity. These are the great human values which need to be promoted and protected. Her poetry book is a great addition to the literary magnificent human norms. She deserves laudation for such grand creative contribution. These poems will ever shine like a shining moon and she will be remembered in the annals of literature. 

New York 

March 2, 2022