Rethinking the Nature and Literary-Political Functions of Masʿud Saʿd Salmān’s Prison Poems

In Persian literary tradition and history of literature, prison poems (ḥabsīyāt) of Masʿūd Saʿd have often been interpreted as a direct reflection of the sufferings and hardships of imprisonment. This study reconsiders this dominant view and examines the relationship between the experience of incarceration, the structure of the poet’s dīwān, and the literary and political functions of his prison poetry. The theoretical framework is based on the distinction between the historical author and the poetic persona; from this perspective, the ḥabsīyāt are not merely transparent records of lived experience, but literary texts with multiple functions.
The study adopts a descriptive-analytical method and draws on a close reading of Masʿūd Saʿd’s dīwān alongside historical sources from the Ghaznavid period. The findings indicate that the prison poems form only a small part of the poet’s corpus and are frequently connected with panegyric poetry addressed to powerful patrons. Historical and textual evidence further suggests that the poet maintained ties with the court environment, that intermediaries helped transmit his poetry outside prison, and that his social role continued despite incarceration.
The prevalence of praise elements within the ḥabsīyāt, motifs such as pride in “honourable imprisonment,” and the recurring cycle of imprisonment, release, and reinstatement in administrative positions show that these poems not only express the experience of suffering but also contribute to maintaining the poet’s social status and rebuilding his relationship with authority. Masʿūd Saʿd’s prison poems should be understood as multifunctional texts in which imprisonment is interwoven with literary, political, and identity-related purposes.