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The Rhetorical Function of Imperative and Negative Sentences in
the Poems of FazilNazari
Fatemeh Jamalia, Elham Talebib
a
Assistant Professor, Payam-e Noor University, Isfahan, Iran
b
MA student, Payam-e Noor University, Isfahan, Iran
Abstract
Rhetorical devices of Ma’ani (the science of meaning) have a significant role in Persian literature. This science
divides sentences into declaratives and performatives. Imperative and negative sentences are amongst the important
elements of the second class and always play a significant role in language, regarding their secondary or indirect
meanings. This paper tries to investigate the rhetorical function of such sentences in the works of FazilNazari. The
aim of this study is to explicate performatives and their secondary meanings as well as various uses of imperatives
and negatives in the works of this contemporary poet. Accordingly, after extracting and investigating such
sentences, the authors explore the structural and semantic (secondary meanings) features of them. The results of this
study show that the poet expresses his ideas via two approaches: 1) where his addressee is specific (the beloved), he
uses direct language and, 2) where his addressee is not specific (the public), he employs the indirect language in
order to offer ethical and value teachings. To show the method and intention of Fazil in composing different themes,
statistics and tables of the frequency of using imperatives and negatives are also employed.
Keywords:performative sentences, imperatives and negatives, teaching, Fazil Nazari, sonnets;
1.
Introduction
Ma’ani (the science of meaning) includes the rules which give the speaker the ability and skill of impressive and
eloquent speaking as well as the purposeful employment of different linguistic capacities. Generally speaking, this
science divides sentences into declaratives and performatives. The subject of this science is the sentences which
convey secondary meanings and internal intentions of the speaker in addition to their direct and conventional
meaning. This paper investigates imperative and negative sentences in the works of FazilNazari. AbulfazlNazari is a
contemporary sonneteer born in Khomein in 1358 . He composes his poems with the pen name of Fazil. He is a
teacher sonneteer who has managed to give advice and admonish via sonnets so that his sonnets enjoy a didactic
content. His books are “GeryehayeEmperatour” (The Tears of the Emperor), “Anha” (They), “Aqaliat” (The
Minority) and “Zed” (The Opposite). The first three books are known as a trilogy.
Like every other poet, he employs various capacities of the language and its different elements in order to
propagate his ideas. Rhetoric is one of the most important and influential elements in the formation of his poetic
language. Amongst the features of his poetry are simple diction, archaism of the poems, performative sentences and
a high frequency of imperative sentences rather than negative ones. Since such sentences are directly related to the
ideas and linguistic approaches of a poet and, on the other hand, considering the high frequency of didactic themes
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in his sonnets, this paper aims to study his didactic thoughts based on the rhetorical function of imperative and
negative sentences.
2. The Place of Imperatives and Negatives in Ma’ani
Defined by rhetoricians, performative sentences are those whose falsity or truth cannot be verified due to a lack
of relation to the real outer world, i.e. they cannot be considered as true or false (Rajaei 1340: 21). Some scholars
consider the expression of feelings and internal emotions through performatives as the probable sign of their truth
(Alavi 1381: 58). Performatives are divided into true performatives and declarative-like ones. The most important
types of the former which have been explored in Ma’ani books from the perspective of secondary meanings include
“imperative, negative, interrogative, vocative and optative” (Shamisa 1373: 65). In this paper, simply imperatives
and negatives are studied. Since such sentences sometimes bear some kind of indirect meanings, the investigation of
their similarities and differences can demonstrate the delicacies and beauties of the speaker’s thoughts.
3. The Function of Imperative and Negatives Sentences in the Poems of FazilNazari
The final aim of a didactic text, even in a love poem, is to guide and admonish the reader. The poets or writers
of these texts necessarily take advantage of imperative and negative sentences a lot because the main intention is to
inform the reader of the text and explain the ideas of the poet or writer. In the poems of FazilNazari, certain themes
such as contemplating on love are evident. Moreover, Fazil’s concern about death is mainly manifested through
these sentences and this, in turn, represents his didactic approach. This is mainly done via beautifying the horrible
theme of death. Another theme in his didactic poems is the absurdism of this world which is mostly manifested via a
number of do’s and don’ts in the form of performative sentences.
The following table gives an outline of these two kinds of performative sentences in his poetry:
Table (1)
The number of verses in which imperative sentences have been used
188
The number of verses in which negative sentences have been used 69
The number of verses in which both imperative and negative sentences have been used
The total number of the pages of FazilNazari’s works
400
3
The total number of verses in which imperative and negative sentences have been used
257
The proportion of imperative to negative sentences
20.08
The proportion of negative to imperative sentences
7.37
The total number of verses in Fazil’s works
936
This significant difference in the use of these two kinds of performatives implies that not only does Fazil
believe in encouragement rather than discouragement but also, in a wider view, he summons his audience to do
things rather than impeding them.
4. Structural Features of Imperative and Negative Sentences in Fazil’s Works
In this section, these two kinds of performatives are studied and analyzed in detail. Doing so, first, the mostlyused imperative and negative verbs in his poems are introduced:
The imperative verb “Kon” (do) has been repeated many times in his poems and, in combination with other
verbs, it is the most frequent compound verb in his poems:
O stone why you escape yourself! Believe
You are still a stone even if be in Ka’beh (Nazari 103).
Also, the imperative verb “Bia” (come) is the most frequent imperative after the aforementioned verb which is
mostly used for encouragement, motivating and desire accompanied with encouragement. For example:
Come the sad sky-less cloud
Come careless sudden rain (Nazari 67).
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The imperative verbs “Bengar, Bebin” (look) which are, in fact, Fazil’s invitation to contemplation on the Self
and the origin of existence are other kinds of imperatives in his poems:
Look more carefully, this dust is not of the mirror,
It is me who is full of dust in the mirror (Nazari 79).
Although these verbs are among the most frequent imperatives in his poems, there are also some other
imperatives which are of less frequency like: “Bezan” (hit), “Bash” (be), “Biandish” (think), etc. It can be argued
that the negative verb “Makon” (don’t do), alone or as a compound verb, is the most frequent negative verb in his
works:
O flower! Don’t think you are going to the feast,
Maybe you are offered in the cemetery (Nazari 83).
Also, the verb “Magu” (don’t say), after “Makon”, is the most frequent negative verb in his poems:
Don’t say continuity of friendship depends on distance, believe
The very mistake makes the friend a stranger (Nazari 85).
4.1 Dispersion of Imperatives and Negatives in Fazil’s Sonnets
In his sonnets, imperative and negative verbs are often used at the beginning and end of the lines. In most of the
verses in which such verbs have been used, the reason of using command or negation is mentioned before or after
these verbs. In most of the cases, the reason behind using imperatives is to guide the addressee and commands
him/her to contemplate on the true meaning of his words. The imperative verb and the reason behind its using are
expressed in a number of ways:
In some instances, the reason is stated in the first line and the imperative verb in the second line:
Now that the florist didn’t sell you the purple flower,
Put on a purple shirt (Nazari 37).
In other cases, the reverse is true; i.e. the imperative is stated in the first line and the reason in the next line:
Let them set fire on me as a penalty for your love,
The gallows is not enough for killing Hallaj (Nazari 79).
For negative sentences, the same order is followed; i.e. negative verbs are accompanied by their reason:
O wanderer! Don’t take me to circumambulation,
We are out of these circles (Nazari 63).
In general, an orderly map can be drawn regarding the dispersion of imperatives and negatives in the sonnets of
Fazil: in most of the cases, when such verbs are employed for secondary intentions of guiding and encouragement,
the reason is also expressed and, of course, he uses imperative verbs at the beginning of the line for more emphasis.
The dispersion of these verbs in his sonnets can be investigated from another perspective. When the subject is
very important and he wants to call the attention of the reader more, these verbs are put at the beginning or end of
the lines. For example:
Don’t ask how I am! Life does not accompany me,
I am in a horrible situation and nobody accompanies me (Nazari 35).
In some instances, he also uses two imperatives or negatives in the same line:
Pay attention and determine our destiny,
Who we are in such a puzzling circle (Nazari 38).
This is an invocation profligacy has taught me,
Don’t make our load heavier or lighter (Nazari 43).
In some cases, the imperative verb is repeated for making the sentences emphatic. These repetitions are often
inserted at the end of the lines and, thus, the imperative verb plays the role of the rhyme. Sometimes, for more
emphasis, the same imperative or negative verb is used in these verses:
Still crying over this brook is not enough,
Rain, O spring cloud, rain, it is not enough (Nazari 79).
4.2 The Multicity and Sequence of Imperatives and Negatives in the Sonnets of Fazil
In the sonnets of Fazil, the imperative and negative sentences are either in the form of short successive
sentences or dispersed sentences. Since each of the successive sentences suggests a different meaning of the
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imperative or negative verb, this multicity and successiveness fulfills other intentions like the following besides
keeping the tempo of the language:
a) variegated use of secondary meanings in a single concept
b) fixing and highlighting the concepts the poet has in his mind
c) interpreting and explicating the concepts
5. Semantic Features of Imperatives and Negatives in Fazil’s Sonnets
The issue of secondary intentions of declaratives and performatives in Ma’ani points out that sometimes there is
not a direct relationship between the syntactic structure of imperative and negative sentences and their meaning.
There are many instances in literary texts as well as ordinary language that imperatives and negatives enjoy
rhetorical meaning or secondary intentions. The diversity of these intentions shows that the speaker draws on them
to convey his message, ideas and thoughts more and in a better way.
5.1 Secondary Intentions of Imperatives and Negatives in Fazil’s Sonnets
One of the distinctive features of Fazil in transferring his experiences is his use of rhetorical capacities of
language and violating its norms and conventions depending on the context in order to impress the reader,
exaggerating the meaning, disambiguating the literary language and other rhetorical aims. Secondary intentions of
declaratives and performatives are amongst these features which enhance the beauty of the literary language and
augment its impressiveness and eloquence. Accordingly, it is obvious that the poet employs the indirect and
figurative meanings of language for expressing more eloquently his inexpressible experiences.
Indeed, it is the art or skill of the language user to visualize in the mind of the reader or addressee the spiritual
and extra-linguistic concepts in a tangible and concrete way. Accordingly, the ambiguity and complexity of literary
language, on the one hand, and the attempts of Fazil to concretize the intuitive and spiritual concepts, on the other,
necessitate the use of internal and interpretive devices of language in his poems. In this regard, it can be argued that
secondary intentions or indirect meanings of imperatives and negatives help him a lot. The following secondary
intentions are the most important and frequent in his poems:
a) guidance
Amongst secondary intentions of imperatives and negatives in Fazil’s sonnets, guidance is dominant and the
most frequent and, except several rare instances, all imperative sentences are associated with the concept of
guidance and advice. The using of imperative and negative verbs for the purpose of guidance shows clearly the
place of Fazil as a poet who pays more attention to advice and guidance than warning and threat. Since guidance is
the most important and frequent secondary intention or indirect meaning of imperatives and negatives in his sonnets,
this rhetorical intention is manifested in a number of ways.
b) encouragement and persuasion
After this salient intention, the intention or indirect meaning of encouragement and persuasion enjoys the
highest frequency in the imperative and negative sentences of Fazil’s sonnets. In the following example, this
intention is accompanied by the intention of desire or optative mood:
Set fire on me that except dry branches
Nothing has remained of my body (Nazari 55).
Other kinds of secondary intentions or indirect meanings are as following:
c) love-making and heart-ravishing:
Don’t give me back this heart which is replete with memoires
How I can take with myself this sheet-torn book (Nazari 31).
d) begging and entreating
There is no distance to the moment of his kissing
O death! Stop for a breath (Nazari 74).
e) intimidating
The difference between Rahim and Rajim is just one point
Beware of the point which can make you satanic
f) mocking and sarcasm
Although your eyes are in search of nothing but beauty
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Abandon! The mirror is not so beautiful (Nazari 75).
g)warning
Neither call yourself reasonable nor boast of madness
Since pretence will not be present if there is something valuable (Nazari 75).
On the basis of what was mentioned and by investigating the table of rhetorical intentions of imperatives and
negatives, the following results are obtained:
1) relative to the high frequency of guidance as a secondary intention, other kinds of intention enjoy lower
frequency.
2) after guidance, encouragement and persuasion which can be somehow considered as the didactic method of
Fazil for guiding the addressee enjoy the highest frequency.
3) the secondary intention of warning is one of the other efficient tools in didactic texts. In other words, an
eloquent writer or poet employs encouragement and warning in his/her works to suggest didactic ideas. However, in
the sonnets of Fazil, this intention has a low frequency, compared to encouragement, and he uses it more in his
negative verbs. The following table shows that amount of using secondary intentions of imperatives and negatives in
the works of Fazil:
Table (2)
Guidance
entreating
68 60
Encouragement Warning Love-making and heart-ravishing
45
38
8
Sarcasm
Begging
and
6
6. Conclusion
At first glance, the poems of FazilNazari are a love collection and the novice reader considers them as lyrical or
mystical poems. However, a deeper look shows us that his poems are also didactic and he has composed them for
guiding and giving advice to his addressees. In this way, he has drawn on rhetorical devices a lot.
In his sonnets, as literary and didactic works and like other literary works of the Persian language, performative
sentences, especially imperatives and negatives, have prominent presence in order to convey the main intention and
aim of the author. In these sentences, the secondary intention of guidance enjoys the highest frequency which is
accompanied by encouragement and persuasion in most of the cases. For instructing and educating the addressees,
the poet shows them the way via encouragement and persuasion rather than warning, threatening and intimidating.
The most frequent imperative and negative verbs are “Kon” and “Makon” in combination with verb complements.
In most of the cases, these verbs suggest guidance and encouragement and, in a few cases, they show warning.
Finally, it can be argued that Fazil is a teacher sonneteer who guides his readers using the following complementary
approaches: 1) invitation to an amorous life and educating love, 2) ethical and instructional teachings.
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