Concept

The Allegory of Extreme Miserliness and the Son of Yahya Barmaki in Haft Awrang Section 32

In Section 32 of Haft Awrang (Silsilat al-Dhahab), Jami uses the narrative of the son of the famously generous Yahya Barmaki to present a satirical portrait of absolute miserliness (buxl). While Yahya Barmaki is historically renowned for his immense generosity, his son represents the opposite extreme: a man so stingy that Jami calls him the 'father of miserliness.' The son weeps not out of grief for his ancestors, but out of anguish over their charity, wishing they had hoarded their wealth for him. Jami emphasizes the psychological absurdity of greed through hyperbolic scenarios, declaring that the son would literally surrender his soul to the Angel of Death before parting with a single loaf of bread. Through this character, Jami illustrates how extreme covetousness distorts filial gratitude, logical reasoning, and the natural instinct for self-preservation, reducing a human being to a slave of material hoarding.

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Updated 2026-07-07

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Humanities

Literature

Persian Literature Prerequisite Course