The Image of Shah Mūbad’s Palace and Garden in Vīs u Rāmīn by Fakhr al-dīn Asʿad Gurgāni

The architectural setting of gardens, reflected in their layouts, comprises some of the most important characteristics and features of these open spaces. In addition to the remained historic monuments, documents and texts, Persian poems represent a valuable source for garden study which depict garden images in many cases. The images might be either extracted from poet's direct observation or his/her imagination of a specific place and clear an obscured subject or improve our knowledge about it. The article aims to study a narrative poetic text dates back to the first half of the 5th/11th century, when Fakhr al-dīn Asʿad Gurgānī narrates an ancient story. The text is Vīs u Rāmīn, probably a Parthian narration which has widely influenced on Persian poetic romance. The article tries to reveal an image of the Sarāy-i Shah Mūbad as well as its gardens which have been implicitly described when the poet explain the relation between characters. In this study, the text is interpreted to clarify the spatial features of Sarāy-i Shah Mūbad. This interpretation will focus on dramatic theme and also its story line to find the mise-en-scène of the scenes of narration the mise-en-scène that specifies the architectural setting of the place. Based on the poet’s description, Sarāy-i Shah Mūbad includes a garden, a palace and a harem and it is next to a Gūshk which overlooks a square and the whole complex is inside the fort of Marv. Sarā includes two open spaces or gardens Būstān, an interior court inside the harem and Gulistān, a garden in front of the palace which has been surrounded by an enclosure. The palace opened to both and connected to them by its loggias.