Jullanar of the Sea: A Confluence of Arab and Persian Culture

The tale of the Jullanar ( Gulnare )of the sea is one of the later added stories in the collection. The Arabic title of this renowned tradition is Alfa Layla Wa Layla.  Though the paper was available by second century CE, printing came into existence by fifteen century CE,  these stories were popular even before the invention of paper and the knowledge of printing. This was made possible by professional story tellers.  In the Arab world the professional story tellers were called Hakawatis.  They were highly skilled performers who drew large crowds in the markets. Hakawatis were not just reciters of poems, but performers, who used gestures, wit, and expressive language to breath life into characters.

Such performers in Iraq were  called
Qaskhun and their tradition was known as al-Qaskhun.  Manuscripts guided them in the performance.  It was like the story board of a modern film maker. al-Qaskhun were based at Baghdad 


The story, Jullanar of the Sea portraits the confluence of Arab and Persian cultures.  The sea is a metaphor for overseas land. The Persian king of Khurasan city was sad; he had enough wealth, enough wives and enough concubines; but he had no son. So when he leaves this world his city will have no heir.  

Sea as a metaphor lend more credence to the story by connecting it to the people of Persia and Arabia and release it from supernatural beings and gives Jullanar an earthly tone. In fact she was captured and sold as slave in the Arab slave market, and the buyer sold her to the king of Khurasan city.  Her long silence is a reflection of her captivity in an alien culture in the midst of speakers of an alien language.  But the king and Jullanar were in the same bed and her natural instinct overpowered cultural and language barriers.  When she realised that she was pregnant, and by this time she must have acquired enough speaking skills over the alien language and her confidence that she is carrying the heir of the throne gave her confidence to speak up. Her mother Farasha, his brother Sayih and her cousins presence in the Khurasan city palace opens the door to mixing of two cultures.

When we split the name Jullanar we get Jull + Anar.  Her real Persian name is Gulnar. Jullanar is an Arabic corruption of Gulnar, where gul means flower and nar means pomegranate in middle Persian, and anar in old Persian.

Pomegranate flower was a symbol of beauty, fertility and abundance in Persian and Arabic poetry.  Naming the overseas princess Gulnar connects her directly to Persian and Arabic poetry and story telling tradition.  She is from the Persian side of Gulf and even her name is Persian.

Pomegranate in Persian Arabic symbolism:-

Pomegranate is a fruit filled with countless seeds.  In Persian and Arabic poetry, it represents fertility, abundance and continuity of life.  By naming the heroine Gulnar, the story links her to fertility and exactly to the king's problem in the beginning. 

In Persian wedding traditions, pomegranate often symbolized love, passion, and the union of two families.  The king's greatest fear was the end of his line.  Gulnar's marriage to king is not just a personal love, but also political salvation. 
                         The End

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