A literature which begins with 10th-c court poetry, represented by Rudagi (died 954). Firdausi (9351020) composed the Shahnama or Book of Kings, the vast national epic on legends of Iran, establishing a Golden Age that lasted until the 15th-c. Earlier in this period we have the quatrains or rubaiyyat of the mathematician Omar Khayyam (10341130), the odes or qasida of Anvari (12th- c) and Khaqani (110685), and the mathnavi, narrative poems on a complex rhyme scheme, of Nizami (11411202). The influence of Islamic mysticism is evident later, in the mathnavi of Jalal-ud-din Rumi (c.1326c.1390), whose collection Divan has been frequently translated; and the lyrical poems of Jami (141492). Important prose works were written on science by Avicenna (9801037), on religion by Ghazzali (10581111), and on ethics - the celebrated Gulistan - by Saadi (11841291). Prose was also used for biographical and historical writings. Drama and prose fiction were introduced from the West in the late 19th-c, and there are now some interesting short-story writers. Modern Iran has produced the great novelist and short-story writer Sadiq Hidayat (190351), who is widely known through translations into European languages.
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Persian literature (in Persian: ادبیات پارسی) spans two and a half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources often come from far-flung regions beyond the borders of present-day Iran, as the Persian language flourished and survives across wide swaths of Central Asia. For instance, Rumi, one of Persia's (and Islam's) best-loved poets, wrote in Persian but lived in Konya, now in Turkey and then the capital of the Seljuks. The Ghaznavids conquered large territories in Central and South Asia, and adopted Persian as their court language. There is thus Persian literature from areas that are now part of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Central Asia. Not all this literature is written in Persian, as some consider works written by ethnic Persians in other languages, such as Greek and Arabic, to be included.
Surviving works in Persian languages (such as Old Persian or Middle Persian) date back as far as 650 BCE, the date of the earliest surviving Achaemenid inscriptions. The bulk of the surviving Persian literature, however, comes from the times following the Islamic conquest of Iran circa 650 CE. Persians wrote both in Arabic and Persian; Persian predominated in later literary circles. Persian poets such as Sa'di, Hafiz, Omar Khayyam and Rumi are well known in the world and have influenced the literature of many countries.
Classical Persian literature
Pre-Islamic Iranian literature
See also: Pahlavi literatureVery few literary works have remained from ancient Persia.
No single text devoting to literary criticism has survived from Pre-Islamic Persia. There are some indications that some among Persian elite were familiar with Greek rhetoric and literary criticism.(Zarrinkoub, 1947)
Persian literature of the medieval and pre-modern periods
While initially overshadowed by Arabic during the Umayyad and early Abbasid caliphates, modern Persian soon became a literary language again of the Central Asian lands.
In particular, says Ferdowsi himself in his Shahnama:
بسی رنج بردم در این سال سی
عجم زنده کردم بدین پارسی
"For thirty years I endured much pain and strife,
with Persian I gave the Ajam verve and life".
Poetry
So strong is the Persian aptitude for versifying everyday expressions that one can encounter poetry in almost every classical work, whether from Persian literature, science, or metaphysics.
Works of the early era of Persian poetry are characterized by strong court patronage, an extravagance of panegyrics, and what is known as سبک فاخر "exalted in style". The tradition of royal patronage began perhaps under the Sassanide era, and carried over through the Abbasid and Samanid courts into every major Persian dynasty.
"Khorasani style", as most of its followers were associated with Greater Khorasan, is characterized with its supercilious diction, dignified tone, and relatively literate language.
Through these courts and system of patronage emerged the epic style of poetry, with Ferdowsi's Shahnama at the apex.
The thirteenth century marks the ascendancy of lyric poetry with the consequent development of the ghazal into a major verse form, as well as the rise of mystical and Sufi poetry. Emotional romantic poetry was not something new however, as works such as Vis o Ramin by Asad Gorgani, and Yusof o Zoleikha by Am'aq exemplify.
Regarding the tradition of Persian love poetry during the Safavid era, Persian historian Ehsan Yarshater notes that "As a rule, the beloved is not a woman, but a young man. It was love toward young pages, soldiers, or novices in trades and professions which was the subject of lyrical introductions to panegyrics from the beginning of Persian poetry, and of the ghazal."
In the didactic genre one can mention Sanai's Hadiqatul Haqiqah as well as Nezami's Makhzan-ul-Asrār. And some tend to group Naser Khosrow's works in this style as well, however the true gem of this genre is Sadi's Bustan, a heavyweight of Persian literature.
After the fifteenth century, the Indian style of Persian poetry (sometimes also called Isfahani or Safavi styles) took over.
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Illustration from copy of Divan of Hafez. |
Illustration from Attar's The Conference of the Birds. |
Bahram Gur and the Indian princess in the black pavilion. |
Illustration from Jami's Rose Garden of the Pious, 1553. The image blends Persian poetry and Persian miniature into one, as is the norm for many works of Persian literature. |
Essays
The most significant essay of this era are Nizami Arudhi Samarqandi's "Chahār Maqāleh" as well as Zahiriddin Nasr Muhammad Aufi's anecdote compendium Jawami ul-Hikayat. Shams al-Mo'ali Abol-hasan Ghaboos ibn Wushmgir's famous work, The Qabusnama (A Mirror for Princes), is a highly esteemed Belles-lettres work of Persian literature. Also highly regarded is Siyasatnama, by Nizam al-Mulk, a famous Persian vizier. It is seen as a collection of adages in Persian literary studies and does thus not convey folkloric notions.
Biographies, hagiographies, and historical works
Among the major historical and biographical works in classical Persian, one can mention Abolfazl Beyhaghi's famous Tarikh-i Beyhaqi, Lubab ul-Albab of Zahiriddin Nasr Muhammad Aufi (which has been regarded as a reliable chronological source by many experts), as well as Ata al-Mulk Juvayni's famous Tarikh-i Jahangushay-i Juvaini (which spans the Mongolid and Ilkhanid era events of Iran).
Literary criticism
The oldest surviving work of Persian literary criticism after the Islamic conquest of Persia is Muqaddame-ye Shahname-ye Abu Mansuri, which was written in the Samanid period. The work deals with the myths and legends of Shahname and is considered the oldest surviving example of Persian prose.
Dictionaries
Dehkhoda names 200 Persian lexicographical works in his monumental Dehkhoda Dictionary, the earliest being from the late Sassanid era, namely Farhang-i Avim (فرهنگ اویم) and Farhang-i Menakhtay (فرهنگ مناختای). The most widely used Persian lexicons in the Middle Ages were those of Abu Hafs Soghdi (فرهنگ ابو حفص سغدی) and Asadi Tusi (فرهنگ لغت فرس) which was written in 1092. Also highly regarded in the Persian literature lexical corpus are the works of Mohammad Moin.
In 1645, Ravius and Lugduni completed a Persian-Latin dictionary. Peters' Persian-Russian Dictionary (1869), and a host of 30 other Persian lexicographical translations up until the 1950s.
Persian phrases
The influence of Persian literature on world literature
Sufi literature
Some of Persia's best-beloved medieval poets were Sufis, and their poetry was, and is, widely read by Sufis from Morocco to Indonesia. The themes and styles of this devotional poetry have been widely imitated by many Sufi poets.
Many notable texts in Persian mystic literature are not poems, yet highly read and regarded.
Areas once under Ghaznavid or Mughal rule
Afghanistan and Central Asia
Afghanistan and the Transoxiana have the claim of being the birthplace of Modern Persian. Most of the great patrons of Persian literature such as Sultan Sanjar and the courts of the Samanids and Ghaznavids were situated in this region, as were the geniuses such as Rudaki, Unsuri, and Ferdowsi who composed them.
India, Pakistan, and Kashmir
With the emergence of the Ghaznavids and their successors such as the Ghurids, Timurids and Mughal Empire, Persian culture and its literature gradually diffused into the vast Indian subcontinent. Persian was the language of the nobility, literary circles, and the royal Mughal courts for hundreds of years. (In modern times, Persian has been generally supplanted by Urdu, a heavily Persian-influenced dialect of Hindustani.)
Under the Moghul Empire of India during the sixteenth century, the official language of India became Persian. (Clawson, p.6) Persian poetry in fact flourished in these regions while post-Safavid Iranian literature stagnated.
Western literature
Persian literature was little known in the West before the 19th century. It became much better known following the publication of several translations from the works of late medieval Persian poets, and inspired works by various Western poets and writers.
German literature
In 1819, Goethe published his West-östlicher Divan, a collection of lyric poems inspired by a German translation of Hafiz (1326-1390). The German essayist and philosopher Nietzsche was the author of the book Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883-1885), referring to the ancient Persian prophet Zoroaster(circa 1700 BCE). The American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson was another admirer of Persian poetry. He published several essays in 1876 that discuss Persian poetry: Letters and Social Aims, From the Persian of Hafiz, and Ghaselle.Perhaps the most popular Persian poet of the 19th and early 20th centuries was Omar Khayyam (1048-1123), whose Rubaiyat was freely translated by Edward Fitzgerald in 1859.
The Persian poet and mystic Rumi (1207-1273) (known as Molana in Iran) has attracted a large following in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
The classical poets (Hafiz, Sa'di, Khayyam, Rumi, Nezami and Ferdowsi), are now widely known in English and can be read in various translations. Other works of Persian literature are untranslated and little known.
Contemporary Persian Literature
Literature of the late 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.
History
In 19th century, Persian literature experienced a dramatic change and entered a new era. Amir Kabir, of course, saw poetry in general and the type of poetry that had developed during the Qajar period as detrimental to "progress" and "modernization" in the Iranian society, which was in dire need of change. Such extraliterary concerns were expressed increasingly by others, such as Fath-'Ali Akhundzadeh, Mirza Aqa Khan Kermani, and Mirza Malkom Khan, who also addressed a need for a change in Persian poetry in literary terms as well, always, however, linking it to social concerns.
One cannot understand the new Persian literary movement without undestanding the intellectual movements among Iranian philosophical circles along with social ones. Given the social and political climate of Persia (Iran) in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which led to the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906-1911, the idea of the necessity of a change in Persian poetry in a way that would reflect the realities of a country in transition was gradually becoming widespread and propagated by such notable literary figures as Ali Akbar Dehkhoda and Abolqasem Aref, who challenged the traditional system of Persian poetry in terms of introducing new content as well as experimentation with rhetorical, lexicosemantic, and structural aspects of poetry.
Some researchers argue that, the notion of "sociopolitical ramifications of esthetic changes" led to the idea of poets "as social leaders trying the limits and possibilities of social change.
An important argument in the development of modern Persian literature (and, of course, other aspects of the Iranian society as a whole) has centered around the question of modernization and Westernization and whether or not, in practice, these terms are, in fact, synonymous as used to describe the evolution of Iranian society, and in this case, Persian literature in the course of the past one or two centuries. It can be argued that almost all advocates of modernism in Persian literature, from Akhundzadeh, Kermani, and Malkom Khan to Dehkhoda, Aref, Bahar, and Rafat, among others, to varying degrees, were inspired by developments and changes that had occurred in Western, particularly European, literatures.
For Sadeq Hedayat, who was arguably the most modern of all modern writers, modernity was not just a question of scientific rationality or a pure imitation of European values. And this creative making of a place for works that are otherwise alien and distant is the most important facet of the interpreter's mission.”
Following the pioneering works of Ahmad Kasravi, Sadeq Hedayat and many others, Iranian wave of comparative literature and literary criticism reached a symbolic crest with emergence of literary figures, Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub, Shahrokh Meskoob, Houshang Golshiri and Ebrahim Golestan.
Persian literature in Afghanistan has also experienced a dramatic change during last few decades. it also gave new impulses to literature as a whole and opened the way for poetry and lyrics to search for new avenues of expression so that personal thoughts took on a more social colour. Both groups published their own regular magazines dedicated to culture and persian literature. But both, especially the Kabul publication, had little success in becoming a venue for modern Persian poetry and writing. He was also interested in modern poetry, and wrote on the side a few poems in a more modern style with new aspects of thought and meaning. In 1318, after two poems by Nima Youshij with the names "Gharab" and "Ghaghnus" were published, Khalili also wrote a piece of poetry under the name "Sorude Kuhestan" or "The Song of the Mountain" in the same rhyming pattern as Nima, and sent it to the Kabul Literary Circle. The first book of new poems was published in the year 1336 (1957), and in the year 1341 (1962), a collection of modern Persian poetry was published in Kabul. Each had his own share in modernizing Persian poetry in Afghanistan. Poets like Mayakovsky, Yase Nien and Lahouti (an Iranian poet living in exile in Russia) exerted a special influence on the Persian poets in Afghanistan. Farrokhi Yazdi and Ahmad Shamlou) on modern Afghan prose and poetry, especially in the second half of the twentieth century, must also be taken into consideration. Although Afghan authors have not proven themselves in the international arena like Iranian writers have, due to their talent, Persian literature in Afghanistan has a promising future.
The new poetry in Tajikistan is mostly concerned with the way of life of people and is revolutionary. In 60's Iranian modern poetry and that of Mohammad Iqbal Lahouri made very good impression in Tajik poetry and this period is probably the most rich, prolific and active period for development of themes and forms in Persian poetry in Tajikistan. Only two or three poets were able to digest the foreign poetry and compose new poetry. Some of Tajikistan's prominent names in Persian literature are Golrokhsar Safi Eva, Mo'men Ghena'at, Farzaneh Khojandi and Layeq Shir-Ali.
Novels
Well-known novelists include:
Simin Daneshvar Bozorg Alavi Ebrahim Golestansee also Persian Novel
Satire
Iraj Mirza Ebrahim Nabavi Kioumars Saberi Foumani Hadi Khorsandi Obeid Zakani Dehkhoda Bibi Khatoon Astarabadi Omran SalehiLiterary criticism
Pioneers of persian literary criticism in 19th century include Mirza Fath `Ali Akhundzade, Mirza Malkom Khan, Mirza `Abd al-Rahim Talebof and Zeyn al-`Abedin Maraghe`i.
Prominent 20th century critics include:
Allameh Dehkhoda Badiozzaman Forouzanfar Mohammad Taghi Bahar Jalal Homaei Mohammad Moin Saeed Nafisi Parviz Natel-Khanlari Sadeq Hedayat Ahmad Kasravi. Indeed, his approach accommodated the entire spectrum of creativity and expression in Persian literature.Contemporary Persian literary criticism reached its maturity after Sadeq Hedayat, Ebrahim Golestan, Houshang Golshiri, Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub and Shahrokh Meskoob. Beside his significant contrubution to the maturity of Persian language and literature, Zarrinkoob boosted comparative literature and Persian literary criticism.
Mohammad Taghi Bahar's main contribution to this field is his book called Sabk Shenasi (Stylistics). It is a pioneering work in the practice of Persian literary historiography and the emergence and development of Persian literature as a distinct institution in the early part of the twentieth century. It further contends that, rather than a text on Persian ‘stylistics’, Sabk-shinasi is a vast history of Persian literary prose, and, as such, is a significant intervention in Persian literary historiography.
Jalal Homaei, Badiozzaman Forouzanfar and his student, Mohammad Reza Shafiei-Kadkani are other notale figures who have edited a number of prominent literary works
Critical analysis of Jami's works has been carried out by Ala Khan Afsahzad.
Persian short stories
Historically, the modern Persian short story has undergone three stages of development: a formative period, a period of consolidation and growth, and a period of diversity.
The formative period
The formative period was ushered in by Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh's collection Yak-i Bud Yak-i Nabud(1921; Jamalzadeh (1895-1997) is usually considered as the first writer of modem short stories in Persian. In contrast, Sadeq Hedayat, the writer who introduced modernism to Persian literature, brought about a fundamental change in Persian fiction. Such characters, seldom portrayed before in Persian fiction, are Alavi's main contribution to the thematic range of the modem Persian short story.
Sadeq Chubak was one of the first authors to break the taboo.
A distinctive trait of post-war Persian fiction, in all the three stages of development, is the attention devoted to narrative styles and techniques, In matters of style two main trends prevail: Some authors, like Chubak and Al-e Ahmad, follow colloquial speech patterns; His poetic language draws inspiration both from syntactical forms of classical Persian prose, and the experiments of modernist writers, most notably Gertrude Stein. Contrary to most other modern Persian authors, Golestan pays little heed to the state of the poor and the dispossessed. Instead, his short stories are devoted to the world of Persian intellectuals, their concerns, anxieties and private obsessions. Although the stories of Behazin show similar indebtedness to classical Persian models, he does not follow Golestan's modernist experiments with syntax.
Period of Growth and Development
This second period in the development of the modern Persian short story began with the coup of 19 August 1953, and ended with the revolution of 1979.
Jalal Al-e Ahmad is among the proponents of new political and cultural ideas whose influence and impact straddle both the first and the second periods in the history of modern Persian fiction.
Another notable author from this period is Simin Daneshvar (b. 1921), the first woman writer of note in contemporary Persian literature. Simin Daneshvar's short stories deserve mention because they focus on the plight and social exclusion of women in Persian society and address topical issues from a woman's point of view.
Gholam Hossein Saedi' s (1935-85) short stories, which he called ghessa, often transcend the boundaries of realism and attain a symbolic significance.
Hooshang Golshiri (b.
Period of diversity
Post-revolutionary fiction, including the short story, is marked by dynamic experimentation with techniques of narration, choice of plot, imagery, and structure. In line with recent tendencies in most modern literatures, modern Persian fiction expresses doubts, uncertainty. Almost a century old, modern Persian fiction has remained receptive to external influences and follows trends and styles as they appear elsewhere, stream of consciousness techniques and magical realism being cases in point. From a fictionalized remembrance of the nation's idealized past, to a portrayal of imbalances and injustices, and to the depiction of the hardships of war and revolution, Persian fiction has remained a vehicle for change as well as testament to its painful process.
Poetry
Of the hundreds of contemporary Persian poets (classical and modern) notable figures include: Mehdi Akhavan-Sales, Simin Behbahani, Forough Farrokhzad, Bijan Jalali, Siavash Kasraie, Fereydoon Moshiri, Nader Naderpour, Sohrab Sepehri, Mohammad Reza Shafiei-Kadkani, Ahmad Shamlou, Nima Yushij, Manouchehr Atashi, Houshang Ebtehaj, Mirzadeh Eshghi (classical), Mohammad Taghi Bahar(classical), Aref (classical), Parvin Etesami (classical), and Shahriar (classical) out of hundreds of poets.
Classical Persian poetry in Modern time
A few notable classical poets arose since 19th century, among which Mohammad Taghi Bahar and Parvin Etesami have been most celebrated. Mohammad Taghi Bahar had the title "King of poets" and had a significant role in the emergence and development of Persian literature as a distinct institution in the early part of the twentieth century.
Parvin Etesami may be called the greatest Persian poetess writing in the classical style.
Modern Persian poetry
Nima Yushij is considered, quite rightly, the father of modern Persian poetry, introducing a whole bundle of techniques and forms to differentiate the modern from the old. Nevertheless, the merit of popularizing this new literary from within a country and culture which is solidly based on a thousand years of classical poetry, goes to his few disciples. Ahmad Shamlou stood tall amongst that new generation who adopted Nima's methods and restlessly tried new undiscovered domains of modernism in poetry.
The transformation of Persian poetry brought about by Nima Youshij, untying it feet from the fetters of the prosodic measures, was a turning point in the long tradition of our poetry. Nima offered a different understanding of the principles of classical poetry. Above, and overseeing these changes, and going beyond altering the formation of the old poetry, he was focusing on a broader structure and function based on a more contemporary understanding of human and social existence. His aim in renovating poetry was to commit it to a natural identity and also to achieve a modern discipline in the mind and linguistic performance of the poet.
Nima rightly recognized that the formal and literal technique dominating classical poetry interfered with its vitality, vigor and progress. Although he accepted some of its aesthetic properties and extended them in the new poetry writing, he never ceased for a moment to widen his poetic experience by emphasizing the singular distinction of this art, and in returning a natural order to it. What Nima Youshij founded in contemporary poetry, which confirmed an entire era in the conviction that the traditional order of poetry could be challenged, his creative successor, Ahmad Shamlou, kept in our horizon by imparting a more innovative experience.
The Sepid poem (which translates to white poem), which draws its sources from this great poet, avoided the compulsory rules which had entered the Nimai’ school of poetry and adopted a freer structure.
Nima’s poetry transgressed these limitations.
Ahmad Shamlu discovered the inner characteristics of poetry and its manifestation in the literary creations of classical masters as well as the Nimai’ experience.
According to Simin Behbahani, Sepid Poetry did not received general acceptance before Bijan Jalali's works. Behbahani herself used the "Char Pareh" style of Nima, and subsequently, turn to "Ghazal", a free flowing, poetry style similar to the Western "Sonnet". Simin Behbahani contributed to a historic development in the form of the "Ghazal", as she added theatrical subjects, and daily events and conversations into this style of poetry. She has expanded the range of traditional Persian verse forms and produced some of the most significant works of Persian literature in 20th century.
A reluctant follower of Nima Yushij, Mehdi Akhavan Sales published his "Organ" (1951) to support contentions against Nima Yushij's ground-breaking endeavors. In Persian poetry, Mehdi Akhavan Sales has established a bridge between the Khorassani and Nima Schools. The critics consider Mehdi Akhavan Sales as one of the best contemporary Persian poets. He is one of the pioneers of Free Verse (New Style Poetry) in Persian literature, particularly of modern style epics. It was his ambition, for a long time, to introduce a fresh style in the Persian poetry.
Forough Farrokhzad is important in the literary history of Iran for three reasons. First, she was among the first generation to embrace the new style of poetry, pioneered by Nima Yushij during the 1920s, which demanded that poets experiment with rhyme, imagery, and the individual voice.
Fereydoon Moshiri is best known as conciliator of classical Persian poetry at one side with the New Poetry initiated by Nima Yooshij at the other side. One of the major contributions of Moshiri's poetry, according to some observers, is the broadening of the social and geographical scope of modern Persian literature.
A poet of the last generation before the Islamic Revolution worthy of mention is Mohammad Reza Shafiei-Kadkani (M.
Abdul Halim Shayek, whose pen name is Pendar, was born in Herat, Afghanistan, in 1938 and died in San Jose, California, USA in 2005.
Persian Literature Awards
National Ferdowsi Prize Houshang Golshiri Award Sadeq Hedayat Award Bijan Jalali Award Iran's Annual Book Prize Ala Khan Afsahzad Award Mehrgan Adab Prize Parvin Etesami Award Yalda Literary Award Isfahan Literary AwardAuthors and Poets
See main article: List of Persian poets and authors
Notes & Persian Poetry in the Timurid and Safavid Periods, Cambridge History of Iran. ^ Ramin Jahanbegloo, "Hedayat and the Experience of Modernity" ^ Latif Nazemi "A Look at Persian Literature in Afghanistan" ^ IRNA news Wednesday January 18, 2006 ^ Mohammad Raoof Moradi. ^ همایش بزرگداشت افصح زاد at BBC Persian URL accessed on 2006-03-31 ^ Houra Yavari, "The Persian Short Story" ^ Wali Ahmadi "The institution of Persian literature and the genealogy of Bahar's stylistics" ^ Parvin Etesami's biography at IRIB.com ^ ^ Iraj Bashiri "A Brief Note on the Life of Mehdi Akhavan Sales" ^ Mehdi Akhavan Sales's biography at Iranchamber.com ^ Forough Farrokhzad and Modern Persian poetry ^ Fereydoon Moshiri's official website ^ Mahmud Kianush, "A Summary of the Introduction to Modern Persian Poetry" http://www.afghanmagazine.com/arts/khalili/khalili.html
Further reading Aryanpur, Manoochehr -- A History of Persian Literature, Kayhan Press, Tehran, 1973 Clawson, Patrick.In English
The Packard Humanities Institute: Persian Texts in Translation More on Persian literature Another portal on Persian Literature "Persian undercurrent in Islamic civilization" The Persian Novel The Persian Short Story Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in e-book formatIn Persian
Iran and Persian language in the western world National Committee for the Expansion of the Persian Language and Literature شوراي گسترش زبان و ادبيات فارسي RAHA: WORLD INDEPENDENT WRITERS' HOME GHABIL Persian literature Magazine Comprehensive Persian Literature Reference * Persopedia * Poetry of Different Cultures and Languages|
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