Ta'ziyeh

Ta'ziyeh, also spelled as ta'zieh (Iranian Persian: تعزیه, romanized: taʿziye [tæʔziˈje], from Arabic ‏تعزية‎ taʿziya, 'condolence'), is a dramatic art form of Iran, performed by Shia Muslims, and historically also called shabih-khani (Iranian Persian: شبیه‌خوانی, romanized: šabih-xâni [ʃæbiːɦxɒːˈniː]), though this term is less commonly used today (see § Etymology and terminology, below). Performances of ta'ziyeh have often been described as "Iranian passion plays". They reenact the events of the Battle of Karbala (680 CE), centering on the tragic death of Husayn ibn Ali, a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, along with his family members and companions on the plains of Karbala (present-day Iraq). The event, which resulted from a political struggle over leadership of the Muslim community after Muhammad's death, became a powerful symbol of sacrifice, resistance, and justice in Shia Islam. Sir Lewis Pelly began the preface of his book about ta'ziyeh maintaining that If the success of a drama is to be measured by the effects which it produces upon the people for whom it is composed, or upon the audiences before whom it is represented, no play has ever surpassed the tragedy known in the Mussulman world as that of Hasan and Husain. Years later Peter J. Chelkowski, professor of Iranian and Islamic studies at New York University, chose the same words for the beginning of his book Taʻziyeh: Ritual and Drama in Iran. Today, we know of 250 ta'ziyeh pieces. They were collected by Enrico Cerulli, Italian ambassador to Iran, and added to a collection that can be found in the Vatican Library. Ta'ziyeh plays have been translated from Persian into French by Aleksander Chodźko, the Polish orientalist, into Ukrainian by Ahatanhel Krymsky, Ukrainian orientalist, and into German by Davud Monshizadeh, Iranian Orientalist. Various other scripts can be found scattered throughout Iran.