The theory of intertextuality, with its emphasis on the systematic relationship between a text and prior texts, is a suitable tool for analyzing works from the transitional period of Iranian literature. According to it, no text is formed without a connection to other texts. Gérard Genette classifies intertextual relations into three categories: explicit; implicit; and allusive.

In examining the relationship between the trilogy Shams and Tughra, Mary of Venice, and Toghrul and Homa by Mohammad-Bagher Mirza Khosravi and classical literature, what most attracts the attention are the first and third types. Using a descriptive–analytical method and based on Gérard Genette’s model of transtextuality, the present study shows that: first, in this trilogy Khosravi frequently employs verses, phrases, and sometimes concepts from classical Persian literature—mostly in an explicit and direct manner and less often implicitly—and incorporates them, with slight modifications, into dialogues and events. In this way, he connects the modern novel with the tradition of Persian literature.

Second, the author’s familiarity with and interest in the major poets of the Iraqi style (Saadi, Hafez, and Rumi) are most evident, followed by the Khorasani style and then the Indian style. Among these, by predominantly using Saadi’s poetry, he attempts to legitimize the genre of the novel within a completely traditional and familiar framework for the Iranian audience.

Third, the poems composed by Khosravi that appear in the novel reflect the tradition of combining prose and verse, a practice whose precedents can be seen in Maqamat-e Hamidi and Saadi’s Golestan.