Category: Poetry

Abu Ali al Fadl b. Djafar b. Al Fadl b.Yunus al anbari al Nakhani al Kitab. Poet and letter writer letter writer of the 9th century AD. Al Basir was born in Kufa ( modern day Iraq ) into a family of Persian origin . On account of his blindness he was nicknamed al Basir and al Darir.  When Samara was built in 836 AD , he went to the new capital and inspite of his strong shia leanings he...

Turkish and Persian poet. He was born in Baghdad and because of his diseased condition ( barash ) , he was called Aladja ( blotchy ) Basiri. He grew up in the scholarly mileu of Harat , and frequented the circles of Sultan Husayn Baykhara , Djami , and Nawai. Basiri is mentioned amongst the poets Selim 1 , in the supplement written Hakim Muhammad Shah , Kazwini to his Persian translation of the...

Abu Abdullah Jafar Ibn Muhammad ibn Adam Ruddaki Samarkandi- Leading Persian poet during the first part of 10th century. Born in Rodhak , Samarkand, Rudaki was the author of the earliest substantial surviving fragments of Persian verse. It is stated by Awfi that Rudaki was born blind. He flourished under the patronage of Samanid ruler of Bukhara , Nasr 11 b. Ahmed ( 914-943 AD ). His Diwan of...

Muhammad Ishak Shawkat Bukhari- Persian poet of 17th century AD. He was the son of a money changer and took up the same profession for a time and then left for Khurasan, after which he arrived in Herat and entered the service of the Governor Safi Kuli Khan Shamlu. However, after a time he left for Ishfahan and lived the rest of his life inpoverty. There are assertions that Shawkat had for a time...

Masudi Sa-adi Salman- Eminent Persian poet of 5th century of Islam ( 11th century AD ). Salman enjoyed fame at the Ghaznawid Court but did spend 18 years in imprisonment during which time he wrote his famous laments. He was born in Lahore ( present day Pakistan ) into a wealthy family and his family had hailed from Hamadan ( Iran ) where his Father had been a Court Official. It was in 1076 that...

Mirza Muhammad Ali- Persian poet of the 17th century ( AD ). His date of birth is considered to be 1601 AD.  His Father, Mirza Abdul Rahman was a leading merchant of Tabriz. When Shah Abbass 1st ( 1587 to 1629 ) made Isfahan his capital, he caused many merchants to settle there, in the quarter named Abbassid. At the same time Saibs father moved to Ishfahan, where Saib is supposed to have been...

Mehmet Emin Yardakul ( 1869-1944 ). Turkish patriot and pioneer of modern Turkish poetry. His parents posessed a rich store of oral folk literature, which they transmitted to Emin. He attained several Civil service posts and in 1907 he became a member of the secret revolutionary Committee of Union and Progress. He was sent to work in Eastern Anatolia in the Customs department, which was a form...

Turkish poet of 14th century AD. His personal name was taken to be Ahmed, on the evidence of a single entry in a manuscript of his poem , Mantik al tayr. Recently , on the strength of several points in the same work, he has been identified with a certain Sheykh Suleyman, whose turbe was in Kirshehir. It can be easily supposed that this town from which as a poet he took his name Gulsheri, was...

Persian historian and poet of the Timurid period. Born in Yazd ( d. 1454 ), he was the favourite of the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh and in 1429 became tutor to the captured young Cingzid Yunus Khan, to whom he dedicated many poems. Yazdi had a high reputation as a literati and poet. He wrote poetry under the takahluss of Sharaf, he wrote a commentary  on the Burda ode of al Basiri, a work on the...

Indo Persian  poet of 17th Century AD. Died 1648, and was buried in Kashmir. Kuli was not formally educated. A native of the Shamlu tribe of the Turks and was a native of Tehran. In Persian he served under Mirza Ald Allah Khan, the Governor of Gilan. Salim addressed his poems to Safawid rulers such as Shah Abbass 1 and also Shah Safi. In 1631 he travelled to India to seek patronage, where he...