Shihab Turshizi

Mirza Abd Allah Khan Zand-

Persian poet , born possibly in 1753 and started writing his poetry in his home town of Khurasan.

In 1775, he left for Shiraz and his poetic ambitions took him from city to city and in 1778 he entered the service of the ruler of Afghanistan – Shahzad Mahmud Durrani Timur Shah, and became the poet leureate and where he attained the rank of Khan. He also excelled in the art of calligraphy.

Shihab wrote also on the subject of astronomy and an account of the events during the rule of Murad Khan entilted ” Murad Nama. “  In 1791 he compiled a diwan of his verse at the insistance of his patron.

Copies of his collected poems found in Persian are

said to be between 3000 to 10000 verses. It is significant to note that Shihab was a prominent poet of the era of the return (  Bazghast  ) – which marked the end of the sabak i Hind ( Indian style ) in Persian poetry and a revival of orthodox Persian poetry.

His specialism was the Kasida, and he also wrote satirical verse directed against fellow poets , tribes ,clans, and places such as Shiraz, Yazd, Tehran, Sistan, and Kashan.

In the Ghazal his individuality of style found expression in the choice of rhymes which differed from those employed by the established ghazal writers such as Saadi and Hafiz.

After the overthrow of Timur Shah , Shirab retired to Turbat i Haydariyya where he died.

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