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Dihlawī, Amīr Najm al-Dīn Ḥasan b. ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Sijzī Dihlawī (d. 737/1336), was a prominent Persian-writing poet and Sufi of India. He is also called Saʿdī-yi Hindūstān (‘the Saʿdī of India’), and his literary pen name ( takhalluṣ) was ‘Ḥasan’.Dihlawī was born in India born around 650/1252. He acquired the nisba Sijzī because his forefathers were Persian immigrants from Sijistān or Sīstān (Jāmī, Nafaḥāt, 608; Dawlatshāh Samarqandī, 186; Ṣafā, 3(2)/819). The nisba ‘Sanjarī’ was erroneously appended to him in certain sources (Firishtah, 2/394; Lūdī, 39; Ghulām Sa…

Ḥazīn, a short supplication ( duʿāʾ), of about two hundred words, attributed to the fourth of the Twelver-Shiʿi imams, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn, of Mustadrakāt (‘supplements’) to al-Ṣaḥīfa al-ṣādiqa. In Shiʿi sources, a ḥazīn (lit. ‘sad’) supplication is recommended after the night prayer ( tahajjud). In this supplication, one prays to God with intense fervour, while retaining one’s spirit of sadness, and acknowledging one’s lack of sincerity ( ṣidq) towards God and one’s failure to fulfil one’s duty to God.The earliest source of this supplication is believed to be the Miṣbāḥ…

Darb-i Imām (lit. ‘ Imām’s gate’) also known as Imāmzādah or ‘Imāmzādah Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn’, a funerary complex in Iṣfahān constructed in 857/1453, during the reign of the Qarā-qūyūnlū ruler Jahān Shāh (r. 837–872/1434–1467). This mausoleum has been repaired, modified or expanded several times under the Ṣafawids (907–1135/1501–1722) and Qājārs (1193–1344/1779–1925), as well as in the current period. Darb-i Imām is located on the south side of Ibn Sīnā Street in one of the old quarters of Iṣfahān, and i…

Duhul, a musical instrument in the skin percussion family. The duhul is a round two-headed drum usually with a hollow cylindrical body; although occasionally it is octagonal, it has skins at both ends (Sarīr and Wijdānī, 145). The name ‘ duhul’ derives from the Sanskrit word doholala (Jawādī, 1/105).The body of the duhul is usually made of wood, although sometimes it is metal; the diameter of the body is usually more than its height (Bulūkbāshī and Shahīdī, 156). The instrument is hung over the player’s neck by two belts attached to the sides of …

Ḥarīf Jandaqī, Mīrzā Sayyid Abū al-Ḥasan, the son of Mīrzā Sayyid ʿAlī, was a Persian poet of the 13th/19th century. His pen name ( takhalluṣ) was Ḥarīf. He was born into a family of Ṭabāṭabāʾī sayyids in Jandaq, a town in the Khur and Biyābānak district in the province of Iṣfahān. During his early youth, Ḥarīf travelled to Tehran and then to cities in Ādharbāyjān. In 1209/1794, at the beginning of the reign of Āghā Muḥammad Khān (q.v., r. 1204–1211/1789–1797), Ḥarīf moved to the city of Khūy where he became part of a lite…

Damāwand, the name of the highest peak of the Alburz range in the north of Iran. Damāwand has held a significant place in Persian thought and culture for several millenia. It is also given great importance in Persian mythology and cosmology and, historically, this mountain has become the place of ancestral legends and a symbol of national identity for the Persians.The Relationship between ‘Damāwand’ and ‘Alburz’ in Ancient SourcesIn order to understand the role of Damāwand in Persian myth, religion and literature, one must first study the significance of the Al…

Falconry ( bāzdārī), the practice of hunting with various raptors or birds of prey, especially the genera falco (falcons) and accipiter (hawks), such as sparrowhawks, peregrines and saker falcons. Falconry is also concerned with the principles of classifying these birds, together with the practices of their maintenance, fosterage, training and veterinary care (Kushājim, 48, 56, 115–116; al-Ḥasan b. al-Ḥusayn, 49–50, 62–65, 79–94).Origins and Early HistoryThe history of falconry may be conveniently divided into three periods: 1. from its earliest beginnings i…