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, Nawwāb , thirteenth son of the celebrated Rohilla leader Ḥāfiẓ al-Mulk Ḥāfiẓ Raḥmat K̲h̲ān (1707-74) and author of a biography of his father, which he wrote in Persian under the title Gulistān-i Raḥmat . Ḥāfiẓ Raḥmat K̲h̲ān, who was an Afg̲h̲ān of the tribe of Yūsufzāy by descent, had been since 1161/1748 a chief in Rohilk̲h̲and (Kat́ahr) and throughout his life waged a bitter warfare with the Marāt́hās. He fell in 1188/1774 in a fight at Mīrānpūr Katra where he was fighting against the combined forces of the Nawwāb of Oudh (Awadh [ q.v.]) S̲h̲ud̲j̲āʿ al-Mulk and the English. Warren Hastings’ act in supporting the Nawwāb with English troops became the …

, S̲h̲ayk̲h̲ Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn …

(d. 933/1526-7), Persian writer and author of the famous Futūḥ al-Ḥaramayn , a poetical description of the two holy cities, Mecca and Medina, which also contains a full account of all the rites of the obligatory pilgrimage ( ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ ). This book, written in 911/1506 and dedicated to Muẓaffar b. Maḥmūd S̲h̲āh of Gud̲j̲arāt (917-32/1511-26), was for a long time wrongly attributed to the celebrated poet ʿAbd al-Raḥmān D̲j̲āmī [ q.v.]. Muḥyī Lārī was a pupil …

, Bark̲h̲wurdar b. Maḥmud Turkmān Farāhī , a Persian writer, a contemporary of the Ṣafawid Sultan Ḥusayn I (1105-35/1694-1722). At an early age, he left his native town of Farāh in Afg̲h̲ānistān and went to Marw, where he entered the service of the governor Aṣlān K̲h̲ān. After two years, however, he left this post and became muns̲h̲ī [ q.v.] with Ḥasan Ḳūlī K̲h̲ān S̲h̲āmlū Ḳūrčī-bas̲h̲ī in Iṣfahān. At a banquet there at his master’s house he heard a story which attracted him exceedingly. He wrote it down and it became the foundation of a great collection, the …

b. Ḳāḍī Mubārak , known as K̲h̲alīl Ṣūfī, author of a PersianTurkish dictionary entitled Lug̲h̲at-i Niʿmat Allāh . Born in Sofia, where as an enameller he made a reputation as an artist, he moved to Istanbul and there entered the Naḳs̲h̲bandī order. Association with the Naḳs̲h̲bandī dervishes made him more closely acquainted with literature and especia…

ʿAlawī, better known as ʿAbd al-Ḳarīm Muns̲h̲ī, a Persian historian of the middle ofthe xixth century. His best known work is the Taʾrīk̲h̲-i Aḥmad or Aḥmads̲h̲āhī composed for ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Ḥād̲j̲d̲j̲ī Muḥammad Rawshan-Ḵh̲ān, a history of th…

, Muns̲h̲ī of the Ḳād̲j̲ār prince Ḏj̲alāl al-Dīn Mīrzā and translator into Persian of the famous comedies of the Ād̲h̲arbāid̲j̲ānī playwright Mīrzā Fatḥ ʿAlī Āk̲h̲undzāde. After they had been published ¶ (1859) Mīrzā Fatḥ ʿAlī sent a copy of his plays to the above-mentioned Ḳād̲j̲ār prince in the hope that he would take notice of it. But the book lay unheeded for years in the prince’s library until Muḥammad Ḏj̲aʿfar opened it by chance. The muns̲h̲ī, delighted with the plays, at once decided to translate them into Persia…

, a Persian biographer. Hardly anything is known of his life. He belonged to Raiy where his father Ḵh̲wād̲j̲a Mīrzā Aḥmad was celebrated for his wealth and benevolence. He was in high favour with S̲h̲āh Ṭahmāsp and was appointed by him kalāntar of his native town. His paternal uncle Ḵh̲…

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, Mīrzā Nūr al-Dīn Muḥammad, son of Ḥakīm Fatḥ al-Dīn S̲h̲īrazī, a Persian author, was born in India and came of a family several of whom had been distinguished physicians in their ancestral home in S̲h̲īrāz. He entered the service of the state under S̲h̲āh-Ḏj̲ahān (1628—1659) and was appointed keeper of the crown jewels with the title of dārūg̲h̲a-yi d̲j̲awāhirk̲h̲āna. He attained his highest honours under Awrangzēb (1659—1707) who gave him the title of Niʿmat Ḵh̲ān (1104 = 1692-1693), which was later changed to Muḳarrab Ḵh̲ān and then to Dānis̲h̲mand Ḵh̲ān. He died at Dehli on the 1…

, Nihẓām al-Dīn Abu Muḥammad Ilyās b. Yūsuf, one of the greatest poets of Persia. He was born in Gand̲j̲a, the later Elisavetpol in 535 (1140—1141). His parents died while he was still quite young so that the education of the boy and of his brother had to be undertaken by his uncle. From Niẓāmī’s poems, it is apparent that his uncle very soon followed his parents to the grave. Nevertheless the two boys succeeded in getting an excellent education, for Niẓāmī’s brother, who wrote under the pen-name of Ḳiwāmī Muṭarrizī, attained a very high skill as a writer of ḳaṣīdas (an ingenious …

whose full name was Abū Muʿīn Nāṣir b. Ḵh̲usraw b. Ḥārit̲h̲., one of the most important Persian poets of the xith century. Life. Nāṣir was born in 394 (1003) in Ḳubādiyān in the district of Balk̲h̲, The Persian historians usually call him ʿAlawī which in this case can hardly mean descent from the caliph ʿAlī but simply indicates his adherence to the S̲h̲īʿa. His father was probably a small landowner in the vicinity of Balk̲h̲. Nāṣir received a good education and was early acquainted with almost all branches of the learning of his day. In the forties of the xith…

, whose full name was Muʿīn al-Dīn Muḥammad Amīn b. Ḥād̲j̲d̲j̲ī Muḥammad al-Farāhī al-Harawī and whose tak̲h̲alluṣ was Muʿīnī (d. 907/1501-2), a celebrated traditionist. He studied ḥadīt̲h̲ for 31 years, and throughout this period preached every Friday in the great mosque of Harāt. He was for one year ḳāḍī of Harāt, but gave up the post by his own request. In 866/1461-2, at the request of a friend, he began to write a little book on the life of the Prophet Muḥammad. Out of this little book, there grew in time the great biographical work, exceedingly popular in the East, called Maʿārid̲j̲ , al-nub…

, Ḥasan , a Persian historian whose full name was Ṣadr al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Ḥasan . Born in Nīs̲h̲āpūr, he went on the advice of his s̲h̲ayk̲h̲ Muḥammad Kūfī to G̲h̲aznī to give an opportunity to his remarkable talents as a stylist. A severe illness forced him to leave G̲h̲aznī, and he went to D…

(d. 1003/1594), a Persian historian, author of the celebrated …

, a Persian historian. His father was for 35 years in the service of the Great Mug̲h̲al Akbar (963-1014/1556-1605) where he was a k̲h̲āliṣa inspector. Niʿmat Allāh himself was for 11 years historian to D̲j̲ahāngīr (1014-37/1605-28), then entered the service of K̲h̲ān-D̲j̲ahān Lōdī [ q.v.] whom he accompanied in 1018/1609-10 on the campaign against the Deccan. Soon afterwards he became acquainted with Miyān Haybat K̲h̲ān b. Salīm K̲h̲ān Kākar of Sāmāna, who persuaded him to write a history of the reign of K̲h̲ān-D̲j̲ahān. Niʿmat Allāh began…

, a Persian historian. His father was for 35 years in the service of the Great Mug̲h̲al Akbar (1556—1605) where he was a k̲h̲āliṣa inspector. Niʿmat Allāh himself was for 11 years historian to Ḏj̲ahāngīr (1605—1628), then entered the service of Ḵh̲ān-Ḏj̲ahān whom he accompanied in 1018 (1609—1610) on the campaign against the Dekkan. Soon afterwards he became acquainted with Miyān-Haibat-Ḵh̲ān b. Salīm-Ḵh̲ān Kākar of Sāmāna who persuaded him to write a history of the reign of Ḵh̲ān-Ḏj̲ahān. Niʿma…

, Ḥasan, a Persian historian whose full name was Ṣādr al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Born in Nīs̲h̲āpūr, he went on the advice of his s̲h̲aik̲h̲ Muḥammad Kūfī to G̲h̲aznī to give an opportunity to his remarkable talents as a stylist. A severe illness forced him to leave G̲h̲aznī, and he went to Dihli were he obtained an app…

, S̲h̲aik̲h̲ Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn (d. 751 = 1350), a famous Persian author (not to be confused with the famous Ṣūfī S̲h̲aik̲h̲ Abū Turāb Nak̲h̲s̲h̲abī, d. 245 = 860). Very little is known of his career. His nisba suggests that he came from Nak̲h̲s̲h̲ab [q. v.] but he went to India where he became a murīd of S̲h̲aik̲h̲ Farīd, a descendant of the celebrated S̲h̲aik̲h̲ Ḥamīd al-Dīn Nāgūrī. The Ak̲h̲bār al-Ak̲h̲yār of ʿAbd al-Ḥaḳḳ Dihlawī (Dihlī 1309, p. 104—107) says that he die…

, Bark̲h̲wurdār b. Maḥmūd Turkmān Farāhī, a Persian writer, a contemporary of the Ṣafawid Sulṭān Ḥusain (1694—1722). At an early age he left his native town of Farāh ¶ and went to Marw where he entered the service of the governor Aṣlān-Ḵh̲ān. After two years however, he left this post and became muns̲h̲ī with Ḥasan Ḳūlī Ḵh̲ān S̲h̲āmlū Ḳūrči-bās̲h̲ī in Iṣfahān. At a banquet there at his master’s house he heard a story which attracted him exceedingly. He wrote it down and it became the foundation of a great collection, Maḥfilārā, which contained about 400 stories and consisted of a muḳaddama, eight bāb and a k̲h̲ātima. Soon afterwards he returned to Farāh, spent some ti…

I. Historical and Ethnographical Survey. (J. H. Kramers) II. Language and Dialects. (H. W. Bailey) III. Modern Persian Literature. (E. Berthels) I. Historical and Ethnographical Survey. Name. The name Persia is of Western origin and probably only in the Middle Ages began to be used for the countries occupying the Iranian plateau (in Plautus Persia is found once instead of Persis). It is derived from the Greek-Roman appellation “Persae” for the Achæmenids, an appellation that goes back to the name of the region of Persis …

, a famous Persian calligrapher, pupil of the celebrated Mīr Saiyid Aḥmad Mas̲h̲hadī and teacher of the ¶ no less famous Mīr ʿImād. His remarkable command of the art of calligraphy, so popular in Persia, brought him the title of honour Mihīn Ustād (greatest master). His father Mīrzā S̲h̲ukrullāh was Mustawfī al-Mamālik to the Ṣafawid Ṭahmāsp I (1521—1576), the master himself, according to the Oriental sources, was vizier to S̲h̲āh Ismāʿīl II (1576—1578) but lost the favour of the sovereign and was forced to fly to India where he remained to his …

(d. 933 = 1526—1527), a Persian writer, author of the famous Futūḥ al-Ḥaramain, a poetical description of the two holy cities, Mecca and Medīna, which also contains a full account of all the rites of the obligatory pilgrimage ( ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲). This book, written in 911 (1506) and dedicated to Muẓaffar b. Maḥmūd S̲h̲āh of Gud̲j̲arāt (917— 932 = 1511—1526), was for a long time wrongly attributed to the celebrated poet ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ḏj̲āmī. Muḥyī Lārī was a pupil of the great philosopher Muḥammad al-Dawānī (d. 907 = 1501) and made use of h…

, a Persian mystic. Amīr Nūr al-Dīn Niʿmat Allāh, son of Mīr ʿAbd Allāh, and a descendant of the fifth imām of the S̲h̲īʿa, Bākir, the founder of the Niʿmat Allāhī order, is highly esteemed in Persia as a great saint and wonder-worker. He was born in Ḥalab in ¶ 730—731 (1329—1330/1), spent his early years in the ʿIrāḳ and went to Mecca at the age of 24 where he became a pupil and k̲h̲alīfa of the famous S̲h̲aik̲h̲ ʿAbd Allāh Yāfiʿī [see yāfiʿī]. After his teacher’s death, he went to Samarḳand, then visited Herāt and Yazd and finally settled in Māhān, 8 farsak̲h̲s from Kirmān, …

, Amīr Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Malik, one of the most famous of Persian court poets. His place of birth is not exactly known. According to most of the sources he was born in Samarḳand about 440 (1048—1049) but Nasā and Nīs̲h̲āpūr are also mentioned. The son of a little known poet ʿAbd al-Malik Burhānī, who was attached to the court of the Sald̲j̲ūḳ Alp Arslān (1063 —1072), he was introduced to Sulṭān Malik-S̲h̲āh (1072—1092) by Amīr ʿAlī b. Farāmurz, ruler of Yazd (443-488 = 1051/1502—1095), made a favourable impression on the sulṭān and received from him the tak̲h̲alluṣ of Muʿizzī,…

, Muḥammad Riḍā of Ḵh̲abūs̲h̲ān in the vicinity of Mas̲h̲had, a Persian poet. The son of a merchant, in his youth he spent some time in Kās̲h̲ān where he studied under the Mawlānā Muḥtas̲h̲am. Moving to Marw, he became intimate with the Ḥākim Nūr Muḥammad Ḵh̲ān there. Like the majority of Persian poets of the xvith century, however, he was attracted by the brilliant court of the Mog̲h̲uls and went to India where at first he found a patron in the person of Mīrzā Yūsuf Ḵh̲ān Mas̲h̲hadī but soon afterwards entered the service of Ḵh̲ānk̲h̲ānān Mīrzā ʿAb…

whose full name was Muʿīn al-Dīn Muḥammad Amīn b. Ḥād̲j̲d̲j̲ī Muḥammad al-Farāhī al-Harawī and whose tak̲h̲alluṣ was Muʿīnī (d. 907=1501—1502), a celebiated traditionist. He studied Ḥadīt̲h̲ for 31 years and throughout this period preached every Friday in the great mosque of Herāt. He was for year ḳāḍī of Herāt but gave up the post by his own request. In 866 (1461—1462) at the request of a friend, he began to write a little book on the life of the Prophet Muḥammad. Out of this little book there grew in time the great biographical work, exceedingly popular in the East, called Maʿārid̲j̲ al-Nubu…

, a Persian poet, born about 1046 (1636—1637), the son of a Ḥusainī Saiyid Mīr Muḥammad Muʾmin of Iṣfahān. Little is known of his life. Only this much is certain, that he, like many other Persian poets of this time, worked in the offices of different Persian dignitaries. For example he was a mustawfī [q. v.] with Ṣadr Mīrzā Ḥabīb Allāh, later occupied the same office in Astarābād and ended his career in 1126 (1714) after being for many years muns̲h̲ī with the Ṣafawid princes S̲h̲āh Sulaimān (1667— 1694) andS̲h̲āh Sulṭān Ḥusain (1694—1722). He owes his fame mainly to alongpoem Gulu-Kus̲h̲tī (“W…

, a Persian poet. Mullā Nāẓim, son of S̲h̲āh Riḍā Sabzawārī, was born in Herāt about 1016 (1607) and spent the greater part of his life there. Little is known of his career, except that he made a journey to India and, after spending several years in Ḏj̲ahāngīrnagar, returned to his native town where he died in 1081 (1670—1671). He was court poet of the Beglerbegīs of Herāt and his greatest work, the Yūsuf u-Zulaik̲h̲ā begun in 1058 (1648) and finished in 1072 (1661—1662), was dedicated to one of these governors, ʿAbbās Ḳūlī Ḵh̲ān S̲h̲āmlū. This, a poem of considerable…

of Sarhind (d. in Dihlī on the 6th Ramaḍān 1108 = March 29, 1697), one of the best of the Persian poets of India, who were by this time very numerous; their productions however are for the most part of little artistic value. Of his life we know only that he travelled a great deal but finally settled in Sarhind were he enjoyed the favour of the governor Saif Ḵh̲ān Badak̲h̲s̲h̲ī and of the Āmir al-Umarāʾ Ḏh̲u ’l-Fiḳār Ḵh̲ān. His principal work is a version of the love story of Madhumalat and Manūhar in P…

Mīrzā ʿAbd al-Wahhāb of Iṣfahān, one of the best Persian poets and stylists of the period of the early Ḳād̲j̲ārs. He was a physician in S̲h̲īrāz and in his native city, devoting his leisure hours to poetry in which he displayed a great facility. He wrote verse in Arabic, Persian and Turkish and was further celebrated for his great skill in s̲h̲ikasta. Rumours of his poetical gifts induced the Kād̲j̲ār Fatḥ ʿAlī S̲h̲āh (1797—1834) to invite him to Ṭeherān as court poet. There Nas̲h̲āṭ soon rose to great honour and in 1809 was appointed Muns̲h̲ī al-Mamālik …

, muns̲h̲iʾ of the Great Moghul Humāyūn (1530—1556), probably identical with Yūsuf b. Muḥammad Yūsufī Harawī, the celebrated physician of Bābur and Humāyūn. He acquired a place in Indian literature with his well-known letter-writer Badāʾiʿ al-Ins̲h̲āʾ, which he composed in 940 (1533—1534) for his son Rafīʿ al-Dīn Ḥusain and several other ṭullāb. The book begins with a muḳaddima on the different ¶ kinds of modes of address which must be regulated by the relation of the correspondents to one another in rank; Yūsufī then divides the different kinds of correspondence ( muḥāwarāt) into thr…

, one of the greatest historians of Persia. Faḍl Allāh Ras̲h̲īd al-Dīn b. ʿImād al-Dawla Abu ’l-Ḵh̲air was born in Hamad̲h̲ān about 1247. He began his career in the reign of the Mongol ruler Abāg̲h̲ā Ḵh̲ān (1265—1282) as a practising physician. But as in addition to a remarkable knowledge of medicine he was an exceedingly talented and farseeing statesman, he rose under G̲h̲āzān Ḵh̲ān (1295—1304) from his earlier position to the rank of a ṣadr (and also court historian) which was given him after the execution of Ṣadr-i Ḏj̲ihān Ṣadr al-Dīn Zand̲j̲ānī (May 4, 1298). In 1…

, thirteenth son of the celebrated Rohilla leader Ḥāfiẓ al-Mulk Ḥāfiẓ Raḥmat-Ḵh̲ān (1707-1774) and author of a biography of his father, which he wrote in Persian under the title Gulistān-i Raḥmat. Ḥāfiẓ Raḥmat-Ḵh̲ān, who was an Afg̲h̲ān of the tribe of Yūsuf-zāi by descent, had been since 1748 a chief in Rohilk̲h̲and (Katehr) and throughout his life waged a bitter warfare with the Mahrātās. He fell in 1774 in a fight at Mīrānpūr Katra where he was fighting against the combined forces of the Nawāb of Oudh S̲h̲ud̲j̲āʿ al-Mulk …

Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Muḳīm al-Harawī, a Persian historian, author of the celebrated Ṭabaḳāt-i Akbars̲h̲āhī. He was a descendant of the famous s̲h̲aik̲h̲ of Harāt, ʿAbd Allāh Anṣārī. His father Ḵh̲ōd̲j̲a Muḳīm Harawī was major-domo to Sulṭān Bäbur(1526—1530) and later vizier to the governor of Gud̲j̲arāt Mīrzā ʿAskarī. Niẓām al-Dīn himself held several high military offices under the Great Mog̲h̲ul Akbar and became in 1585 Bak̲h̲s̲h̲ī of Gud̲j̲arāt and in 1593 even Bak̲h̲s̲h̲ī of the whole empire. According to Badāʾūnī (ii. 397), he died on the 23rd Ṣafar 1003 (Oct. 18, 1594) aged 4…

, Sirād̲j̲ al-Dīn ʿUt̲h̲mān b. Muḥammad al-Muk̲h̲tārī al-G̲h̲aznawī, court poet of the later G̲h̲aznawids Ibrāhīm b. Masʿūd II (1059—1099) and Masʿūd III b. Ibrāhīm (1099—1114). He lived for a considerable period in Kirmān, where he wrote panegyrics on the Sald̲j̲ūḳ Arslān-S̲h̲āh b. Kirmānshāh (1101-1141). The great poet Mad̲j̲d al-Dīn Sanāʾī showed him the greatest reverence and celebrated him in a long ḳaṣīda as the best poet of his time. He could not bave been Sanāʾī’s teacher, as the Bankipore Catalogue (i. 32) says, since he must have been only a yea…

, whose full name was Ḥasan b. Muḥammad S̲h̲araf al-Dīn, a Persian stylist. No details of his life are known; even the few chronological references that we possess are rather vague. His importance lies in his well known work Anīs al-ʿUs̲h̲s̲h̲āḳ, a treatise on the most common poetical figures for describing the different parts of the human body. According to his own statement, the author made up his mind to compile this work while he was in Marāg̲h̲a on a visit to the observatory of the famous Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī. The book is dedicated …

, the founder of the order of the Kubrawīya or Ḏh̲ahabīya, is one of the most striking personalities among the Persian Ṣūfīs of the xiith—xiiith century a. d. A large number of popular legends are associated with his name, many of which are not yet forgotten at the present day in Central Asia. His importance for the development of Ṣūfism is very considerable and in the long series of his pupils we find many distinguished representatives of Ṣūfī ¶ teaching. Nad̲j̲m al-Dīn, whose full name was Aḥmad b, ʿUmar Abu ’l-Ḏj̲annāb Nad̲j̲m al-Dīn al-Kubrā al-Ḵh̲īwaḳī al-Ḵh̲wārizmī with the honorifi…

b. Ḳāḍī Mubārak, known as Ḵh̲alīl Ṣūfī, author of a Persian-Turkish Dictionary, entitled Lug̲h̲at-i Niʿmat Allāh. Born in Sofia, where as an enameller he made a reputation as an artist, he moved to Constantinople and there entered the Naḳs̲h̲bandī order. Association with the Naḳs̲h̲bandī dervishes made him more closely acquainted with literature and ¶ especially with Persian poetry. Niʿmat Allāh decided to make accessible to others the knowledge he had acquired by an ardent study of Persian literature and thus arose his lexicographical work which …

( ca. 1016-81/1607-70), a Persian poet. Mullā Nāẓim, son of S̲h̲āh Riḍā Sabzawārī, was born in Harāt about 1016/1607 and spent the greater part of his life there. Little is known of his career, except that he made a journey to India and, after spending several years in D̲j̲ahāngīrnagar, returned to his native town where he died in 1081/1670-71. He was court poet of the Beglerbegis of Harāt and his greatest work, the Yūsuf ¶ u Zulayk̲h̲ā , begun in 1058/1648 and finished in 1072/1661-2, was dedicated to one of these governors, ʿAbbās Ḳūlī K̲h̲ān S̲h̲…

, Muḥammad Riḍā of K̲h̲abūs̲h̲ān, in the vicinity of Mas̲h̲had, a Persian poet of the 10th/16th century. The son of a merchant, in his youth he spent some time in Kās̲h̲ān where he studied under Mawlānā Muḥtas̲h̲am. Moving to Marw, he became intimate with Ḥākim Nūr Muḥammad K̲h̲ān there. Like the majority of Persian poets of his time, however, he was attracted by the brilliant court of the Mug̲h̲als and went to India, where at first he found a patron in the person of Mīrzā Yūsuf K̲h̲ān Mas̲h̲hadī, but soon afterwards entered the service of the K̲h̲ānk̲h̲ānān [ q.v.] Mīrzā ʿAbd al-Raḥīm and r…

(d. in Dihlī on 6 Ramaḍān 1108/29 March 1697, one of the best of the Persian poets of India, who were by this time very numerous; their productions however are for the most part of little artistic value. Of his life we know only that he travelled a great deal but finally settled in ¶ Sirhind, where he enjoyed the favour of the governor Sayf K̲h̲ān Badak̲h̲s̲h̲ī and of the Amīr al-Umarāʾ D̲h̲u ’l-Fiḳār K̲h̲ān. His principal work is a version of the love story of Madhumalat and Manūhar in Persian verse, the original having …

, Mīrzā ʿAbd al-Wahhāb of Iṣfahān, one of the best Persian poets and stylists of the period of the early Ḳād̲j̲ārs. He was a physician in S̲h̲īrāz and kalāntār [ q.v.] and governor in his native city, devoting his leisure hours to poetry in which he displayed a great facility. He wrote verse in Arabic, Persian and Turkish and was further celebrated for his great skill in s̲h̲ikasta . Rumours of his poetical gifts induced the Ḳād̲j̲ār Fatḥ ʿAlī S̲h̲āh (1797-1834) to invite him to Tehran as court poet. There Nas̲h̲āṭ soon rose to great honour…

, S̲h̲araf al-Dīn Ḥasan b. Muḥammad, Persian rhetorician and poet, who ¶ flourished in the middle of the 8th/14th century. Very little is known about his life and the few chronological indications that we possess are either imprecise or unreliable. Dawlats̲h̲āh states that he was the poet laureate ( malik al-s̲h̲uʿarāʾ [ q.v.]) of ʿIrāḳ during the reign of the Muẓaffarid S̲h̲āh Manṣūr (reigned 789-95/1387-93), but dedications in his two most important works prove that he attended the court of Sultan Abu ’l-Fatḥ Uways Bahādur or S̲h̲ayk̲h̲ Uways (757-76/1356-74) of the D̲j̲alāyirids [ q.…

, Amīn aḥmad , a Persian biographer of the later 10th/16th and early 11th/17th centuries. ¶ Hardly anything is known of his life. He belonged to Rayy, where his father K̲h̲ w ād̲j̲a Mīrzā Aḥmad was celebrated for his wealth and benevolence. The latter was in high favour with S̲h̲āh Ṭahmāsp and was appointed by him kalāntar [ q.v.] of his native town. His paternal uncle K̲h̲ w ād̲j̲a Muḥammad S̲h̲arīf was vizier of K̲h̲urāsān, Yazd and Iṣfahān, and his cousin G̲h̲iyāt̲h̲ Beg a high official at the court of the Emperor Akbar. Amīn himself is said to have visited I…

, Mīr ʿAbd al-ʿāl , a Persian poet, born about 1046/1636-7, the son of a Ḥusaynī Sayyid Mīr Muḥammad Muʾmin of Iṣfahān. Little is known of his life. Only this much is certain, that he, like many other Persian poets of this time, worked in the offices of different Persian dignitaries. For example, he was a mustawfī [ q.v.] with the Ṣadr Mirzā Ḥabīb Allāh, later occupied the same office in Astarābād and ended his career in 1126/1714 after being for many years muns̲h̲ī with the Ṣafawid princes S̲h̲āh Sulaymān (1077-1105/1666-94) and S̲h̲āh Sulṭān Ḥusayn (110…

b. ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd, Niẓām al-Dīn Abu ’l-Maʿālī, also known as Naṣr Allāh Muns̲h̲ī, a Persian author and statesman who was born at G̲h̲azna in a family which came from S̲h̲īrāz. He served as a secretary in the dīwān of the G̲h̲aznawids. Under K̲h̲usraw Malik (555-82/1160-86) he rose to the rank of a vizier but he fell into disgrace with this sultan and was executed while in prison (cf. ʿAwfī, Lubāb , i, 92 ff.). Naṣr Allāh Muns̲h̲ī’s fame rests on his version ( Tard̲j̲uma ) of the Indian mirror for princes Kalīla wa Dimna [ q.v.] into Persian prose, which was based on the Arabic of ʿAbd Allā…

, Mīrzā , Muns̲h̲ī of the Ḳad̲j̲ār prince D̲j̲alāl al-Dīn Mīrzā and translator into Persian of the famous comedies of the Ād̲h̲arbāyd̲j̲ānī playwright Mīrzā Fatḥ ʿAlī Āk̲h̲undzāde [ q.v.]. After they had been published (1859), Mīrzā Fatḥ ʿAlī sent a copy of his plays to the above-mentioned Ḳād̲j̲ār prince in the hope that he would take notice of it. But the book lay unheeded for years in the prince’s library until Muḥammad D̲j̲aʿfar opened it by chance. The muns̲h̲ī , delighted with the plays, at once decided to translate them into Persian. As no-one …

, the tak̲h̲alluṣ or pen-name of Yūsuf b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf K̲h̲urāsānī, native of K̲h̲wāf and émigré to India, where he became physician to the Mug̲h̲al emperors Bābur and Humāyūn [ q.vv.] and a prolific writer on medical topics. It is also very probably the same Yūsufī who is the author of an ins̲h̲āʾ collection (see below). Several of his Persian medical works are extant, including a Dalāʾil al-bawl on diagnosis through examination of the urine; a Dalāʾil al-nabḍ on interpretation of the pulse; various ḳaṣīda s and ḳiṭʿa s on medical topics; rubāʿiyyāt , on which…

, Mīrzā Nūr al-Dīn Muḥammad , son of Ḥakīm Fatḥ al-Dīn S̲h̲īrāzī, a Persian author, was born in India and came of a family several of whom had been distinguished physicians in their ancestral home in S̲h̲īrāz. He entered the service of the state under S̲h̲āh-D̲j̲ahān (1037-68/1628-57) and was appointed keeper of the crown jewels with the title of dārūg̲h̲a-yi d̲j̲awāhir-k̲h̲āna . He attained his highest honours under Awrangzīb (1069-1118/1659-1707), who gave him the title of Niʿmat K̲h̲ān (1104/1692-3), which was later changed to Muḳ…

, Mīrzā, muns̲h̲ī du prince ḳād̲j̲ār Ḏj̲alāl al-dīn Mīrzā et traducteur en persan des célèbres comédies de l’auteur dramatique ād̲h̲arbayd̲j̲ānais bien connu Mīrzā Fatḥ ʿAlī Ak̲h̲undzāde [ q.v.]. Après la publication de ses comédies (1859), Mīrzā Fatḥ ʿAlī en avait envoyé un exemplaire au prince Ḏj̲alāl al-dīn Mīrzā dans l’espoir que celui-ci s’y intéresserait, mais le livre resta de longues années oublié dans la bibliothèque du prince, jusqu’au jour où il tomba par hasard sous les yeux de Muḥammad Ḏj̲aʿfar. Le muns̲h̲ī, séduit par ces comédies, décida aussitôt de les tradui…

, dont le nom complet était Muʿīn al-dīn Muḥammad Amīn b. Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ī Muḥammad al-Farāhī al-Harawī et le tak̲h̲alluṣ, Muʿīnī (m. 907/1501-2), traditionniste persan célèbre. Il étudia pendant trente et un ans les ḥadīt̲h̲s et fit pendant ce temps, tous les vendredis, un sermon dans la grande-mosquée de Harāt. Pendant une année entière, il fut ḳāḍī à Harāt, mais renonça de son propre gré à cette charge. En 866/1461-2, il commença à écrire, sur la prière d’un de ses amis, un petit traité sur la vie du Prophète Muḥammad. Ce petit livre se transforma pe…

b. Ḳāḍī Mubārak, nommé Ḵh̲alīl Ṣūfī, auteur du dictionnaire persan-turc qui est intitulé Lug̲h̲at-i Niʿmat Allāh. Né à Sofia, il acquit, comme émailleur, la réputation d’un homme habile dans son art, vint se fixer à Istanbul et y entra dans la confrérie naḳs̲h̲bandite. Il dut à sa fréquentation des derviches de la confrérie une connaissance plus intime de la littérature et tout particulièrement de la poésie persane. Il décida de rendre accessibles à d’autres ses connaissances acquises grâce à une étude passion…

(vers 1016-81/1607-70), poète persan. Mullā Nāẓim, fīls de S̲h̲āh Riḍā Sabzawārī, naquit à Harāt et y passa la plus grande partie de son existence. On sait peu de chose de sa vie; le seul fait certain, est qu’il fit un voyage dans l’Inde et qu’il revint, après un séjour de plusieurs années à Ḏj̲ahāngīrnagar, dans sa ville natale où il mourut en 1081/1670-1. Il fut un poète de cour des beglerbegis de Harāt, et son ouvrage le plus important qu’il commença en 1058/1648 et termina en 1072/1661-2, Yūsuf u-Zulayk̲h̲ā, est dédié à l’un de ces gouverneurs, ʿAbbās Ḳūlī Ḵh̲ān S̲h̲āmlū. Ce tr…

, célèbre calligraphe persan, disciple du fameux Sayyid Aḥmed Mas̲h̲hadī et maître du non moins célèbre Mīr ʿImād. Son extraordinaire maîtrise dans l’art, si apprécié en Perse, de la calligraphie lui valut le titre honorifique de Mihīn Ustād (le plus grand maître). Son père, Mīrzā S̲h̲ukr Allāh, était mustawfī l-mamālik auprès du Ṣafawide Ṭahmāsp Ier (930-84/1524-76); le maître lui-même était, d’après les sources orientales, wazīr auprès du s̲h̲āh Ismāʿīl II (984-5/1576-8), mais il s’attira la défaveur de son maître et fut obligé de s’enfuir dans l’Inde, où il …

, S̲h̲ayk̲h̲ ḍiyāʾ al-dīn (m. 751/1350), écrivain persan connu (qu’il ne faut pas confondre avec le célèbre s̲h̲ayk̲h̲ ṣūfī Abū Turāb Nak̲h̲s̲h̲abī. m. 245/869). On sait très peu de choses sur sa vie. D’après sa nisba, il était vraisemblablement originaire ¶ de Nak̲h̲s̲h̲ab [ q.v.], mais il alla se fixer dans l’Inde, où il devint murīd du S̲h̲ayk̲h̲ Farīd, un descendant du fameux S̲h̲ayk̲h̲ Ḥamīd al-dīn Nāgūrī. Les Ak̲h̲bār al-ak̲h̲yār de ʿAbd al-Ḥakḳ Dihlawī (Dihlī 1309/1891-2, 104-7) nous apprennent qu’après une longue vie passée dans la contemplation, il mouru…

, Mīr ʿAbd al-ʿĀl, poète persan. Fils d’un sayyid husaynite, Mīr Muḥammad Muʾmin d’Iṣfahān, Najljât naquit vers 1046/1636-37. On connaît très peu de choses de son existence. Le seul fait qu’on puisse établir avec quelque certitude c’est que, comme beaucoup d’autres poètes persans de cette époqmf’il fut employé à la chancellerie de différents dignitaires. Ainsi il ‘ it investi de la fonction de mustawfī [ q. v.] auprès du ṣadr Mīrzā Ḥabīb Allāh, occupa ¶ ensuite le même poste à Astarābād et termina sa vie en 1126/1714 après de longues années de service comme muns̲h̲ī auprès des monarques …

, Nawwāb, treizième fils du célèbre chef des Rohilla Ḥāfiẓ al-mulk Ḥāfiẓ Raḥmat-Ḵh̲ān (1707-74) et auteur d’une biographie de son père qu’il publia en persan sous le titre de Gulistān-i Raḥmat. Ḥāfiẓ Raḥmat Ḵh̲ān, chef de la tribu afg̲h̲āne des Yūsuf-zāy, fut, à partir de 1748, maître du Rohilk̲h̲and (Katahr) et mena toute sa vie une lutte acharnée contre les Marāt́has. Il tomba en 1774 pendant la bataille de Mīrānpūr Katra, où il combattait contre les forces réunies du nawwāb d’Awad̲h̲ [ q.v.] S̲h̲ud̲j̲āʿ al-Mulk et des Anglais. W. Hastings, sur les ordres duquel les troupes…

, dit ʿĀlī, Mīrzā NŪR al-dïn Muḥammad, fils de Ḥakīm Fatḥ al-dīn S̲h̲īrāzī, écrivain persan. Né dans l’Inde, il appartenait à une famille dont plusieurs membres avaient été des médecins distingués dans leur ville natale de S̲h̲īrāz, Il entra au service de l’État sous S̲h̲āh-d̲j̲ahān (1037-68/1628-59) et fut chargé, avec le titre de Dārūg̲h̲a-yi d̲j̲awāhir-k̲h̲āna, de la garde des joyaux de la couronne. Il reçut les plus grands honneurs sous Awrangzīb (1069-1118/1659-1707), qui lui conféra le titre de Niʿmat Ḵh̲ān (1103/1692-3); ce titre fut plus ta…

Aḍmad b. Muḥammad Muḳīm al-Harawī (m. 1003/1594), historien persan, auteur des célèbres Ṭabaḳāt-i Akbars̲h̲āhī. C’était un descendant du shayk̲h̲ bien connu de Harāt, ʿAbd Allāh Anṣāri. Son père, Ḵh̲ōd̲j̲a Muḳīm Harawī était administrateur des finances de Bābur (1526-30 [ q.v.]) et plus tard wazīr du gouverneur de Gud̲j̲arāt Mīrzā ʿAskarī. Niẓām al-dīn lui-même occupa sous le règne d’Akbar de hautes charges militaires et fut nommé en 993/1585 bak̲h̲shī du Gud̲j̲arāt et en 11/1593 bak̲h̲s̲h̲ī de tout l’empire. D’après Badāʾūnī (II, 397), il mourut le 23 ṣafar 1003/18 …

, historien persan. Son père, pendant 35 ans au service de l’empereur mug̲h̲al Akbar (963-1014/1556-1605), fut employé en qualité d’administrateur de la k̲h̲āliṣa. Niʿmat Allāh lui-même remplit pendant onze ans les fonctions d’historiographe de Ḏj̲ahāngīr (1014-37/1605-28) jusqu’à l’année 1017/1608-9, date à laquelle il passa au service de Ḵh̲an Ḏj̲ahān Lōdī [ q.v.], qu’il accompagna en 1018/1609-10 pendant son expédition dans le Deccan. Peu de temps après, il fit la connaissance de Miyān Haybat-Ḵh̲ān b. Salīm Ḵh̲ān Kākar de Sāmāna, qui l’engagea à écrire une ¶ histoire du règn…

, S̲h̲araf al-dīn Ḥasan b. ¶ Muḥammad, poète et rhétoricien persan dont l’activité se situe au milieu du VIIIe/XIVe siècle. On ne sait que très peu de chose sur sa vie, et les rares indications que nous avons sont imprécises ou bien ne sont pas fiables. Dawlats̲h̲āh déclare qu’il fut poète lauréat ( malik al-s̲h̲uʿarāʾ [ q.v.]) du ʿIrāḳ pendant le règne du Muẓaffaride S̲h̲āh Manṣūr (règn. 789-95/1387-93), mais les dédicaces de ses deux œuvres les plus importantes prouvent qu’il fréquenta la cour du sultan Abū l-Fatḥ Uways Bahādur dit aussi S̲h̲ayk̲h̲…

, écrivain persan (m. 933/1526-7), auteur des célèbres Futūh al-Ḥaramayn, description poétique des deux villes saintes, La Mekke et Médine, qui contient en outre un exposé complet des rites de pèlerinage obligatoire ( ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲). L’ouvrage, écrit en 911/1506 et dédié à Muẓaffar b. Maḥmūd S̲h̲āh du Gud̲j̲arāt (917-32/1511-26), a été longtemps attribué par erreur au célèbre poète ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ḏj̲āmī [ q.v.]. Muḥyī l-dīn Lārī, qui était un élève du grand philosophe Ḏj̲alāl al-dīn Muharamad al-Dawānī (m. 907/1501 [ q.v.]), a exploité ses vastes connaissances philosophiques …

, Bark̲h̲wurdār b. Maḥmūd Turkmān Farāhī, écrivain persan contemporain du sultan ṣafawīde Ḥusayn Ier (1105-25/1694-1722). Dans sa prime jeunesse, Mumtāz quitta sa ville natale, Farāh, et se rendit à Marw, où il entra au service du gouverneur Aṣlān-k̲h̲ān. Au bout de deux ans, il quitta ce service et devint muns̲h̲ī [ q.v.] auprès de Ḥasan Ḳūlīk̲h̲ān S̲h̲āmlū Ḳūrčī-bās̲h̲ī à Iṣfahān. Il y entendit, au cours d’un festin chez son maître, un récit qui le charma extraordinairement et fut le point de départ d’un grand recueil, le Maḥfil-ārā, qui contient environ 400 récits et comprend une muḳad…

, Mīrzā ʿAbd al-Wahhāb d’Iṣfahān, un des meilleurs poètes et stylistes persans de l’époque des premiers Ḳād̲j̲ārs. Il exerça la profession de médecin à S̲h̲īrāz et les fonctions de kalantar [ q.v.] et de gouverneur dans sa ville natale, mais il consacrait ses heures de loisir à la poésie qu’il composait avec beaucoup de facilité. Il écrivit des vers en arabe, en persan et en turc, et il était d’autre part très connu en raison de sa grande habileté au s̲h̲ikasta. Son renom de poète décida le Ḳād̲j̲ār Fatḥ ʿAlī S̲h̲āh (1797-1834) à l’appeler à Téhéran comme poète de cour. Nas…

, Muḥammad Riḍa, de Ḵh̲abūs̲h̲ān dans le voisinage de Mas̲h̲had, poète persan du Xe/XVIe siècle. Fils d’un marchand, il se rendit dans sa jeunesse à Kās̲h̲ān où il reçut l’enseignement de Mawlānā Muḥtas̲h̲am. Étant venu se fixer à Marw, il y noua des relations d’amitié avec Ḥākim Nūr Muḥammad Ḵh̲ān. Mais, comme la plupart des poètes persans du Xe/XVIe siècle, il fut attiré par l’éclat de la cour des Mug̲h̲als et se rendit dans l’Inde, où il trouva d’abord un protecteur dans la personne de Mīrzā Yūsuf Ḵh̲ān Mas̲h̲hadī, mais il entra bientôt au service d…

Ḥasan, de son nom complet Ṣadr al-dīn Muḥammad b. Ḥasan, historien persan. Né à Nīs̲h̲āpūr, il se rendit sur le conseil de son s̲h̲ayk̲h̲, Muḥammad Kūfī, à G̲h̲aznī pour avoir l’occasion de mettre en valeur ses dons éminents de styliste. Une grave maladie l’obligea à quitter G̲h̲aznī et il alla s’établir à Dihlī où il trouva un emploi comme historiographe de cour des sultans g̲h̲ūrides et commença en 602/1206 son grand ouvrage historique, le Tād̲j̲ almaʾāthir fī l-taʾrīk̲h̲, qui lui assura un grand renom. Cet ouvrage expose l’histoire des trois premiers sultans de Dihlî:…

b. ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd,Niẓām al-dīn Abū l-Maʿālī, également connu sous le nom de Naṣr Allāh Muns̲h̲ī, écrivain et homme d’État persan né à G̲h̲azna dans une famille qui venait de S̲h̲īrāz. Il fut employé comme secrétaire au dīwān des G̲h̲aznawides. Sous le règne de Ḵh̲usraw Malik (555-82/1160-86), il s’éleva au rang de vizir, mais il tomba en disgrâce auprès de ce même sultan et fut exécuté en prison (voir ʿAwfī, Lubāb, I, 92 sqq.). La renommée de Naṣr Allāh Muns̲h̲ī repose sur sa version ( Tard̲j̲uma) de Kalīla wa-Dimna [ q.v.] en persan, d’après le texte arabe d’Ibn al-Muḳaffaʿ; elle a …

(m. à Dihlī le 6 ramaḍān 1108/29 mars 1697), est l’un des meilleurs poètes indo-persans, qui étaient devenus à cette époque très nombreux, mais qui n’ont guère produit que des œuvres assez médiocres. De sa vie, nous savons seulement qu’il voyagea beaucoup et s’installa finalement à Sirhind, où il gagna les bonnes grâces du gouverneur Sayf-k̲h̲ān Badak̲h̲s̲h̲ī et de l’ amīr al-umarāʾ Ḏh̲ū l-Fiḳār-Ḵh̲ān. Son œuvre principale est une version persane en vers de l’histoire d’amour de Madhumalat et Manūhar, qui avait été composée d’abord en hindi par S̲h̲ayk̲h̲…

, Amīn Aḥmad, biographe persan de la fin du Xe/XVIe siècle et du début du XIe/XVIIe On ne sait à peu près rien de sa vie. Il était originaire de Rayy, où son père, Ḵh̲wād̲j̲a Mīrzā Aḥmad, était très connu en raison de sa richesse et de sa bienfaisance. Ce dernier jouissait de la plus grande faveur auprès de S̲h̲āh Ṭahmāsp, qui le nomma kalāntar [ q.v.] de sa ville natale. Son oncle du côté paternel, Ḵh̲wād̲j̲a Muḥammad S̲h̲arif, était wazīr du Ḵh̲urāsān, de Yazd et d’Iṣfahān, son cousin, G̲h̲iyāt̲h̲-beg, haut fonctionnaire à la cour d’Akbar. Amîn lui-même se serait égalemen…