The Early Persian Poets of India - Iqbal Husain

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T H E

E A R L Y P E R S I A N P O E T S O F I N D L(A. H. 421-679)

B Y

I Q B A L H U S A I N M . A ., B . L . , P H . D .

Lecturer in Persian, Patn a College andSometime Lecturer in Persian, Ravenshaw College, Cuttack.

TEXT FLY WITHIN THE

BOOK ONLY





Thesis approved for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy in the University of Patna.

T H E

EARLY PERSIAN POETSOF I N D I A

(A. H. 421-670)





CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

Transliteration

Preface

I.—Introductory

I I . — N u k a t i

I I I . — A b u ' l - F a r a j

IV.—Mas'ud-i-S'ad-i-Salman

V.—Taj -u 'd -Din

VI.—Shihab-u'd-Din

V I L — ' A m i d - u ' d - D i n

V I I I . — C o n c l u s i o n

Bibliography

Index ...

P A G E .

vi i .

ix.

1.

6.

11

67.

147.

162.

192.

221 .

225.

230.





TRANSLITERATION.

Th e fo l l o w in g system has been fol lo we d in

this work :—

a.b.

P.t .

th .

J.ch-

di .

h .

kh .

d .

d .r.

z.

zh.

s

sh.

s.

dt-t .

dh.

i

f.

a

k.

g.l

L

m .

n .

w, u.

h .





P R E F A C E

Persian po etry pro du ced in In d i a before the

ad ven t of the gre at poet Kh us raw has n ot

received i ts pro pe r share of at te n ti o n . Th e

im po rta nc e of thi s per io d has no t been fu ll y

recognised , and wri te rs on the h is toryof Pers ian

l i te ra ture have up t i l l now done scant jus tice tothe ea rly lnd o-Pers ian poets. Th ere are some

valuable monographs on the later Persian poets

of I n d i a b u t for the ea rlie r ones we have to go

to the old-fashioned tadki ras . U n fo rt u na te ly ,

these too are not easy of access, for most of

them are avai lable to us only in manuscripts .

The l i te ra ry h is tor y of the la te r pe r io d can

n o t be ju s tl y stud ied w i th o u t a ' reference to the

past an d it is e x tr e m e ly desir-able to ac qu ai nt

ourselves w i t h the l ives an d wo rks of the ea rly

Persia n poets of In d ia . U n d e r the foste r ingcare of the Muslim kings these ear ly Indo-

Pers ian poets have p la ye d a respectable p a rt in

the up l i f t of Pers ian l i te ra tu re in In d ia and we

m ust be th an kf u l to th em for the sp le nd id

heritage they have left us.

In th is .book I have dea l t w i t h a l i m i t e d

p e ri o d ex te n d in g fr o m A . H . 421 t o A . H . 670.



X PREFACE

Th is i s an im p o r ta n t pe r iod for i t saw the b i r t h

and develop m ent of the Indo -Pers ian poe try .I t i s unfo r tuna te th at the com plete po et ic a l

works of on ly tw o ear ly Pers ian po ets — Ab u' l

Faraj-i-Runi and Mas'ud-i-S*ad-i-Salman—have

been preserved . Th e Diw an s of oth er poets

have been los t, bu t we, ho wever , com e across

extracts f r om the w ri t i n g s of the other ear lypoets in gre at m an y Pers ian hi s to r ic a l an d

b io grap h ica l works . The m uch m a l ig ne d

Pers ian tad kir a-w ri te rs have done a d i s t in ct

service to Persian po etr y of this p er io d by pre

servin g in th ei r works a large nu m be r of the

verses of these poets.

Th e m ater ia ls for th is book have been m a in ly

de r ived from the m an y m anu scr ip ts in the

O r ien ta l Pub l i c L i b r a r y , Ban k ipo re . The t ask

was d iff ic ul t a nd the obstacles m an y. T h e

Pers ian biographers g ive ver y meagre info rm at ion even about the l ives of the of the poets and

do no t at a ll th ro w any l i g h t on the influence

which had gone to shape their thought and

expression. I have t r i e d m y best to ascerta in

many particulars from references in the verses of

th e poets themselves an d ha ve ende avoured to

keep th e book as free fr o m defects as pos sible.



PREFACE XI

H o w far I have succeeded in a t t a in in g m y a im

m ust re m ai n for others to jud ge . Perhaps the

reception of the present work may give

encouragement enough to lead me to the prepar

at io n of anothe r w ork in wh ic h I propose to

deal with the Indo-Persian poets from A. H. 670

do wn to the be gin nin g of the M u gh al rule. Th is

wo rk was or ig in al ly w r i t te n as a thesis for thePh . D. degree of the Pa tn a U n iv e rs it y and

tu rn ed in to a wo rk of considerable ba lk. Fo r

var iou s reasons I am at presen t p la c in g before

the pub l ic i ts im p o rt an t port ion s wi th ou t any

modif icat ion.

I now take the m uch wished-for o p p o rt u n it y

of expressing m y thanks to a l l wh om gr at i tu de

is due. One of the first in sp ir a ti o n to wri te on

the Ind o-Per sia n poets came from my professor,

D r . 'Azi m -u 'd -Di n Ah m ad . He generously

und erto ok to guid e m e in m y work an d I amgreatly indebted to him for his advice, guidance

an d he lp. I also desire to express m y g ra ti tu d e

to Sir Ed w a rd Den ison Ross, a dis ting uishe d

a u th o ri ty on the Indo -Persia n poets, an d to

D r . Ha d i Hasan of the Al ig a r h Mu s l im U nive rs i ty

for some ve ry valu ab le hi nt s an d suggestions.

I w i l l be fa i l in g in m y d u ty , i f I do no t tak e



X I I PREFACE

th i s op po r tu n i ty to tha nk M r . Sachchidananda

Sinha, Vice-Chan cel lor , Patn a U n iv e rs i t y and

M r . F. R . B la ir , M. A ., I . E. S., D ir ec to r o f Pu b l ic

In s t ru c t i on , Bih ar . M r . Sachchidananda S inha

w i t h his g re at love for Persian l i t er at u re

afforded m e every fa c il i t y i n m y wo rk . I am

unde r the deepest ob lig atio ns to h i m for his

constant and un gr ud gi ng help . M r . F R. B la i rhas w at ch e d th e progres s o f m y researches in

the f ie ld of Pers ian l i te ra tu re w i t h great

sym pa thy. I am deeply ind eb ted to h i m

for his help an d encouragem ent . La st ly , I

am tha n kfu l to M r . W a l i -u 'd -D in Khuda Bakhsh,

L i b r a r i a n , O r i en t a l P u b l i c L ib r a r y , P a tna , fo r

his. generous loa n o f m any books.

Patna College,Patna.

July 15, 1937.

Iqbal Husain.

}



C H A P T E R I .

I N T R O D U C T O R Y .Th e per io d ex te n d in g f r o m A. H . 421 to

A. H. 670 i s an impor tan t pe r iod in the l i t e ra ry

hi s t o ry of In d ia , for i t saw the b i r t h an d develop

ment o f Pers ian poe t ry in th i s coun t ry .

Strangely enough i t i s jus t a handful of scholars

wh o kn ow au g h t ab ou t the f lowering of a gr ea t

school of Pers ian poetry in this age.

Th e invas ions of Sul tan M a h m u d led to th e

an ne x at io n of the P unjab to the Ghaznawide

k in g d o m . I t soon became a M u s l i m p rov ince

an d m an y Pers ians an d T u rk s se t t l ed d o w n in

the Punjab , an d L ah ore became th e i r ch ief

p o l i t i c a l an d l i t e r a ry cent re . Th e l anguage o f

these emigrants was pure Pers ian, and af terth ey h a d se t t led d o w n in var io us towns of the

Punjab th ey form ed a sm al l co lon y of an ar i s to

c racy speak in g the pures t Pers ian , un co nta m ina t -

ed by In d ia n id io m . Th i s cu l tu ra l t r a d i t i o n

r em a ined pa t e n t 1 the t i m e o f A m i r Khus raw ;

an d i s respons ib le for the p u r i t y of d ic t i o n of



2 THE EARLY PERSIAN POETS

these ea rly poets as d is ti n c t from the orna te

and Indianized Persian of later writers.f Th e Gliaznawide Sultans, who had in her ite d

from Ma hm ud the t ra di t io na l love of ar t and

li ter atu re, created a l i te ra ry atmosphere in the

Punjab. At tr a c te d by the br i l l ian ce of the ir

co urt am bitio us scholars a nd ri s in g poets fro m

Afghanistan, Persia, Khurasan and Tra ns ox ian a

m ig ra te d to the Punjab to settle down there.

In a sho rt t i m e Lah ore ri va ll e d Ghazni itself as

a centre of l i te ra ry a c ti vi ty , an d here was la i dthe first fou nd atio n of the Indo-Pers ian po etry .

The first In d ia n poet to wr it e in Persian was

Nu ka t i , who l i ve d d u r i n g the re ig n of Sul tan

Mahm ud's son Sultan Ma s'ud . A l l the subse-

quent Ghaznawide Sultans were equally greatlovers of Persian poetry . Th e reigns of Sultans

Ib ra h im , Mas'ud b. Ib ra h im , Ars la n Shah and

Bah ram Shah are par t ic ul ar ly im p o rta n t forunder the i r pat r

greatest In d ia n poets of Peisia n as A b u ' l -

Faraj-i-Runi and Mas'ud-i-S'ad-i-Salman ,. who



INTRODUCTORY 3

have been ac kn ow led ge d as masters of style

and d ic t ion .Th e pass ing of the In d ia n pro vinc e of the

Pun jab fr o m th e H ouse of Ghazni to t h a t of

Ghaur, and th e subsequen t accession o f Su lta n

Qu tb-u 'd-Din to the In d ia n thron e des t royed

the im po rtan ce of Lah ore as a l i te ra rycentre . A lt h o u g h Qu tb -u 'd -Din ascended the

In d i a n thro ne a t Laho re , he went to D e lh i in a

few days. He nc efor th D e l h i became the ca p i ta l

of M u s l i m In d ia , an d the venue of th e future

l i t e ra r y ac t i v i ty of the In d ia n people . A m o n gthe Slave K in g s of this pe r io d who too k interes t

in Pers ian po etry were Sul tan I l tu tm is h , his son

R uk n-u 'd -Dm Fi r i i z , N as i r -ud -Din Ma hm ud and

Ghiyath-u 'd-Din Ba lb an . Sul tan Balba n 's son

Pr ince M uh am m ad was a yo u th of p r om is in gtalents , and evinced great taste in l i terature.

U n de r the l i b er a l patronage of these kin gs

f lou rishe d Taj-u 'd-Di n, Shihab-u 'd-Din, an d

'A m id -u 'd -D in . These gre at poets who preceded

khusraw , have co n tr ib u te d in no sm al l measureto the evolut ion of Pers ian poetry in India .



4 T H E E A R L Y P E R S I A N P O E T S

These early Persian poets of India cult ivated

Persian po etry w i t h cath ol ic taste an d i n a l lth ei r composi tions re ta ined the in te g r i ty of

Persian id io m . The y were wri te rs of goo d an d

chaste Persian, an d were u n fa m ili a r w i t h " the

abs urd exag gerations, reco nd ite words, v a i n

ep ithe ts, far-fetched com pariso ns an d tastelessb o m b a s t" of th e subsequent florid wr ite rs ,

who have been bran ded by Br ow ne as the

wri ters of "B a b o o Pe rs ia n" . Th ei r s ty le i s

p l a i n an d sim ple an d in a l l th e ir verses th ey

have show n to th e ir best advan tage, t h e irpower, th ei r resources, th ei r fe r t i l i ty an d th ei r

f in e ar t is t ic ins t inc ts. I t is ex trem ely necessary

for every serious stu dent of Pers ian li te ra tu re

to acqu aint him self w i t h the l ives and works of

these early Persian poets of India.

In th is boo k I have de alt w i t h the l ives an d

wor ks of these poets and have sho wn the p a r t

pla ye d by th e m in the ke ep ing up of a grea t

po et ica l , t r a d i t io n in Pers ian. Un de r the

pa tron age of some of th e Ghaznawide an d Slave



INTRODUCTORY 5

K in g s of In d ia , th ey have prod uced works of

rea l bea uty an d have left a deep im press up onPersian l i t er at u re in g enera l . Th e ir lives an d

achievements have afforded me an in ter es t in g

field of research an d m y grea test pleasure lies

in the fact th a t in this wo rk I have p ai n te d

th e m as the y are , wi th o u t le av in g ou t th ei r

scars and wrinkles.



C H A P T E R I I .

N U K A T I O F L A H O R E .

Th e earl ies t t races of a g r o w t h of Pe rs ia n

l i t e r a t ur e in I n d i a can be foun d as ear ly as the

b e g in n in g o f the 5t h ce nt ur y A. H . I t was, as Ihave said before, in the congenial atmosphere of

the Punjab that i t f irst took i ts root, shot up, and

ex pa nd ed . Th e m unificen ce of the Ghaznawid e

Sultans le d to the g r o w t h an d spread of an i n

d igenous l i te ra tu re in Pers ian in In d ia . U nd erth e ir foste r ing care. an d patr on age ther e arose

fro m am ongst the em igran ts a la rge nu m be r of

lo ca l poets in Lah ore . Th e ear l ies t am on g t h e m

was Nukat i of Lahore .

W e kn o w ve ry l i t t l e about th is poet an d the

biograp hers do no t th ro w any l i g h t on h is l i fe

a n d w o rk . ' A w f i * i s the ea r li e st au th o r i ty who

m akes a m e n ti o n of th is poe t an d a l l th e subse

quent " tadkira "-wri te rs have mere ly copied h is

•Lubab-u'1-Albab, vol. 11, pp. 57-58.



N D K A T I 7

account. ' A w f i in bis Lub ab-u'1-Albab describes

h i m am on gst the poets o fH i s f u l l nam e a c c o rd in g t o ' A w f i was A b d -

u ' ll ah-Ruzbah b . 'Ab d-u ' l l a h A ln u k a t i . He

was a na t ive of Lah ore . A m i n Ah m a d Razi*

an d T a qi Auh ad i† corrob orate ' Aw fi 's account .

A l l these accounts of the poet are ve ry m eagrean d vague an d do n o t help us in any way in

b u i l d in g up his b iograp hy. Ta qi A u h a d i s ta tes

that l ie is reckoned amongst the contemporar ies

of Sul tan Ma s'ud b. Ib ra h im . Th is s tatem ent

seems to me w h o l l y erroneous, for ' A w f i gives

one of his "qasklas" which is composed in praise

of a much earlier sovereign, Sultan Mas'ud Shahid.

No w le t us asc ertain who was th is Ghazna-

wide Sultan who was k n o w n as Sultan M as 'udShahid. C er ta in lv he was no t Ma s 'ud b.

Ib ra h im , w i t h wh om Ta qi Au h a d i confuses h im .

' Aw fi ‡ in his Luba b-u'1-Albab makes a m e n ti o n

* Ha f t I q l i m , f o l . 1 0 3b .

† 'Urafat-u ' l - 'Ashiqin, fol . 257a.

‡Lubab-u ' l -Albab, vol . 11, p. 28.*



8 TH E EA R LY PERSIAN POETS

of Sultan Ma s 'ud w i t h a l l h is lau da tor y t i t les of

A m i r Shahid Dh ahir-u 'd-Daw lah M ujir-u '1-Mil l a tA b u S'ad Mas 'ud b . M ah m u d. It thus becomes

clear th at the Sultan under wh om N u k a ti

flourishe d was no othe r th a n Sultan Mas 'ud b.

M ah m ud and no t Mas 'ud b. Ib ra h im . Afte r his

las t despair ing effort to withstand his growinglypo we rfu l enemies near M e rw in A. D. 1040, w h ic h

ended in utter rout, Mas'ud in a panic prepared

to fly to I n d i a before the te rr o r of a Seljuq

in va sion . As he crossed the Ind us , the pr in ce

was seized by m utin ee rs, an d after a br ie f cap

t i v i t y i n t h e f o r t o f K i r i w as d on e t o d e a t h i n

A. D. 1040. That is the reason why this Prince is

remembered wi th the t i t l e of "Shahid" or m ar ty r .

H a vi n g found ou t the pe r iod d ur in g wh ichhe f lourished le t us t u r n our a t t en t io n to the

poet's verses. ' A w f i * says t h a t he was such a

gre at poet th a t it is ve ry d iffi cu lt to describe

a l l his poetic atta inm en ts. Th is does n ot surely

appear to me as a critical estimate of the poet 's

*Lubab-u'l-Albab, vol. 11., p. 57.



N U K A T I 9

ab i l i t y . I t is customary w i t h th e Persian bio

graph ers , w h en th ey can no t f ind suffic ientm a te r i a l to cons t ruc t the b io gr ap hy of a poe t,

to c lose i t w i t h a w h o l l y vague an d hy pe rb o l ic

es t imate of h is poet ic a t ta inments .

T h e o n ly specimens of N u ka t i ' s verses w h ic h

have been preserved by ' A w f i are a " qasida," a" q i t ' a " an d tw o verses. These are n o t sufficient

for one to form much idea as to his poet ic s tyle

an d his a r t b u t th ey show th a t he is n o t

ex tr av ag a n t in his use of images a n d words. T he

far-fetched images, the ha zard ed m ean ings a n d

the over -fanc i fu l way of p u t t i n g thou gh ts do

n o t app ear in his verses. Since th e y are th e

ear l ies t specimens of Pe rs ia n verse -m akin g in

I n d i a I quote below h is "qasida*" com posed in

pra ise of Sul tan Mas 'ud b . M a h m u d .

* Lubab-u'1-Albab, vol. 11, pp. 57-58.



Being the f irs t in the f ield Nukati must have

exercised a goo d dea l of influence over his con

tem po ra rie s a nd h is successors. It is r e a ll y a

p i t y th a t so few of his verses are k n o w n to us.

H a v i n g done w i t h the earl iest Persian poetof In d ia , we sh all , in the n ex t tw o chapters,

de al w i t h the tw o most celebrated Persian poets

who were bo rn and br ou gh t up in In d ia . Th ei r

eleg ant verses have been p raise d by a l l , an d

being accomplished poets they occupied con

spicuous positions under the Ghaznawide Sultans.




C H A P T E R I I I .

A B U ' L - F A R A J O F R U N .

Th e d is t i n c t io n of be in g the f i rs t gre a t

In d i a n poet w ho wro te verses in Pers ian un

quest ionably belongs to Abu'1-Faraj- i-Runi. His

f u l l n a m e a c c o rd i n g t o ' A w f l * w as A b u ' l - F a r a j

b. Ma s 'ud-u ' l -Ru ni . He was bo rn an d br o ug h t

up in Laho re . Th is s ta tem ent of ' A w f i , who

is th e earl iest wr it e r to g iv e a no tice of th e poe t

has been challanged by the biographers of more

recent da te . L u t f ' A l i † in h is Atash kad ahconfuses the poet 's n at iv e to w n R u n w i t h

Ru nah, a vi l la g e in Dasht- i-Khawaran, wh ile

Rida Qui! khan‡ states that l ie belonged to

Ru nah, a vi l la ge in the d is tr ic t of Nishapur. Th e

auth ors of the T a ri k h Fir is ht ah § and Riyad-u\sh-Shu'ara | | mention him as a native of Sistan.

* Lu ba b-u '1-Alb ab , vo l . 11., p. 241.

† Atashkadah, p, 122,

‡M ajm 'a-ul-Fu sah a, vo l . 1., p. 70.

§ T a r ik h Firish tah , p. 49.

| | Riyad-u'sh-Shu'ara, fol. 4b.




T h e s e m i s t a k e s a r e a p p a r e n t l y d u e t o a c o n -

fus io n w i t h an ea r l i e r poe t o f th e same nam e ,A b u ' l - F a r a , j i - s a g z i w h o s e p a t r o n was A b u ' A l l

S im ju r , one o f t h e v i c t im s o f Su l t a n M ah m i ld ' s

i n o r d i n a t e a m b i t i o n . T h e n o t ic e s w h i c h t he se

b io gr ap he rs devo te to ou r poe t a re s ingu la r ly -

je ju n e a n d l a c k i n g i n p rec ise i n f o r m a t i o n .

T h e i r s t a t em en t a s t o t h e poe t ' s p l a ce o f o r i g i n

i s de m on s t r a b l y i n co r r e c t an d con fu sed. To

take one ins tance on ly I quote be low a few l ines

f r o m t h e T a r i k h i r i s h t a h * t o sh ow h o w i t s

a u t h o r confuses A b u ' 1 - F a r a j - i - R u n i t h A b u l *

Faraj-i-Sagzi :—-

T h i s A b u ' l - F a r a j o f S i t a n w ho se p u p i l

'Unsu r i was , o ccup ied an exa l t ed pos i t i on i n t h e

*TarikhFirishtah, p. 49.



A B U ' L - F A R A J 13

court o f A b u ' A l i the governor o f Khurasan

under the Samanides* an d is said to have d ie din A. D. 1002f. Th is is b u t one exam ple of th e

confusion crea ted by some of the bio gra phers ,

and we need no t m u l t i p l y instances wh ic h are

worse s t i l l . Th e birth-pla ce of Abu '1-Faraj-i-Ru ni

was nei th er Sistan, no r Ghazna, no r Khurasan,b u t R un , a vi lla g e near Lah ore , as I sh all

prese ntly pro ve w i t h reference to more relia ble

auth orit ies. Of the older works from wh ic h

in for m at io n m ig h t be expected, the rh ahar

Maqalah does no t giv e any bio gr ap hic al details

about h i m . I t on ly enumerates h i m amo ngst

the di sting ui sh ed poets of the GhaznawideJ

per io d. Th e oldest wo rk w h ic h consecrates a

not ice to the poet is the Lu ba b-ivl-Alb ab . ' A w f l

e x p li c it ly states th a t the poet was b or n an d

bro ug ht up in R un in the d is tr ic t of Lahore§.

Th e Rahat-u's-Sudur||, an un ique H is to ry of th e

* Ha l t I q l l m , f o l . 8 9 b .

†suhufIbrahim, fol. 16a.

‡Chahar Maqa lah , p. 28.§Lu ba b-u ' l -Albab , vo l . 1 1 , p . 241.

|| Rahat-u's-Sudur, p. 57.



14 TH E EAR LY PERSTAN POETS

Seljuqs fu lly supports thi s statem ent of ' A w f i .

H i s nisbah a c c o rd in g t o Ba d a u n i* i s d e r ive dfrom R un , an ancien t vi l la ge , now ruin ed , in

the d is tr ic t of Lah ore ; an d the au tho r of the

H aft I q l i m † m e n t i o n h i m am ong the d i s t in g

uished i nh ab ita nt s of Lah ore . The authors of

the M ir ' a t -u ' l - ' Al am ‡nd the Majm'a-u 'n -Nafa'is§ also support this statement of Badauni.

The Farhang-i-Jahangiri | | and the Burhan Qat ' i¶

ca l l Ru n a t o wn of Hin dus tan and the b i r th -

place of Ab u 'l -F a r a j. Thi s is sufficient to pro ve

how unfounded is the contention of the bio

graphers who dispu te the assertion of ' A w f i as

to the birth-place and origin of the poet.

The materials for Abu'l-Faraj 's biography are

far less copious th a n we co u ld wis h, an d of his

b i r t h and ear ly l i fe we kn ow pra c t i ca l ly no th in g.

* Muntakha-u ' t -Tawarikh, vol . 1. , p . 37.

† H a l t I q l i m f o l . 1 0 2a .

‡Mir 'at-uVAlam, fols . 439b-440a.

§ M a jma-u -Naf a ' i s , f o l . 3 b .

|| Farhang-i-Jahanglrl, fol. 294b.

¶Burhan Qa t ' i , p. 370.





16 T H E E AR L Y PER SIAN POETS

the B r i t i s h Museum* wh ic h on the obverse ex

h ib i t s the name of C a l i ph Al-Mu s tadh h i r B i l la h ,as con temporary w i t h Ib r ah im and th i s C a l ip h

d id no t ascend his own pont i f ica l th rone t i l l A . H .

487. I t is clear fro m th is t h a t Sulta n Ib r a h i m

l iv e d an d ru le d subsequent to th is epoch. If we

ado pt the la t t er an d m ore pro bab le date for theaccession of Sult an M as 'u d to th e th ro ne , th e

s ta te men t o f th e Suhuf I b r a h i m † t h a t Ab u ' l -

Fa ra j-i-R un i d ie d in A . H . 489, becomes neces

sa rily in co rre ct, for he addresses Sul tan M as 'ud

b. Ibrahim in several poems as the re igning

sovere ign . The au thor o f the M ir ' a t - u l - 'A la m J

says th a t Ab u 'l -Fa ra j d ie d i n A . H . 482. Th is

date a ls o d o e s n o t seem to be corre ct to me, for

th e same reason. Th e s ta tem en t of the au tho r

of the Nishtar-i-'Ishq§ th a t Ab u 'l -F a ra j was al ive

t i l l A . H . 490 seems to be m ore near the t ru th .

I t seems reasonable an d prob able th a t A b u l -

Faraj was alive t i l l after A . H . 492.

* Catalogue of Coins (Lane-Poole), vol. IX, p. 241.†Suhuf Ib ra h im , fo l. 16b.‡M ir'a t-u' l - 'Ala m , fol. 440a.

§N ish tar -i- ' Ish q, fol . 32b.



A B U ' L - FA R A .T 17

C on ce rn ing the pa r t i cu l a r s o f Abu ' l -Fa ra j ' s

l i f e l i t t l e i n f o r m a t i o n i s t o b e g l e a n e d f r o m t h ebiograp hers . Ho we ve r , i f we can no t f i l l in the

deta i ls th e m a in ou t l ine s are c lear eno ugh .

A b u 'l -F a r a j seems to have been a po et of co n

siderable rep ute. Th e t i t le s of an d

w i t h wh ic h he i s a lways r emem beredby his bio gra ph ers are s ig ni f ic an t an d bear an

e loquen t t e s t imony to h i s deep lea rn ing and

grea t acco m pl i shm ent . The g rea t a r t i s t i c

be au ty of his verses shows t h a t th e ev a lu at io n

of his greatness by these b iog raph er s was n o t awrong one.

T h e autho rs of the Haf t Iqlim,* the R iya d-

u 'sh-Shu'ara† the 'Urafat-u ' l - 'AshiqinJ, the

M aj ' a -u ' l -Fu sa h a§ , t he Atashkadah || an d m an y

oth er b io gr ap he rs state t h a t in consequence o fm a l i c ious in s inua t ions made by Ab u ' l -F a r a j ,

* H a l t I q l i m , f o l . 2 7 8 a .

†Riyad-u'sh-Shu'ara, fol . 4b.

‡ ' U r a f a t - u ' l - ' A s h i q i , f ol . 6 6 4 a.

§ M a j m ' a - u l - F u s a h a v o l . 1 . , p p . 5 1 5 a n d 5 4 0.| | Atashkadah, p. 147.

2



18 TH E EAR LY PERSIAN POETS

Mas'ud-i-Sad-i-Salman fell under the displeasure

of Sultan Ma s'ud an d was cast in to pri so n.Th is s tory in m y op in io n is an in ve nt io n of the

later biographers and has n o th in g to do w i t h

fact. Th e source of th is sto ry is a "q it 'a *," to be

found in Mas'ud 's D iw an . I quote below some of

the relevant verses:—

*Mas 'ud. i -Sads Diwan, p . 255.



A B U ' L - F A R A J 19

In the co nc lu di ng verse o f this "q i t 'a " M as 'ud

threatens the pe rpe trato r of this e vi l deed th a t

he w o u ld soon reap the ha rves t of wh a t he h adso wn . He says :—

Th is second im p ris on m en t of M as 'ud-i-S 'ad-i-Salman d u ri n g the re ig n of Sul tan Ma s'ud was

due to his associat ion with Abu-Nasr-i-Farsi and

had a l so grea t ly to do wi th the admin i s t ra t ion of

ch alan da ras he him se lf says in a "qasida"

addressed to* Mu h a m m a d Kh at ib !, one of his

friends and commissioner of Quzdar.



20 TH E EA R LY PERSIAN POETS

I t w i l l be too much to suppose t h a t A bu -

Nasr-i-Farsi, who occup ied the ex al ted post of

depu ty-governor an d com m ander-in-chief under

Shirzad, fe l l unde r the displeasure of SultanM a s u and was pun ished s imp ly th roug h the

insin ua tion s of Aba '1-Fara j-i-Riim . The re m us t

have been some political reasons behind the

down fa ll of Abu-Nasr-i-Parsi. It looks absu rd

th a t Sultan M a s 'u d who was we ll k n o wn for his

sagacity would have disgraced Abu-Nasr and

sent his adherents to pr iso n si m p ly on account

of the mal icious insinua t ions m ade by A b u ' l -

Fa ra j - i -R u n i I t was cer ta in ly beyond the

powers of Ab u'1-F ar aj- i-R un i who enjoyed no

p o li t i c a l powers at the co urt to do any h a rm to

Abu-Nasr-i-Farsi who was a gr ea t fav ou rit e of

the k i n g and a pr ivi le ge d in t im ate of the cour t .

Mas 'u- i-S 'ad, was Abu' l -Faraj 's favouri te pupi l ,

* Mas'ud-i-S'ad's D i w a n p. 75.



A B U ' L - F A R A J 21

an d th ey alway s rem ain ed on the best of term s

as appears fro m an ex am in at io n of the Diwan sof the tw o . Eve n in his " prison-poems " Mas 'ud

expressed his re gr et at th e absence of A b u ' l -

Far aj an d a l o n g in g to see h i m . He says :—*

It seems qu ite imp ossib le th a t Abu '1-Faraj-i-

R an i wo ul d have been in str um en tal in sending

a pupil so devoted to him to pr ison.

L e t us no w ascertain the exact person who

in the " q i t 'a " quoted above is rep orte d to have

br o ug ht about th e do wn fal l of Abu-Nasr-i-Parsi

* Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan p. 54.




and also through his mischievous effort sent

Mas'ud-i-S'ad to priso n. Th e earliest au thor it ies, Nidham i 'A r u d i and ' A w f i , do not make

any m ent ion o f i t . A m i n Ah m ad Razi is the

first biog rapher who introduces thi s story. He

writes:—*

The other " tadkira "—writers merely relying on

the author of the H af t I q l i m at t r ibu te this ev i l

deed to Ab u l- Fa ra j - i -R u n i The most per t inent

* Ha l t I q l im , fo l . 278a .



A B U ' L - F A R A J 23

ques tion w h ic h no w arises is wh a t was it

that led the author of the Haft Iql im to supposeth a t Ma s'ud-i-S'ad was sent to pr ison for th e

second t ime, through the ef for t s of Abu ' lFara j- i

R u n i The above quo ted " q i t ' a " wh ich i s the

source of err or occurs in Ma s'ud's D iw a n ju st

be low another "q i t ' a" which i s in pra i se of

Ab u' l -Fa ra j , the poet , be gi nn in g w i t h :—*

It seems to m e pr ac t ic a l ly cer ta in th a t A m i nA h m a d Razi possessed a co py of Mas 'ud's D iw a n

in which the fo l lowing rubr ic , which i s avai lab le

in the l i thographed edi t ion , was miss ing :—

Since there are two more " qit 'a " connected wi thA b u ' l -F a r a j - i -R u n i b o t h i mme d i a t e l y p r e c e d i n g

th is "q i t ' a ," the au thor of the Haf t Iq l im was led

to bel ieve th a t i t was also addressed to A b i r l -

Faraj- i -Run i , Th e verses of the f i r s t ' ' q i t 'a ' ' prove

th a t M as 'u d was on the ver y best of term s w i t h

*Mas'ud-i-S'ads Diwan, p. 254-




Ab u l-Fa ra j - i -R u n i , wh i le f ro m the second i t

appears t h a t Ab u ' l - Fa ra j who is spoken of inth is " q i t ' a " was an enem y of Ma s 'ud . W i t h o u t

m uc h cons ide ra t ion A m i n Ah m a d Raz i came to

th e co nclu sion th a t b o th these " q i t ' a " were ad

dressed to the same person vi z . A b u l -F a r a j - i -

R u n i. As one of these " qit 'a s " is co uched in th e

frie nd lie st of term s, wh il e th e oth er savours of

e n m it y , i t became ve ry easy for the au th or of

the H a f t I q l i m s t a r t r om an c in g th a t i n t he

be g in ni n g there exis ted a gre at f r ie nd sh ip

betwe en Abu '1-Faraj- i-Run i a n d Mas 'ud-i-S'ad-i-

Sa lman, wh ic h l a te r on tu rn ed in to en m i ty an d

Ab u ' l -Fa ra j - i -R u n i be ca m e the cause o f Mas 'ud ' s

m isfor tu ne . Th is s tory was ha nd ed d o w n to

the la ter b iograp hers an d the legen d f inal lyr ece ived the s t amp o f e r i t y f rom R ida Qu i !

Khan 's s ta tement that th is "qi t ' a" was addressed

to Ab u ' lF a ra j - i -R u n i , t ho ug h the s t a temen t i s

not fol lowed by any evidence at a l l .

Th e rub r i c i n the l i t hog rap he d ed i t i o n o f

Mas'ud 's D iw a n cle ar ly s tates th a t th e poe m i»



A B U ' L - F A R A J 2 5

addressed to one Ab u 'lF a ra j- i- N a sr b. Rustam-

This Abu'l-Faraj- i-Nasr b. Rustam was the gover-nor of Lahore to whom Mas'ud has addressed se-

ve ra l "qasidas." As Mas'ud's im p ris o n m en t was

due to p o li ti c a l causes it seems pro ba ble t h a t

Abu'1-Faraj-i-Nasr b. Ru stam wo u ld have bro ug h t

this about . Perhaps the fo l lo wi n g th re at conve ye d in th e la st verse of t he above qu ote d

" q i ta " by Mas 'ud.

was fu lfi ll ed after sometime, for I find the

fo ll o w in g verses in a '• qa si da" * addressed by

Mas'ud to Abu'l-Faraj- i-Nasr b. Rustam.

* Mas 'ad-i-S 'ads Diwan p. 101.




Mirza Mu ham m ad Khan says " t h a t he (A b u ' l -

Faraj of M as'ud's " qi t ' a ") canno t be id en tifie d

w i t h Abu'1-Faraj-i-Runi as the authors of m an y

"t a d k ir a s " have supposed"*. He also dou btsth a t Abu'1-Faraj-i-Nasr b. Rustam, the go vernor

of La ho re, is in ten de d. He says th a t fro m an

elegy com posed by Mas'ud-i-S'ad on th e de ath

o f Abu'1-Faraj-i-Nasr-i-Rustam it appears t h a t

he died in the re ign of Sul tan Ibrahim.Mirza Muhammad Khan does not quote any

verse fro m th is elegy, an d I h a v e no t been

able to t race ou t thi s elegy in the l i th o g ra p h -

ed e d it io n of Mas'ud-i-S'ad's D iw a n . To m e

i t seems pra ct ic a l ly ce r ta in th at Ab u 'LF ar aj- i -

R u n i was n ot at a l l connected w i t h Mas 'ud 's

second im pr iso nm en t an d as s tated in the

l i th og rap he d ed i t io n of Mas 'ud 's Di wa n i t

was A b u ' l a r a j - i -N a s r b . Rustam who b rough t

* Monograph on Mas'ud-i-S'ad, p. 62.



A B U ' L - F A R A J 27

about the downfall of Abu-Nasr of Pars,

wh ich led to the d ismissa l and im pr iso nm en tof all his protege*, amongst whom was Mas 'ud-i-

S'ad-i-Salman.

The chief pa t rons of Ab u ' l Fa ra j - i -R u n i were

Sul tan Ib ra h im an d Sultan Ma s ' t id an d to th em

his pa ne gy rics are m o st ly addressed. He alsoaddressed his poems to princes of the royal

house a n d nobles of th e co u rt . Some o f his

patrons are n ot we ll k n o w n a nd re quire bio

gr ap hi ca l not ices . Th e king s, pr inces an d

no blem en to w h o m the poems are addressed

are :—

(1) Sulta n Ibr ah im .— Th e ti t le s on coins issued

du r i n g Su l tan Ib rah im 's lo n g re ign a re m any

and very h igh-sound ing. Sim ples t i s Ib ra h im

b. Mas 'ud . An o th e r i s Abu-Mudh affar Ibr a

h im . Others are Su l tan -u ' l - 'Adh am ; IJhahir-u 'd-

D aw la h ; Nas i r -u 'd -Dawlah ; I Jh ah i r -u l -M i l l a t

an d Qahir-u '1-Muluk, Sai yid -u 's-S ala t in O n

the dea th o fF a r r u k h z a d , in A. H . 450, h e as

cended the throne. Ac c o rd in g to the au thor



28 T H E EA R LY PERSIAN POETS

of th e Hab ib-u's-Siya r,* he was a pr in ce of such

pi e t y and d evo t io n th a t he jo i ne d togetherRa jab, Sh'aban and Ram ada n, an d fasted thr ee

m onths in the year . Sul tan Ib ra h im entered

in to a rec on ci l i a t io n w i t h the Sel juqians , and

it was agreed th a t nei th er p a rt y sho uld enter

t a i n designs against the other 's k in g d o m ;Sultan M a l i k Shah Seljuqi g i v i n g his ow n

dau ghter in m arr ia ge to Ibra him 's son Mas 'ud.

Ac co rd in g to the Ta r ikh Guzi da h† and the

Tabaqat Nasiri‡ Sultan Ibrahim died in A. H. 492.

Ac c o rd in g to the K a m i l § and the Raudat-u 's-

Safa || he d ie d in A. H. 481. One o f his co ins

prove that he was al ive t i l l A . H . 487, an d the

grea tes t p ro ba b i l i ty i s th a t Sul tan Ib ra h im d ie d

in A . H . 492. A c c o rd in g to the Ta r ik h Fir ishtah,¶[

* Habib-u 's-Siyar , vo l . I I . , Juz. IV . , p . 32.

† Tarikh Guzidah, p. 404.

‡ Tabaqat-i-Nasirl, fol. 122a.

§ K am i l , vo l . X . , p . 1 10 .

| | Raudat-u's-Safa, v o l . I V . , p . 43.

¶ T a r ik h Fir ish tah , p . 49.



A B U ' L - F A R A J 29

Sul tan Ib r a h im h ad 36 sons an d 40 dau ghters .

H e gave his daug hters in m ar r ia g e to learn edand rel igious men.

(2) Sul tan M as 'ud b. Ib ra h im .— H e was the

grea t-grand-son of Sul tan M ah m ud . A c c o r d in g

to Abu'l-Faraj-i-Runi and Mas'ud-i~S'ad-i-

Salman he bore the surname of 'Al a-u 'd -D aw la h ,Ab u ' l -Fa ra j- i -R un i in one of h is " qas ida s"

in pra ise of th is m on arc h s ty les h i m as

follows :—

Mas'ud-i-Sa'd† also tags the same title on

to his na m e. He says : —

Mas 'ud-i -S 'ad, who has w r i t te n a large n um

ber of " qasidas " in his praise always styles him

* Abu'l-Faraj 's Diwan, p. 82.

†Mas'ud-i-S'ad's D iw a n , p. 23.




w i t h no t i t l e o ther th a n th at of 'Ala-u 'd-Dawla h.

Ac c o rd in g to the Raudat-us-Safa * his surnameo • • •

was Jal al-u 'd-D aw lah . Th e Ta ba qat i-Na sir i †

styles h i m as 'Al a -u 'd -D in . In view of the test i

mony of Abu'l-Faraj- i-Runi and Mas'ud-i-S'ad-i-

Salm an it is ce rta in th a t Sultan Ma s'ud bore

the surname of 'Alfi -u 'd -Da wl ah . He is re

m em bered by the same surname of 'Ala -u 'd -

D aw la h by the autho r of the Ta r ik h Fir ish tah ‡

The t i t l e of Jala l-u 'd-D aw lah is no t to be found

on any of his coins. Th e t i t le s wh ic h appearon the coins of Sultan Ma s'ud are ve ry variou s.

Th ey are A b u S'ad ; Su ltan-u 'l- 'Adha m ; Sultan

' A d i l ; ' Ala -u 'd -Da wla t -wa-Sana-u ' l-Millat ;

Dhahir-u'1-Imam ; N idh am -u'd -Din ; Maw la-u's

Salat in. Ac co rd in g to the Ta r ikh Pir ishtah

Mas 'ud was of a benevolen t an d generous dis

po sit io n. He revised the anc ient laws an d

reg ula tion s of th e state, ab roga ted such as he

* Raudat-u 's-Safa, v o l I V . , p. 43.

† Tabaqat-i-Nasirl, fol. 122b.

‡ Ta ri kh Firis hta b, p. 49.





32 TH E EA R L Y PERSIAN POETS

Saif-u 'd-Dawlah's conquests great ly strength

ened the I s l am ic power in In d ia as A b u ' l -Faraj * says :—

Sul tan Ib ra h im desi rous of re wa rd in g Saif-

u 'd -D a wl ah for his I n d i a n conquests conferred

u p o n h i m t h e v i c e ro y a l t y o f I n d i a . B o t h A b u ' l -

Faraj- i -Runi and Masud-i-S 'ad-i-Salman composed co n gr at u la to ry poems on th is occasion.

Ab u ' l F a r a j ' s "qasida" does no t gi ve any date of

th is auspicious eve nt b u t Mas'ud -i-S'ad f in his

poem e x p l i c i t y s ta tes th a t th is event took place

in A. H. 469. Hesays :—

From a "qasida" of Mas'ud ‡ in praise of this

* Ab u' l -Far aj ' s D iw an , p . 36.

†M as 'u d-i-S 'a d 'sD iwa n, p . 125.

‡Mas'ud -i-S'ad's D iw a n , p. 188.



A B U ' L - F A R A J 3 3

prin ce i t appears t h a t the C a l i p h ha d also con

ferred u pon h i m th e official t i t le s o f ' Iz zu ' l -M i l l a a n d S a n i - u - A m i r u l - M u ' m i n i n .

Mas'ud-i-S'ad-i-Salman who was a favo ur ite

poet of Saif-u 'd-Daw lah an d accomp anied h i m

on m an y occasions on his m i l i t a r y exped it ions

gives be tte r de sc rip tions of his conquests th a n

Abu' l-Faraj- i-Runi .Th e Chahar M aq alah * states th a t " in the

yea r A . H . 572 [ A . H . 480?] i t was m ali cio us

ly repo rted to Sultan Ib ra h im th a t his son Saif-

u 'd-Dawlah Ma hm ud in tend ed to go to ' Ira q to

Ma likshah ; th a t the ki n g 's jealousy was roused

thereat , and so worked on him that he suddenly

caused his son to be arrested, bo un d an d i n

terned in a fo r t re s s ' Thus was cu t short the

successful career of one of t he mos t ta le n te d

* Chahar M aqa lah , p. 44.

3




princes a mon g th e Ghaznawides. It is re al ly

strange th at the historia ns do no t m en tio n anyt h i n g abou t the life an d deeds of Saif-u'd-

D a wla h Mah m ud , an d h ad we no t possessed the

"qasidas" of Abu'l-Faraj-i-Runi and Mas'ud-i-

S'ad-i-Salman he would have been entirely

forgotten.

(4) Khwa jah Mansur b. Sa'id b. Ah m a d b.

Hasan May m an di , was the grand son of Sham s-ul

Kufat Abu' l -Qasim Ahmad b. Hasan Maymandi ,

the famous minister of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznawi

an d his son Sultan Mas 'ad. H is uncle 'A b d ' u r

Razzaq b. Ah m a d , the son of the famous

M ay m an di , was a m inis ter d u ri n g the re ig n of

Sultan Ma wdu d. In a "qa sl i a"* by Ab u' l-F ar aj -i

R u n i in praise of* th is nobl em an the re occursthe following verse : —

From this verse i t is clear that his grand

father and uncle were dis tingu ish ed nob lem en,

* Abu'l-Faraj's Diwan, p. 10.



A B U ' L - F A R A . l 35

an d th e y were no ot he r persons th a n Sham s-u'l

Kufat Ah m a d and ' Ab d u 'r Razzaq. ' A w f i *has wro ng ly m en t ion ed Mas 'ud fo r S a i d and

Ahmad u '1-Hasan for Ahmad b. Hasan and

describes him as Khwajah Mansar b. Mas 'ud

b . A h m a d u ' l Hasan u ' l M ay m an d i . Mas 'ud -i -

S 'ad-i-Saiman r i g h t l y describes h i m as th e

son of S a i d . Pr a is in g h i m for his gre at s tates

manship Mas'ud† says:—•

It appears fro m Ab u ' l-F a ra j ' s "qasidas" th a t

Mansar was a po we rfu l m in ist er . Th e poems in

his praise by Mas 'ud-i-S 'ad cl ea rly prove th a t

he was much in the confidence of Sultan Mas'ud.

Mas'ud-i-S'ad-i-Salm an has addressed a n u m ber of "qasidas" se ek ing his int erc ess ion for his

re lease f rom the second im pr iso nm en t . M u kh -

tari of Ghazna has also composed "qasidas"

in his praise.

*Lubab-ul-#Albab, vol. I I . , p. 244.

† Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 195.



36 TH E EARL Y PERSIAN POETS

(5) Thiqat-u'1-M ulk Ta hir b. 'A H b. M ushkan

was the Wazir of Sul tan Mas 'ud b. Ibrahim.Accord ing to A w f i * " he filled the chief seat of

the M in is te r ia l Office w i t h m uch d i s t in c t i o n " .

H e is no t m entio ned in the A thar-u ' l -W uza ra or

the Dastur-u '1-Wuzara. In the poems of A b u ' l -

Fa raj- i-R un i his name an d t i t l e appear asTh iqat-u '1-M ulk Ta hir b. AIi In one of his

"qas idas" A b u ' l -F a ra j † says :—

In another "qasida" he says J :—

F r o m th is verse i t appears th a t he was the

king 's confident ia l secretary and t reasurerbefore he became a W az ir. A c c o rd in g to

Nidhami- i -Arud i§ i t appears tha t he was the

*Lubab-u ' l -Albab, vol . , I I p . 246.

†Abu'l -Faraj 's Diwan, p. 16.

‡Abu'l -Faraj 's Diwan, p. 108.

gChahar Maqalah, p. 45.



A B U ' L - F A R A J 37

gran dson of Mush kan. T h is M ushkan was the

father of Abu-Nasr Mansur, who was the secretaryto Sultan M ah m u d an d his son M as 'ud . Sana' i ,

M uk ht ar i an d M as 'ud-i-S 'ad-i-Salman have also

composed poems in his pra ise. It was a t th e

intercess ion of th is m in is t er th a t M as 'ud- i-S 'ad

was released from his second imprisonment.(6) Qiw am -u ' l -M ulk Nidham -u 'd-Din A b u Nasr-

i-Haibat-ullah Farsi was a courtier of Sultan

Ib ra hi m and h is son Sul tan M as 'ud . A f t er the

death of Sul tan Ib ra h im w hen M as 'ud became

k in g , he conferred the vic er oya l ty of In d ia , on

his son and successor A m i r Shirzad . A b u Nasr*

who enjoyed the greatest confidence of the k i n g

was made the deputy-governor and commander-

in-chief , to help Shirzad in his administration ofIn d ia . A ft er a shor t pe r iod he fe l l under the

displeasure of Sultan Mas'ud and was disgraced.

A l l his adherents were dismissed fro m th ei r

posts an d were punished . A c c o rd in g to 'A w f i , *

*Lubab-u ' l -Albab , vo l . , I , p . 71 .




he b u i l t a great Khanqah at Lah ore. A b u Nasr-

i-Farsi di ed in the re ig n of A rs la n Shah, the sonof Su ltan M as'ud . M as'ud-i-S'ad† in a "qa sida"

in praise of Arslan Shah says :—

F r o m this verse i t is evid en t th a t his de ath

m us t h ave ta k e n place betw een the years

A . H . 509-511, w h ic h was the p er io d of A rs la n

Shah's reign.

(7) Kh w ajah A b u S'ad Babu , m ore pr op erl y,

' Im ad -u 'd -D aw lah A b u S'ad to w hom A b u ' l -

Faraj has addressed several "qasidas'' seems to

have been one of the le ad in g m en of his t im e.

He is not mentioned in any his tor ical work, andi t i s on ly through the panegyr ics of Abu ' l Fara j -

i -Runi and Mas 'M-i -S 'ad- i -Salman tha t h is name

has been preserved, H e flou rished d u r in g the

reign of Sultan Mas 'ud and bore the king's

†Mas'ud-i-S'ads Diwan, p. 40.



A B U ' L - F A R A J 39

Kunyat. A b u ' l - F a r a j * s ays :—

I n a n o t h e r " q a s i d a " i n h i s p r a i s e A b u ' l F a r a j †

says :—

F r o m t h e l a s t c o u p l e t i t a p p e a r s t h a t h e

h e l d t h e v e ry h i g h p o s t o fw hich pos t co r re sp ond s to t he po s t o f fo re ig n

secre ta ry of the presen t day.

(8 ) A bu ' l -Qas im - i -Kh assa was one o f t he fa

v o u r i t e c o u r t i e r s o f S u l t a n I b r a h i m a n d w a s

his Khassa. I t i s n o t c e r ta in w h a t were th e

fu n c t i on s of Khas or Khassa . Pe rh ap s th e y cor

r e s p o n d e d t o t ho s e o f a p a g e - i n - w a i t i n g o r l o r d

h i g h C h a m b e r l a i n o r s o m e t h i n g o f t h e k i n d .

*A bu ' l - Fa r a j s D iw an , p . 34 ,

†Abu' l-Faraj 's Diwan, pp. 72-73.



40 T H E EA R L Y PERSIAN POETS

M as 'ud - i -S ' ad - i -Sa lm an has a l so addres sed "qa s i -

d a s " t o h i m .(0 ) A b u- R us hd R ash id Khass w as an o th e r

K hassa o f S a l t a n I b r a h i m . P a y i n g t r i b u t e t o

h i s g r e a t n e s s * A b u ' l - F a r a j - i - R u n i s a y s : —

M as 'ud - i -S ' ad a lso com po sed "qas idas" i n h i s

p ra i s e . T h e f o l l o w i n g v er s e o f o n e o f h i s "q a s i

das " m akes i t c l ea r t h a t he bo re t h e t i t l e o f

' U m d a t - u ' l - M u l k . †

T h e l i n e s b e l o w p r o v e t h a t h e wa s a g r e a t

g e n e r a l ‡ a'n d f l o u r i s h e d d u r i n g t h e r e i g n o f

S u l ta n I b r a h i m .

*A bu ' l -Fara j 's D iw an , p . 121 .

†Mas'ud-i-S 'ad 's Diwan, p. 164,

†Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 165.



A B I J ' L - F A R A J 4 1

(1 0) 'A b d u ' l - H a m i d b . A h m a d b . 'A b d u ' s -

t t amad was the "Wazi r" o f Su l tan Ib rah im dur ing

the la t t e r p a rt of his reig n.* H e was a gre at

favouri te of the k i n g and was he ld by h i m in

grea t ho no ur , as A b u ' l - F a ra j says† :—

Mas'ud- i-S 'ad has also composed "qasidas" in

his pra ise . F r o m one of these "qasidas '" i tappears th a t he was a descen dant of th e H ouse

of 'Abbas‡:—

(11) M uh am m ad b . B ih ru z enjoyed the

greatest confidence of Su l tan Ib r a h im . He was

the son of Bi hr uz b . A h m a d , the famous "W a z ir ."

*Tarikh Fir ishtah, p . 49.

†Ab u ' l -F a ra j s D iw an , p 80 .

‡M as 'ud- i -Sad 's D iw an , p. 105.



42 T H E EA R L Y PERSIA N POETS

He was him self a famous co ur t ie r of Sul tan

Ib ra h im an d en joyed g rea t r e pu ta t io n fo r h i sge ne rosi ty . A b u ' l - F a ra j* says :—

A b o u t h i m M as 'ud- i-S 'ad† says :—

(12) A b u H al im - i -Zar i r - I -S ha ybani seems to

have been one of th e g re at gene rals of Su ltan

M as ' ud b . I b r a h i m . F ro m A b u l - F a r a j ' s "qasidas "

i t appears th a t h e to o k an ac t ive p a r t in the

I n d i a n cam paigns . A bu ' l -Fa ra j‡ says :—

*Abu ' l -Fa ra j ' s D iwan . p . 30 .

†Mas 'ud i-S 'ad 's Diwan, p. 157.

‡Abu ' l -Fara j ' s Diwan, p . 49 .



A B U ' L - F A R A J 43

C eleb ra t i ng A bu -H a l im ' s sup e r io r i ty * ove r

the o the r genera ls o f the w o r l d A b u ' l -F ar a jsays :—

Perhaps no o ther fo rm of Pers ian poe t ry

has been m ore c r i t i c i z e d by the m ode rn w r i t e rs

th a n the "qas ida" . A c c o r d in g to one of these

cr i t ic s a "qas ida" , how ever perfec t s t ru c t u ra l ly ,

can seldom arouse much enthusiasm save in the

he ar t of h i m whose praises i t celebrates. A s

caust ic i s the remark of another c r i t ic who

declares th a t rh e t or ic in verse ra th er th a n t rue

poetry has been the achievement of a l l the"qas ida" -wr i t e rs , w ho f r an k l y wro te fo r m on e ta ry

re w ar d . I m yself shared the view s of these

c r i t i c s , bu t a g rea te r ins igh t in to th i s k ind

of p o e t t y m ade m e see the a r t is t i c bea uty of

the "qasid a" fo rm of verse . I t i s n o d o u b t t ru e

*A bu ' l - Fa r a j ' s D iw an , p . 48 .



44 T H E EA R L Y PERSIAN POETS

t h a t i n o ld days , t he ho l lo w in s in ce r i ty an d the

compara t ive insecur i ty o f a cour t poe t ' s l i f ereq ui re d h i m to show h im se l f equ a l to every

occasion , how ever t r i f l i n g , to f l a t t e r h i s p a t ro n .

H e m us t co ng ra tu la te the ro ya l eye w h ic h f i r s t

de tec ted the new m oo n of I d , an d l ikew ise i t

was h i s d u ty to condole the k i n g on the de a th

o f h is horse . I f i t f lu t te re d the v a n i t y o f h is

patron his mouth was somet imes f i l led wi th

g o l d or pear ls as the re w a rd of his successful

p o e m . T h i s m a d e h i m i m a g i n e t h a t h e c o u l d

e a rn a n h o ne st l i v i n g b y w r i t i n g p o e t r y ; b u t

le t us n o t suppose t h a t a l l th a t h e w rote i s

d evo id of f iner qu al i t ies of po et ry . W e m ust a lso

rem em ber th a t a l l the "qas idas" are no t pane

gyr i c s , m an y o f t h em be ing r e l ig ious and p h i losop hica l . T he s ty le o f qu i te a g oo d nu m be r

of "qasidas" of m ore rec en t da te are som etimes

obscure, a r t i f ic ia l , an d even pe da nt ic , bu t in

th e class ical s tyle th e y bear no t rac e of these

m o d er n weaknesses. T h e "q asid as" . in class ical

s tyl e show a w on de r fu l co m m an d over t he



A B U ' L - F A R A J 4 5

resources of the lang uag e. A t t im es t he la n

guage becomes coarse, but the verses neverlack h ig h a ims a nd noble execu t ion . Ins te ad

of far -fe tched an d u n in te l l ig ib le concei ts , the

classical ' 'qasid a "- w rit er s , as is p ro ved by th e

verses of Abu'1-Faraj- i-Runi and Mas 'ud-i-S 'ad-i-

Salman, prefer red to draw i l lus t ra t ions f rom

com m on objects and fa m i l ia r th ing s . Th e un

co nve nt io na l s imi les an d m etaphors do no t in

an y w ay lessen the f ire , passion a n d th e gr ea t

s ub l imi ty o f t he i r " qasidas." T he c o u rt po et in

those days fu lf i l le d to a c er ta in ex ten t the

funct ions proper to the jo ur na l is t in m od er n

t im es , an d the ki ng s an d s ta tesmen of the

m id dl e ages pa tron ised poets as th e ir m od ern

successors pa tro nis e the p r i n t i n g press . T hepanegyrics of the poets created a publ ic opinion

in favo ur of the poet 's p a tr o n an d passed his

name f rom m o u th to m ou th , a nd if he was

wise an d d is c r i m in a t i n g in h is se lec tion a

f rac t ion of the poets ' immorta l i ty a lso fe l l to h is

share.



46 TH E EA RL Y PERSIAN POETS

A b u' l - F ar a j - i -R un i was essent ia l ly a "qas ida"-

wr i t e r and h i s "qas idas" which d i sp lay bo th o r i ginal i ty and grace are the best examples of the

classical "qasidas" . A m o n g s t the c lassical

"qasida"-wri ters he occupies a very dis t inguished

po s i t ion a nd has g ive n a l ead in "qas ida " -w r i t ing

to th e greatest poets w ho came after h i m . H e

also w rote a nu m be r of " rub a ' i s" a nd a few

"gh aza ls" . I co ul d n o t app rec iate any of th e

ghazals in his D iw a n , b u t some of his "ru ba ' is"

seem to me special ty dis t inguished and bear the

impress o f a g rea t in d iv id u a l i ty . .

A l l the co n te m po rary poets recogn ised

A bu ' l -F ar a j a s th e i r mas te r. H e d i d no t owe h i s

s k i l l in the ar t o f verse m a k i n g to any poet, bu t

in due course he presented to the world his bri l l i a n t p u p i l , M as 'ud - iS ' ad - i -Sa lm a n , who i s t he

g lo ry of a l l who use the Per s ian tongue , M as 'ud - i -

S 'ad a lw ays expressed his deep d eb t of g ra t i tu d e

which he owed to his master. He says :—



A B U L - F A R A J 4 7

In ano ther " q i t ; a " addressed to A b u ' l -F ar a j ,

M as 'ud-i-S 'ad pays a gr ea t t r i b u t e to his master 'spoe t ic s k i l l . Some of the verses o f th i s " q i t ' a " *

are as follows :—

*Mas'ud-i-S 'ad ,s D Iw an , p . 254 .

A l l t he b io g ra p h er s o f A b u ' l - F a r a j ac k n o w

ledge his pre-eminence an d recognise h i m as a



48 TH lE EA R L Y PERS IAN POETS

gre a t m as te r o f s tyle in " q as id a" -w r i t in g . I have

n o i n t e n t i o n o f m e n t i o n i n g a l l o f t h e m , b u tsh a ll here refer to a few o n ly, so as to g ive a

gen era l idea of h i s g rea tness , Nid h a m i- i - 'A ru d i*

enumera tes h im amongs t the d i s t inguished poe t s

of the Ghaznw ide pe r iod , 'A w f i † says th a t

A n w a r i , " t h e p r o p h e t " a m o n g t h e " q asid a " -

wr i ters , s t rove to imi ta te h is s tyle and cons tant

ly rea d h i s D iw an . T h is s ta tem ent i s cor ro

borated by the Tar ikh Gruzidah,‡ the Haf t Jql im§

the M ajm a ' -u 'l -Fusaha || an d the A tashkadah.¶

According to the Majm'a-u '1-Fusaha he possessed

a v igorous s tyle, w h i ch A n w a r i im i t a t ed , wh i l e

th e au tho r of the A tas hk ad ah says t h a t i f any

p ro o f is .needed to show his greatn ess it is

e n o u g h t o s a y t h a t A n w a r i f o l l o w e d h i m i n

*Chahar Maqalah, p. 28.

† Lubab- u '1 - Albab , V o l . I I . p . 241 .

‡ T ar ik h Guz idah , p . 815 .

§ H a f t I q l ' i m , f o l . 1 0 2 a .

¶M ajm 'a -u 'l -F u sah a , V o l . I . , p . 70.

¶ A ta sh k a d ah , p . 122.



A B U ' L - F A R A J 4 9

"qas ida" -wr i t ing and im i ta t e d h is s tyle. ' A w f i *

quotes the fo l l o w in g verse fro m a fra gm en t ofA n w a r i to show th a t he constan t ly consul ted

Abu ' l -F a ra j ' s D i wan :

Th i s " q i t ' a " has been quoted in the H a f t Iq l i m †and is also to be foun d in A n w a r i s D iwa n‡.

The "qi t 'a " runs as fol lows :—

*Lubab-u'l-Albab, vol. II, p. 241.

†Haft Iqlim, fol, 102b.‡Anwarl's Diwan, p. 271.

4



50 T H E EA R L Y PERSIA N POETS

In another A n w a i i * has said : —

A c co rd in g to 'A w fi† there is to be found in

one o f A n w a r i s ‡ " qas idas " be g in n in g :—

*Anwar i ' s Diwan. p . 754.†Lubab-u'l-Albab, vol. I I . , p. 241.‡ Anwaris Diwan, pp. 387 and 388.



A B U ' L - F A R A J 51

a verse, w h ic h is bu t a mere copy o f . one of

the verses of A bu ' l -Fa ra j . ' A w f ' i does not give

ei ther the verse of Anwar i o r Abul -Fara j - i -Runi

However, i n A nw ar i ' s " qa sid a" referred to

above, there occurs the following verse:—

It is a ver y close i m i t a t i o n of a verse of

Abu ' l -Fara j* :—.. . - t . 1 . 1 . uVi t

This hemist ich† "

occurs in mo re th a n one place in A n w a ri 's

D iw an . T he presence of such verses in A n w a ri 's

D iw an is a de finite pro of th a t he was gr ea tly

influen ced by Ab u' l-F ar aj -i- R un i's -verses. Th e

charge of pl ag ia ris m w hi ch has" been br ou gh t

* A bu ' l -Fara j ' s D iw an, p . 121.

† A n w a r i s D i w a n , p . 4 1 1 .




aga ins t h im by some of the b iographers* cannot

be substant ia ted.'U r f i ' s i n to le rab le conce i t an d a r rogance

pre v e n t e d h i m f rom a c k no w l e d g i n g the supe

r i o r i t y o f A b u ' l - F a r a j- i -R u n i . T h e f o l l o w i n g

verses w h ic h are an exa m ple of 'U rf i ' s co ncie t ,

p rov e t ha t he r e ga rde d Abu ' l -Fa ra j a t l e a s tequal to the other great Pers ian poets viz. S'adi,

Anwa r i a nd Kha qa n i who ha v e a l l be e n d i s

pa ra ge d by h i m . ' U r f i s ays :—

F a i d r a ppre c i a t e d a n d i m i t a t e d t he s t yl e o f

A b u l - F a r a j - i -R u n i , as he h im se l f says :—

*A1-Mu'ajjam, p. 438.



A B U ' L - F A R A J • 5 3

U nd o ub te d ly A bu ' l -Fa ra j . was one o f the

greatest " qasida " -w ri te rs of the classical

school. A l th o u g h he was an I n d ia n he was

fo l lowed and imi ta ted by many poets of

Pers ia and a l l o f th em have pra ised h i m

h ig h ly . T he grea t " qas ida " -w r i te rs of the la te

tw e l f th cen tu ry, A n w a r i , Khaqan i and D hah i r

F a rya b i are regard ed by the ge ne ral consent of

of th e i r co un trym en am ongs t the grea tes tmasters of verse whom Persia has produced.

These great " qas ida"-wri ters of the la ter Sel juq

p er io d were m u c h influ en ce d by th e " qasidas "

o f A b u l - F a r a j - i - R a n i . A n w a r i , " t h e p r o p h e t "

am on g th em , un eq uivo ca l ly declares th a t heespecial ly a d m ir e d the verses of A b u ' l - F a ra j

and imi ta ted h i s s ty le .

F o r tuna te ly fo r u s A bu ' l -F a ra j ' s D iw an

exists in m a n y l ib ra rie s , an d num erou s selections

fro m i t are* co nta ine d in the biog raph ies a nd

an tho log ies in w h ic h he i s m en t ion ed . T he




D iw a n i s now a va i l ab l e i n a p r in t e d ed i t i o n ,

pub l i shed a t T ih ran .

A c c o rd in g t o t he au tho r s o f t he 'U r fa t -u ' l -

'Ashiq in ,* the Majm'a-u ' l -Fusaha† the Nish tar

' I shq t‡and the Suhuf Ib rah im§ h i s Diwan i s sa id

to ha ve co nt ain ed over tw o tho us an d verses ,

b u t the y a l l agree th a t th is can no t be the to t a l

o u tp u t of his en t i re l i te r a r y efforts . I am cer

t a in t ha t ne i t he r t he MSS o f h is D iw a n no r i t s

p r i n te d ed i t io n co n ta in a l l h i s ve rses . T he

p e r i o d o f A b u ' l - F a r a j ' s l i t e r a r y a c t i v i t y e x te n d ed over a fa i r ly lo n g t im e , bu t m uc h o f w h a t he

w ro te d u r in g th is p er io d seems to have been

los t , th ro u g h the vic iss i tudes of t im e . Shams-i-

Qays i n ' h is A l - M u 'a j j a m quo te s t he fo l l o w in g

verses of A b u ' l - F ar a j , w h ic h are no t to be m et

w i t h i n h is D i w a n :

* ' U r a f a t - u l A s h i q i n , f o l. 15b .

† M a j m a - u ' l F u s a h a , vo l . I . , p . 70.

‡ Nish tar ' I shq , fo l , 32 A .

§ Suhuf Ib rah im, fo l . 16b



DO

' A w f i quotes these o the r verses of Abu ' l -Fara jw hi ch are no t foun d in the p ri n te d ed it io n of

his Diwan :—

( 1)

, _ „ Mi. • \l iM

* Al Mu'ajjam, p. 328.

† Al Mu'ajjam, p. 439.‡Lubab-ulf-Albab, vol. I I , p . 241.§Lubab-u't-Albab, vol. II. , p. 245.




A l l these verses c leary in d ica te th a t the present

D i w a n o f A b u l - F a r a j - i - R u n i d o e s n o t c o n t a i na l l h is poe t ica l ou tput .

A b u ' l -F a ra j was a gre at poet an d as I have

said above one of the greatest " qasida "- w rit e rs

of the o ld school. A l l those who came af te r h i m

im i ta te d h i s s ty le b u t none cou ld equa l h im . H e

created a supp le an d gra cefu l style of his ow n

an d soon became w el l -k no w n for his po l ished

a rt . O f his em inence as a poet the auth or of th e

Nishta r 'I shq* r i g h t l y rem arks : —

In his ow n l i fe t im e he gain ed such a greatch ari ty th a t a l l class

3r lo w sou ght the pleasure of his co m pa ny.

A h m a d Razi† g ives such a v i v i d descr ip-

•NishtarIShq, fol . 31b.

† H a f t l Q l i m , f o l . 102 a.



A B U ' L - F A R A J 57

t i o n of his qu al i t ies th a t I fee l te m p te d to re

produce i t below : -

H is verses are f u l l of sweetness and s i m p l i c i t y ,

and be ing unlaboured a re f ree f rom ar t i f ic ia l i ty .

They never fa l l shor t in s t rength (matana t ) ,poet ic im a g in a t i o n an d e loquence. T he s imiles-

are not so subtle and ingenious, as those of

Dh ahi r F ar yab i or Khaqani , bu t a re m uch mo re

impressive .

The " qa s i da s " o f Abu ' l -Fa ra j - i -R un i de se rv especia l s tu dy no t o n ly on accou nt of th ei r o w n

m er i t , b u t a lso for the pr of ou nd influence,

which, as already' indicated, they exercised over

his co nte m po rar ies an d successors. A co m

parison of his " qa s ida s" w i t h those of the

subsequent wr i t e r s w i l l conclusively prove that



58 T H E E A R L Y PER SIA N POETS

t he obscu re , a r t i f i c i a l and pedan t i c s ty le in

" qas idas " was a m a t t e r o f l a te r in ve n t i o n . Iqu ot e here some of h is verses* w h i c h besides

g i v i n g a s a m p l e o f h is s t yl e , m a y i n t e r e s t m a n y

readers :—

* Abu ' l -Fara j ' s Diwan, p . 84 .



A B U ' L - F A R A J 59

T he l anguage w h ic h A b u ' l -F ar a j uses i s o f

an a lmos t s tud ied s impl ic i ty , and i t i s th i s

s i m p l ic i t y w h ic h g ives such an as ton i sh ing

force a n d s t re n gt h to his " qasidas " . H is m a n ym elodious poems are re m ar ka b le for grace

an d f luen cy of langu age , an d for a f e l i c i t y

of d i c t i o n possessed by non e of th e ea rl ie r

poets.

Abu ' l -Fa ra j - i -Run i , Mas 'ud - i -S ' ad - i -Sa lm an

and Sa iy id M uh am m ad Nas ir have each a



60 T H E EA R L Y PERS I AN POETS

" q a s id a " w i t h the re f r a in "abash u ab " ( fi re

and water ) and the le t te r " ra " w ibh a precedi n g f a t ha ( " - a r " ) a s t he rhym e . Th e " qa s i da " *

of A b u ' l - F a ra j i s in pra ise of A bu-Nasr- i -Pars i

and begins :

T h e u qasidas "† of M as 'ud -i -S 'ad a n d S a iyi d

M u h am m ad Nasir a re b oth in pra ise of Su l tan

M as 'ud b . Ib ra h im . T he tex t of M as 'ud- i-S 'ad 's

" qasida " is bo be fo un d in h i s D iw a n , w hi le the" q a s i d a " o f S a i y i d M uh a m m a d Nas ir J c an be

r ea d i n ' A w f i ' s L u b a b - u ' l - A l b a b . A b u ' l - F a r a j - i -

Rani seems bo have preceded these poets in

m a k i ng , us e o f t h i s rhym e a nd r e f r a i n w h i c h

was a f te rwa rds i m i t a t e d by o the rs . A b u ' l -Fa ra j' s " qa s id a" i s a fa i r ly s t r ik in g specimen

of classic al " qasida " a n d shows his s k i l l in th e

successful m an ip u la t io n of d i f f icu l t rhym es an d

a w k w ar d re f ra ins . T he s imi le s a re o r i g in a l an d

* A bu ' l -F ar a j ' s D iw a n , pp . 17-19.†Ma s 'ud- i - S 'ad s D iw a n , pp . 12-13.‡Lubab - u ' l - Albab , vo l . I I , pp . 267 - 69 .



A B U ' L - F A R A J 61

s t r ik in g and th ro ug ho u t t he "qas ida " he m a i n

tain s an easy an d n a tu ra l f low of wo rds an dideas,

I quote one of A bu ' l -F ara j ' s w el l -k no w n

" qasidas "* in w h ic h he extols th e virtu es an d

valour of Sul tan Ib ra h im . T h is i s a f ine exam

ple of classical " qasida " and shows his mastery

of language . T he r y t h m i c beauty of the poem

is equ al ly s t r ik in g :—

•Abu'l-Faraj's Diwan, pp. 86-87.



62 T H E EA R L Y PERS IAN POETS



A B U ' L - F A R A J 6 3

Pe rsia n poets seldom excel in a l l forms of

verse. T h is is no t the case w i t h A b u ' l - F a ra j- i - '

R u n i, for he w ro te a go od nu m be r of '* ruba' is "

and they are as good as his " qasidas ". A larg enumber of Pers ian poets have t r ied the i r wi t a t

" r u b a ' i " - w r i t i n g , b u t t h e m o s t p r o m i n e n t a m o n g



64 TH E EA RLY PERSIAN POETS

t hem a re A b a S a ' id b . A b i ' l - K h ay r and 'U m ar

Kh ay y am . A b a S a 'i d b . A b i ' l Kh ay r w as thethe f irs t to po pu larise the " ru b a' i " as a veh icle

of re l ig ious , m yst ic and ph i loso ph ica l th ou gh t .

H e di e d in A . D . 1049. T he o the r poe t w ho

immorta l i sed h imsel f by h is quat ra ins was 'Umar

Kh ayyam . Th e da te o rd in a r i ly g i ven for h isdecease is A . D . 1123-24. A l i t t l e before U m a r

f lour ished A bu ' l -Par a j - i -R un i , who d i ed af te r

A . D . 1092. A b u 'l- F a ra j 's style in " ruba ' is " is

exfcra-ordinar ily f lex ible an d his tou ch l i g h t an d

m elo dio us . H i s '• rub a ' is " possess co ns ide rab le

force a n d f ire a n d un co m m on sweetness. It is

j u s t possible t h a t A bu 'l-Fara/j 's verses m ay have

in fluenced 'U m ar Kha yyam in the c om pos i t ion

of h is " ru ba ' is ." These specim ens selected atrandom, d isp lay mos t of the sa l ien t pecul ia r i t ies

o f h i s though t and d ic t ion .

(o



5

A B U ' L - F A R A J 6 5



6 6 T H E E A R I Y P E B S I A N PO ETS

F r o m the " ru b a ' i s " qu oted above , i t i s

app aren t th a t 'U m a r was n o t the f i r s t to ex

press these reflection s in his i m m o r t a l verses.

T he y were em bo died in the b ea ut i f ul " ruba ' is "

o f A b u l - F a r a j - i : R u m befo re h i m .



C H A P T E R I V

Mas'udi-S'ad-i Salman of Lahore.

L e a v i n g A b u ' l - F a r a j - i - R u n i , w e m u s t n o w

pass on to his pupil—Mas'u-i-S'ad-i-Salman, of

w h o m so m eth in g has been sa id in the l a s t

chap te r . T h is poe t , So l i t t l e 'k n o w n to us, was

one of the greatest poets of his day and was

h i g h l y es teemed by his con tem po rar ies . H e i s

m en t io ne d i'fr th e Chahar M aq alah ,* th e L u b ab -u l -A lb ab ,† the Tadki ra t -ush-Shu 'a ra ,‡ the H a f t

Iql im;§ the Riyad-u'sh-Shu'ara.¶ the Atashkadah,¶

i t he Ma j m 'a -u l -Fusa ha , / t he 'U ra fa t -u l - 'Ash i q i n , $

*Chahar Maqalah, pp. 45-46.

† L u b a b - u ' l - A l b a b , v o l . I I . , p p . 246-25 2.

‡ Tadkira t-u ' sh-Shu 'ara , pp. 47-49.

§ Haft Iql im, fols . 277b-280a.

| | Riyad-u 'sh-Shuara , fols . 372b-373b.

¶ A ta sh k a d a h , p p . 147-152.

| M a j m ' a - u 'l - F u s a h a , v o l . I . , p p . 5 1 4 -5 4 1 .

$ U r a f a t - u l A s h i q i n , f o l s . 6 6 3 b - 6 6 7 a .



68 T H E EA R L Y PERS I AN POETS

the Khizana- i - 'Amirah,* the Grul - i -R 'ana† and

many o the r " t adk i ra s . " There a l so ex i s t s a monog r a p h on t h i s poe t by M i rz a M uh a m m a d Kha n

of Qa z w i n , a n E n g l i s h t r a n s l a t i o n o f w h i c h by

Br o w n e was pu bl i she d in the Jo u rn a l o f the

R o ya l A s i a t i c Socie ty.‡ I t has a lso been

publ i shed separa te ly as a pamphle t of 90 pages .

T h e Chahar M aq ala h inser ts a few l ines as to

the cause o f h i s im p r i s o n m en t . Th e L u ba b- u ' l -

A lb a b gives a scan ty n ot ic e of th i s poe t . Th e

othe r " t a d k i r a " -w r i t e r s have g iven the m os tco n f l i c t in g s ta tem ents as to h i s b i r th- pla ce and

othe r c i rcum stances con nec ted w i t h h i s l i fe .

M a n y fact s co nc ern ing h is l i fe can , how ever, be

ga t he re d f ro m h i s ow n D i w a n . W e m us t there

fore accep t o n ly those sta tem en ts of the

" t a d k i r a " -w r i t e r s w h ic h can be a sce rta ined

from the poet ' s own verses .

* Khizana-i-'Amirah, pp. 14-21.

† Gul-i-R'ana, fols. 214b-215b.

‡ J. R. A. S., 1905 (pp. 693-740), 1906 (pp. 11-51).



M A S ' U D - I - S ' A D - I - S A L M A N 6 9

M as'ud- i -S 'ad- i -Salm an be long ed to a ta le n t

ed an d em inen t f a m i ly , and va u n t i n g h i s superiority over his ancestors he says :—*

Besides b e i ng a gre a t poet , M as 'ud was an e m i

nen t nob lem an an d k n ig h t o f h i s day . H i s

l i b e ra l i ty tow ard s h i s fel low -poe ts was ve ry

w e l l -kn ow n . In r e w ar d fo r a s i ng le q u a t ra inor f ra g m en t he used to g ive cara van-loads of

wealth .† ' A w f i , apo log iz in g fo r p lac ing h i m in

the chapter of h is work which t rea ts of the poets

of Ghazna an d L ah or e , ins tea d of am ong st th e

nobles says : " H e o u g h t p r o p e rl y to ha ve beenp laced i n t he chap t e r t r e a t i n g o f pu b l i c m en

w ho w ro te verse, b u t since his verses exceed

those of an y o th er po et , the refo re he has been

pl ac ed am on g st th e poets of th is class ''‡ H e

*Mas'ud-i-Sad's Diwan, p. 55.‡Lubab-u'l-Albab, vol. I I , p. 246.‡Lubab-u'l-Albab, vol . I I . , p. 246.






M as'ud's fath er S'ad was in th e service- of th e

k in gs of Ghazna for at least, fif ty, years, a s a nadmini s t ra to r and as a nobleman. t Re fe r r i ng

to his fath er's services to th e H ou se of Ghazna,

Mas'ud says :—*

I t , how ever, seems to m e curious w h y M as 'ud

in the fo l lo w in g verses cur ta i l s the pe r io d of h isfather's service to fifty years.f

I t i s im m a te ri a l for m y purpose to discuss for

ho w m an y years th e poet 's father actu al ly served

the House of Ghazna, but i t shows how cau

t io u sl y w e sho uld accept - even the ipsissima

verba of the po et.

* Mas 'ud- i -S 'ad 's D iw a n , p . 150.

† M as 'ud- i -S 'ad s D iw a n , p . 85.; .



72 TH E EA R L Y PERSI A N POETS

T h e " t a d k i r a " - w r i t e r s d if fe r v e r y m u c h a s t o

his bi r th- pla ce . T he Chahar M aq alah * does n o tm e n t i on i t . Th e Lu ba b -u ' l -A l ba b† sta te s t h a t

he was a nat ive of H am ada n. ' A w f i fur ther

rem arks th a t " in h i s t o r ic a l w orks he i s cons i

de red a po et of Ghazna." D a w l a t Shah‡ in his

Tadldra t -u 'sh-Shu 'ara says th a t he belo ng ed to

Jur ja n . D a w a la t Shah w ho i s so exp er t in

fa b r i ca t in g f ic t i t iou s accounts g ives de ta i l s

p r a c t i c a l l y o f h i s ow n m a k i n g a n d s ta te s t h a t

Mas 'ud f lour i shed under Minuchihr b . Qabus .

T he w ho le account as g ive n by h i m seems to

me mos t unau then t i c and ought to be d i s rega rd

ed . A m i n A hm ad Razi,§ in h is H af t I q l i m , re ly

i n g on 'A w f i ' s s tatement and the fo l low ing

verse :—

*Chahar Maqalah, p . 46 .

† Lubab-u'l-Albab, vol. I I . , p. 246.‡ Tadkirat-u'sh-Shu'ara, p. 47.§ Halt Iqlim, fol. 277b.




support s ' A w f i th a t M as 'ud was bo ra in Ha m a-

dan. Perh ap s th e above q u o te d verse alsoform ed 'A w fi ' s source of erro r . M as 'ud says

th a t h i s o r i g in was o f H am ad an . I t

seems t h a t the poe t means m er el y th a t his

fam ily was of Ham adan, and bo th ' A w f i an d

A m i n A h m a d Raz i have been m is l ed b y th i ss ta te m e n t. ' A l i Q u l i K h a n i n h is R i ya d-u 's h-

Shua'ra* says t h a t M as 'ud 's plac e of o r i g i n was

H am ad an , bu t he Jived in L ah or e for a ve rv

lon g t im e . T he au tho r o f the Atashkadah†

states that according to one vers ion Mas 'ud

be longed to H am ad an , w hi le a cco rd in g to

ano ther he be longed to Ju r jan . E vid e n t l y , the

autho r of the A tash ka da h h a d before h i m th e

w orks o f ' A w f i and D a w la t Shah. R ida Q u l i

Khan.‡ insp i te of h is a t ta inm en ts as a h is to r ia n ,

s ta tes t h a t M as 'ud 's f a m i l y was f ro m Ham adai 'y

bu t h e g r ew u p in Ju r j an . B y m a k in g th i s

* Riyad -u'sh 'arf i , f o l . 372b.

†Atashkadah, p . 147.‡Majm'a-u ' l -Fusaha, vol . L, p . 515.



74 THE- EA R L Y PERSIA N POETS

s ta tem ent Rida Q u li Kh an on ly t r ies to br id ge

the gu l f be tween ' A w f i s an d D a w la t Shah'saccounts. T hu s we see th a t a l l these w rit er s

repeat the s ta tements of ' A w f i or D a w la t Shah,

both of whom have er red in th is par t icu lar po in t .

The- em inent In d ia n scholar Ghulam ' A l i Kha n

was the firs t to describe th e p oe t as c o m in g

from La ho re in his Sabha t-u 'l -Marjan f i A th a r i

H ind us tan* . H e m ade the same s ta tem en t in

h is Kh izan a - i - ' A m kah† . M i rza M uham m ad

K h a n co ul d n o t verify, th is assertion as the

British Museum MS. of t he k h i z a n a - i - A m i r a h

is defec tive. T h is state m en t is to be fou nd in

the Cawnpore l i thographed ed i t ion of th is work ,

and I also find it in the Bankipore MS. Badi-

u'z-Zaman of Khurasan,- one of Persia's mostcr i t ical wri ters and an eminent; poet of the

present day { opines that Mas'ud-i-S'ad-i-Salman

be longed to Laho re,, for in , m a n y of hi s verses

he speaks of L ah or e w i t h the greatest love an d

*Sabhat-u' l-Marjan, p, 26.

†Khizana - i - 'Am irah, p . 15.



M A S ' U D - I - S 'A D - I - S A L M A N 7 5

a ff ec tion . H i s r e m a rk w h i c h i s so i m p o r t a n t

i n t h i s c onne c t i on I g i v e be low i n o r i g i n a l :— *

W e f in d t h a t m o s t o f t h e " t a d k i r a " -

^r i t e r s asser t th a t the poet 's bi r th -p lac e w asH am ad an or Jur jan . T he reason for asc r ib ing

a Pers ian o r ig in to the poe t i s p l a in enou gh.

Th e ra c i a l pre judice of these Pers ia n w ri te rs

does not a l low them to acknowledge tha t a

poet whose ar t i s t ic ach ievem ent in the Per s iantongue was so grea t , was, an I n d ia n . T h ey

have done the same, w i t h m an y an em ine nt

Pers ian poe t of I n d ia , and , w here for obvious

reasons, i t has been ve r y d if fi c u lt to ascribe a

Pers ian o r ig in to th em , th ey feel sa tisfied by

passing a d i s pa rag ing rem ark abou t th e i r l i t e r

a ry ski l l and poe t ic genius .

H a v i n g exa m ine d the "sta tements of the

" t a d k i r a ' - w r i t e r s t e t - u s t u r n o u r a t t e n t i o n t o t h e

Sukhan-wa-Sukhanwaran, p. 212.



76 TH E EAELY PERSIAN POETS

poet's ow n D iw an to f ind ou t w ha t he h im sel f

says about his place of birth, for the poet 's ownw ords ou tw eig h in a u th o r i ty the s ta tements of

any b iographer .

Mas'ud's father S'ad, as we have already

seen, was for at least fifty years in the service of

the kings of Ghazna, and had acquired possession

of m a n y farms an d esta tes in Lah ore an d oth er

par t s of In d ia . M as 'ud was b o rn in La hor e an d

as s ta ted by Lachhmi Narayan* received his

educ at ion f ro m the d ivines of L aho re . M irzaMuhammad Khan† fee l s p rac t i ca l ly ce r t a in tha t

Mas'ud 's father S 'ad was also born in India,

for i t i s u n l i k e ly th a t one w ho ha d served the

k in g 's of Ghazna for s ix ty years a n d ad m inis

ter ed th e ir provinces, sho uld have been a fore igner an d a f ug i t ive f ro m a d i s ta n t co un t ry .

I t i s pro ved beyon d a l l do ub t th a t our poet was

b o rn in L aho re, an d his o w n verses pro ve i t .

* Gul-i-R 'ana , fo l . 214b.

† Monograph, p. 19.



M A S ' U D - l - S ' A D - I - S A L M A N 7 7

In the fo l lo w in g verse,* M as 'ud ca l ls L ah ore h is

own town :—

In one o f his " qasidas " f in pra ise o f S ult an

'A la ' -u 'd -D aw lah M as 'ud b . Ib ra h im , he r efe rs toL ah ore as h is b i r th- p la ce :—

M as 'ud ha d a spec ia l love for h is n a t ive to w n

an d w rote a " q a s id a " addressed en t i r e l y toL ah ore . H e bew ai ls h i s sepa ra t ion f ro m L ah ore

a n d describes h im se lf as i ts ' dear son. ' Som e

of the verses of his " qasida "‡ run thus :—

* M as 'ud-i-S 'ad 's D iw a n , p 97.† M as 'ud-i-S 'ad 's D iw an , p. 84.‡% M as'ud-i-S'ad's D iw a n , pp . 203-4.






A f te r re ad in g a l l these verses , . w e m a y

n a tu ra l ly ask , w h y M as 'u d in th i s poems so

m uc h pines an d longs for L ah ore . T h e answer

i s qu i t e obvious . , La ho re . w a s h i s na t i v e c i t y ,

an d a l l his near an d dear ones were to be fo u n dthere . E vi d e n t l y , there was no one in H am ad an

or Jur jan , for w h o m th e poe t co uld p in e in

the p r i son . In Lah ore he had a b ig fa m i ly ,

for he himself says* :—

* Mas'u-id-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 150.





M A S ' l J D - I - S ' A D - I - S A L M A N 8 1

un do ub ted ly refers to L ah or e. T he " qasida,"

in w h ic h th is verse occurs is in praise of Saif-

u ' d - D a w l a h M a h m u d , a n d l i k e a l l t h e o th e r

" q a s id a s " in his praise , m ust have, been co m

posed d u r in g the pe r iod o f h i s v ic e r oya l ty inI n d ia . T he poets of th e da y w ho were envious

of Mas 'ud ' s ab i l i ty t r i ed to be l i t t l e h i s compos i

t ions . T he y co u ld no t to le ra te tha t a yo u n g

poet, especia lly one wh o was of I n d i a n o r ig in ,

sho uld prod uce such be au t i ful poems. In th e

en tire " qas ula," in w h ic h the above verse

occurs , M as 'ud com pla ins of th is a t t i tu d e an d

d ra w s t h e a t t e n t i o n o f S a i f - u d - D a w l a h M a h m u d

to i t . F r o m w ha t I have s ta ted i t i s q u i te

c lear th a t M as 'u d be longed to L ah ore , and i t i s

erroneous to bel ieve th a t he belon ged ei th er to

Ham adan o r Ju r j an .

H a v i n g de t e rm ined the p lace o f h is o r ig in

le t us ascer ta in the per iod of Mas 'ud ' s l i fe .Mas 'ud ' s Diwan conta ins poems in pra ise of6









M A S W l - S ' A D - I - S A L M A N 8 5

t h e t h r o n e , i n M a s 'u d ' s D i w a n , c o m b i n e d w i t h

t h e f a c t t h a t t h e p o e t e n j o y e d n o g r e a t f a v o u rd a r i n g t h e r e i g n o f A r s l a n S h a h i t a p p e a r s t o m e

v e r y d o u b t f u l t h a t M a s ' u d a l l a t o n c e b e c a m e

o n e o f t h e m o s t f a v o u r e d i n t i m a t e s o f B a h r a i n

Shah 's c o u r t as soon as he ascen ded th e th ro n e .

I t m u s t h a v e t a k e n s o m e t i m e f o r h i m t o h a v e

a t t a i n e d t o t h e h i g h p o s i t i o n t o w h i c h t h e p o e t

a l l u d e s i n t h e f o l l o w i n g ve r se :—*

T h e s t a t e m e n t o f M i r z a M u h a m m a d K h an † t h a t

t h i s " q a s i d a " w as co m p o sed i n t h e f i r s t yea r

o f t h e r e ig n o f Bah r am Sh ah , s eem s t o m e n o t

w e l l c o n s id e r e d . I n m y o p i n i o n t h i s " q a s i d a "

m u s t h a v e b e e n c o m p o s e d l o n g a f t e r A . H . 5 15 .E v i d e n t l y , t h i s p o e m w a s c o m p o s e d a f te r t h e

k i n g h a d c r u s h e d a l l h i s e n e m i e s , f o r t h e p o e t

t h a n k s G o d f o r t h e s u p r e m a c y w h i c h B a h r a m

S h a h n o w e n j o y e d :

*M as 'ud- i-S 'ad ' s D iw a n , p . 40 .†M ono grap h, p 65.



86 THE EARLY PERSlAN POETS

M os t p ro b a b ly th is poe m was com posed af te r

the k i n g ha d f in ish ed h is second I n d i a n cam

p a ig n o f su b d in g M u h am m ad B h y l i m , f or t h e

poet says th a t B a h ra m is the un dis pu ted k i n g

of the day :—

Th e h i s t or ic a l wor ks do no t m en t i o n in

w h i ch y ear M u h am m ad B h y l i m was d ef ea ted

for th e second t i m e . H e was fi rs t defeated in

A . H . 512,* a n d th e subseq uent events w h i c h

fo l lo w ed prov e th a t a t least m a n y l o n g years

m u st ha ve elapsed bet we en th e fir st a n d second

cam paig ns of B a h ra m in I n d i a . T o m e i t seems

ce rt ai n t h a t Ma s'ud-i-S 'ad ha d become the co ur t

po et o f B a h r a m Shah n o t ea rl ie r t h a n A . H . 515,

and from his "qasidas" in praise of Bahram Shah

it ca n be dedu ced t h a t he was al iv e in A . H . 515.

. . Ta i lkh Fi rishtah, p. 50.




Most of Mas'ud's " qasidas " i n praise of Bah ram

Shah depic t h im as a sovereign whose dom in io nwas free from all troubles and who had no cause

of dread from his enemies. Thi s posi tion the

k ing enjoyed considerably lo ng after A. EL 515.

Biographers* state tha t tow ards the end of his

life Mas'ud, like so many other panegyrists,

renounced the life of Cour t, became a he rm it

and in th is state he l ived for sometime If we

accept tha t Mas 'ud became the court-poet of

Bah ram Shah in A. H. 512, and also adopt

A. H. 515 as the date of the poet's death, it

seems qu ite impossible tha t Mas'ud-i-S 'ad could

have gone th roug h so much and wr it te n such

a great deal in the ve ry short pe riod of about

tw o years and a half. A l l these facts lend

support to my view tha t Mas'ud was alive in

A. H . 515 an d as Sprenger says died in A . H .

525.

We have found out the date of Mas'ud's

death, le t us now endeavour to determine the

*Tadkirat.u'sh-Shu'ara, p. 47.



88 THE EA RL Y PERSIAN POETS

year of his birth, as deduced from his own

verses. There is in the poet's D iwan a " qasida "in praise of Sai f-ud-Dawlah Mahmud in which

occur the following verses :—*

These verses ' make it clear tha t at the t im ewhen he celebrated the praises of Saif-u'd-

Dawla h Mahmud, Mas'ud was of a very young

aige, in as much as lie was styled a and

a In other words the poet was con

siderably less than twenty-five, during the

period of Saif-u'd-Dawlah's viceroyalty in India

viz. A. H. 467—A. H. 480. The verses indica te

that the above mentioned " qasida" was

composed during the earlier period of the poet's

connexion w i th Saif-u'd-Dawlah's court. If we

*Mas'ad-i-S'ad's Diwan, p 29.



M A S ' U D - I - S A D - I - S A L M A N 8 9

suppose that this " qasida " was composed in

A. H. 467 and the poet was then 21 years ofage, then the bir th of Mas'ud-i-S'ad would fal l

in A. H . 446. Mas'ud-i-S'ad in one of his

'' qasidas " adressed to Sultan Mas'ud says :—*

From this verse it is apparent that Mas'ud-i-S'ad

was 62 years of age som etim e du r ing the re ign

of Mas'ud b. Ib ra h im viz. between A. H. 492 and

A. H . 508. If we suppose tha t Mas'ud-i-S'ad-i-Salman composed th is " qasida " in A. H. 508,

the last year o f Mas'ud's reign , then his b i r t h

w o u l d f a l l i n A . H . 446 , an d h i s age a t t he t i m e

when he celebrated the praises of Saif-u 'd-

D aw lah in A. H. 467, would have been 21 years.

In m y op in io n it appears, on the whole, most

l ike ly th a t he was b6rn in about A . H . 446.

A n d since his dea th took place in the year

A. H. 525, h is age when he d ie d must have

been about 79 years, a year less than what the

• Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan p. 177.






In th is " qasida " the poet some lines farther on

says :—

Mirza Muham mad Khan* asserts th a t the New

Year's Day (March 21, the Vernal Equinox)

only fell in the month of Rajab in the three

years viz. A. H. 465, 466 and 467; consequently

our poet must have composed th is " qasida " in

praise of Saif-u'd-Dawlah Mahmud in one of

these three years. F rom a i l th is it follows that

Mas'ud-i-S'ad-i-Salman's first appearance must

have been in or about the year A. H. 465. Hecontinued to flourish at the court t i l l the year

A. H. 480. W hen Saif-u'd-Dawlah was made

the viceroy of a l l Ind ia Mas'ud-i-S'ad composed

a congratu latory "qasida "f beginning :—

* Monograph* p. 25.





In this splendid " qasida "* Mas'ud-i-S'ad ex pli

c i t ly states that this auspicious event took place

in A . H . 469 :

For eleven years more Mas'ud-i-S'ad remained

prosperous and happy in the service of Saif-u'd-

D awlah Mahmud. At last il l- luck overtookh im and in A. H. 480, and under the orders of

Sultan Ibrahim he was sent to prison.

The days which Mas'ud passed at the court

of Saif-u*d-Dawlah may be regarded the hap

piest period of his life . D ur ing this period

Mas'ud wrote many " qas idas" in praise

of Saif-u'd-Dawlah. These u

qasidas" are of

much histor ical value, for they give details of

many conquests and countless feats of prowess

wrought by Saif-u'd-Dawlah Mahmud. In

•Mas'ad-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 125.





94 TH E EA RL Y PERSIAN POETS

accept any of his terms an d at tacked the fort

ress. The troops of Saif-u'd-Dawlah Mahmudmade an assault together, and dragon-lik e

swords defended the ramparts." The poet saw

Saif-u'd D aw la h Mahmud " plunging in to the

middle of the light like a male lion, with a man-

devour ing scimetar in hand ." At last, from the

warriors w i th in the fo rt arose the shout of

" Vi c to ry to our Sovereign L o r d Mahmud."

Thus we see that the " qasidas" of Mas'ud-i

S'ad have im mor ta li sed the name of Saif-u'd-

Dawlah Mahmud, otherwise he would have been

entirely forgotten.

As I have said above Mas'ud passed a happy

life un t i l A, H. 480 in the service o f Saif-u'd-

D awlah Mahmud. His good fortune nowchanged in to advers ity. He came from Ind ia

to Ghazni to demand justice against certain

persons, but was cast into prison th ro ugh the

stratagem of an enemy as he says*:

*Mas'ud-i-S'ads D iw an , p. 48.



. W h a t was th is " s tr a ta gem " and whatwas thi s " c a l u m n y " to which the poet here

refers. F rom many of his " qasidas " it appears

th at the accusation made against h im by his

enemies was tha t he was dreaming of going to

Khurasan, as he himself says :—•*

In another poem, written during, his second

imprisonment Mas'ud says : — f

*Mas'ud-i-Sad's Diwan, p. 28.





9 6 T H E E A R L Y P E R S I A N PO ETS

In one of his "ruba'i s* he say's :— ,

Nid ha mi-i - 'A ru di g i v i n g the cause of Mas'ud's

first im pri sonm ent explains wh at the poet

meant by ; and what was the

magnitude of the poet's fault, which Mas'udalways described as a mere accusation de vo id

of all truth. Nid!iami-i- 'Arudi§ says that: -

* Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 300.'

† Chahar Maqalah, pp. 44-45.



M A S ' U D - 1 - S ' A D - I - S A L M A N 9 7

F rom the prison Mas'ud-i-S'ad challenged the

correctness of the charge against h i m tha t hewas in league w i th the king' s enemies, bu t we

may conjecture from the vehement insistence of

Sultan Ibrahim in keeping Mas'ud in prison

inspite of the intercession of his minis ters and

nobles, tha t the charge against the poet wastrue to some extent.

Now as to the date of Mas'ud's first imprison

ment, Nidhami- i- 'Arudi says th at this happened

in the year A. H. 572, d ur ing the re ign of

Sultan Ib ra hi m and th at Mas'ud remained in

prison for 12 years and that Sultan Ibrahim

departed from this world, leaving Mas'ud in

prison. I quote below the re levant passage

from the Chahar Maqalah*:

The date A . H. 572 has obviously been

wrongly transc ribed in the Chahar Maqalah,* Chahar Maqalah, p. 45.

7





MAS'UD-I -S 'AD-I -SALMAN 99

in M as'ud's D iw an any " qasida " in praise of

Sultan Ib ra hi m, g iv ing thanks to the k i n g fordeliver ing h i m from prison. I fa i l to under

stand w hy Mas'ud-i-Sad , who addressed

"qasidas" to sundry people on most unimportant

occasions, should have o m i t te d to compose a

" q a si d a " in praise of Sul tan Ibr ah im , th a n k in g

the Sultan for the pardon gran ted to h i m . He

would have composed such a poem out of

gratitude to the king, and also to gain his

gracious and k in d ly solic itude . Th e fact isth a t he was no t released d u r in g the li fe tim e of

Sultan Ib ra h im an d when he was gr an te d par

don dur ing the re ig n of Sultan Mas'ud he com

posed a th an ksg iv in g •' qasida " in his honour,

whe re in he has also g iv en some pa rt icular s of

his first imprisonment. Thi s long "qas ida"*1

begins with the following verse :—

. , . *M as'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 82.





M A S ' U D - I - S ' A D - I - S A L M A N 1 0 1

merit ."* L e t us see w hat Mas'ud him self says

about the period of his first imprisonment. Ina " qasida "f in praise of Saltan Ibrah im, he re

marks tha t he has wasted his soul in pr ison for

nearly ten years :

In another "qas ida"‡ in praise of Muhammad

Khass, Mas'ud-i-S 'ad-i-Salman says tha t he had

been in prison for more than ten years :—

It is clear from these verses th a t Mas'ud

was in pr ison even after the ten th year, and

m igh t have been released from pr ison after the

tw el fth year, as stated by Nidhami-i-'Arudi.

The British Museum MS. of Mas'ud's D iw an on

* Monograph, pp. 36-37.† Mas'ud-i-Sad's Diwan, p. 85.

‡ Mas'ud-i-S'ad's DiwSn, p. 163.







10 4 TH E EAR LY PERSIAN POETS

were wri tt en while he was s t i l l im pri soned in

the castle of Nay.

F rom the pri son Mas'ud addressed pathet ic

appeals to Sultan Ibrah im and to a l l his nobles,

min iste rs and courtiers, such as ' A l i Khass,

Muham mad Khass, 'Abdu'r-Rushd Rashid Khass,

Bi hr uz b. Ah mad , Mu hamm ad b. Bih ruz, and

'A b d u ' l H a m id b. A hm ad b. 'Abdu 's Samad, the

"wazi r" . These appeals are p i t i fu l descriptions

of the poet's ca p ti v it y mingl ed w i t h praise of

the Sultan and bis nobles. B u t these descriptions of his sufferings in pr ison d id no t serve

any useful purpose, and he was not pardoned

and released by Sultan Ibrahim.

In A. H . 492 when Sultan Mas'ud b . Ib rah imcame to the th ro ne the poet was released

from pr ison after twelve years. Mas'ud came

to In dia , the la nd of his b i r t h to look after his

farms and estates and gladdened his eyes w i t h

the sight of his son, daughter, his wife an d a l l

his dear relations.



M AS' UD-I -S ' AD- I -SALM AN 1 0 5

Sultan Mas'ud had now conferred the vice-

ro yalty of Ind ia on his son A m i r Shirzad.Mas'ud-i-S*ad-i-Salman became one of the

courtiers of the prince and th roug h the help of

Abu-Nasr-i-Farsi, Shirzad's deputy-governor and

commander-in-chief, he became the W ar den of

Chalandar. Mas'ud in the following verses*

describes how he got th is post, but he com

plains that he does not possess all the necessary

paraphernalia required for this exalted office :

* Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 84.




Mas'ud perhaps d i d no t li ke Chalandar, for

a l lud ing to his weariness and heaviness of heart,

he says :—*

Mas'ud was not destined to re main in the

employment of the state for lon g. Bew ai lin g

his ow n life in one of his poems he says : — f

* Masud-i-S'ad's D iw an , p. 245.

†Mas'ud-i-S'ad's D iw an , p. 136.



MAS'UD-I - s 'AD-I -SALMAN 107

It so happened tha t after some t ime, in conse

quence of malicious insinuations made by Abu'l*Faraj Nasr b. Rustam, Abu-Nasr-i-Farsi fell

under the displeasure of Sultan Mas'ud, as

Mas'ud-i-S'ad says in a fragment* beginning :—

A few lines fur ther on he reproaches A b u ' l -

Faraj for o verthro win g Abu-Nasr of Pars.† He

says :—

' Aft er Abu-Nasr-i-Parsi had incurre d the dis

pleasure of Sultan Mas'ud, al l his adherents

were punished either by dismissal, arrest, or

im pr isonmen t. Mas'ud-i-S'ad who was one of

th em was also arrested an d imprisoned in the

fortress of Maran j for eigh t years, as N idhaml-

i- 'ArudiJ says, u

and the d urat ion of the i m -

*Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 255.† Mas'ud-iS'ad's Diwan, p. 255.‡Chahar Maqalah, p. 45.




prisonment which he suffered in the re ign of

Sultan Mas'ud by reason of his relations w i thAbu-Nasr-i-Farsi was eight years.'' Th is state

ment is corroborated by Mas'ud's own verses.

In the fragment in which Mas'ud reproaches

Abu' l-F ara j for sending h im to pr ison he

says :—*

This verse implies that Mas'ud had already been

in prison for nineteen years and at the timewhen he wrote this " q i t ' a " he was st il l in

prison. This verse also supports Nidhami-i-

'Arudi 's statement that Mas'ud in his fir st i m

prisonment 'w hich started d ur in g Sultan Ibra

him's re ign remained in prison for 12 years. If

he had not been imprisoned for 12 years during

Ibrahim's reign and about eight years d uri ng

Mas'ud's re ign he (could not have said thathe had been in pr ison for " nineteen years."

.

* Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 255.





11 0 T H E EA RL Y PERSIAN POETS

the re ig n of Sultan Mas'ad th roug h the inte r

cession of Thiqat -u'l -Mulk Tahir b. ' A l l Thefoll owing " ruba 'i :"*

confirms the statement of Nidham i- i- 'Arudi th at

Tahir b. 'Ali was instrumental in getting Mas'ud

released from prison. The fo llow ing " ru ba ' i "†

composed in praise of Tahir b. ' A l i is fu l l of

genuine gratitude:

After his release from pr ison Mas'ud-i-S'ad

tried to gain the favour of Sultan Mas'ud by

w r i t i ng qas idas" in his praise. In this

att empt he was successful to some ex tent as he

•Mas 'ad-i-S'ad'sD iwan , p. 308.





himself says in a " qasida "* addressed to Su ltan

Mas'ud:

After the death of Sulatn Mas'ud Shirzad came

to the throne, bat he re igned only for a year.

He was succeeded by M a l ik Ars lan who re igned

for tw o years. A l though Mas'ad has addressed

" qasidas " to M a l ik Ars lan he seems to have

enjoyed no great favour of the k ing . In the

rei gn of Bahra m Shah who succeeded M al ik

Ars lan, Mas'ud-i-S'ad-i-Salman, became a

favourite courtier of the k ing . Bah ram Shah

was a great pat ro n of poets and Mas'ud in hisold age enjoyed a l it t l e tr anqu il it y and happi

ness at the cour t of this r oya l and generous

pat ro n. D awlatShah† says th a t at the close of his

life Masud-i -S'ad abondoned the life of a cour t

*Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 131.

† Tadkirat-u'sh-Shu'ara, p. 47.



112 THE EAR LY PERSIAN POETS

poet, and indeed it is l ike ly enough for M as'ud

in a fragment after a ll ud ing to his former dayssays :*

There is to be found another fragment in

Mas 'ud's D iw an, which he seems to have com

posed at the close of his li fe , when he became a

he rm it . Th is fragment begins :—†

In th is fragm ent occur the fo ll owin g verses :—

*Mas'ud-i-S'ad's D iw an, p. 57.

†Mas'ud-i-S'ad's D iw an , p. 271 .



M A S ' U D - 1 - S 'A D - I- S A L M A N 1 1 3

a hermit at the end of his life , says,* " It is im

plied in the tw o verses of the fragment in question that the : wri te r, abandoning the praise of

kings, had devoted his talents to the praise and

glor if icat ion of God and to the celebration of

the virtues of the Prophet and his fam ily ;

whereas no such poems are to be found in theex is tin g manuscripts of Mas'ad's D iwan. In

ah prob ab il ity this fragment is real ly by Sanai,

whose poems it greatly resembles in style."

Th is remark of Mirza Muhammad Khan that the

fragment is by Sana'i is unjustifiable . This

fragment is exact ly in the same style as the one

beg inn ing :—†

A l l the poems whi ch he writes on his ownself

are in the same style, and to me

it seems practically certain that the fragment in

question was real ly composed by Mas'ud. That

* Monograph, p. 69.† Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 57.

8






same. The long imprisonments of Mas'ud and

the grievous hardships which ' he suffered atFortune's hand, na tu ra lly prepared the way

for such a change. Even dur ing his first

impr isonment he showed his religious tr end of

m in d by get ti ng the H o ly Quran by heart. He

himself says :—*

Thus we fin d th at the statement of D awla t

Shah tha t Mas 'ud became a hermit at the close

of his life seems to be quite correct.

H a v i n g now completed the biography of

Masud-i-S'ad let us tu rn our at tent ion to his

atta inm ents as a poet. 'A wfi† states th a t he

was one of the wonders of his time and had three

Diwans, one Persian, one Arabic and one H i n -


† L u b f i b . u ' t - A i b a b , v o l . I I . , p . 2 4 6 .



116 TH E EA RL Y PERSI AN POETS

dustani. As for his Persian D iw an it for tunate ly

s t i l l exists, and is an unexplored treasure-house of Persian poet ry, which wou ld y ie ld to

the d i l igent seeker a r ich store of gems. H is

Arabic and Hindustani Diwans do not exist

now. It can no t be denied th a t his A rab ic

D iw an once existed for lie himself says that hewrote Persian and A ra b ic w i t h equal fa ci li ty :—*

In another " q a s i d a ' f he boasts :—

Rashid-u'd-Din Watwat in the Hada'-i-qu's-SihrJ

quotes some of Mas'ud's Arab ic verses. Mas'ud's

Hindustani Diwan cannot be traced, but in viewof the test imony of ' A w f i , who is a very early

authority, we have no reason to doubt that such

a D iw an once d id exist. Khusraw§ though

* Mas'ud-i-S'ads Diwan, p. 134.

† Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 213.‡ Hada'-i-qu's-Sihr, pp. 30 and 41.

§Ghurrat-u,l-Kamal, (Introduction), fol. 79b.









12 0 THE EARLY PERSIAN POETS

em in en t Pers ian " qasida "- w ri te rs wh o prec eded

him. He successfully composed " qasidas " inth e ir style . At a yo u n g age, as a pan eg yr is t

of Saif-u 'd-Dawlah Mahmud, he composed an

eloquent " qasida "* in his praise beginning :—

A b o u t the great p ec ul iar i ty of th is "qa s i da '"

Mas'ud himself says :—

Th is " q a s id a " was w ri t te n in the s tyle of

Labibi , as Mas'ud himself says :—

L a b i b i was the ch ie f panegyr i s t o f A m i r A b u -

Mudhaffar Yusuf, the t h i r d son of Su bu kt ig in ,

an d has been m en tio ne d by 'A w fi .† M as 'ud was

also f a m il ia r w i t h 'U ns uri 's verses, as is clear


†Lubab-u'l-Albab, vol., I I . , pp. 40-41.




from the following verse, occurring in a

"qasida"* in praise of Sultan Masud :

Mas'ud-i-S'ad-i-Salmans high rank as a poet,

his o ri g in a li ty , his rare genius, fecund and re

sourceful, are adm it te d by a l l cr itic s, Persianand non-Persian. In his ow n days he had no

rival s even amongst the poets of Persia. He

has been the source of in spira t io n to some of

the greatest poets of Persia who came after him,

and Khusraw† r i g h t l y points out tha t Kam al-

u'd -D in I s m a i l , who is called the " Creator of

Ide as ,' Mu 'i zz i, the poet-laureate of Sanjar and

D hahir -u'd-D in of Nishapur were the im ita to rs

of Mas'ud's style . The fo llow in g verse in whi ch

A d i b Sabir‡, wh ile la udi ng his own genius,alludes to Mas'ud's poetry :—

* M a s ' u d i - s a d s D i w a n , p 8 1 .† Ghurrat-u'1-Kamal, fol. 72b (Introduction).‡ R e l y i n g o n D a w l a t S hah , B r o w n e ( L i t . H i s . , v o l . , I I . , p .

325,) attribu tes this verse to F alak i of Shirwan, bu t H a d iHasan (F alakl- i-Shirwani, p. 62.) is of op inion that th is

couplet is not by Falaki-i-Shirwanl but by Adib Sabir, and isone of the 37 couplets of an ode contained in the D iw an ofAdib Sabir (Brit. Mus. Or. 327, fols. 27-28a).











126 TH E EARLY PERSIAN POETS

It appears from one of Mas'ud "qas ida"*

addressed to Rashidi tha t Mas'ud used toencourage th is poet by offering monetary

rewards to h im far his beautiful poetic compo

sitions. Thi s financia l assistance he cou ld not

render from prison. Apolo giz in g for sending

h i m only a poem in re tu rn for the one which

Rashidi had sent he says†

This compensation in kind was far great

than the payment in cash which Rashidi used to

receive before, for Mas'ud has lav ished m uch

praise on his verses.

Rashidi was another contemporary poet whoacknowledges Mas'ud's greatness. No account

of Rashidi is to be found anywhere. Acc ord in g

to the author of tho Chahar Maqalah‡ he was a

* Mas'ud-i-S'ad's D iw an, p. 170.† Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 170.

‡Chahar Maqalah, p. 28



MAS'UD-I - s 'AD- I -SALMAN 127

dist inguished poet of the House of Ghazua. The

fol lowing verses by Mas'ud-i-S'ad-Salman provethat ho was one of the Court poets of Sultan

Ibrahim :—

Rashidi was greatly opposed to Mas'ud-i-S'ad

but he brou gh t th is ha ug hty poet to his knees

by the real su pr io ri ty of his workmanship. In a

"qasida' ' addressed to Saif-u'd-Dawlah Mahmud

he alludes to this :—

We must remember tha t thi s must have happen

ed when Mas'ud was young, for the " q a s id a "



128 THE EARL Y PERSIAN POETS

is addressed to Saif-u 'd-Dawlah . It is to

Mas'ud's cre di t tha t even in his youth he couldexcel the veteran poets of his day.

•Uthman Mukhtari of Ghazna composed many

'' qasidas " in praise of Mas'ud-i-S'ad-i-Salman.

M uk hta ri was such a grea t poet th a t even Sanai

pays tr ib u te to his a b i l i ty by addressing a

beautiful ' 'qa sid a" to h im . The foll ow ing

verses clearly prove tha t Mas 'ud was held in

h igh esteem by th is poet, and th a t lie occupied

a very hi gh ran k amongst the contem prary

poets for the grace and elegance of his verses.

Here are some verses of Mukhtari:—*

, ___ *Ma jm'a-ul-Fusaha, vo l . I . , p. 605.




F ro m wha t I have shown above it is evid ent

th a t al thou gh Mas'ud-i-S'ad was an In d ia n he

was recognised as the leader of th ought and

style even by the greatest poets of Persian

o r i g i n .

Mas'ud-i-S'ad-i-Salman is especially famous

for his panegyrics an d threnodies. The la tte r

class includes a l l his poems whe re in he laments

his co nd iti on d u ri n g the various imprisonments

w h ic h he underw ent . These poems are know n

as " habs iy ya t" or " prison-poems'. ' In pan

egyric he could not excel his master Abu'l-

Farai-i-Runi, but in 'habsiyyat" he stands alone

and un riv all ed . Wa twat grea tly appreciated

Mas'ud's " prison-poems." " I n prison-poems,"

9





MAS'UD-I-S'AD- l -SALMAN 131

Mas'ud's pa ne gy ric s h ave a won de rf ul ease,

an d flow , w h i c h m a n y of the subsequent poetsl i ke Ka m a l of I sfahan, have im i ta te d . A l t h o u g h

he uses a few archaic words, his artistic mastery

over the lan gua ge, a n d his me taph ors a nd

similes have a c h a r m an d re al i t y w hi c h do n ot

ex is t in the wor ks of th e poets of the l a t e r

period who by their frivolous conceits, puns and

with their inordinate f igurat ive touches have

di sf ig ur ed th e fa ir face of P ersi an poe tr y.

Mas 'ud- i-S 'ad ha d an in s i gh t in to Metap hysics

a nd M at he m at ic s a nd in his s imiles, as po in te d

ou t by Ba di -u 'z-Za m an *, he makes use of th e

kn ow le dg e of these subjects . H i s pro du ct iv e

an d r i c h s tyle , w i t h his wo nde rful co mm an d of

th e lan gua ge is mor e t h a n co ul d be expectedf r o m a po et of his age. T he paneg yri cs are

at tr ac ti ve chiefly for th ei r freedom fr om fatuous

a n d ab or ti ve exa gger ation s, for th e poet's flig ht

of im a g i n a t i o n an d for the rema rkabl e fe l ic i ty

of expre ssion a n d natura lness of his simil es an d

*Sukhan-wa-Sukhanwaran, p. 216.





MAS'UD-I-S 'AD-I-SALMAN 133




Quite different from them are the panegyrics

w hich he composed after his release from his

first and second impr isonm ents. There is to be

found in them a melancholy and insistent

pessimism. The prison life crushed Mas'ud in

every way. He was vexed by the spite of his

prejudiced foes an d the slanders of malevolen t

detractors . N atu ra lly his g loom and sadness

have found expression even in his panegyric

poems. Mas 'ud him self says :—

Mas'ud's hopelessness and despondency changed

his entire view on li fe . On account of his dis

illusionment he could not check himself from



MAS'UD-I-S'AD-I-SALMAN 135

g iv in g th e follow ing views on the l i fe of ma n .

He says:—*

* Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan, pp. 172-73.




The tendency to create subtleties in the use

of figures of speech and exhaust skill at artificial

devices, which is such a str ik ing feature of the



M A S U D - I - S ' A D - I - S A L M A N 1 3 7

later period, is nowhere visible in his pan

egyrics. His panegyrics are always well-written,though at times they express the melancholy

depression of an oppressed mind. The striking

fluidity of his panegyrics is surely due to his

great command of the language. In all his

panegyrics Mas'ud shows an exquisite mastery

over style and naturalness of similes and meta

phors.

Having dealt with Mas'uds panegyrics, let

us come to the original and pathetic "habsiyyats''which he wrote while imprisoned in various

castles. These poems are his pathetic and

affecting appeals in verse mingled with praises

of Sultans and courtiers. Of these poems

Nidhami-i- 'Arudi* says, that whenever he read

them, his skin w o u l d creep and his eyes f i l l

with tears at their eloquence and pathos. in

these poems Mas'ud laments his condition in

prison. In the prison he was denied even the

* Chahar Maqalah, p. 45.




most ordinary comforts of human life, as he

himself says :—*

In these poems he longs for the days passed in

his own town and expresses his yearning to

return to his native city. He alludes to jhisweariness and heaviness of heart and long to

see his little daughter, wife, mother and other

relatives from whom he has been separated.

Such orig inal ' and pathetic verses are bound to

have effect on all who read them, for they

portray the inward sentiments of a helpless

man, entirely cut off from the outside world

and all his near and dear ones. These poems

are written in the most perfect style. I quote

*Masud-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 254.






A n d in the concluding verses he says :—

In the following "p rison-poem" Mas'ud

describes his utmost destitution and misery in

prison with supreme elegance. He says :—*

* Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan,pp. 124-25.






The above verses clearly demonstrate Masu'd's

supreme mastery in composing this k ind of

poetry. Mas'ud's " prison-poems''' are more

attractive than the " habsiyyat " of Khaqani, for

they do not glitter with expressions hard to

interpret. They are also free from grammatical

artifices which so often mar Khaqani's verses,

and which leave the reader cold.

Mas'ud-i--S'ad was essentially a " qasida "-

writer, and it is on this form of verse that his

reputation rests, but his Diwan also contains a



M AS'UD-I -S ' AD-SALM AN 143

number of odes, a large number of quatrains

and a " m a t h n a w i " . Mas' ud's " ghazals " are notdi st in g ui sh ed in an y way, bu t the y serve as g ood

specimens of earl y " g haz al " - w r i t i n g . I have

n o t been able to appreci ate Mas'ud's " ruba 'i s. "

While governor of Chalandar Mas'ud composed

his beaut if ul " m a t h n a w i " in praise of the cour t

iers an d com panions of A m i r Shirzad,

am ongst w h o m he hi mse lf was. I g iv e below

some of the opening verses of; this " m a thnawi . "

These verses are especially striking for they

very accurat ely g iv e the des cri p tio n of the

ra in y season in I nd ia . The '" m a t h n a w i "

begins :—#

•Mas'ud-i-S'ad's Diwan, p. 241.



1 4 4 T H E E A R L Y PE R S I A N POET S



MAS'UD-I-S'AD-I-SALMAN 145

Badi-u'z-Zaman* makes the following un

generous remark on Mas'ud's " mathnawi":—

A ny ;just reader who goes through Mas'Ud'a

" m a t h n a w i " w i t h a t t e n t i o n w i l l see h o w u n

justifiable is this remark of the critic.

In old days it was necessary for those who

aspired to poetical honours at the Court to

possess considerable powers of improvisation.

Mas'ud possessed enormous wit and extraordi

nary power of composing poems on the spur of

the moment, whenever occasion arose. Of the* Sukhan-wa-Sukhanwaran, p. 214.

10







14 8 THE EARLY PERSIAN POETS

his time flourished an eminent poet—Baha-u'd-

Din of Aush. He was a foreigner and is thusexcluded from our purview. It was in the reign

of Sultan Iltutmish that we first find an Indian

becoming famous for his verses in Persian.

Malik Taj-u'd-Din, the administrator poet,

is a dominant figure during the reigns of Sultan

Iltutmish and his son Sultan Rukn-u'd-Din. The

author of the Tuhfat-u'l-Kiram*, the Muntakhab-

u't-Tawarikh†, the 'Urafat-u'l-'Ashiqin;!:, theTarikb

Firishtah§, the G-ul-i-R'ana|| and the Majm'a-u'lFusaha¶, alljdesignate him with the title of

which literal ly means an atom. The authors

of the Tuhfat-u'l-Kiram, and the 'Urafet-u'l-

'Ashiqin, state that as he was short of stature and

thin, he was called " but Lachhrnl Narayan

*Tuhfat-u'l-Kiram, fol. 280a.

† Muntakhab-u't-Tawarikh, p. 67.

‡Urafat-u'lAshiqin, fols. 160a-161b.

§Tarikh Firishtah, p. 66.

¶ Gul-i-R'ana, fol. 66b.

¶Majm'a-u*l-Fusaha, vo l. I . , p. 176.






The author of the Tarikh Firishtah* more

accurately says that an embassy from Arabia,

bringing wi th it royal robes from the Caliph,

arrived at Delhi. These historians do not men

tion the name of the Caliph. It was Abu-J'afar

ManSur-al-Mustansir, the father of the last

'Abbasid Caliph, who sent an embassy of State

to invest Iltutmish with the robe of office as the

recognised sovereign of India. The seal

was set on his career of unvaried success and

thenceforth the king inscribed upon his coins not

only the proud legend " The mighty Sultan, Sun

of the Empire and the Faith, Conquest-ladenll tu tm ish, " but also " A i d of the Commander of

the F a i t h f u l ' Nasir-Amir-u'1-Mu'minin. The

author of the Tarikh F ir ishtahf says that the

king assumed the royal robes with joy, and

* Tarikh Firishtah, p. 66.

†Tarlkh Firishtah, p. 65.



T A J - U ' D - D I N O F D E L H I 1 5 1

made a great festival, distributing rich presents.

A congratulatory poem on this auspiciousoccasion was composed by Taj-u'd-DIn. The

poem ofTaj -u 'd-Din besides being a specimen

of " qasida " -wri t ing of those days is of great

historical value, for it definitely states that the

investitures of honour were sent to Sultan

lltutmish from al-Mustansir, the 'Abbasid Caliph

of the time. The text of the " qasida", as based

on Taqi Kashi‡, is given below :—

‡Khulasat.u'l-Ash'ar, fol. 374b.



15 2 TH B EARL Y PERSIAN POETS







T A J - U ' D - D I N O F D E L H I 1 55

the date of this successful event in the following

verses :—

These lines were carved on a stone over one of

the gateways and were still to be seen in the

early 19th century, when Briggs translated the

Tarikh Firishtah. In a foot-note* he says " the

stone and the lines are still to be seen." TheDirector-General of Archaeology in India upon

my request made an enquiry from the Superin

tendent of Archaeology, Gwalior State, and

informed me that this inscription which record

ed the conquest of the Fort of Gwalior is nolonger on any of the Gateways of the Fort. It

is a wonder how this interesting epigraph has

disappeared in the course of a few hundred years.

* History of the Rise of the Muhammadan Power iaIndia, vol. I, p. 211.





T A J - U ' D - D I N O F D E L H I 1 5 7

The above verses have also been quoted in the

Muntakhab-u't-Tawarikh* and the 'Urafat-u'l-'AshiqinJ. This "qasida" was much appreciated

by the k ing and the people. Taj-u'd-Din along

with other poets was highly rewarded† for i t .

It is really unfortunate that the whole " qasida "

is not quoted in any book. It would have

shown how far panegyric-writing of this k ind

had then developed in India.

Taqi Auhadi§ also cites some of his verses,

which show that far-fetched comparisons were

st i l l not in vogue in India. The poets st ill

derived their similes from common objects and

famil iar things. The fol lowing verses may serve

as a specimen:

* Muntakhab-u't-Taw arikh, p. 69.

†'Urafat-ul-Ashiqin, fol 160b.‡Tarikh Firishtah, p. 67.

§ 'Urafat-u Ashiqm, fol. 160b.









T A J - U ' D - D IN O F D E L H I 1 6 1

The date of Taj-u'd-Din's death is not known.

We once hear of him in the reign of Ghiyath-u'd-Din*, who succeeded Nasir-uM-Din, and the pro

babi lity is that his death took place after A . H . 664

during the reign of this king. Muhammad

b. Qiwam in his commentary on the Makhzan-i-

Asrar† (composed A. H. 795) states that Taj-u'd-

Din was thrown under the feet of an elephant

and trampled to death.

*'Urafat-u'l-Ashiqin, fol. 160b.† Oriental College Magazine,, November 1929, p. 7.

11



CHAPTER V I .

Shibab-u'd-Din of Badaun.

Shibli* has said that t ime has effaced the

name of Shihab-u'd-Din Mihmarah, and we do

not know anything about him. To construct

the biography of such a forgotten man is not an

easy task, especially when one has to do it with

the aid of the Persian biographical works, which

invariably tend to become encomiastic when

dealing with a great poet. Shihab fills a placeapart from the contemporary poets as a group.

He is to be remembered not as one of the Court

-poets, who flocked to the throne of that young

and convivial monarch, Rukn-u'd-Din Firuz,

sing ing his praises, but as a creator of new style

in " qasida."

The poet's name was Shihab-u'd-Din. He was

a son of Jamal-u'd-Din† and was a native of

Badaun as the great poet Amir Khusraw says :—

* Sh'ir-u l-Aj am , vol. I I . , p. 145.

† 'Urafat-ul-Ashiqin, fol. 351a.











SH IHA B-U'D-DIN OF BADAUN 167

T he au th or of the Ma kh zan -u' l-G hara 'ib* states

th a t his verses are l i k e pear ls. He says :—

Shihab d i d no t i m i t a t e the o ld models of the

" qasidas ", b ut there is unmis ta kea ble evidence

to show that the poet tried to improve the

general tr en d of " qasida ' ' - w r i t i n g . He m a y be

deemed th e crea to r of a new style in "q as ida "

poetry . Up t i l l his t ime pane gyri cs of k ing s

and the ir m ini ste rs had been the chief ou tp ut

of a l l the " qasida "- wr it er s of I n d i a . G o t hr ou g hthe Diwans of Abu 'l -F ara j- i- R uni and Mas'ud-i-

S'ad-i-Salman from beginning to end, observe

m i n u t e l y the whole range of poems w r i t t e n by

th e I n d i a n poets who fl our ish ed before Shihab

and y ou w i l l not be able to discover a s ing le

" qasida " in praise of G od or th e H o l y P rop he t.

It was Shihab who f ir st in troduced , a t ing e of

mysticism in his " qasidas " . Since the f o l l o wi ng

" q as ida " is the first specim en of th is k i n d of

p oe tr y in I n d i a , I quote it below in it s en ti re ty ,

* Makhzan-u'1-Ghara'ib, fol. 388a.







17 0 TH E EARLY PERSIAN POETS





17 2 TH E EARLY PERSIAN POETS



S H I H A B - U ' D - D I N O F B A D A U N 173

T R A N S L A T I O N .

I am A l i f i n the tab le of existence and of no

va lue as a sign. My existence depends up on the

duration of the existence of others, my own

existence is transitory.

I s tand at the end of the row in the hope of

ob ta ini ng a better pos ition , ha vi ng rested

f ro m a l l movement wi t h the at tributes of

insignificance.

I have not the attributes of A l i f , for A l i f has

no crookedness. A l l m y w r i t i n g has become

crooked on the page of desire.

There is th e song of the ni ght ing al e, the rose

is happy ; w h i l e I am careless l i k e the l i l y . L i k e

A l i f I have no tongue, what have I to do w i t h ,

ten tongues ?

Since I can seize it while thus at rest, why

shoul d I pursue ? Since I ca nnot see op enly

how can I follow a hidden path ?

By st ra tagem , I can recognise no dis tinction*

between ea rt h a n d . heaven, al tho ug h I am like-




the heaven in my wh i r l i ng , and l ike the ear th

stationary.I am not l i k e wate r in freshness, nor l i k e

f i re in subl imi ty, nor l ike the wind in sweetness,

nor like the earth in heaviness.

I am not made out of these four elements . I

•am composed of the effluvia of the kennel. The

refuse of the sewer water has boasted of piety.

My wi sd om , as t h o u g h inca rnate , seems to

have ta k en t o praise m y f au l t s ; m y avarice,

hug e as m ou nt ai n, has g ir de d its loins for t a k i n g

presents.

I am become f ix ed in t he was of avar ice,

no t a sig n of t r u t h rem ains in me. Th e oppres

sion of my vices has ov er whe lm ed the mercies

of the Sacred Book.My greediness has so dece ived me tha t th e

f iv e sensual app etites have ta k en away f ro m my

heart with disgrace the blessings of the readings

of the 'ashars.

My inner nature as well as my body is devoid

of med i tat io n and recollection. My eye l ike my



SHIH AB-U 'D-DIN OF BADAUN 175

ear is in cl in ed to the si ng in g wom en and thei r

songs.

I desire b r i l l i an t speeches to f a l l f rom my

tongue which is like a well-tempered sword.

My pen has made me bent l ik e a sickle in the

pursuit of my daily bread.

My speech has fai led me because it s g lory

was in the rel a t ion of th is story . Y es ! a l l th is

loss of honour was owing to inor di na te desire

for bread.

I am tha t mean one, less than the least, who

am no t wor th a groat, if yo u t h i n k me wor th a

b a r l e y c o r n , y o u w i l l n o t b u y m e f o r n o t h i n g .

Oh Sh ihab! it i s strang e th a t you in this

ro ad of k i n g l y affairs are neithe r the A m i r of

the B i g h t Squares nor the K n i g h t of the Seven

Places.

Y o u are no t an angel, nor are yo u a dev i l ,

f rom what workshop are you ? Y o u are not a

sojourner nor ye t a t ravell er, f ro m wh at cour t

are you ?

Y o u r hear t an d in te ll ec t are careless of the




to rtu res of the grave, you have dressed yourse lf

in Gurkhani silk.Y o u have become ut t e r ly regardless f rom

lust, owing to desire for license, f ro m ur gen t

desire, by means of false accusation you have

planted the foot of success.

Sorrow for the tul ip -cheeked beloved has

shut fast the door of your wi sd om . Th e vein of

your eye has shed blood f rom desire for the cu p

of red wine.

Y o u are co rrup t li ke the w ind , yo u stand

pa ralysed li k e the ea rth. Y o u are a pea rl of

transitory existence, a shell empty-mouthed.

W i t h breath li ke the bu rn in g l i g ht ni ng you are

the enchanter of bad an d good : w i t h heart l i k e

a fl int, you are the whet-stone of dry and moist.Nat ur al ly wi t h desire you revolve l ik e the

sky in its f ig ure -d es ig nin g , f rom your yo ut h

hast ing wi t h greed, you are l ike a chi ld in

weakness.

Y o u carr y the sor row of the seven heavens

and the four elem ents in your hear t, and every



S H I H A B - U ' D - D I N O F B A D A U N 177

moment from pride you are put to a hundred

thousand devices in the performance of onegenuflection.

Y ou are coarse as the earth, and yet your

speech is always of the moon in the heavens ;

y o u w i l l n o t r ea c h t h e d i g n i t y o f a k i n g f r o m

the station of a doorkeeper.Y ou yourself, owing to f ri vo lit y have not

at tained even ' for a moment, freeing yourself

from the imperfections of the world, to the

religious duties at stated times.

iF rom the advice of the holy men may you

foe informed at least once, that in these two

worlds at any rate you are famous for creating

dissensions.

Perversity springs from your heart as pride

springs from, foolishness. E v i l arises from your

body as rashness does from youth.

Y ou are the moisture of the gullet of hypo

crisy, the blast of the forge of tyranny, you aire

the flower of the garden of inordinate desire, andthe mud which befouls the reservoir of thesoul

12





SH IHA B-UD -DIN OF BADAUN 179

He was a mortal of angelic beauty, a sky with

the lowliness of earth. L ik e the sky he waspure in body, like the Angels he was pure in

soul.

He was a pearl whose place was in the

treasury of God, and he was a moon whose

brightness shone forth from the sky of eternity.

He was such a pearl that nothing of more

value than his nature was ever produced by the

medium of the elements from the sea of heaven.

He was such a moon that in every early

morning the face of the star of Y aman became

black as coal from shame at his cornelian-like

lips.

So sweet tongued a prophet that the salvation of his disciples comes by faith in his words,

from the eloquence of his utterances.

So eloquent in pearl-like speech that the

beauty of his utterance makes the heart's blood

like the hidden wealth of the mine, a royaltreasure.




The brightness of the eastern sun is shamed

by the beauty of his face, and the stature of thecypress of the garden is bowed before the per

fect uprightness of his form.

By his accountantship he has adopted the

way of absolute monarchy ; and by his eloquence

he has opened the door of auspicious government.The at tract ion of secret desire, by revelation

has drawn h im from the expanse of the natura l

world to the ocean of spiritual existence.

By the good tiding s of his friend, his heart

became intox icated, w i th the hope of a meeting.The son of A b u Qahafah has drunk from the

cup of his friendship.

H is speeches have founded a fortress for the

decrees of God. 'Umar by his justice became

the builder of it, by right government.

One, t h i rd in order, has placed the footstep

in this way; whose path to the enjoyment of

this world was not obstructed by pride.

His fourth pil lar was ' A l i who at the time of

battle made the face of the sun pale from the

glitter of his sword.



S H I H A B - U ' D - D I N OF B A D A U N 181

Oh, K i n g ! I entreat yo u by yo ur friends

de li ve r me du r i ng the whole of my li fe by yo uraid from the calamity of foolish friends.

He who dema nded f r om me thi s " qasida ",

m ay his li fe l ik e my " qasida " be or na men ted

with the jewels of meaning.

Shibab's greatness un l ik e t ha t of the other

C ou rt poets was curiousl y or ig in al . As the

wr it er of the art if ic ial " qasidas "

he is to be rem embe red for his great o r i g ina l i t y

an d sk i l l . H e was the f ir st poet in I n d i a to

wr i t e such " qasidas ", and the y served as useful

models for his grea t p u p i l A m i r K husraw.

K hus r a w has im i t at e d some of his ar ti f ic ia l

" qasidas " and has also t r i e d to im p rove up on

them. Taqi Kashi* places his artificial " qasidas"side by side w i t h those of the P ersian masters

l i ke H a k i m A b u 'A l i Jubbai and others. W r i t i n g

abou t the peculi arit ies of his ar ti f ic ia l "qasidas"

the author of the Majma'-u'n-Nafa'is† states :—

* Khulasat-ul-Ash'ar, fols. 288b-299b.† Majma'-u'n-Nafa'is, fol. 230a.



182 THE- EARL.Y PEBSIAN POETS

Perhaps these " qasidas" do not make any

appeal to our taste and may even seem weari

some to modern readers, but they delighted and

in sp ir ed the poet's contemporaries. On account

of their evid ent or ig in al it y, beauty and the

re put at io n wh ich they have enjoyed for several

centuries, they deserve our special consideration.

It req uired bu t the remark abl e talent, concent r a t i on and i m ag ina t io n of Sbihab to produce

such " qasidas ". Ins pi te of al l the ar ti f ic ia li ty

it is to his cr ed it t ha t by a k i n d of mag ic he

seems to have invested his verses with grandeur

and d ig n i ty . He surprises his readers by a new

t r i c k in each "qas ida " and convinces t h em of his

own mental powers. They are specimens of his

marvellous ingenuity.

'A bd- u ' l Qadir in his Mu nta kh ab- u ' t - Tawa ri kh

and Taq i A uh ad i in his 'U ra f a t -u l . A sh iq in

have quoted a large number of Shihab's



SABABU'D-DIN OF B A D A U N 183.artificial "qasidas'

from such a "qasida" as specimen* The chief

artifice in this " qasida " consists in using in

all its verses only those words which do not

contain The poet, however, could

no t avoid the use of in the name of the

noWe in whose praise this " qasida " is written.

The component verses of the " qasida "* are

a» follows:—

*Urafatul-AShiqii, fol. 351b. .




Th e biog raphers do not men t ion in whose

praise thi s pane gyric was composed. F r o m one

of the verses of this " qasida " it is clear tha t it

was composed in praise of one Baha-u'd-Din

Hasa n. Baha -u 'd- Din Hasan was one of the great

nobles of Sul tan R uk n- u' d- Din 's court. He was

one of the le ading chiefs who to ok a p rom inent

p a rt in the ins ta ll at io n of Sultana R ad iy a to

the th rone. This " qasida " seems to have been

composed in praise of this nobleman.

Another ar t i f ic ia l u qasida" composed by

Shihab in praise of S ultan R uk n- u' d- D in F iru zalso seems to me si ng ul ar ly s t r i k ing . Here

the di c t ion is harsh the rhym es unc ert ain, an d

num bers unpleasing . W h a t beau ty there is,

we must seek in the ar ti f ice w h i c h consists in

us ing four words in each

verse. This " q as ida" has been quoted at



S H I H A B - U ' D - D I N O F B A D A U N 1 85

leng th in the Muntakhab-u't-Tawarikh and the

'Urafat-u'l-'Ash.iqin.* I quote below some of its•component verses : —

* 'Urafat-u'l-'Ashiqin, fol. 352b.



186 T H E EARLY PERSIAN POETS



SHIHAB-UD-DIN OF BADAUN 187


Eve ry mom ent this old wolf lion-hear ted

infant-e ating does w i t h me th at wh ic h the

elephant and rhinoceros do at the t im e of

contest.

The elephant-like sky wears away my bodyas does the rh ino ceros ; the ti me li ke a l ion

takes away my patience like a wolf.

I have not the st reng th of the rhinoceros,

and the sky is like a fierce elephant towards me.

It displays the boldness of a l ion l ike the o ld

w o l f o f t h e t i m e .

The elephant d id no t so tr ea t the rhinoceros,

no r d id the wol f so tre at the sheep, as the l i o n

l ike heaven trea ted this be ing who is t h i n 'AShair from oppression.

T h e L i o n o f t h e s k y h a s t h e c r a f t o f t h e

wol f and the stre ngth of the rhinoceros. F o r

th is cause he heaps pain co nti nual ly on my

heart like the load of an elephant.




The pillar of the world, the elephant-con

quering king with the lion-headed mace,, bywhose wolf-swift horse the rhinoceros is fiercely

attacked.

, T he eye of t

colours from his lion -l ike mace, the hump of the

rhinoceros of ea rth is trod de n in to hollows by

the foot of his elephant.

H is elephan tine club empties the forest of

rhinoceros, his wolf-swift horse seizes f the

meadow from the lions.From the po in t of his javel in, and lion -

headed mace, that happens to the rhinoceros and

elephant whic h happened to the life of Gurgsar

from the sword of the brazen-bodied one.

Oh thou from whose lion-headed mace,

rhinoceros-des troyer elephant-crusher, the to m b

becomes nar ro w and dar k for Q-urgin l ike the

p i t of Bizhan.

The reflection of t h y elephant-coloured, sword

if it falls upon l io n and rhinoceros makes the i r



S H I H A B - U ' D - D I N O F B A D A U N 189*

eyes whic h are li ke the jujubes of Gurjau to

become like the pomegranate.If the breeze of your lion-standard blows

upon the dust of the w or ld the maddened r h i

noceros w i l l seek shelter f r om the elephant, an d

the wolf from the sheep.

, W hen thou brandishest th y elephan tine

mace, the l io n casts away its teeth , the wolf its

claws, the rhinoceros its ga l l bladder, and the

snake its head-stone.

Rhinoceros-like in attack, wolf-like in gai t r

lio n- like in bravery , elephant-like in body is th y

steed. Oh hero! hundreds of thousands l i k e

Rustam are thy slaves.

Elephant-bestower, I desire a desert place in

Badaun, even th ough these regions are theabodes of the w olf and the rhinoceros and th e

l i o n .

As lo ng as the l ion and the elephant are

co-partners in awe, and the wolf and the rh ino

ceros are like in writing, so long may your wolf-

craf ty enemy, oh rhinoceros-destroyer an d




elephant-like in strength, be humbled in the

dust before the lion of your portico.May yo ur enemies bereft of life become l ik e

the lions and elephants and wolves and

rhinoceros at the end of the stony line in the

public baths.

There are many other "qasi das" of Shihab

in w hic h he has made use of ce rtain artifices

w i t h muc h sk i l l and success. Th e most cons

picuous is a " qasida " in praise of God and the

H o ly Prophet. In this u qasida " he has very

sk il fu lly used either "* in each

hemistich. No less is another a r t i f ic ia l "qasida'†^

composed in praise of the Prophet, in whidh l ie

has made use of the same ar tifice w i t h great

ab il it y . A l l these " qasidas" demonstrate thisling uis tic attainm ents an d rhe tori cal ingenuities.

Undoubtedly he was a great force in the field of

Persian poe try of his tim e, an d on account of his

evident originality and unsurpassing skill in

*Urafaul- 'Ashiqin, fol . 35lb.

† 'Urafat-ul'-Ashiqin,fol.351a.





C HAPTER V I I .

'Amid-u'd-Din of Sanam.

For ten years after the death of l l tu tm ish in

A. H. 633, India suffered from the weakness and

de prav ity of his successors. D ur ing this short

time as many as live kings sat on the throne of

D elhi , and na tu ral ly du ring this period of dis

turbance Persian poetry d id not great ly flourish

in this country. Sultan Rukn-u 'd-D in Firuz,

was a patron of poets bu t he sat on the thronehard ly for seven months. This handsome,

generous, soft-hearted young monarch as a

prince showed much patronage to the poets, and

his premature death proved a source of grea t

loss to Persian poetry in In dia . The li te ra ry

act iv it y of the In d ian people was revived to

some ex tent in A . H . 644, when Sultan Nasir-u'd-

D i n Mahmud came to the throne. The author

of the Tarikh Firishtah* observes that when he

*TarikhF;irishtah, p. 71.





1 9 4 T H E E A R L Y P E R S I A N P OE TS



' A M I D - U ' D - D I N O F S A N A M 195


When my loved one takes the lute, and binds

the p le c tr um on her fingerna il, her na i l strikes

Nahid w i t h a hundred wounds in the heart

though envy.



196 T H E EAR LY PERSIAN POETS

Through envy of her harp fever seizes upon

Nahid at th at ins tan t. Her nai l becomes altogether blue from the effect of that fever.

Consider the henna on her nails to be like

blood, wh ic h at the time of the sp ring ing of the

str ings from the harp dry as a reed, has spurted

fo rth and made the na i l moist.

If in pl ay my na i l has scratched your lip ,

do not be vexed at that, because now and then

they dip the nail into sugar by way of tasting it.

Keep the po in t of your na i l as sharp as aglance my love, for the ha rp has no confidence

in the fingers save for the sharpness of their

nails.

B r i n g me consolation by the tenderness of

th y kindness, because compared w i t h thy face,the bride of the moon has bro ugh t blood to its

nails through envy.

Give me wine red as the blood of a hare at

the remembrance of the assembly of the king ,

for his wra th has forced off the claws from the

paws of the male lions.



' A M I D - U ' D - D I N OF SANAM 197

Shahanshah Nas i r - i -D unya w a - D i n Ma h m u d ,

by whose eq ui ty the pa r t r i dg e w i t h i ts beak hastorn of f the c laws of the swif t - f ly ing hawk.

By th e fat e-l ike oppr ession of his en em y he

has fa ll en in da ng er of r a i n , j u s t as one's n a i l

is in da ng er in th e hands of an u n sk i l le d barber .

P r o m the dr ea d of th e falc on of his e qu i t y i t

behoves t h a t th ey sho uld ta ke to f l i gh t w h e n

the eagle w i t h la nc et - l i ke tal on s casts his

feathers and talons ( through fear) .

F o r th is reason t h a t in th e presence o f hi s

pow er, th e sk y scratches his he ad for en v y, a n d

each m o n t h , because of t h a t pow er, di sp la ys th e

body of th e m o o n in the shape of a n a i l p a r i n g

(crescent).

C om pa re d w i t h the per fu med dus t r a i sed by

his cha rge r the dus t- l ik e gr ain s of th e mu sk -b ag

hav e becom e valueless as the du st w h i c h is f o u n d

under every nai l .

Y o u w o u ld say h is ar ro w is a f in ger f ro m th e

h a n d of v i c t o r y because i t appears as t h o u g h




his na i l were l ike a wil low-leaf-bladed soul-des

t r o y i n g spear.A finger which if he so wi lls i t , li ke an

I n d i a n spear embeds its n a il in the m i n d of ir on

an d the he ar t of sepa ration .

Th e sw ord of his w ra th has i m p r i n t e d such a

scar on the cheek of his enemy as remains on the

cheek of the moth er fro m th e anger of the in fan t.

Grudging the life of his evil-disposed enemies,

lo ! the boars of Fate have sharpened their tusks,

and the lion of Destiny their claws.H o w can t h y enemy be at a l l l i k e thee, how

can he approach t h y dagger, whereas when he

brandishes his dagger i t becomes at tha t

moment like a finger nail.

If his pr id e so misleads h i m t h a t he fin ds

fa ul t w i t h yo u, the t i p of his finger becomes as

dust in his ha nd an d his na il as no th in g .

T he edge of t h y sw or d pro tec ts th e face of

the w o r ld , if there ha d no t been the n a i l as a

shie ld be hi nd the back of the fin ge r t i p it ha d

not been well.



'AMID-U 'D-DIN OF SAN AM 199

If th e en vi er of th e n a i l of t h y br av er y bears

a gr ud ge ag ain st thee, perch ance poor fello w

it is because he does no t k n o w t h a t the n a i l is

poisonous.

Oh k i n g , do n o t d esert me, so l o n g as th e

spi te ful heaven s tr ikes eve ry m o m e n t one n a i lup on an ot he r by w ay of p r o d u c i n g the notes of

my fate.

I have br o u g h t in the w o r d n a i l (nakh un) as

" r a d i f " i n th i s poem w hi ch i s l i k e a cha rm .V e r i l y i t is as useful in m ag ic , as th e h ai r of the

head or the t ip of the nai l .

' A m i d is the las t of those g lor ious In d ia n

poets w ho f lo ur i she d before K hu sr aw . H i s f u l l

name was K hw aj ah 'A m i d -u 'd - D i n an d he bore

the t i t l e o f Fak hr - u ' l - Mulk * . Ta q i Au ha di †

w r o n g l y give s his dat e of b i r t h as A . H. 655.

•'U raf at-u l-'A shiq in, fol. 464b.

† 'U raf st- u'l- 'As hiq in, fol. 464b.



2 0 0 THE EA RL Y PERSIAN POETS

He was bora in A. H. 601, as is ev ident from

his own verses quoted in the Muntakhab-a 't-Tawarikh*:—

He was born in Sanam†, and it was on account

of h im th at the name of this place is s t i l l

remembered.

According to the author of the Gul-i-R'ana‡,

Sanam was a small town of the dependency of

Sindh. He states :—

In the historical works we find a mention of

*Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, pp. 108-109.

† 'U ra fa t-u l-A sh iq in , fol . 464b.

‡ Gul-i-R'ana, fol. 166b.



' A M I D - U ' B - D I N O F S A N A M 2 0 1

Sanam. From the Tarikh Fir ishtah* it appears

th at this town was situated in one of thedistr ict s of the frontier provinces. On the demise

of Shir Khan ( in the reign of Ghyath-u 'd-D in

Balban) Sanam and Samana were granted to Amir

Tim urK han . Sometime after, the k in g made overSamana

son K ara Khan. It was in this town that ' A m i d

was brought up and educated. ' A m i d enjoyed

the greatest patronage†, under Taj -u' l-MuIk

Prince Muhammad, the most talented son of

Ghiyath-u'd-Din Ba lban . He was a youth ofgreat promise and showed much taste for li te ra

ture. When he became the viceroy of the

front ie r provinces on the accession of 'Ghiyath-

u'd-D in Balban to the throne he showed great

favours to 'A m i d . Fro m a poet of the Court

' A m i d was raised to the post of the controlle r

of a l l the states of Hindus tan‡ He discharged

* Tarikh Firishtah, p. 78,† Gul-i-R'ana, fol. 166b.

‡ 'Urafat-ul-Ashiqin, fol. 464b.



2 0 2 T H E E A R L Y P E R S I A N PO ET S

his duties honestly, and the k ing in recognition

of his good services conferred upon him the titleof Fakhr-u'1-Mulk. He was, however, on account

of some defalcat ion in the state's account, dis

missed from his post and put into prison.* In

one of his " qasidas ", quoted in the Muntakhab-

u'trTawankh,† bewaili ng his ow n misfortune he

tried to exhonerate himself from all charges and

states tha t he discharged his duties to the best

of his ability and honesty :—

In the course of this imprisonment he composed ‡

the " qas ida" w i th the radif of The

entire " qasida" has been quoted by 'Abdu ' l -

Qadir§. The royal wra th was pacified, and the

poet was released from the prison.* 'Urafat-u'l-'Ashiqin, fol. 464b.

† Muntakhab-u't-Tawarikh, pp. 123-27.‡ 'Urafat-u'l-'Ashiqin, fol. 464b.

§Muntakhab-u ,t-Tawarikh, pp. 109-113.



' A M I D - U ' D - D I N O F SA NA M 203

W hile in the service of Prince Muhammad,

' A m i d amassed a large fortune. Taq i A uh ad istates th a t besides being a great poet ' A m i d

patronised a number of poets. He encouraged

Khusraw* and Mi r Hasan in the cu lt iv at io n of

Persian poetry . The exact date of 'A m id 's

death is no t known, bu t he seems to have pre

deceased his pat ron, " the m arty r prince ". In

A. H . 683, thi s popular and prom ising prince

Muhammad met his death at the hands of the

Mongols, and every one was sadly affected byhis death. A m i r Khusraw and M i r Hasan along

w i t h others wrote long elegies over his death .

We do not find any elegy composed by ' A m i d

commem ora ting this unfortunate event. Surely

'Amid was dead at that time, otherwise he must

have composed an elegy on the death of his

greatest pa tron . The sta tement of the author

of the Atashkadah† th at ' A m i d died at the age

of 54 is wholly erroneous.

*'Urafat-u'l-'Ashiqin, fol. 464b.

† Atashkadah, p. 152.



204 T H E EA RL Y PERSIAN POETS

' A m id was a man of great lea rning and we ll

-versed in the art of poetry. 'Abd u 'l -Qad irBadauni in his Muntakhab-a't-Tawarikh* remem

bers him with the lofty title of

Taqi Auhadi† pays the following t rib ate to his

knowledge and poetic ab i l i ty :—

A bou t his undoubted talents the author of th e

Atashkadah‡makes the following statement :—•

In short a l l the biographers are unanimous in

their praise for 'A m id 's poetic a b i li ty and

li te ra ry genius.

•M untakhab-u't-T awarikh, p. 96.† 'Urafat-u'l-'Ashiqin, foL 464a.

‡Atashkadah, p. 152.



' A M I D - U ' D - D I N O F SA NAM 2 0 5

' A m i d was a poet of great talent and

orig in a li ty . He went far beyond the downtrodden field of " qasida"-wr iting and wrote

many "g haz al s". Some of his " ghazals "

contain graceful verses and attain a high degree

of excellence. He enriched the Persian poetry

by writing "ghazals", for until his time very fewof the Ind ia n poets had tr ie d the ir w i t atugh azal "-w ri tin g. Hi s "ghazals" partake of

the nature of "qasidas", but are extremely

flowing and melodious. They are usually the

work of simple im ag ina tion. In "g haza l" it maybe noted tha t 'A mid 's characteristic feature is

the simpl ic ity of d ic tio n combined w i th a

na tura l flow which makes his poetry smooth

and musical. ' A m i d generally sticks to one

main idea in his " ghaza ls" throughout . For

instance, when he ta lks of the beauty of the

be loved, the same tr end of thought pervades

his whole " ghazal ". The fo llowin g wh ich is a

tine specimen of his " ghazal ", has been quoted

by Rida Quli! Khan :—*

*Majm'a-u'l-Fusaha, vol. I , p. 354-




A n o t h e r " g h a z a l " w i l l suffice for the purpose

of i l lu s t ra t i o n . I t has been qu ote d by T a q i

A u h a d i : — *

*'Urafat-ul-Ashiqin, fol. 464b.



' A M I D - U ' D - D I N O F SA N A M 207

'A m id was also a satirist . He is one of thefew older Persian poets who wrote satires.

U n l ike the other satirists his language is no t

coarse. The fo llowin g is a fine piece of ir ony ,

which shows bo th the or ig inal ity and fluency of

the poet. The au thor of the Atashkadah* quo tingone of his satires makes the fo llow ing remark :—

This " q i t ' a " w hi ch has also been quoted by

Taqi Auhadi† runs as follows : —* A tashkadah, p. 153.

†;Urafat-u ,l-Aishiqinf fol. 465b.



20 8 T H E EAR LY PERSIAN POETS

H a v in g dealt w i th 'A m id 's " ghazals" and

satires le t us pass o n t o his " qasidas". Some

of his " qasidas " are most eloquent. The sen

timents are throughout natural and sublime, the

images are for the most part s t r ik ing and just,





2 1 0 TH E EA RL Y PERSIAN POETS

The entire "qasida " is in the same strain and is

remarkable for its graceful s tyle. At the endthe poet vaunts that none of his contemporaries

could compose verses, so elegant. He says :—

'A mid 's cla im to di st inct ion rests on the fact

th at he was the first poet in I nd ia , to wri te

the species of poem, enti t led " munadhara" or

strife-poem. A sa d io fT u s was the first Persian

poet to develop and perfect thi s k in d of

poem. He is k nown to have composed fine

" munadharat " o n e of which "Night and Day' 1has been quote

u Sword and Pen". Taqi Auhadi gives another

of his strife-poems between * " Hemp and Wine."

This poem has remained unrivalled in India, and

claims our at tent ion. Th is poem equals, if

* Khulasat-ul-Ashar, fol. 348b-34 b.

† 'U ra fa t- ul -A sh iq in , fols. 465a.






In the coarse of the impr isonment which

' A m i d underwent he wrote ma;ny "qas idas"

be wa il ing his own misfortune. I give below

some verses from one of his "habsiyyats" to show

'A m id 's power of int rod uc ing ori gin al and

creative ideas. The whole of the poem is written

in a graceful and felioitaus style, and is one of

his worthiest pr od uc tion s The verses have

considerable force and fi re in them . St reng th ;

purity and naturalness are great achievments



AMlD-U'D-DlN OF SAN AM 213

of 'A mid 's dic tion, And are ever at his comm and

is a l l these verses. For beauty fee ling andgrace I do no t feel any diffidence in pla ci ng it

on the same level as the "habsiyyat" of Mas'ud-i-

S'ad-i-Salman or Khaqan i. The verses run

as follows:—*

* Muntakhab-u't-Tawarikh, pp. 123-127.



2 1 4 T H E E A R L Y P E R SI A N P OE TS







' A M I D - U ' D - D I N O F SA NA M 2 1 7

- like a midden, every moment to r i v a l the

nightingale of the verdant garden.

In man y an ar t for w h ich the scientists had

no taste I have made as grea t progress, hundred

fold as they are, as a man who follows but one

art.

My in te ll ec t has served to l i g h t the la m p of

the treasure of science, I have made my sk i l l

the oil which supplies the light to the wick.

The j ewel of the secret of rea l i ty has been

acquired in such a perfect way that I have

m a d e m y m in d , the store-houseof the treasury

•of secret knowledge.

The falcon of the D iv in e in di gn at io n smote

me w i t h it s talons from its hiding -place, so th atI took refuge in a corner like the pigeon.

Th ey wou ld have shewn me the way (and

have bidden me wal k) in thi s so lita ry window -

less tower had not my ambition carried me forbeyond the seren windows (of the sky).



21 8 THE EARL Y PERSIAN POETS

This was not all .; the good tidings of my bad

fortune, brought to me the blacksmith, to whomI said—Strike off my head in return for the

blood which is upon my head.

The splendour and comfort of the golden-

throned sun is my desert whereas I am resting

upon a hard iron prison seat.

The seven-headed dragon (the sky) hides its-

head (in astonishment) to see that I have

brought this two-headed serpant (night and day)

under my skirt.

They determine for me an imprisonment like

that of Bizhan in the well of ty ra nny. I have

not seen Manizha nor have I committed the

crime of Bizhan.

Patience has the strength of Rustam, as one

may say, I have entrusted the strength necessary

for my release to the arm of Rustam-like

patience.

The shaft of the try annical heavens passed

through and through from the back, although I



' A M I D - U ' D - D I N O F SAN A M 2 1 9

had arm ed ray breast w i t h the cuirass of pa tience.

My body longs for food in the , capt iv it y ofsorrow, and I have prepared for it s suppor t my

blood as its drink, and my heart as its meat.

have made friends with Avarice, like 'Amid

from the lust for blood, and for tha t reason I

have made contentment my enemy.

Oh L o rd , give me my sustenance from the

date-tree of thy favour, I have made the b i rd

of my heart to sing the praises of t h y U n i t y .

K eep th ou the Sun of D iv in e know ledge

sh in in g w i t h i n my heart, for I have made my

heart the mine of the jewels of true belief.

In concluding the account of ' A m i d I feel

greatly jus tified in regard ing h i m as one ofthe greatest classical Persian poets of India.

He was ce rt ai n ly one of the most ta lented and

versatile genius of his ti m e . H is poe tic sty le ,

whether simple or sumptuous, abstract or f u l l

of images, lumino us or lacklu sture, is alw ays

flexible of tex tu re . H i s grea t success in num erous




realms of Persian poetry deserves our en

thusiastic ad mirat io n. Indeed he was a w ort hypredecessor of Khusraw.



C H A P T E R V I I IC O N C L U S I O N .

Gib bon in his au to bi og ra ph y speaks of the

fee ling of loneliness tha t came over h i m as if he

had pa rte d from a constant and pleasant com pa nion when he had w r i t t e n the last sentence

of his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

I feel the same reluctance an d reg ret at p a r t in g

fr om this humbler fr iend . My t ime has passed

pleasantly in the Oriental Public Library at

Ba nk ipo re, m y m i n d t h ro w n back to those early

days in the company of poets, f u l l of a gr eat

simplicity and beauty.

U nf or tu na te ly there have been thin gs t h a thave takens th e edge off th is pleasure. Names

of books and chapter headings in Pers ian have

ever been no tor ious for the i r rom ant ic sugges-

tiveness often y i e ld in g do ub tful or valueless

results to the ha rdy adventure r. H is to rian s too

are often not above this journalistic stunt; and




I have often waded th rough pages of some

il l- w r it te n manuscript, tho ro ug hl y persuaded bythe chapter heading th a t I co uld come across

some great mine of info rm atio n, dr aw in g a blan k.

Often the "t a d k ir a "- w r it e r s get confused about

the names of poets and th row the reader in a

ve ri tabl e maze. Th e histo rians an d biographers

are hopelessly inadequate arid often ram b li ng .

So it is impossible now to bui ld up anything

fin al an d th oro ughly adequate on these slender

mate ria ls. I have t r i ed to do my best to ge t the

most out of meagre details. More puzz ling is

th e task of un ra ve lli ng the tang le these w rite rs

in the ir carelessness so often create. Here too

1 have done a l l I cou ld to create cosmos out of

chaos. H o w far I have succeeded w i l l

be best j udged by my readers. I hope k n o w in g my

difficulties they w i l l be indulgent towards my

short-comings. It is an illmannered ch ild, how

ever th a t tu rns against its mother. If I have

been sometimes severe towards these writers

I could not help i t . B u t my c ri t i ci sm cannot



CONCLUSION 223

blind me to the debt of gratitude I'owe to them.

W ith ou t them my work would have been im possible.

The reader of these early* Indian poets is

sure to discover one th ing . They are no more

imitators , no weak saplings, but fu ll growh

trees, w i th all the strength of matu ri ty . Thef * qasidas " of Abul- Fara j - i- Runi have not been

surpassed for th eir classical s implic i ty and

dig nit y . The greatest of the Persian " qasida"-

writers, Anwar i is but a follower of his. The

"habs iyya t " of Mas'ud-i-S'ad-i-Salman s t i l l re

main incomparably the best poems in that genre.

Even when they are ju gg li ng w i th words, as

does Shihab-u'd-Din Mihmarah in his " qasidas "

they do it better th an others. The "munadharat"of 'A mid -u 'd -D in are not a whit inferior to those

of A sadi of Tus. If the reader th in ks I have

succeeded in es tablish ing these claims I shal l

consider my work to have borne fruit.

This work brings us to the fringe of the age

stridden by the the tower ing figure of A m i r




khusraw. He stands as a sharp d i v i d i n g lin e

between the an d in poetry,an d is himself grea t enough to deserve an abso

lu te ly independen t treatm en t. I could no t have

ended th is work except where it does end if I

was to re ta in a sense of u n i t y of the theme. If

life permits and the l i t t l e troubles th a t make up

the sum total of life I shal l t r y to survey the

subsequent periods as w ell . As it is I hope I

have not bung led the task I ha d set myself. In

the pleasure I have felt in writing this work andthe appro val of the reader lies the grea ter p a r t

of my rew ard .





Badi-u'z-Zaman.

Muhammad Baqa.

John Briggp.

M uhamm ad H usain Burhan

DawlatShah.

Elliot.

Ghulam 'A li Khan.

Ghulam 'A li K han.

Hamd-u'llah Mustawfi.

Sukhan wa Sukhanwaran.

Tihran,A.D. 1928.

Mir'at-u'l-'Alam (comp. A. H.

1078). Bankipore MS. No, 477.

The History of the Rise of the

Muhammadan Power in India,

V o l. L o n d o n , A . D . 1829.

. Burhan Q at'i (comp. A . H .

1062). Calcutta, A. D. 1834.

Tadkirat-u'sh-Shu'ara (comp.

A. H. 892). Ed Browne. Lon-don, A . D . 1901 .

T he H istory of India. V ol. I V . ,

L ondon, A . D . 1872.

Khizana-i-'Am irah (comp. A . H .

1176). Cawnpore, A. D. 1900.

Subhat-u'1-Marjan fi Athar-i-

H indtistari (comp. A . H . 11 77 ).

Bombay, A. D. 1885.

T arik h Guzidah (comp.

London, A. D. 1910




The Early Persian Poets of India - Iqbal Husain

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