Anvari

Awhad ad-Din 'Ali ibn Mahmud, or Awhad ad-Din 'Ali ibn Mohammad Khavarani (1126–1189) was a Persian poet and astronomer. He was court-poet of Seljuq Empire.

Quotes

Ghazal

• O mighty Prince, whose majesty sublime
  Scarce deigns to mount the piebald steed of Time;
  Whose judgment hits the mark of empire high,
  As 'twere an arrow quivered in the Sky–
  To-day hath Heav'n arrayed his cloudy throne,
  The wind shoots keener shafts than Arish's own;
  On every mountain-angle snowflakes star
  The landscape, like a jewelled scimitar.
  And I have graced my song, as well I may,
  With the sweet prelude of another's lay.
  For whose'er of such a day hath sight,
  (Now chiefly when the tangled locks of Night
  Fall thickliest) to his mind will come the line,
  "To-day's the day for tent and fire and wine."
  The Nine Spheres' influence keep thee safe and fast,
  While the Four Elements and Six Directions last!
  • Muhammad Aufi's Lubab ul-Albab: vol. 2, p. 137, quoted in Islamic Poetry and Mysticism, p. 17

The Tears of Khorassan

• Waft, gentle gale, oh waft to Samercand,
  When next thou visitest that blissful land,
  The plaint of Khorassania plung'd in woe:
  Bear to Turania's King our piteous scroll,
  Whose opening breathes forth all the anguish'd soul,
  And close denotes whate'er the tortur'd know.
  • The Tears of Khorassan, translated by William Kirkpatrick, quoted in A Literary History of Persia, 1908

External links

• Muhammad Aufi's Lubab ul-Albab: vol. 2
• A Literary History of Persia by Edward Granville Browne, 1908