Hasan Vusuqi

Wuthuq al-Dawla, Hasan or Mirza Hasan (), son of Mirza Ibrahim Mu’tamid al-Saltana. A distinguished politician and a poet and secretary. He learned Persian and Arabic literature and then learned French and English. Having received his preliminary education from Mirza Muhammad Adib Gulpayigani, he studied theology and philosophy under Mirza Hashim Rashti Ishkawari and attended the teaching sessions held by other scholars and philosophers. Later, he found employment at the Ministry of Finance and served as a member of the first National Consultative Assembly. Further, he served as a minister sixteen times from 1919 onwards and also served as a minister twice between the years 1916 and 1920. He lived in Europe late in life, though he returned to Iran in 1946. He worked before the Constitutional Revolution as the Chief Accountant of Azerbaijan and the state properties. After the Constitutional Revolution, he served as a parliamentarian, Minister of Justice, Minister of Finance, Interior Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Education, and Prime Minister. He concluded the 1916 Treaty with England. He presided over the Iranian Academy in 1935. He was a talented poet as well. Wuthuq died in February 1950 at the age of 80 years and was laid to rest in Qum. The following verses are by him:

When bad luck comes everything turns bad,

One affliction turns into ten, ten into a hundred,

The fire turns cold, the sun grows dark,

Philosophy turns into falsity, logic into lies.

The clouds of April are for the fortunate,

Embellishing the land, adorning the earch.

Spring showers are for the unfortunate,

Harvest devastating torrents and blazing lightning.

That one soars onto the ethereal sphere like a bird,

Traversing the six directions, up and down.

No affliction sets snares for him,

Nor is he entangled in the noose of misfortune.

Another traverses a path slowly,

Though he tumbles down and falls into a pit.

Water turns into a torrent for one, devastating his home,

But, it turns gentle in which another sails.

One harvests sugarcane from the soil,

Another is left on it with colocynth and thorns.

Fire gives light to someone’s lantern,

Though it burns another’s heart.

The wind bears glad tidings to one,

But causes agony and risks to another.

Sukhanwaran-i Nami-yi Mu’asir-i Iran (6/ 3828-3834); Farhang-i Sha’iran-i Zaban-i Parsi az Aghaz ta Imruz (1/ 604-605); Lughatnama-yi Dihkhuda (15/ 23124).