Sayf Farghani

Sayf Farghani, Mawlana Sayf al-Din Abu al-Mahamid Muhammad Farghani (d.1348), a poet originally hailing from Farghana, Transoxiana, flourishing in the 13^th and 14^th centuries under the Ilkhanid and Mongol rule in Asia Minor. He died at a Sufi spiritual center when he was about 80 years of age. Sayf Farghani was profoundly devoted to Sa’di, calling him the Master of Poesy. He stayed in Tabriz for a while where he made the acquaintance of Humam Tabrizi. The themes of his qasidas reflect his mastery of Persian poetry. He only once eulogized a king when he composed a qasida in praise of the Ilkhanid Mongol Ghazan Khan who converted to Islam and disseminated the Islamic faith in the Ilkhanid territory. Sayf’s poetry, mainly composed the forms of qasida, qit’a, quatrain, and ghazal, exceeds 12,000 couplets in number. He opted for difficult radif in his qasida and did not mind making use of dialecticism in his diction. Sayf’s poetry was impressed by the Khurasani style of the 12^th century, hence his being attributed to Farghana and Samarqand. Simple and fluent in diction, he infrequently employs words of Arabic origin, though he at times intermingles Arabic and Persian words and at times composes a hemistich in Arabic. Following the common practice, his ghazals mainly treat of counsels, social criticism, and mystical truths, enjoining poets to refrain from eulogizing by contentment or employ their poetical vigor in composing ghazals, praising the beloved, or presenting counsels and admonitions. Revealing social defects and enumeration of the vices of the corrupt class of the society are reflected in his poetry. Such explicit criticisms are devoid of jocular tone. Having attained mastery of poetical compositions, Sayf, aiming at leading a secluded life away from the lowly and eulogizing of tyrant and corrupt rulers, he lived in the Sufi centers of a small town by the name of Aqsara. His contemporary notables accorded him titles, e.g. Imam-i ‘Alam, Zahid-i Mutaqqi, Sayyid al-Masha’ikh wa ‘l-Muhaqqiqin, Nur Allah, Ruh al-‘Aziz, Sayf al-Milla, and al-Haqq wa ‘l-Din. His poetical themes, e.g. praise of God and the Prophet of the Muhammad, counsel, admonitions, criticism of vicissitudes of life, and composition on the models of his predecessors, like Rudaki, Khaqani Shirwani, Kamal al-Din Isma’il Isfahani, Sa’di, and Humam Tabrizi, reflect his mastery of Persian poetry. Indeed, he was the most distinguished poet of his time who bravely, quite seriously, and without employing a jocular tone, presented his criticisms against tyrant rulers as well as pharisaic ascetics whom he subjected to harsh attacks, since he knew that they were mere puppets of tyrants and criminals. His only extant work is his divan which, as reflected in the opening couplets, was collected by him. His collection of poetry, opening with praise of God, includes qasida, qit’a, ghazal, and quatrains. His qasida are devoted to praise of God and the Prophet, counsels, admonitions, and criticisms of hard times. He composed some of his qasidas on the models of famous poetical compositions in the same form by Rudaki, ‘Am’aq Bukhara’i, Anwari, Khaqani, ‘Attar, Kamal al-Din Isma’il, and Sa’di. Some other qasida of his are innovative, though the point reflected in all his qasida is his selection of difficult radif, including simple words, proper names, simple and compound verbal forms, and short clauses, though instances of juxtaposition (iltizam) are infrequent in his works. Some of Sayf’s ghazals have been composed on the models of Sa’di, a few of them on those of Humam and other poets, but no instance of those of Rumi survives in his divan. His poetical diction is basically quite simple and fluent. The majority of his qasida and qit’a resemble those of Anwari in simplicity and fluency and at times his works may be compared to those of Sana’i in terms of vigor, exquisite diction, and elegance. In such instances, the words are either not Arabic, or they are Arabic words used in Persian usage. It is the case with the majority of his compositions, though at times the particular attention accorded by him to Arabic simple and compound words reflects the styles of poets flourishing in the 12^th century. He was a Sunni belonging to the Hanafi School of law, but he was one of the earliest poets who composed elegies for the martyrs of Karbala’. 

Tarikh-i Adabiyyat dar Iran (3, 623-645).