Ghazali Mashadi

Ghazali Mashhadi (1529-1572), a poet bearing the title of Malik al-Shu’ara’ (Poet Laureate). Born in Mashhad, he studied in his hometown and found a name for himself as a poet. He entered the services of the Safavid Shah Tahmasb early in his youth, but was charged with apostasy and had to depart for India, where he entered the services of Shaybanid Uzbek Sultan ‘Ali Quli Khan ibn Haydar. Having had commenced his poetical composition titled Naqsh-i Badi’ in the name of Shah Tahmasb, dedicated it to ‘Ali Quli Khan upon its completion. He was the earliest of poets who were appointed poet laureates under the Gurkanids of India. In India, Ghazal associated with Shaykh Fayz of Deccan. He died in Ahmadabad, Gujarat. His works include Ganj-i Akbari, consisting of his eulogies on Jalal al-Din Akbar; Athar al-Shabab; Asrar-i Maktum; Sunnat al-Shu’ara’, a collection of qasidas with an introduction in prose; Asrar al-Maknuna; Rashahat al-Hayat; Mir’at al-Kinayat; Divan of poetry. His divan of poetry includes the majority of his compositions in the forms of qasida, tarji’band, ghazal, qit’a, ruba’i, mathnawi, and also includes ghazals composed on the model of 20 ghazals by Hasan Dihlawi published with a brief introduction by the poet. He compiled this collection at the suggestion of Rukn al-Sultan Muhammad Nishaburi. Ganj-i Akbari comprises the poetical compositions which he made as eulogies on Jalal al-Din Akbar, a mathnawi, and some qit’a, one of which includes a chronogram on the birth of the first son of Akbar, viz. Jahangir, composed in 1569. Athar al-Shabab opens with an introduction by Ghazali, indicating that the poet composed it in 1558 at the age of 30 in alphabetical order arranged on the basis of the end of the couplets. He dedicated it to Jalal al-Din Akbar a few years before the time of Khan Zaman’s murder and Ghazali’s attachment to the court of Akbar. This divan includes an introduction, qasida, tarkib-band, tarji’band, ghazal, mathnawi, qit’a, and Ruba’is. Asrar-i Maktum is a poetical composition on mystical love. The majority of the qasida included in Sunnat al-Shu’ara’ are eulogies on Shah Tahmasb, Khan Zaman, Mun’im Khan, and some other rulers of India. Naqsh-i Badi’ is a mathnawi on philosophy and mysticism after the fashion of Nizami’s Makhzan al-Asrar with a brief introduction in prose. His works include further mathnawis, one composed as a diatribe on a religious scholar who had attacked our mystic Ghazali and had issued a verdict on his apostasy. Another mathnawi of his is a diatribe on Qilich Khan, a ruler under Akbar, with the nom de plume Ulfati. A’ina-yi Khiyal is a small collction of ghazal, qit’a, and with an introduction in prose. Mir’at al-Sifat, dedicated to Akbar Shah, and Qudrat-i Athar have been composed on the model of Makhzan al-Asrar. Ghazali was a vigorous, eloquent, and prolific poet who made elegant compositions. His qasida, composed as eulogies on Shah Tahmasb, Khan Zaman, Jalal al-Din Akbar, and some other notables, reflect the employment of poetical devices honored by qasida poets flourishing in the fourteenth and the first half of the fifteenth century; as a consequence of which they show attachment to varied, and at times complicated, radif and at times the poet follows the rhymes of the first couplet seven to eight times. Such compositions not only reveal his poetical vigor, but also reflect his talents and erudition. They show, in their entirety, the vigor and natural flow of his diction. All his compositions, made in different forms, are marked by fluency, clarity, vigor, and uniformity. The same simplicity, fluency, passion, and eloquence are to be found in his ghazals. Quite long and elegant couplets abound in his ghazals, brimming over with attractive themes and metaphors. They are all intermingled with mystical ideas expressed allegorically and symbolically after the fashion of ghazal poets of a mystical turn. His mathnawi, particularly Naqsh-i Badi’, are regarded among the best works composed under the Safavids. His poetry is fluent, vigorous, elegant, and clear. His skillful themes resemble those Nizami’s Makhzan al-Asrar. Ghazali is almost peerless among his contemporaries and he is a poet who, inspired by earlier outstanding poets, breathed a new life to poetry in all poetical forms. His mastery of unadorned and adorned prose is reflected in the introductions which he wrote to his compositions. It is reported that his poetry runs to 50,000 couplets. 

Tarikh-i Adabiyyat dar Iran (5, 700-713); Farhang-i Sukhanvaran (419).