Fakhr al-Zaman Qazvini

Fakhr al-Zaman Qazvini, ‘Abd al-Nabi (b. 1631), son of Khalaf Biyg. A writer and poet with the nom de plume Nabi who was born in Qazvin where he grew up. His father, a merchant of Qazvin, died of plague. ‘Abd al-Nabi used the nom de plume ‘Izzati early in his poetical career, but later he changed it to Nabi. His nom de plume is recorded as Zulali Qazvini in Farhang-i Sukhanvaran and Hidyat al-‘Arifin. He went on pilgrimage to Mashhad in his youth and departed that city for India, traveling in Qandahar, Lahore, and Agra. A relative of Mirza Nizami Qazwini, he entered the services of Bahadur Mirza Aman Allah, son of Mahabat Khan, in 1613 as his storyteller and librarian. After a while, he left for Lahore because of an illness and then traveled to Kashmir and stayed in Patna until 1620. Mulla ‘Abd al-Nabi was the first compiler of Saqinamas who regarded Partuwi’s Saqinama as the best one. The date of his death is not known. He compiled in Navadir al-Hikayat va Ghara’ib al-Rivayat, also known as Bahr al-Navadir, a collection of the narratives of the prophets, imams, kings, and princes. His works in verse and prose also include: Dastur al-Fusaha’; Tadhkira-yi Maykhana; Tiraz al-Akhbar; and collection of poetry. His Saqinama, ending in praise of Sardar Khan, exceeds 200 couplets four of which have been inspired by Sa’id’s Bustan. Tadhkira-yi Maykhana includes the accounts of earlier and later poets who composed Saqinamas and also the accounts of those who did not compose Saqinamas and some of his contemporary poets whom he met. The accounts of the poets included in his work, edited by Ahmad Gulchin Ma’ani, runs to ninety, falling into three categories: 1. Those who had passed away; 2. Accounts of his contemporary poets of renown; 3. Those who had not composed Saqinamas until the compiler met with them. ‘Abd al-Nabi provides detailed accounts of some poets along with first hand materials about them, quoting some of their poetry unattested elsewhere. Navadir al-Hikayat, also well-known as Bahr al-Navadir, compiled in 1631, falls into five sahifa (chapters), each of which divide into 12 bab (sections) that in turn fall into 12 majlis (séances), dedicated to Nur al-Din Muhammad Jahangir. The 12 babs of the sahifa are as follows: 1. Rare anecdotes about the Creator preserving His servants of any degree; 2. Rare miracles of 12 archprophets; 3. Rare accounts of the master of creatures and the miracles of Muhammad, the chosen one; 4. Nobilities of the Infallible Imams; 5. Miracles and wonders of eminent saints and Sufi masters; 6. Rare anecdotes of sultans of renown and glorious khans; 7. Rare anecdotes seeming true; 9. Rare anecdotes of astrological prognostications; 10. Anecdotes and interpretations of dream interpreters; 11. Ahmad Mukhtar’s immigration from Mecca to Medina; 12. The anecdotes of Dhu ‘l-Nun, the Egyptian. The author has used different historical and literary sources to rephrase the anecdotes, hence the more fluent and more elegant style of Fakhr al-Zamani, compared to his other work, Maykhana.

Tarikh-i Adabiyyat dar Iran (5, 1735-1739)