Hazin Lahiji

Hazin Lahiji, Muhammad ‘Ali (1692-1768), son of Abu Talib. A mystic, belletrist, and poet with the nom de plume Hazin, well-known as Shaykh ‘Ali Hazin. He was born in Isfahan and his line of descent traces back to Shaykh Zahid Gilani, the distinguished mystic. He fled from Isfahan after the Afghan conquest of the city in 1723 and lived the life of a vagabond until, fearing the Afsharid Nadir Shah, He departed Persia in 1734, settled in India for 35 years, died in Benares at the age of 78, and was buried there. His settlement in Benares, ruled by the Shi’i Nawwabs, in the last 19 years of his life is one of the significant events in the cultural, religious, and literary life of the city. His tomb, adjacent to that of Khalil ‘Ali Ibrahim Khan, is not only an important Shi’i shrine, but also one visited by non-Shi’is. His presence and teaching sessions played a significant role in the propagation of Shi’ism in the region. His teachers include Amir Sayyid Husayn Taliqani. He wrote different scripts elegantly and possessed external and spiritual virtues. He wrote an autobiography including the events of his times and the political situation at the time in a fluent style. He was well-versed in most of the sciences. In his history, Hazin presents the milieu in Isfahan at the time of the Afghan invasion. Some of his compositions have been rendered into French. His lifetime, coincides with the late Safavid reign and the Afghan invasion is one of the most turbulent times in the history of Persia, though his hometown, Isfahan, above all fell in to ruins. He presents an elaborate depiction of his times in his history. Hazin was well-versed in the sciences of his times and wrote treatises on each of them. He led a life of contentment and freedom. He was a brave man, urging people to resist alien enemies and domestic tyrants. He is one of the most distinguished of poets composing in the Indian style. Besides his Divan, he composed treatises on philosophy, theology, biography, travelogue, and history. His works include Tazkira-yi Sha’iran; Divan-i Ash’ar; Kulliyat, consisting of qasidas, qit’as, and mathnavis; Safir-i Dil; Hadiqa-yi Thani, composed in the style of Sana’i’s Hadiqa; Kharabat; Chaman va Anjuman; Matmah al-Anzar; Farhangnamih; Takharat al-‘Ashiqin, composed in the style of Nizami’s Layla va Majnun; Hazin Lahiji’s Tazkira is simple and elegant in style. His most famous couplet is the following:

Woe unto a captive, sunk into oblivion,

Entrapped, though the fowler’s gone.

Asar-afarinan (2/ 258); Zindiginama-yi Mashhurtarin Sha’iran-i Iran (163); Namha va Namdarha-yi Gilan (396-397).