Valih Daghistani

Valih Daghistani, ‘Alinaqi Khan Daghistani, a poet flourishing in the eighteenth century with the nom de plume Valih and well-known as Shish-angushti (‘Six-Fingered’). He was born in Isfahan in 1799 and following the defeat of Mahmud Afghan, he became a companion of the Safavid Shah Tahmasb, but upon the accession of the Nadir Shah Afshar, he came into disfavor and was dismissed. Separation from his cousin and mistress, Khadija Sultan, made him depart for India where he was appointed an office at the court of the Indian Muhammad Shah. He died in Shahjahababad, India, in 1756. He composed a divan of poetry in Persian and Turkish and also wrote Riyaz al-Shu’ara’, a biographical source including the biographical accounts of 2,500 poets. The following lines are by him:

Whence beauty strolls gracefully on the ground,

Love prostrates before beauty out of need.

Your garb of piety would have been rendered like mine,

O Shaykh! Had you fallen in love with a beloved.

Lughatnama-yi Dihkhuda (15/ 23105).