Ahli Shirazi

Ahli-yi Shirazi, Shayk Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Shihab (1454-1535), a poet and Sufi attached to the Timurid, Turkaman, and Safavid courts, who led a reclusive life. He departed for Herat and stayed some time at the court of Sultan Husayn Bayqara. Having studied with the erudite scholar Davvani, he was well-versed in most of the sciences, particularly literary ones. His particular attention to figurative devices is reflected in his literary erudition and figures of speech as well as prosody and poetical puzzles. He composed his well-known qasida as a panegyric addressed to Amir 'Alishir Nava'i. Then, he joined the court of the Aq Quyunlu Sultan Ya'qub and composed another qasida and the mathnavi of Sham' va Parvanih (Candle and Moth) in 1,000 couplets and dedicated them to him. He joined the court of the Safavid Shah Isma'il after his accession to the throne and composed another qasida as a panegyric to him and also dedicated his mathnavi of Sihr-i Halal (Lawful Magic) in 520 couplets to him. After the Shah's demise, he returned to Shiraz and died there and was buried besides the tomb of Hafiz. His works also include: his Divan, running to 12,000 couplets; Saqi-namih; Risalih-yi Naghz; Fawa'id al-Fawa'id; Sirr al-Haqiqa; Risala fi al-'Arud; Risala fi al-Mu'amma; and Zubdat al-Akhlaq. He was well-versed in composing poetry in different genres. In composing his qasidas, he followed the models of Anvari, Khaqani, Zahir, Kamal Isfahani, and Salman Savaji, and in his ghazals he followed in Sa'di's footsteps. His Divan includes poetry in different genres, e.g. tarkib-band, tarji'-band, muqatta'at, quatrain, mukhammas, mustazad, chronogram, and poetical puzzle.

Tarikh-i Adabiyyat dar Iran (4, 447-453); Tadhkirih-yi Ruz-i Rawshan (93).