Abu'l-qasim Shirazi

Mirza Abu al-Qasim Shirazi (d. 1876), prominent scholar and Sufi Shaykh from Shiraz. His is renowd as ‘the chief of the silent and the goal of the cloaked’ and ‘silence at all times’ led to accord him the appellations ‘Khamush-i Shirazi’ and ‘Sukut-i Shirazi’. Having received his preliminary education in Shiraz, he engaged himself with the purification of the soul. He departed for Isfahan and studied under Nur ‘Alishah; then, he travelled to Na’in where he joined the audience of Hajj ‘Abd al-Vahhab Murshid Na’ini and became his devoted diciple. Abu al-Qasim had poetical talents and used the nom de plume Sukut (Silence). The following quatrain has been attributed to him:

O you who said, ‘One who dies sees me’

May I be the ransom of your comforting beauty.

I wish I died a hundred times every single moment

That I could see your countenance.

A divan of poetry is also attributed to him by Aqa Buzurg Tihrani.

Mirza ‘Abd al-Karim and Mirza Abu al-Qasim, who also wrote poetry, have been mentioned as his son and grandson respectively in Hadiqat al-Shu’ara’ and Tadhkira-yi Mir’at al-Fasaha.