Qa’ani

Biography

Qa’ani Shirazi, Mirza Habib Allah (1807/1808-1853/1855), son of Mirza Muhammad ‘Ali. A philosopher and poet with the nom de plume Qa’ani, bearing the titles Hassan al-‘Ajam and Mujtahid al-Shu’ara’. Born in Shiraz, he was from the tribe of Zangana of Kermanshah. He used the nom de plume Habib in his early poetical career, but Hasan’ali Mirza Shuja’ al-Saltana granted him the nom de plume Qa’ani after his son, Abaqa’an. In his youth, Qa’ani traveled to Khurasan and studied Arabic, literary disciplines, theology, astronomy, astrology, and French. Having returned to Tehran and having made a name for himself in poetry and rhetoric, he found himself to the court and was accorded Mujtahid al-Shu’ara’ and Hassan al-‘Ajam by Fath’ali Shah and Muhammad Shah respectively. He served as a companion to Shuja’ al-Saltana in Khurasan and Kerman and was introduced to Fath’ali Shah by the same prince. Having been transferred to Tehran, he gained further recognition and was respected by Muhammad Shah and patronized by Nasir al-Din Shah. A contemporary of Furughi Bastami, he was a master of composing qasidas and tarkib-bands. He died in Tehran and was laid to rest beside the tomb of Abu al-Futuh Razi at the Shrine of Hazrat Shah ‘Abd al-‘Azim. His works include: Divan of poetry, running approximately to 17,000 couplets, including eulogies on the Prophet, Imams, and kings; an introduction to the Divan of the Qajar Firiydun Mirza; Qasa’id-i Qa’ani; Gulistan-i Qa’ani; Parishan-nama, composed on the model of Sa’id’s Gulistan; a treatise on divination by looking at the shoulder bones; a treatise on modern geometry. He was a master of composing qasidas, ghazals, musammats, and tarji’bands. He is unequalled in selecting euphonious words, beautiful depictions, and studies of the works of classical poets. In his poetry, form excels in meaning and didactic and philosophical themes are less reflected in his poems. He composed poetry on the models of poets from Khurasan and was interested in Manuchihri. He composed eulogies on kings, particularly Nasir al-Din Shah, and Qajar princes and dignitaries. Keenly interested in philosophy, he was erudite in Arabic and Persian literature. In philosophy, he has been regarded on a par with Mulla Sadra and Hajj Mulla Hadi Sabziwari and in religious sciences, he was considered to be on a par with Murtaza Ansari; consequently, he was accorded the titles Mujtahid al-Shu’ara’ and Hassan al-‘Ajam by Fath’ali Shah and Muhammad Shah respectively, as in his poetical compositions, particularly in composing qasidas, he impressed his audience by his mastery and erudition. He was probably the first Persian poet who had mastery of the French language. Similarly, he had mastery of mathematics, theology, and logic, but he did not employ his erudition of these disciplines in his poetry. He is unrivalled in his employment of innovative rhymes, figurative devices, and poetical diction. According to Malik al-Shu’ara’ Bahar, ‘Having adopted the school of Saba and having been influenced by his contemporaries, he studied the works of classical poets, followed classical masters, and finally adopted his particular style, later designated as Qa’ani’s style followed for a long time by poets from Tehran and other provinces of Persia.’ Biographers have reported accounts of Qa’ani’s poetical talent, elegant diction, and skillful and unblemished improvisations which he recited before critics. Such improvisations gave birth to the composition of pompous and glorious qasidas eulogizing Muhammad Shah, Nasir al-Din Shah, and court dignitaries. His diction is rich and fluent. His mastery of poetical forms is unrivalled. He selects exalted and glorious words. His compositions reflect unparalleled, vigorous, and masterly employment of words. He is the most distinguished Persian poet under the Safavids and the Qajar next to Sa’ib Tabrizi and few of his contemporaries may reach him in employment of words and studying the works of predecessors. He excelled in composing qasidas and ghazals. Further, he had mastery of using other poetical forms, like musammat, tarji’band, and tarkib-band. Although he followed the Khurasani style of poetry, particularly that of Manuchihri, his particular style was later followed by other poets flourishing under the Qajars. Wordplay, employment of pompous words, and mastery of using an unrivalled form of prolixity are reflected in his poetry. The ghazals which he composed on the occasion of Naw Ruz (New Year’s Day) and depiction of spring are innovative pieces reflecting his delicate and fluent style of poetry that despite following classical poets indicate his mastery of Persian language and literature. The poets flourishing in the Qajar period from the reign of Fath’ali Shah to that of Nasir al-Din Shah followed the Iraqi and Khurasani schools and as eulogists, they had to follow some school suitable for court eulogies. Similarly, Fath’ali Khan Saba was more inclined towards ‘Unsuri and Firdawsi in his qasidas and mathnawis respectively. Qa’ani was the most vigorous poet after Saba to tread on the path of literary restoration. He was a poet under Muhammad Shah and in the early reign of Nasir al-Din Shah and was succeeded by Surush Isfahani. Qa’ani’s poetry is fluent and simple and many of his themes are repetitions of the works of his predecessors, though his poetry reflects few novel themes. Qa’ani followed the styles of Manuchihri, Khaqani, ‘Unsuri, Qatran, and Farrukhi Sistani. The Divans of his contemporary poets include diverse poetical forms. The most distinguished qasida poets of his time include Saba, Surush Isfahani, Mahmud Khan Malik al-Shu’ara, Fath Allah Khan Shaybani, and Shihab Isfahani. The most eminent ghazal poets of his time include Nashat Isfahani, Wisal Shirazi, Huma-yi Shirazi, Furughi-yi Bastami, Muhammad Zawara’i, Yaghma-yi Jandaqi, and Miskin-i Isfahani. The most frequently used poetical genres used in the Qajar period include eulogy, ghazal, historical epic, religion, mysticism, and ethics.

Asar-afarinan (317); Az Saba ta Nima (1/ 92-109); Sukhanwaran-i Nami-yi Mu’asir-i Iran (4/ 2763-2772).