Qasim-i Anvar
{{short description|Sufi mystic and poet}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Qasim-i Anvar
| image = Qasim al-Anwar (1433-4 AD); Diwan, probably Shiraz, 28 June 1492.jpg
| caption = 1492 copy of Qasim-i Anvar's diwan. Persian manuscript, probably made in Shiraz
| birth_date = 1356
| birth_place = Sarab, Azerbaijan
| death_date = October/November 1433
| death_place = Kharjird, Khurasan
| occupation =
| notable_works =
| relatives =
}}
Mu'in al-Din Ali Husayni Sarabi Tabrizi, commonly known by his laqab (honorific title) of Qasim-i Anvar ({{langx|fa|قاسم انوار}}; 1356 – 1433) was a Sufi mystic, poet, and a leading da'i (preacher) of the Safavid order.{{sfn|Savory|1978|p=721}}
Biography
Mu'in al-Din Ali was born in 1356 in Sarab in the Azerbaijan region.{{sfn|Savory|1978|p=721}} According to the historians H. Javadi and K. Burrill / Encyclopædia Iranica, he was a native speaker of Azeri Turkish, while the historians Siavash Lornejad and Ali Doostzadeh state that he was most likely a native speaker of Fahlavi.{{sfn|Lornejad|Doostzadeh|2012|p=151}} Mu'in al-Din Ali preferred to use Persian, which he was fluent in.{{sfn|Javadi|Burrill|1988|pp=251–255}} He grew up in the neighbouring city of Tabriz, where he received his education.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2019|p=190}} In his mid-teens,{{sfn|Lewisohn|2019|p=190}} he became a disciple of Sadr al-Din Musa (died 1391), who was the head of the Safavid order.{{sfn|Savory|1978|p=721}}
Due to a vision seen by Mu'in al-Din Ali, he was given the laqab (honorific title) Qasim-i Anvar ("Distributor of Lights") by Sadr al-Din Musa. Following his completion of his training at the city of Ardabil, Qasim-i Anvar given the khirqa by Sadr al-Din Musa. This cloak granted Qasim-i Anvar the right to convert others to his faith and offer spiritual teaching. Qasim-i Anvar later stayed in Gilan for some time as a missionary, and then went to Khurasan.{{sfn|Savory|1978|p=721}} He initially stayed at Nishapur, but was forced to move to Herat due to facing hostility from the ulama (clergy).{{sfn|Savory|1978|p=721}} According to his own writings, Qasim-i Anvar had established himself at Herat by 1377/78, and would stay there until his banishment in 1426/27.{{sfn|Savory|1978|p=721}}
Following his banishment from Herat, Qasim-i Anvar went to the city of Samarkand, where he stayed at the court of Shahrukh's son, Ulugh Beg (died 1449). A few years later, Qasim-i Anvar went back to Khurasan, where he died at Kharjird in October/November 1433.{{sfn|Savory|1978|p=721}}
Works
Qasim-i Anvar composed several mystical treatises, ghazals, ruba'is, and mathnawis.{{sfn|Savory|1978|p=721}} The vast majority of his poems were in Persian.{{sfn|Lornejad|Doostzadeh|2012|p=151}} Some of them were in Azeri Turkish and Gilaki.{{sfn|Savory|1978|p=721}} His poems in Azeri Turkish may have only been written during his stay in Khurasan, in order to promote the Safavid order, and due to both Turkic and Persian experiencing a "literary renaissance."{{sfn|Lornejad|Doostzadeh|2012|p=151}} However, it may also indicate the rise of bilingualism in Qasim-i Anvar's birth region, where Fahlavi and Turkic speakers started to get in touch with each other.{{sfn|Lornejad|Doostzadeh|2012|pp=151–152}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
Sources
- {{Encyclopaedia Iranica | volume=3 | fascicle=3 | title = Azerbaijan x. Azeri Turkish Literature | last= Javadi |first= H. | last2 = Burrill| first2 = K. | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-x | pages = 251–255 }}
- {{cite book |last=Lewisohn|first=Leonard|chapter=Sufism in Late Mongol and Early Timurid Persia, from ‘Ala’ al-Dawla Simnānī (d. 736/1326) to Shāh Qāsim Anvār (d. 837/1434)|editor-last=Babaie|editor-first=Sussan|editor-link=Sussan Babaie|year=2019|title=Iran After the Mongols |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|pages=177–211|isbn=978-1788315289}}
- {{cite book |last1=Lornejad |first1=Siavash |last2=Doostzadeh |first2=Ali |editor1-last=Arakelova |editor1-first=Victoria |editor2-last=Asatrian |editor2-first=Garnik |title=On the modern politicization of the Persian poet Nezami Ganjavi |date=2012 |publisher=Caucasian Centre for Iranian Studies |url=https://persianpoetry.arizona.edu/sites/persianpoetry.sites.arizona.edu/files/POLITICIZATION%20OF%20NEZAMI_0.pdf |access-date=2022-05-04 |archive-date=2022-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914063448/https://persianpoetry.arizona.edu/sites/persianpoetry.sites.arizona.edu/files/POLITICIZATION%20OF%20NEZAMI_0.pdf |url-status=dead }}
- {{EI2|last=Savory|first=R.M.|volume=4|title=Ḳāsim-i Anwār|pages=721–722|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/kasim-i-anwar-SIM_3986}}
{{Azerbaijani Turkic literature}}
{{Persian literature}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qasim-i Anvar}}
Category:Azerbaijani-language poets
Category:14th-century Persian-language poets
Category:People from Sarab, East Azerbaijan