Anvari

Who was Anvari?

Anvari, full name Awhad ad-Din 'Ali ibn Mohammad Khavarani or Awhad ad-Din 'Ali ibn Mahmud was a Persian poet.

Anvarī was born in Abivard, Turkistan [now in Turkmenistan] and died in Balkh, Khorāsān [now in Afghanistan]. He studied science and literature at the collegiate institute in Toon, becoming a famous astronomer as well as a poet.

Anvari's poems were collected in a Deewan, and contains panegyrics, eulogies, satire, and others. His elegy "Tears of Khorasan", translated into English in 1789, is considered to be one of the most beautiful poems in Persian literature. The Cambridge History of Iran calls Anvari "one of the greatest figures in Persian literature". Despite their beauty, his poems often required much help with interpretation, as they were often complex and difficult to understand.

Anvari's panegyric in honour of the Seljuk sultan Sultan Sanjar, ruler of Khorasan, won him royal favour, and allowed him to go on to enjoy the patronage of two of Sanjar's successors. However, when his prophecy of disasters in October 1185 failed, he fell out of favour with the kingship, and was forced into a life of scholarly service, eventually taking his own life in 1189.