Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī Vāʿiẓ Kāšifī was prolific writer of Persian prose and surnamed “the preacher” (al-vāʿiẓ) on account of his wide standing and eloquence in that realm. Kāšifī lived for about 20 years in Herat during the reign of Sultān Ḥusayn Bāyqarā and wrote numerous works ranging from several commentaries on the Qurʿān and hadīth to treatises in astronomy, astrology, alchemy and ethics.
However, it was Kāšifī’s new Persian version of the animal fables classic
Kalila va Dimna, entitled
Anvār-i Suhaylī, and his collection of biographies from the time of the Prophet, called
Rauzat al-šuhadāʿ, for what he is mostly remembered. The Ottoman Turkish translation of
Anvār-i Suhaylī became well known in Europe with its French translation having influenced that of La Fontaine’s Fables.
Rauzat al-šuhadāʿ, a historical work on the lives of Muḥammad, ʿAlī, Ḥusayn, Ḥasan, and others, was completed in 906/1500 and dedicated to Sultān Ḥusayn Mīrzā. Kāšifī died at Harāt in 910/1504-5.