Fayżī

Poet/Courtier

Abū al-Fayż “Fayżī” ibn Šayḫ Mubārak Nāgūrī passed most of his life in the service of the Mughal Emperor Akbar as a court poet and one of the emperor’s most trusted companions. He tutored at least one of Akbar’s sons and was included in “official deliberations and military expeditions”. Fayżī’s greatest literary talent lay in poetry. He attempted to compose a Ḫamsa in imitation of the Ḫamsa of Niẓāmī (see Niẓāmī Ganjavī), but was only able to finish two of the five poems. Among the two that were completed was Nal-Daman, which is considered to be his best-known poem. Fayżī also produced a commentary on the Qur’an and translated a Sanskrit book on arithmetic at Akbar’s behest. It has been said that Fayżī composed 101 works, but only a handful are known or extant. Fayżī was the older brother of Abū al-Fażl “ʿAllāmī” ibn Mubārak (see Abū al-Fażl ʿAllāmī). He died in 1004/1595.