The authenticity of the historical personality of Mahsatī Ganjavī is difficult to determine. The name Mahsatī itself is under suspicion, however, it is the most likely interpretation of the consonants mhsty, instead of possibilities like Mahistī, Mahsitī or Mihistī. If she did in fact exist, she most likely lived during the early 5th/11th century and the middle of the 6th/12th century. She is usually represented as a singer, musician, and poet, and while variously associated with such leaders as Maḥmūd of Ğazna and the Seljuk Sulṭān Sandjar, she was not a panegyrist. She has garnered a reputation as a writer of “bawdy verse,” with nearly all of the poems attributed to her being quatrains. “An original collection is not known to exist,” consequently her dīvān’s are “modern compilations from many different sources”.