THE FOUR GREAT POETS OF THE LATE TWELFTH CENTURY, ANWARÍ, KHÁQÁNÍ, NIDHÁMÍ OF GANJA, AND DHAHÍR OF FÁRYÁB

IN this chapter I propose to depart from the chronological sequence of events which I have hitherto striven to observe, and to consider together four poets of the later Seljúq period, who are, by the general consent of their countrymen, amongst the greatest masters of verse whom Persia has produced. They were not strictly contemporary, and only one of them can be called a Seljúq poet, but they may conveniently be discussed and contrasted in a single chapter, since they are all figures in the literary world of Persia too important to be summarily dismissed. These four poets are Anwarí of Kháwarán in Khurásán, who, though he survived Sanjar some thirty or forty years, achieved his reputation in that monarch's reign; Kháqání, the poet of Shirwánsháh, born at Ganja (now Elizavetpol) in A.H. 500 (A.D. 1106-7); Nidhámí, also born at Ganja some thirty-five years later; and Dhahíru 'd-Dín Fáryábí, born at Fáryáb near Balkh, who, during the latter part of the twelfth century, frequented in turn the Courts of Ṭughánsháh of Níshápúr, Ḥusámu'd-Dawla Arda-shír of Mázandarán, and the Atábeks of Ádharbayján, and finally died at Tabríz about the beginning of the thirteenth century.

Of these four poets Anwarí is at once the most ancient and the most celebrated, and in the following well-known verse Anwarí. is even ranked as one of the three greatest poets whom Persia has produced:—

Dar shi'r si tan payambarán-and,
Qawlíst ki jumlagí bar án-and:
Firdawsí u Anwarí u Sa'dí,
Har chand ki ‘Lá nabiyya ba'dí’.*

It is difficult for an European student of Persian, however anxious he may be to give due weight to the opinion of native critics, to think of Anwarí as the equal of Firdawsí and Sa'dí, or as the superior of Náṣir-i-Khusraw or Nidhámí, but this is partly because, as I have already pointed out, the panegyric— and most of Anwarí's qaṣídas were panegyrics—however skilfully constructed, can seldom arouse much enthusiasm, save in the heart of him whose praises it celebrates. A friend of mine, Mírzá Muḥammad, one of the most learned and scholarly Persians whom it has ever been my good fortune to meet, is of opinion that Anwarí's reputation rests mainly on the comparatively small number of his qaṣídas which are not panegyrics, and this view is probably the true one. In most other forms of verse, such as the ghazal and quatrain, Anwarí is not specially distinguished, though his fragments (muqaṭṭa'át) often reveal a strong individuality.

Concerning the circumstances of Anwarí's life we possess but little authentic information, though a careful and critical examination of his poems would doubtless furnish us with some hitherto unremarked and trustworthy data for his bio­graphy. From other sources we learn but little on which reliance can be placed. 'Awfí in his Lubábu'l-Albáb (vol. ii, pp. 125-138 of my edition) as usual tells us practically nothing, save that the poet was skilled in Astronomy, Geometry, and Logic, a fact known to us from other sources, especially from one of Anwarí's own poems cited in the Ta'ríkh-i-Guzída, * wherein he adds to these accomplishments Music, Metaphysics, Natural Science, and Judicial Astrology, and even declares himself proficient “in every science, pure or applied, known to any of his contemporaries.” According to Dawlatsháh (pp. 83-86 of my edition) he was born in Abíward at a village near Mihna in the Dasht-i-Kháwarán, on which account he at first wrote under the pen-name of Kháwarí, which he after­wards changed to Anwarí. He is said to have studied at the Manṣúriyya College of Ṭús, where he lived the cramped and straitened life of a needy student. One day—so runs the tale —there passed by the gate of the College a man gorgeously apparelled, mounted on a superb horse, and surrounded by servants and attendants. Anwarí, struck by his magnificence, inquired who he was, * and on learning that he was a poet exclaimed, “Good heavens! Am I so poor when the rank of Science is so high, and is he so rich when the grade of Poetry stands so low? By the glory and splendour of the Lord of Glory, from to-day onwards I will busy myself with Poetry, which is the lowest of my accomplishments!” And that very night, it is said, he composed the celebrated qaṣída beginning—

Gar dil u dast baḥr u kán báshad,
Dil u dast-i-Khudáyagán báshad.

“If Heart and Hand can rank as Sea and Mine, *
It is this Heart and Hand, O Sire, of thine!”

In the morning he presented himself at Sulṭán Sanjar's reception, and, having recited his poem, was asked whether he desired a present of money or a position at the Court; to which he replied:—

“Save at thy threshold in the world no resting-place have I;
Except this gate no place is found whereon my head would lie.”

Thereupon Sanjar made him an allowance and took him with him to Merv.

According to a very well-known verse cited by Dawlatsháh (p. 84), Kháwarán produced, besides Anwarí, three incom­parable geniuses, namely, Abú 'Alí Aḥmad Shádán, who was for a time Prime Minister to Ṭughril Beg; Ustád As'ad of Mihna, a doctor of Theology and Law contemporary with al-Ghazálí, with whom he disputed; and the celebrated Ṣúfí Abú Sa'íd ibn Abi'l-Khayr, whose life and work have already been considered (pp. 261-269 supra).

Although Anwarí is said to have been one of the greatest astrologers of his time, he ventured on a forecast which, owing to the notoriety which it attained and its conspicuous non-fulfilment, considerably damaged his prestige. It happened that during Sanjar's reign all the seven planets were at one period in the Sign of the Balance, * and Anwarí declared that this conjunction portended gales of such severity that buildings and trees would be overthrown and cities destroyed. Many people were so alarmed by these predictions that they dug cellars in which to take refuge from the impending calamity. But when the fateful night arrived there was so little wind that a naked light burned unwaveringly on the top of a minaret; nor was Anwarí's plea that the effects of such a conjunction did not appear at once, but took time to develop, more successful, for during the whole of that year there was so little wind that it did not suffice for the winnowing of the harvests * about Merv, which consequently lay on the ground till the following spring. On this Faríd-i-Kátib composed a verse which may be thus paraphrased:—

“Said Anwarí, ‘Such fearful gales shall blow
As houses, nay, e'en hills, shall overthrow.’
The day proved breathless; Anwarí, I ween you
And Æolus must settle it between you!”*

This conjunction of the planets is generally considered to have taken place in Rajab, A.H. 581 (= October, A.D. 1185), or possibly, as hinted by Ethé, nearly a year later; * so that Anwarí's death, the dates assigned to which by different biographers (and even by the same biographer in different passages of the same work) vary between A.H. 545 and 656 (= A.D. 1150-1258), must have taken place after (probably soon after) this event.

By far the fullest and best critical monograph on Anwarí is that published at St. Petersburg in 1883 by Professor Zhukovski's Memoir on Anwarí. Valentin Zhukovski, under the title of 'Alí Awḥadu'd-Dín Anwarí: Materials for a Biography and Characteristic-Sketch. It is unfortunately written in Russian, and is therefore inaccessible to the majority of Orientalists; but we owe to Dr. W. Pertsch an excellent epitome of the biographical portion, published in vol. ii of the Literatur-Blatt für Orientalische Philologie (Leipzig, 1884-5). The Russian work comprises xxiv + 146 pages, followed by 90 pages of Persian text, and consists of:—

A Preface (pp. i-vii);

An Introduction (pp. viii-xxiv);

Chapter i (pp. 1-30). Biography of Anwarí;

Chapter ii (pp. 31-78). Literary activity and characteristics of Anwarí;

Chapter iii (pp. 79-97). The commentaries on Anwarí's poems in general, and that of Abu'l-Ḥasan Faráhání in particular;

Chapter iv (pp. 98-102). The language of Anwarí and the Biblio­graphy of his works;