Adib Pishavari ( fa, ادیب پیشاوری), also known as Sayyed Ahmad B. Sehab al-Din Razawi (1844 - 1930), was a Sufi scholar who, according to his family tree, traced his ancestry back to Omar Sohravardi and was born near or in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, Pakistan. He was a master in Persian literature. The border wars between the British and the Afghan tribes resulted in the deaths of his father and many other relatives when he was a young man. Therefore, Adib relocated to

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

and later

Ghazni Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...

to complete his early education. He moved to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in 1877 and enrolled at the madrasa of Molla Hadi Sabzevari in Sabzavr. There he was exposed to advanced

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

lectures.

Early life and education

According to some he was born in a mountain village between

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

, while others claim he was born in Peshawar. His father, Seyyed Shah Baba, and his predecessors were all Sufiya nobility. After his father was killed by the British, he moved to Kabul and then Ghaznin, where he learnt

etiquette Etiquette () is the set of norms of personal behaviour in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviours that accord with the conventions and norms observed and practised by a ...

and

wisdom Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, ...

. He then went to

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

to complete his education, and then to

Sabzevar Sabzevar ( fa, سبزوار ), previously known as Beyhagh (also spelled "Beihagh"; fa, بيهق), is a city and capital of Sabzevar County, in Razavi Khorasan Province, approximately west of the provincial capital Mashhad, in northeastern ...

, where he attended Haj Molahadi Sabzevari his final two years. At the request of Mirza Saeed Khan Garmroudi, the foreign minister in charge of Astan Quds at the time, Adib departed for

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

in 1921. Adib remained single until the end of his life before passing away in Tehran and was interred in Ray city.

Works and ideologies

Adib was one of the most important writers of his time due to his extensive knowledge of the sciences of his era, his competence in the Persian and Tazi languages, and his exceptional recall. There are roughly 20,000 couplets in Adib's body of poetry. The collection, which was released three years after his edath, consists mainly of

Ghazals The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a p ...

and Qasidas and has 370 Arabic and 4,200 Persian verses. In addition, he wrote the ''Qaysarnama'', a protracted

mathnavi The ''Masnavi'', or ''Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi'' ( fa, مثنوی معنوی), also written ''Mathnawi'', or ''Mathnavi'', is an extensive poem written in Persian by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi, also known as Rumi. The ''Masnavi'' is one of the mos ...

honoring

Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and List of monarchs of Prussia, King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication on 9 ...

and praising Germany's participation in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Despite being a member of the older generation of poets, Adib supported fresh social and political perspectives, just like many of his younger contemporaries. He thus contributed to the development of nationalistic impulses in Persian poetry. Adib's father was killed along with his numerous relatives during the British and the Afghan tribes. In his works, he likened the United Kingdom to animals, such as "old fox," "ominous raven," and "venomous viper," in order to criticize British colonial policies in Iran and the region, which he deemed "evil." However, the phrase "old fox" continues to be popular to the present day. Here's a translation of a poem by Adib:

Refences

{{Reflist, 30em Persian-language poets Pakistani poets

Early life and education

Works and ideologies

See also

Refences