Assar Tabrizi (died in 1377 or 1382) was a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

poet from

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

, who served as one of the

panegyrists A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of grc ...

of the

Jalayirid The Jalayirid Sultanate was a culturally Persianate, Mongol Jalayir dynasty which ruled over Iraq and western Persia after the breakup of the Mongol khanate of Persia in the 1330s.Bayne Fisher, William. ''The Cambridge History of Iran'', p.3: ...

ruler

Shaykh Uways Jalayir Shaykh Uways Jalayir ( fa, شیخ اوویز جلایر) was the Jalayirid ruler of Iraq (1356–1374) and Azerbaijan (1360–1374). He was the son of Hasan Buzurg and the Chobanid princess Dilshad Khatun. Biography Shortly after Shaykh Uways Ja ...

(). He is principally known for his poem ''Mihr u Mushtari'', which was completed in 1376.

Biography

Assar was born in

under the

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...

. He studied astronomy with Abd al-Samad Tabrizi, and

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

with Shaykh Majd al-Din Sisi. Following the death of

Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan (June 2, 1305 – December 1, 1335) (Persian, Arabic: ), also spelt Abusaid Bahador Khan, Abu Sa'id Behauder ( mn, , ''Busayid Baghatur Khan'', ''Бусайд баатар хаан'' / ''Busaid baatar khaan'', in moder ...

() in 1335, the Ilkhanate fell. The northwestern region of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

was soon captured by the

Jalayirids The Jalayirid Sultanate was a culturally Persianate, Mongol Jalayir dynasty which ruled over Iraq and western Persia after the breakup of the Mongol khanate of Persia in the 1330s.Bayne Fisher, William. ''The Cambridge History of Iran'', p.3: ...

, who were based in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. Assar became one of the

of the

ruler

(), dedicating some ''

qasida The qaṣīda (also spelled ''qaṣīdah''; is originally an Arabic word , plural ''qaṣā’id'', ; that was passed to some other languages such as fa, قصیده or , ''chakameh'', and tr, kaside) is an ancient Arabic word and form of writin ...

s'' (

ode An ode (from grc, ᾠδή, ōdḗ) is a type of lyric poetry. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three majo ...

s) to him. In his poem ''Mihr u Mushtari'', Assar says that he disliked writing panegyrics, rarely reciting the ones he had written. The poem, entitled ''Ishq-nama'', but commonly known as ''Mihr u Mushtari'', was composed in 1376, and is the most famous work of Assar. It was translated into

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

twice, once by Ibn Umm Walad (died 1502), and then later by Pir Muhammad Azmi and his son Halati (died 1629), who dedicated it to the Ottoman sultan

Selim II Selim II ( Ottoman Turkish: سليم ثانى ''Selīm-i sānī'', tr, II. Selim; 28 May 1524 – 15 December 1574), also known as Selim the Blond ( tr, Sarı Selim) or Selim the Drunk ( tr, Sarhoş Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire ...

(). Besides poetry, Assar has also written a few treatises on rhetoric, as well as a short manual of Persian rhymes, named ''al-Wāfī fī teʿdād al-qawāfī''. The death date of Assar is uncertain. He either died in 1377 or 1382.

References

Sources

* * {{EI2, last=Massé, first=H., volume=1, title=ʿAṣṣār, page=720, url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/assar-SIM_0817 14th-century births 14th-century deaths 14th-century Persian-language poets 14th-century Iranian people Poets from Tabriz Burials in Maqbaratoshoara Jalayirid-period poets Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown