Kalim Kashani (1581/1585-1651) ( fa, کلیم کاشانی) was one of the leading Persian poets of the 17th century.Daniela Meneghini, "KALIM KĀŠĀNI" in Encyclopædia Iranica
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Life

He was born in

Hamadan Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') (Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ham ...

, but soon moved to

Kashan Kashan ( fa, ; Qashan; Cassan; also romanized as Kāshān) is a city in the northern part of Isfahan province, Iran. At the 2017 census, its population was 396,987 in 90,828 families. Some etymologists argue that the city name comes from ...

, and this is the reason for his pen-name/association (nisba) Kashani. He studied at

and

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...

, before going to the Deccan in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. He then became friends with Shahnavaz Khan of Shiraz (d. 1611), a court official to

Ibrahim Adil Shah II Ibrahim Adil Shah II (1570 – 12 September 1627) was king of the Sultanate of Bijapur and a member of the Adil Shahi dynasty. Under his reign the dynasty had its greatest period as he extended its frontier as far south as Mysore. He was ...

, the ruler of

Bijapur Bijapur, officially known as Vijayapura, is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural i ...

. His first journey to India did not bring him the success he desired, and he was imprisoned for a while due to chargers of being a spy. In 1619 he returned 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 ...

, placing high hopes of Iranian patrons. however, he became nostalgic for

(which he was genuinely fond of) and returned in 1621. Until 1628 he was at

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra ...

in the service of Mir Jomla of Shahrestan, who himself was a poet with the pen name of ''Ruh al-Amin''). He addresses Ruh al-Amin in several panegyrics. In 1628, due to some eulogies of

Abu'l-Hasan Asaf Khan Abu'l-Hasan ( 1569 - 12 June 1641) entitled by the Mughal emperor Jahangir as Asaf Khan, was the ''Grand Vizier'' (Prime minister) of the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. He previously served as the '' vakil'' (the highest Mughal administrative of ...

, he became a member of the court of the Mogul emperor

Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...

(r. 1628-58). He impressed Emperor Shah Jahan so much that the emperor bestowed the title of

poet laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...

(Persian: ''Malek al-šoʿarā'', lit. "King of Poets") on him in 1632.

Works

His works amount to 24,000 lines, about 15,000 couplet in his version of the Shah-nama and 9,500 couplets in his Divan. His Divan which has recently been edited and published by the scholar Mohammad Qahraman contains 36 qaṣidas (odes), 2 tarkib-bands (stanzaic or strophic poem), 1 tarjiʿ-band (a poem with a refrain), 32 qeṭʿas (occasional poem), 33 tāriḵs (chronograms), 28 short maṯnawis (rhyming couplets), 590

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 ...

(lyrics), and 102 robāʿis (quatrains), making a total of 9,823 couplets.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kashani, Kalim 16th-century Persian-language poets 17th-century Persian-language poets 1651 deaths 1580s births 17th-century Iranian writers People from Kashan People from Hamadan

Life

Works

See also

Notes