Rudaki
(c. 859–940/941), first of the great classical Persian poets. The talents of Abu ʿAbdollah Jaʿfar ibn Mohammad, known as Rudaki, were not limited to poetry; he was also a gifted singer and musician. E. G. Browne (1811–1926), in his Literary History of Persia, called him "peerless among the Arabs and the Persians" and the "Sultan of poets." Rudaki was extremely prolific: He supposedly composed about 100,000 couplets, although because most of his divan (collection of poems) are lost, only about 1,000 are known today. As court poet of Nasr ibn Ahmad (914–943), he seems to have followed the Ismaiʿili Shiʿi faith of his Samanid patron. Rudaki was famed for his mastery of the qasida (an elegaic ode of between 60 and 100 lines) and the ghazal (a shorter lyrical love poem). He also composed Kalilah wa Dimnah, based on the well-known Indian Bidpai tales. Rudaki's writings marked the emerging genre of Persian poetry, which other figures such as Anvari, Firdawsi, Attar, Saʿdi, Rumi, Nizami, and Jami continued for centuries. While Persian poetry later became suffused with mystical themes, in Rudaki's time the dominant theme was the praising of rulers.
Further Reading
Browne, E. G. ([1902] 1997) A Literary History of Persia. Vol. 1. Reprint ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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