Introduction to Šamsi Baghdādi and a Textual Study of His Manzar al-Abrār

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 PhD Student, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Varamin-Pishva Branch, Islamic Azad University, Varamin, Tehran, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Varamin Branch – Pishva, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

This article presents a study of the sole surviving manuscript of Manzar al-Abrār, a narrative poem, by Šamsi Baghdādi, while also exploring the life of its author. Šamsi Baghdādi was a Persian-speaking poet of the 10th/16th century (alive in 975/1567) in Asia Minor, about whom little information remains. Although biographical sources trace his origins to Baghdad, evidence suggests he was of Persian descent. He worked as a cobbler in Baghdad and lived an ascetic life for many years. A devotee of the Ahl al-Bayt, he adhered to Islamic rites and held strong convictions toward Shiʿism. His family was known for their erudition, virtue, and poetry, and his son, ʿAhdi Baghdādi (d. 1002/1593), was a prominent poet, literary biographer, and author of the Tazkera-ye Golšan-e Šoʿarā during the 10th/16th and early 11th/17th centuries. Šamsi was skilled in composing ghazals (sonnets), qasidas (odes), and masnavis (long narrative poems). In addition to his scattered surviving poems, his Manzar al-Abrār—a work inspired by Nezāmi Ganjavi’s Maxzan al-Asrār and dedicated to Soltan Soleymān (900–974/1494-1566)—remains extant. This masnavi is the only Persian counterpart to Maxzan al-Asrār in the literary geography of Anatolia and Asia Minor. This study adopts an analytical-descriptive approach, drawing upon literary and historical sources as well as textual evidence.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Persian Language and Literature

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 11 November 2025

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 03 May 2025
  • Revise Date: 07 November 2025
  • Accept Date: 22 July 2025
  • Publish Date: 11 November 2025

Share

How to cite

Statistics