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

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.

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References

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Persian Language and Literature
Volume 78, Issue 252
2025
Pages 210-185

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History

  • Receive Date: 04 September 2025
  • Revise Date: 08 October 2025
  • Accept Date: 22 November 2025
  • Publish Date: 22 December 2025

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