Mas'ud-i Sa'd-i Salmān ( fa, مسعود سعد سلمان) was an 11th-century

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 of the

Ghaznavid The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...

empire who is known as the prisoner poet. He lived from ca. 1046 to 1121.

Early life

He was born in 1046 in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

to wealthy parents from

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 ...

, present-day

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 ...

. His father Sa'd bin Salman accompanied the Ghaznian Prince Majdûd under the Sultan Mahmûd's orders to garrison Lahore. Mas'ud was born there and he was highly learned in

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

, hippology, calligraphy,

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

and also in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n languages. His first work of note was as a panegyrist in the retinue of Sultan Ibrâhîm's son Sayf al-Dawla Mahmûd, whose appointment to governor-general of

in 1076 Mas'ud marked with a qasideh.

In prison

In 1085, he was imprisoned, in the fortress of Nay, for his complicity with Sultan Ibrâhîm's son, Mahmud.C.E. Bosworth, ''The Later Ghaznavids'', (Columbia University Press, 1977), 66. He was released by the sultan's successor Mas‘ûd III in 1096, who appointed him royal librarian. He came under the patronage of Abu Nasr Farsi, deputy governor of

, and was appointed governor of Jallandar. Two years later, continued political changes resulted in a prison stay of 8 years, with his release in 1106. The last years of his life was spent in high favor, serving four consecutive sultans as librarian and panegyrist.

Poetry

He is known as a great Persian poet and is particularly notable for his use of conventional language and personal tone. Most of his works are written in the qasideh form. He has some poems in other styles such as quatrain and qet'eh. In the qasideh he followed the famous Unsuri. During one of his prison stays, he wrote the ''Tristia'', a celebrated work of Persian poetry. He had relationships with some of the Persian poets, including Othman Mokhtari, Abu-al-Faraj Runi, and

Sanai Hakim Abul-Majd Majdūd ibn Ādam Sanā'ī Ghaznavi ( fa, ), more commonly known as Sanai, was a Persian poet from Ghazni who lived his life in the Ghaznavid Empire which is now located in Afghanistan. He was born in 1080 and died between 113 ...

. One of his famous qasidehs about the

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

named ای وائی امید ہائے بسیارم: شخصي به هزار غم گرفتارم در هر نفسي بجان رسد كارم *I am fallen person in a thousand sorrows *In each breath my life's looking in end بي زلت و بي گناه محبوسم بي علت و بي سبب گرفتارم *with no sin I am prisoner *with no reason fallen in trouble خورده قسم اختران به پاداشم بسته كمر آسمان به پيكارم *stars have sworn to hurt me *the sky has come to fight with me امروز به غم فزونترم از دي امسال به نقد كمتر از پارم *today in pains I'm higher than the yesterday *this year my soul's lesser than last year ياران گزيده داشتم روزي امروز چه شد كه نيست كس يارم؟ *I had many selected friends *what has become no one's remain هر نيمه شب آسمان ستوه آيد از ناله سخت و گريه ي زارم *every night the sky's made sad *with my painful sadness cryings محبوس چرا شدم نمي دانم دانم كه نه دزدم و نه عيارم *I fell in jail, why? I don't know *I just know: I'm not still nor wicked بسيار اميد بود بر طبعم اي واي اميد هاي بسيارم *to much desires I had before *oh alas! where is my lost desires ''Couplet:'' Transliteration: ''Gardoon beh ranj o dard mara kushteh bood agar!'' ''Paiwand e umr e man neh shudey nazm e jan fizaaey!'' Translation: Had this sky (fate) got me killed with grief and pain (in my imprisoned state)! This patch (of garment) of my life would not have yielded life giving poetry!

Notes

References

* Jan Rypka, ''History of Iranian Literature''. Reidel Publishing Company. ASIN B-000-6BXVT-K * Selected Masud Sa'd Salman poems by Dr. Ismail Hakemi, Amir kabir publishing association,

Early life

In prison

Poetry

Notes

References

See also