Anvari (1126–1189), full name Awhad ad-Din 'Ali ibn Mohammad Khavarani or Awhad ad-Din 'Ali ibn Mahmud ( fa, اوحدالدین علی ابن محمد انوری) was a
Persian poet.
Anvarī was born in
Abivard
Abiward or Abi-ward, was an ancient Sassanid city in modern-day Turkmenistan. Archaeological excavations at the ancient city of Abiward have been made in the last century about 8 km west of Kaka
Kaka may refer to:
People Nickname or given ...
(now in Turkmenistan) and died in
Balkh
), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001
, pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia
, pushpin_relief=yes
, pushpin_label_position=bottom
, pushpin_mapsize=300
, pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan
...
, Khorāsān (now in Afghanistan).
[''Encyclopædia Britannica'']
Online Edition 2007
/ref> He studied science and literature at the collegiate institute in Toon (now Ferdows
Ferdows ( fa, فردوس, also Romanized as Ferdos, Ferdous, and Firdaus; named Toon or Tūn until 1929) is a city and capital of Ferdows County, located in the north of South Khorasan Province in Iran. It is about south of Mashhad and 200&nbs ...
, 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 Turkm ...
), becoming a famous astronomer as well as a poet.
Anvari's poems were collected in a Deewan, and contains panegyrics, eulogies, satire, and others. His elegy
An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...
"Tears of Khorasan", translated into English in 1789, is considered to be one of the most beautiful poems in Persian literature
Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...
. ''The Cambridge History of Iran'' calls Anvari "one of the greatest figures in Persian literature". Despite their beauty, his poems often required much help with interpretation, as they were often complex and difficult to understand.
Anvari's panegyric
A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens.
Etymology
The word originated as a