Shāhin-i Shirāzi (, born in

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

in the

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

, Iran) was a

Persian Jewish Iranian Jews, (; ) also Persian Jews ( ) or Parsim, constitute one of the oldest communities of the Jewish diaspora. Dating back to the biblical era, they originate from the Jews who relocated to Iran (historically known as Persia) during th ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

in the 14th century.

Biography

The details surrounding his biography are not clear. It is known that he worked during the reign of Ilkhan

Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan (June 2, 1305 – December 1, 1335; ), also spelled Abusaid Bahador Khan, Abu Sa'id Behauder (Modern , ''Abu sayid Baghatur Khan'', in modern Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet, Mongolian), was the ninth ruler (c. 1316 – 1335) ...

(1316-1335), and that he was also a contemporary of the Persian poet

Hafez (), known by his pen name Hafez ( or 'the keeper'; 1325–1390) or Hafiz, “Ḥāfeẓ” designates someoone who has learned the Qurʾān by heart" also known by his nickname Lisan al-Ghaib ('the tongue of the unseen'), was a Persian lyri ...

(d. 1390), who was also from Shiraz. It is unclear whether '"Shahin" is the poet's first name or his pen name. It is possible that he was from

Kashan Kashan (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kashan County), Central District of Kashan County, in the northern part of Isfahan province, Isfahan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. History Earlies ...

and that he was buried in Shiraz.

Works

His works include epic cycles (poetic epics) from the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

and from later parts of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' The ''Musā-nāmah'' was composed in 1327, and includes narratives from the books of

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

, Leviticus,

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...

. The work contains close to 10,000

couplets In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there ...

. His versification of the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

, the ''Bereshit-nāmah'', was composed around 1358;J. T. P. de Bruijn and Barbara Flemming, 'Yūsuf and Zulayk̲h̲ā', in ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', ed. P. Bearman and others, 2nd edn, 12 vols (Leiden: Brill, 1960–2005); DOI:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_1370. it contains close to 8700

. His epic poem on the tale of

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

, ''Ardashir-nāmah'', includes multiple stories in addition to the well-known biblical narrative. For example, Shāhin also expounds on the adventures of Shiru, the son of

Ardashir Ardeshir, Ardashir or Ardasher may refer to: Throne name of several rulers * Artaxerxes (disambiguation), the Hellenized form of Ardeshir * Ardashir Orontid, ''r.'' 5th century BC, Armenian king from the Orontid dynasty * Ardashir I, ''r.'' 224– ...

(Ahaseurus) and Queen

Vashti Vashti (; ; ) was a queen of Achaemenid Empire, Persia and the first wife of Persian king Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther, a book included within the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh and the Old Testament which is read on the Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday ...

Editions and translations

* *
''Ardashir-nāmah''
(The book of Ardashir) * '' Ezra-nāmah'' (The Book of Ezra) * David Gilinsky, "An original critical edition with English translation of Chapter 26 of Ardashir Nameh", BA Finals Dissertation, Cambridge University, April 1992, available from Cambridge University Library and on SCRIBD. * Vera Basch Moreen (tr. and ed.), ''In Queen Esther's Garden: An Anthology of Judeo-Persian Literature'' (Yale Judaica): Yale 2000, . Includes excerpts from Shāhin's epics in English translation

Musical Adaptations

In 2022, Iranian-Canadian composer, Iman Habibi, composed Shāhīn-nāmeh as a winner of the 2022 Azrieli Music Prize. Shāhīn-nāmeh is a 25-minute piece for orchestra and soloist on the story of Queen Esther from Ardashir-Nameh, and uses poetry from Shahin Shirazi's Ardashir-nameh. This piece was premiered by Orchestre Métropolitain and Sepideh Raissadat in Montreal.

''Bereshit-nāmah''

* Shāhīn, ''Sefer sharḥ-i Shāhīn-i Torah'', ed. by Shimon Hakham (Jerusalem 5662/1902) (in Hebrew script). * ''Muntakhab-i ashʿār-i fārsī az āthār-i yahūdiyyān-i Īrān'', ed. by Amnon Netzer (Tehran 1352 AH/1973 CE), pp. 58-106 (transliterated into Arabic script).

References

Writers from Shiraz 14th-century Persian-language poets Medieval Iranian Jews 14th-century Jews Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Poets from the Ilkhanate {{Judaism-bio-stub