Mirza Habib Ghaani
Mirza Habib Ghaani ( c.1808-1854) is commonly considered the greatest poet of the Qajar period. His father was a mediocre poet named Mohammad Ali Golshan who died when Ghaani was only eleven years. Born and partly educated in Shiraz, Ghaani traveled first to Esfahan and then to Khorassan where he continued his studies and began gaining fame as a young poet. His first patron was Hassan Ali Mirza, the governor of Khorassan and Kerman. After spending a number of years in various towns in Khorassan and Kerman, Ghaani was introduced to the court of Mohammed Shah Qajar who soon grew attached to him and rewarded him with a title and a regular stipend for his panegyrics. During the reign of Naseroddin Shah, Ghaani moved permanently to Tehran and, after a brief period of neglect, was readmitted to the court and graced with the title of "King of Poets" (malek-o shoara). Addicted to alcohol and opium in the latter part of his life, Ghaani died before reaching the age of fifty. He was buried in Rey, near the capital city, Tehran.
Ghaani's divan amounts to
over 23,000 distichs. Best known for his panegyrics and ghazals, he is also the author of
Ketab-e Parishan, a work written in imitation of Saadi's Golestan. He
was well familiar with the works of major past poets and wrote in a manner that can be
termed a melange of Araghi and Khorassani styles. Despite the echoes of the old masetrs,
his poetry has salient characteristics of his own age.
Ghaani knew Arabic, but also French and some English. Though he was more of a
traditionalist than an innovator, there are indications that he was affected by certain
European trends. He has also written a number of poems about Imams. His famous elegy on
Karbala has a dramatic quality, mostly wrought through stichomythy, which recalls to mind
the native morality plays called tazieh.
