Anvari: The Celebrated (and Feared) Master of the Qasida

Introduction

In the grand tradition of Persian courtly verse, few names loom as large—or cast as long a shadow—as Anvari (Awhad ad-Dīn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad Anvarī, c. 1126–1189 CE). Celebrated for his dazzling command of language and intricate rhetorical flourishes, yet feared for the scathing sharpness of his satire, Anvari was the undisputed master of the qasīda—the grand panegyric ode. Through his life and work, we glimpse both the glittering heights of medieval Persian literary culture and the perilous politics of Seljuk patronage.

The Poet and His Times

Born in the northeast Iranian region of Abivard, Anvari came of age under the Seljuk sultans who ruled a vast empire stretching from Central Asia to the Levant. Poetry was not mere pastime but an essential vehicle of political legitimacy: a well-crafted qasīda could immortalize a ruler’s victories, magnify his virtues, and secure lavish rewards—farmland grants, robes of honor, and princely titles.

Anvari’s meteoric rise began in the court of Sultan Ṭughtījīn (r. 1161–1176 CE), where his erudition and astonishing facility with language earned him the honorific “Amīr al-Shu‘arāʾ” (“Prince of Poets”). Yet his tongue wielded equal power in praise and persecution: ministers who fell short of his exacting standards soon found themselves the target of withering lampoons.

Mastery of the Qasīda

At the heart of Anvari’s reputation lies his unparalleled skill with the qasīda, a poetic form often exceeding a hundred couplets and divided into three parts:

1. Nasīb (Amorous Prelude):
   Many of Anvari’s odes open with an evocative scene—dawn’s …