Qasem-e Anvar

قاسم انوار

1356–1434

Sayyid Mo'in al-Din Ali, son of Nasir, son of Harun, son of Abu al-Qasem Husayni Qasemi Anvari Tabrizi, known as Shah Qasem Anvar (born 757 AH in Sarab, died 837 AH in the village of Langar near Torbat-e Jam), was a Persian poet. He was a follower of the family of Safi al-Din Ardabili. In his poetry, Mo'in al-Din used the pen name Qasemi or Qasem, and one of the sons of Shaykh Safi al-Din, named Sadr al-Din Musa, gave him the title Qasem al-Anvar. Qasem later studied under Sayyid Muhammad Mir Makhdum, who had come from Medina to Nishapur. After spending some time in Azerbaijan, Sayyid Qasem went to Gilan at the direction of Sadr al-Din, and after residing for a while in Gilan and Qazvin, he set out for Khorasan. In Nishapur he faced opposition from the religious scholars and the literalists, so he went to Herat and settled in that city. In Herat many people joined his circle of instruction, and he gained widespread fame in Khorasan. Among his students and followers were a number of princes of the Herat court. Qasem Anvar's fame in Herat and the ever-increasing number of his followers alarmed the officials of that region, especially Baysunghur Mirza. In the year 830, a divan of Qasem Anvar was found in the chamber of Ahmad-e Lor, and because of the accusation of being connected with Ahmad-e Lor, the assassin of Shahrukh the Timurid, he was forced to leave Herat. At this time Sayyid Qasem settled in Samarkand and then went to Khargerd in Jam. In Jam, Sayyid Qasem established a khanqah, and there he died at the age of eighty. He was buried in the garden of his khanqah in the village of Langar near Torbat-e Jam. Amir Ali-Shir Nava'i ordered a shrine to be built over his grave. He also permitted the people and the Sufis to visit the tomb of Qasem Anvar.