Vahshi Bafqi

Iran has been the land of culture and art and many great Persian-speaking writers and poets such as Ferdowsi, Hafez, Sa’di, Khayyam, and Rumi are well-known all over the world. However, the great personalities of Persian literature are not limited to these few people only. Vahshi Bafqi is one of the personalities whose poems and works are very rich; although he may be less known in the world.

Who Was Vahshi Bafqi?

Maulana Kamaluddin Muhammad nicknamed Vahshi Bafqi is one of the famous poets of Iran who was born in Bafq, located on the eastern border of today’s Yazd Province, in 1532 AD. He lived at the time when the Safavid dynasty was flourishing and was the contemporary of Shah Tahmasp, Shah Ismail II, and Shah Muhammad Khodabandeh. According to some sources, “Vahshi” was the nickname of Kamaluddin’s brother. After the death of his brother, who had become famous at that time, Kamaluddin adopted this nickname to immortalize his brother’s name. Kamaluddin has praised his brother, who was his first teacher, in many of his poems.

After learning the preliminary lessons, Vahshi Bafqi went to Yazd and Kashan to complete his education. He stayed in Kashan for some time and then traveled to India through Hormuz Island. He spent the last years of his life in Yazd or Kerman and passed away in 1583 AD (991 AH). There have been many speculations about the cause of death of Vahshi Bafqi, but he probably died of burning fever. At present, a tomb named after him has been built in Yazd in the Piro Burj neighborhood in front of Imamzadeh Shahzadeh Fazel’s Shrine. The construction of this building started in 1977 and lasted for about two years. There is also a house named after this poet in the city of Yazd.

Characteristics and Services of Vahshi Bafqi

Many contemporary poets of Vahshi Bafqi used their poetic art as a means to achieve wealth and fame, but he sought to express his feelings and thoughts instead of accumulating wealth. What has made Bafqi unique in the history of Persian literature is his special style of expression. Vahshi tried to avoid using literary and poetic techniques, as was customary in that period, and preferred to compose in simple and honest language as far as possible. Avoiding complicated terms and Arabic words, which was considered a form of boasting and showing off among poets in that period, is another characteristic of Vahshi Bafqi’s poetry.

In the history of Persian literature, Vahshi Bafqi is considered the greatest poet of the Voqu’ School of Poetry. This school was a style of Persian poetry that started at the end of the 15th century AD and continued until the beginning of the 17th century AD (late 9th century to early 11th century AH). Simplicity, avoiding exaggerations and poetic arts, and using folk terms are among the characteristics of this school.

In his masnavis/mathnavi, Vahshi used the format of Nezami Ganjavi’s poems and in his ghazala, he used the format of the poems of the earlier poets, which of course did not overshadow his initiative and did not undermine the novelty of his works. This feature made many later poets welcome Vahshi’s poems.

Vashvih has written poetry in various genres, including ghazal, quartet, composition, ode, and masnavi. Among his works, the Masnavi of “Shirin and Farhad” is more famous. This work remained unfinished due to Vahshi’s sudden demise and a few centuries later, it was completed by a poet named “Wisal Shirazi”. The masnavis “Khuld-e Barin” and “Nazer wa Manzur” are among his other works. Bafqi’s Diwan contains 9 thousand 76 verses, which comprises 395 ghazals, 43 odes, and some pieces in other poetic formats.

There is also a letter left from Vahshi Bafqi, which has been written in painful prose and addressed to his loved one. This letter is considered to be his only prose work and is kept in the manuscript collection of Malek Library in Tehran.

The 18th day of the Iranian month of Mehr (coinciding with October 9) is named the day of commemoration of Vahshi Bafqi in the Iranian calendar.

Many contemporary poets of Vahshi Bafqi used their poetic art as a means to achieve wealth and fame, but he sought to express his feelings and thoughts instead of accumulating wealth.