Urfi

Mawlana Jamal al-Din Muhammad Urfi Shirazi (1555–1590) was a leading Persian poet and one of the most important representatives of the Indian style. Born in Shiraz, he received his early education there and developed skill in literature, music, and calligraphy. His talent for poetry appeared early, and he soon became known in the literary circles of his native city.

As a young man Urfi travelled to India, where Persian language and literature flourished under Mughal patronage. He first met the noted poet Faizi and was later introduced by Hakim Abu’l-Fath Gilani to Abd al-Rahim Khan-e Khanan and the literary world of the Mughal court. His exceptional ability quickly won him a place among the foremost Persian poets of Akbar’s reign.

Urfi is chiefly celebrated for his qasidas, prized for their intellectual reach, verbal power, and originality. He also wrote ghazals, ruba‘iyat, masnavis, and qit‘as, but his command of the qasida set him apart from his contemporaries. He played an important part in the formation and development of the Indian style.

His collected poetry contains roughly fourteen thousand verses. His best-known works include the masnavis Majma‘ al-Abkar and Farhad and Shirin. A prose treatise on Sufism entitled Nafsiyya is also attributed to him.

Urfi died in Lahore in 1590. His remains were later taken to Najaf.