Sanai

Abu’l-Majd Majdud ibn Adam Sanai of Ghazna (c. 1070–1140) was a major Persian poet, mystic, and thinker. Born in Ghazna, he became one of the earliest and most influential voices in Persian Sufi poetry. His treatment of mysticism, ethics, and spiritual life helped shape the work of later poets, notably Attar, Rumi, and Saadi.

Sanai was deeply versed in the religious, philosophical, and literary learning of his age. His poetry includes qasidas, ghazals, qit‘as, ruba‘iyat, tarkib-bands, and tarji‘-bands, but he is best known for his masnavis. Among the most important are Hadiqat al-Haqiqa, Tariq al-Tahqiq, Karnameh-ye Balkh, Sayr al-‘Ibad ila’l-Ma‘ad, ʿIshq-nameh, and ʿAql-nameh. Three letters and a prose treatise are also attributed to him.

Sanai died in Ghazna around 1140. He is remembered as one of the first great architects of the mystical masnavi, and his poetry remains a central source for readers of Persian Sufi literature.