Mas'ud-i Sa'd-i Salmān (Persian: مسعود سعد سلمان) was an 11th-century Persian poet of the Ghaznavid empire who is known as the prisoner poet. He lived from ca. 1046 to 1121.[1]
In 1085, he was imprisoned, in the fortress of Nay, for his complicity with Sultan Ibrâhîm's son, Mahmud.[4] He was released by the sultan's successor Mas‘ûd III in 1096, who appointed him royal librarian.[2] He came under the patronage of Abu Nasr Farsi, deputy governorofIndia, and was appointed governor of Jallandar.[3] Two years later, continued political changes resulted in a prison stay of 8 years, with his release in 1106.[2] The last years of his life was spent in high favor, serving four consecutive sultans as librarian and panegyrist.[3]
He is known as a great Persian poet and is particularly notable for his use of conventional language and personal tone.[2]
Most of his works are written in the qasideh form. He has some poems in other styles such as quatrain and qet'eh. In the qasideh he followed the famous Unsuri.
During one of his prison stays, he wrote the Tristia, a celebrated work of Persian poetry. He had relationships with some of the Persian poets, including Othman Mokhtari, Abu-al-Faraj Runi, and Sanai.
One of his famous qasidehs about the prison named ای وائی امید ہائے بسیارم:
شخصي به هزار غم گرفتارم در هر نفسي بجان رسد كارم
I am fallen person in a thousand sorrows
In each breath my life's looking in end
بي زلت و بي گناه محبوسم بي علت و بي سبب گرفتارم
with no sin I am prisoner
with no reason fallen in trouble
خورده قسم اختران به پاداشم بسته كمر آسمان به پيكارم
stars have sworn to hurt me
the sky has come to fight with me
امروز به غم فزونترم از دي امسال به نقد كمتر از پارم
today in pains I'm higher than the yesterday
this year my soul's lesser than last year
ياران گزيده داشتم روزي امروز چه شد كه نيست كس يارم؟
I had many selected friends
what has become no one's remain
هر نيمه شب آسمان ستوه آيد از ناله سخت و گريه ي زارم
every night the sky's made sad
with my painful sadness cryings
محبوس چرا شدم نمي دانم دانم كه نه دزدم و نه عيارم
I fell in jail, why? I don't know
I just know: I'm not still nor wicked
بسيار اميد بود بر طبعم اي واي اميد هاي بسيارم
to much desires I had before
oh alas! where is my lost desires
Couplet:
Transliteration:
Gardoon beh ranj o dard mara kushteh bood agar! Paiwand e umr e man neh shudey nazm e jan fizaaey!
Translation:
Had this sky (fate) got me killed with grief and pain (in my imprisoned state)!
This patch (of garment) of my life would not have yielded life giving poetry!
Contemporary Persian and Classical Persian are the same language, but writers since 1900 are classified as contemporary. At one time, Persian was a common cultural language of much of the non-Arabic Islamic world. Today it is the official language of Iran, Tajikistan and one of the two official languages of Afghanistan.
