Studying the life of "Mirtzakirah" in the mirror of his letters

Abstract

Taqi al-Din Kashani (943-1022/1024 AH), nicknamed Mirtzakirah, is an opinionated and prolific writer of the Safavid era and the author of the famous biography Kholasat ol-Ash’ar and Zubdat ol-Afkar (1016-975 AH). Unlike other biographers, he did not express an independent description of his condition in his works, and he did not provide much information about his condition except for scattered items in Kholasat ol-Ash’ar and other works left behind by him; Therefore, the recovered letters of this hard-working and abandoned writer of the Safavid era, which he wrote to some friends, sultans and officials, shed light on the dark corners of his life. Describing the life of Taqi Kashi and explaining the characteristics of the prose of the Safavid period, especially in the field of letter writing is of special importance; Therefore, in this research, while correcting these letters, we examine their features and contents.

Keywords

• mir taqi al-din kashani
• persian letters
• khulasat al-ash’ar and zubdat al-afkar
• safavid era prose styles