Kasim Al-Anvar

Born in Sarab (now in Iran), eastern Azerbaijan (date of birth unknown); died 1434. Azerbaijani poet.

Kasim al-Anvar wrote in Persian and Azerbaijani. He lived in Herat at the court of Shahrukh Mirza, who, suspecting him of preparing a secret plot, banished him to Samarkand in 1426. Kasim al-Anvar celebrated exalted love in his lyric poetry; in the narrative poem Friend of the Enlightened Ones he preached pantheism, condemned self-seeking and egoism, and extolled moral purity. His lyrical narrative poem Degrees of the Enlightened Ones and divans have also been preserved. Kasim al-Anvar’s work was influenced by Nasimi and Rumi.