Persian Poetry Resources
Poets, poetic forms, dictionaries, and further reading
Meet the Poets
Bayan includes the complete works of twelve master poets spanning a thousand years of Persian literature. Each one reshaped the language and the human understanding of love, justice, and the divine.
Hafez
The supreme lyric poet of Persian literature. Hafez's ghazals weave wine, love, and mysticism into verses that Iranians consult as oracles to this day through the tradition of fāl-e Hāfez.
Rumi
The best-selling poet in the United States and the most widely read Sufi mystic in the world. His Masnavi is called "the Quran in Persian" for its spiritual depth.
Saadi
Master of the moral tale, whose Golestan and Bustan have been studied for centuries. His verse on human compassion adorns the entrance of the United Nations.
Omar Khayyam
Mathematician, astronomer, and poet whose Rubaiyat became one of the most translated works in history through Edward FitzGerald's celebrated English rendering.
Ferdowsi
Author of the Shahnameh (Book of Kings), the national epic of Iran, with over 50,000 couplets preserving the myths and history of the Persian-speaking world.
Attar
Sufi poet and pharmacist whose allegorical Conference of the Birds maps the soul's journey to God through seven valleys of spiritual transformation.
Sanai
Pioneer of Sufi didactic poetry. His Hadiqat al-Haqiqah (The Walled Garden of Truth) was the first major mystical masnavi, directly inspiring both Attar and Rumi.
Rudaki
The "father of Persian poetry" and first great literary figure of New Persian. His work at the Samanid court in Bukhara set the foundations for all classical Persian verse.
Shahryar
The most beloved modern Persian poet, bridging classical form and contemporary feeling. His Heydar Babaya Salam, written in Azerbaijani Turkish, is a masterpiece of 20th-century literature.
Nezami
Supreme romantic storyteller of Persian literature. His Khamseh (Five Treasures), including Layli and Majnun, set the standard for narrative poetry across the Islamic world.
Naser Khosrow
Philosopher-poet and tireless traveller whose Safarnama is one of the great travel narratives. His qasidas combine rigorous intellect with moral conviction.
Persian Poetry Traditions
Classical Persian poetry follows highly structured forms, each with its own rules for rhyme, meter, and subject matter. These are the four major forms you'll encounter in the Bayan app.
Ghazal
A lyric poem of 5–15 couplets sharing a single rhyme scheme (aa ba ca …). The ghazal is the heart of Persian poetry, the form Hafez and Saadi perfected, exploring love, loss, and mystical longing.
Read on Encyclopædia Iranica →Qasida
A long monorhymed ode, often 20–100+ couplets, traditionally composed in praise of a patron or as philosophical meditation. Naser Khosrow and Sanai are among its greatest practitioners.
Read on Encyclopædia Iranica →Masnavi
A rhyming-couplet form (aa bb cc …) ideal for long narrative and didactic works. Rumi's Masnavi-ye Ma'navi and Ferdowsi's Shahnameh are the supreme examples.
Read on Encyclopædia Iranica →Robai (Rubaʿi)
A four-line quatrain with the rhyme scheme aaba. Compact and epigrammatic, it is the form Khayyam made world-famous through FitzGerald's Rubaiyat.
Read on Encyclopædia Iranica →Reference Works
Essential dictionaries for reading Persian poetry in the original.
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Steingass Persian–English Dictionary
Francis Joseph Steingass's comprehensive 1892 dictionary remains the standard reference for classical Persian vocabulary, covering literary and poetic terms that modern dictionaries often omit.
Browse at University of Chicago → -
Dehkhoda Dictionary
The largest Persian-language encyclopedic dictionary ever compiled, begun by Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda in 1931. With over 343,000 entries, it is the authoritative source for Persian word meanings, etymology, and literary citations.
Browse at University of Tehran →
Online Resources
Websites and databases for exploring Persian poetry beyond the Bayan app.
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Ganjoor.net (گنجور)
The largest free online database of Persian poetry, with full divans of all major poets, community annotations, and audio recitations. An indispensable companion for anyone studying classical verse.
Visit Ganjoor → -
Encyclopædia Iranica
A peer-reviewed academic encyclopedia covering the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples, the most authoritative English-language resource for Persian literary scholarship.
Visit Encyclopædia Iranica → -
Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation: Persian Texts
Digitized manuscripts and critical editions of classical Persian literary works, providing access to historical source texts alongside modern scholarly commentary.
Visit Thesaurus Islamicus →
Learn More
Introductory reading for newcomers to the world of Persian poetry.
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Persian Literature: Encyclopædia Iranica
The definitive scholarly overview of Persian literary history from its pre-Islamic origins through the classical golden age to modern developments, with extensive bibliographies and cross-references.
Read the article → -
An Introduction to Persian Poetry: Poetry Foundation
Curated English translations and critical essays on Persian poetry from America's leading poetry institution, offering accessible entry points for English-speaking readers.
Explore the collection → -
Persian Poetry: Wikipedia
A focused guide to the poetic tradition specifically, including meter, rhyme conventions, and the major genres that define classical and modern Persian verse.
Read the article → -
Sufi Poetry: Wikipedia
An introduction to the mystical poetry tradition that runs through Rumi, Hafez, Attar, and Sanai, where wine is divine love, the beloved is God, and the tavern is the place of spiritual awakening.
Read the article → -
The Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University
One of the leading academic programs for Iranian and Persian studies, offering research papers, lectures, and event archives on Persian literature and culture.
Visit Columbia Iranian Studies →
Read these poets in the Bayan app
13,828 poems. Bilingual Farsi–English. Tap-to-define dictionary. 100% offline.
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