Asefi Heravi, a Pioneer of Nazok-khiyal (Narrow Imagination) Poetic Style in the Tenth Century AH

Asefi Heravi is one of the prominent poets of the tenth century AH, whose name has been mentioned as one of the idiosyncratic poets in several tazkeras of Safavid era. The core argument of this study is that in the tenth century AH, Nazok-khiyal (narrow imagination) poetic trend existed along with the Voquʻ poetic style, that led to the emergence of the former in the eleventh century. The tazkeras and poems of Asefi, show that he was one of the pioneers of Nazok-khiyal style, and this paper tries to prove it through studying the historical documents and stylistic features of Asefi’s poems. In this article, Asefi’s biography and style are studied, and some unclear points are analyzed. Moreover, it is discussed that the poets of Door-khiyal and Nazok-khial styles welcomed Asefi’s poetry, and Nazok-khiyal poets followed his style. Finally, the features of Asefi’s Nazok-khiyal poetry are explained through various examples of his poetry.