Roshan-e-Shirazi’s Diwan and its Stylish and Literary Characteristics

Mirza Ahmed bin Mohammad Hossein Motavalli Bashi” known as “Roshan” is one of the poets who lived in the Hijri’s thirteenth century. He was one of the custodians of the Shah-e-Cheragh holy shrine which was a hereditary position in his clan. Mirza Ahmed Motavalli Bashi as a collection of valuable poetry, transcribed in broken Nastaliq script by “Ali Akbar Shaker” with its original handwritten volume still existing in the library of Shah-e-Cheragh shrine in Shiraz. Mirza Ahmed was one of the followers of Shia Islam and had great love for the household of prophet Mohammad. A large portion of his Diwan concentrates on the mourning of Imam Hossein and Karbala event. Other topics seen in Roshan’s poetry include Qalandaris poetry, love poems, and description of some events in his personal life. The historical poems written by him are also of great importance. Roshan’s Diwan includes a total of 3016 lines written in different templates including balladry, Ghazal (sonnet), segments, composite-tie, Multiple-poem and quatrain. This Diwan had not been edited or printed to this day and is not available to the society at large. Therefore, the authors the current article edited this Diwan and wrote an introduction for it. In this article, along with introducing Mirza Ahmed Motavalli Bashi and his family and their place in Persian literature, the stylish and literary characteristics of Roshan’s Diwan is introduced.