Living with Poets: A Review of the Historical Atmosphere in the Lives of the Poets from Ray and Estrabad in the 10th and 11th Centuries

Mīrtaqī al-Dīn Kāshānī (alive in 1016) wrote one of the longest biographies of the poets of his time. He dedicated each volume to one or two cities and gave a biography of the poets, a report of their lives and the best samples of their poems such as odes, lyrics, quartets, etc. This work is an important source for the social history of Iran in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. In this article, an attempt has been made to extract and present a selection of data that is useful for the social and cultural history of Iran in this period from one of the newly published volumes of this book, which is dedicated to Estrabad and Ray. The jobs of poets, travels, communication with the ruling officials, Sufi interests, and similar issues are indicated in this report.