TEHRAN – The congress “Poets of Isfahan in the Safavid Era” will commence its work today at the University of Isfahan.

Invited scholars will review the book “Khulasat al-Ash’ar va Zubdat al-Afkar” by Mir Taqi al-Din Husaiyni Kashani.
Ali-Ashraf Sadeqi, Mahmud Abedi, Ali Musavi Garmarudi, Khosro Ehteshami, and Juya Jahanbakhsh are amongst the scholars who will deliver speeches during the two-day congress.
The author, Mir Taqi al-Din Muhammad, the son of Sharaf al-Din Ali Husaiyni Kashani was a Persian poet of the Safavid era.
Mir Taqi al-Din Kashani or Mir Tazkirah (1567-1607), better known by his pen-name, Zikri, spent 40 years of his life compiling the book of Khulasat al-Ash’ar va Zubdat al-Afkar.
The last part of the book includes biographies of 385 poets of the 16th century who are grouped into 12 categories corresponding to constellations of the zodiac. The constellations are in turn attributed to different cities and geographical regions of Iran starting from Kashan and leading to the Khorasan region.
One part is also dedicated to the poets of Isfahan which will be discussed by Abdolali Adib Borumand, the editor of “Khulasat al-Ash’ar va Zubdat al-Afkar”.