Introduction

There is no definitive information regarding the birth and death dates of Mahsatī Ganjavī. ꜥAwfī’s Lubāb al-albāb (The quintessence of hearts), the earliest anthology (tazkirah) of Persian poets, makes no mention her, nor of her being a poet or scribe (dabīr). However, in Tārīkh-i guzīdah (Selected history), Hamd Allāh Mustawfī refers to her as a contemporary of Sultān Mahmūd Ghaznavī,¹Hamd Allāh Mustawfī, Tārīkh-i guzīdah, ed. ꜥAbd al-Husayn Navāʾī (Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1387/2008), 718. while ꜥAttār Nīshābūrī considers her a contemporary of the Seljuk Sultān Sanjar.²Farīd al-Dīn ꜥAttār Nayshābūrī, Ilāhīʹnāmah, ed. Muhammad Rizā Shafīꜥī Kadkanī (Tehran: Sukhan, 1387/2009), 296–97. See also Muꜥīn al-Dīn Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī: Buzurg-tarīn zan-i shāꜥir-i rubāꜥīʹsurā (Tehran: Tūs, 1382/2003), 8.

There is substantial evidence suggesting that Mahsatī lived during Sultān Sanjar’s reign. In addition to ꜥAttār’s account in Ilāhīʹnāmah, which mentions Mahsatī as a contemporary of Sultān Sanjar —a claim cited by many scholars —there is another account found in a later source, a manuscript from the 8th/14th century that has not been previously discussed. This manuscript, cataloged as No. 1932 in the Esad Efendi Library and written by Hindūʹshāh Nakhjavānī, dates to AH 712/1312. Mīr Afzalī has referenced this source in his introduction to Khayyām’s poetry and related quatrains (Khayyāmānah).³ꜥAlī Mīr Afzalī, “Rubāꜥī-yi Khayyām dar bayāz-i Hindūʹshāh Nakhjavānī” [Khayyām’s quatrains in Hindūʹshāh Nakhjavānī’s book], Guzārish-i Mīrās 82–83 (Spring and Summer 1398/2019): 53.

The marginalia written several decades after the date mentioned in this collection have significant literary value. One notable example is a story describing how Mahsatī composed a quatrain while in the service of the Seljuk Sultān Sanjar:

Sultān Sanjar (God’s mercy be upon him) ordered Mahsatī, the scribe, and another poet to compose a quatrain describing snow. The poet said:

The world is like a pelican today in color

…… (The second line is blank)

The silver-colored cloud sifts over stones

Like filings seeping through a sieve with small holes.

The Sultān did not approve of this quatrain. Mahsatī said:

O King, the sphere appointed you to sovereignty

And saddled the royal steed for you
So that the golden-hooved steed would not step on mud

It has spread silver on the ground. ⁴Istanbul (Turkey), Esad Efendi Library, Marginalia of MS 1932, 8th/14th century, fol. 1r.

This anecdote was summarized a century later in Dawlatshāh Samarqandī’s Tazkirah, which that along with ꜥAttār’s Ilāhīʹnāmah, has been referenced by scholars who believe Mahsatī was a contemporary of Sultān Sanjar.⁵Dawlatshāh Samarqandī, Tazkirah, ed. Edward Brown (Tehran: Asātīr, 1382/2003), 65; see also Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 10. The antiquity of the Nakhjavānī manuscript and the account in it provide further confirmation of Mahsatī being a contemporary of Sultān Sanjar. The fact that a text as old as the Esad Efendi Library manuscript refers to Mahsatī as Sultān Sanjar’s scribe and counts her among the court poets is valuable for Mahsatī researchers. The version of the quatrain recorded in this source differs from that in Dawlatshāh’s Tazkirah and is significant due to its earlier documentation.

To estimate the approximate timeline of Mahsatī’s life, one of her newly discovered quatrains, which will be introduced at the end of section four in this paper, is of great significance. This quatrain, addressed to Sūzanī Samarqandī, a poet at Sultān Sanjar’s court, is particularly important as it clearly establishes that Mahsatī and Sūzanī were contemporaries. If the attribution of this quatrain to Mahsatī is accepted as authentic, it provides further evidence that she lived in the 6th/12th century and was a contemporary of Sultān Sanjar. Mahsatī was a scribe and poet at Sultān Sanjar’s court, while Sūzanī eulogized Sanjar in some of his poetry. Sanjar died in AH 552/1157,⁶Hasan Anūshah, Dānishʹnāmah-i adab-i Fārsī [An encyclopedia of Persian literature] (2nd repr. ed., Tehran: Sāzmān-i Chāp va Intishārāt-i Vizārat-i Farhang, 1380/2001), 1:521. and Sūzanī in 569/1173.⁷Dawlatshāh Samarqandī, Tazkirah, 103; Taqī al-Dīn Kāshī, Khulāsat al-ashꜥār, MS 667, India Office Library, fol. 229r; see also Sūzanī Samarqandī, Dīvān, ed. Nāsir al-Dīn Shāhʹhusaynī (Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1338/1959), 8. Based on this evidence and the existence of a poem by Mahsatī addressed to Sūzanī, she was alive during Sultān Sanjar’s lifetime and must have lived at least several years before Sūzanī’s death in 569/1173. It is also possible that shed lived for some years after this date.

Additionally, another piece of evidence affirms that Mahsatī lived in the 6th/12th century. Shams Qays Rāzī preserved the earliest known record of one of Mahsatī’s quatrains. In a section on the subject of “yā of merit and relation” and its use as a rhyme letter in poetry, he cites verses by Sanāʾī on the subject and then states, “and in imitation of him, Mahsatī the scribe wrote: ‘With a face like springtime and a temper like winter…’”⁸Shams al-Dīn Muhammad Qays Rāzī, al-Muꜥjam fī maꜥāʾīr ashꜥār al-ꜥajam [A treatise on the prosody and poetic art of the Persians], ed. Muhammad Qazvīnī and revised by Muhammad Taqī Muddarris Razavī (Tehran: Tehran University, 1335/1956), 239. From Shams Qays Rāzī’s perspective in the first half of the 7th/13th century, Mahsatī imitated Sanāʾī Ghaznavī. Sanāʾī’s most accurate date of death is AH 545/1150.⁹Badīꜥ al-Zamān Furūzānfar, Sukhan va sukhanvarān [Literature and writers] (Tehran: Zavvār, 1387/2008), 263. Thus, Sanāʾī’s death serves as additional evidence that Mahsatī must have been alive around this time. As mentioned earlier, it is likely that she lived at least until a few years before or after Sūzanī Samarqandī’s death in 569/1163.

Literature Review of Mahsatī Studies

The study of Mahsatī’s poetry has revealed significant shortcomings in the collections compiled by researchers over the years. These deficiencies, considering the decades-old publication dates of most of these works and the limited access of Mahsatī scholars to newer sources, are not surprising. However, the presence of errors in these collections, as noted in critiques of these works, has diminished their credibility.¹⁰See ꜥAlī Mīr Afzalī, “Bunyād kih bar bād buvad, hīch buvad, māʾkhīz-i shumārī az intisābāt-i ghalat dar rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Ganjavī” [If based on wind, it leads to nothing], Guzārish-i Mīrās 76–77 (Autumn and Winter 1395/2016): 150–52; Maryam Musharraf, “Mahsatīʹshināsī,” Nāmah-yi Farhangistān 25 (Spring 1384/2005): 85–101.

The first effort to compile Mahsatī’s poetry was undertaken by Tāhirī Shahāb in 1335/1956. It was followed by Fritz Meier’s publication in 1963 (Die schöne Mahsatī). Meier’s access to manuscripts housed in Turkish libraries made his work a cornerstone for Mahsatī studies. Subsequent researchers have found it impossible to study Mahsatī without referencing Meier’s Die schöne Mahsatī (The Beautiful Mahsatī). For instance, Muꜥīn al-Dīn Mihrābī’s Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, published in 1382/2003, was compiled with significant reliance on Meier’s work.

The most recent book containing Mahsatī’s quatrains, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, was published in 1394/2015 by Mahdī Dihqān. This work utilized some new sources unavailable to earlier researchers. In recent years, additional sources, such as an ancient manuscript of quatrains (Safīnah-‎yi kuhan-i rubāꜥiyāt), have come to light, though their contents have not yet been incorporated into existing collections attributed to Mahsatī. As such, Fritz Meier’s Die schöne Mahsatī remains the most comprehensive and meticulous study of Mahsatī’s poetry and her shared quatrains with other poets. It is the first major scholarly work on Mahsatī and has served as the foundation for subsequent research, whether directly or indirectly, for those with access to his book in German. Two articles by Alī Mīr Afzalī, “Bunyād kih bar bād buvad, hīch buvad; māʾkhiz-i shumārī az intisābāt-i ghalat dar rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Ganjavī” (A foundation built on sand is worthless: sources of misattributions of Mahsatī Ganjavī’s quatrains), and “Muqāyisah-ʾi rubāꜥiyāt-i du majmūꜥah-ʾi kuhan” (A comparison of quatrains in two ancient collections) are also valuable contributions to Mahsatī studies.

Maryam Musharraf’s article “Mahsatīʹshināsī” (Mahsatī Studies) is another significant resource that critiques and evaluates both Meier’s and Mihrābī’s works. This article highlights Meier’s extensive research and sheds light on two key points he identified regarding Mahsatī’s quatrains and those in Nuzhat al-majālis (Joy of the assemblies): “Most of Mahsatī’s quatrains are shared between Nuzhat al-majālis and manuscript F1203… In ten instances, manuscript F1203 attributes quatrains to Mahsatī that appear alongside hers in Nuzhat al-majālis but are either anonymous or attributed to other poets.”¹¹Musharraf, “Mahsatīʹshināsī,” 87–88. Meier concluded that the scribe of Nuzhat al-majālis occasionally made errors when recording the names of authors, sometimes misattributing or rearranging them.

Findings

It is necessary to address two key points before delving into the main discussion: The first point relates to the reliability of sources. While Nuzhat al-majālis and Mūnis al-ahrār (The free man’s companion) are valuable due to their antiquity, they are not always reliable for attributing quatrains to Mahsatī. Some quatrains attributed to her in these sources can also be found in the collected works of other poets. As Fritz Meier noted, the scribe of Nuzhat al-majālis misattributed or rearranged the names of poets. While it is not possible to doubt every quatrain attributed to Mahsatī in Nuzhat al-majālis, having alternative claims supported by credible sources can serve as a standard for excluding certain qutrains from of Mahsatī’s collections or questioning their attribution. This is especially true for quatrains that are attributed to her based on a single source. For example, if a quatrain is attributed to Mahsatī in only Nuzhat al-majālis, but is also found in the earlier and more authoritative collections of Zahīr Fāryābī, the likelihood of its attribution to Zahīr is much stronger than to Mahsatī.

As discussed below, some quatrains included in Mahsatī’s collections and sourced from Nuzhat al-majālis, Mūnis al-ahrār, and other anthologies such as manuscript no. 1203 from the Istanbul University Library and manuscript no. 900 from the Iranian Parliament Library, are very likely not hers. These sources fall under the category of anthologies and poetic collections, and it appears that their compilers, at least regarding attributions to Mahsatī, carelessly and generously assigned other poets’ quatrains to her because a woman’s poetry was appealing to them and their audience. This phenomenon has occurred even contemporary times, where researchers have sought excuses rather than evidence to attribute others’ quatrains to Mahsatī. As Mīr Afzalī notes regarding the quatrains in Nuzhat al-majālis and its editor:

Dr. Riyāhī, based on the fact that some of the quatrains in section 39 were attributed to Mahsatī Ganjavī in later sources, guessed that most quatrains in this section belong to Mahsatī Ganjavī. Based on this unproven assumption, Ahmad Suhaylī Khavānsārī in his book Rubāꜥiyāt-i Hakīmah-i Mahsatī Dabīr (Tehran, 1371/1992) has included all the ninety quatrains under Mahsatī Ganjavī’s name. Some of the quatrains in section 39 belong to Kamāl al-Dīn Ismāꜥīl Isfahānī. Abū al-Majd Tabrīzī in Khulāsat al-ashꜥār has attributed some others to different poets, including one to Abū al-Majd’s father, Malik Masꜥūd bin Muzaffar, and another is Qutb al-Dīn ꜥAtīqī.¹²ꜥAlī Mīr Afzalī, “Muqāyisah-ʾi rubāꜥiyāt-i du majmūꜥah-ʾi kuhan, Nuzhat al-majālis-i Jamāl Khalīl Shirvānī va Khulāsat al-ashꜥār-i Abū al-Majd Tabrīzī” [Comparing the rubāꜥiyāt of two ancient collections, Nuzhat al-majālis by Jamāl Khalīl Shirvānī and Khulāsat al-ashꜥār by Abū al-Majd Tabrīzī] Nashr-i Dānish 110 (Winter 1382/2003): 37–38.

The second point relates to variety of themes, and the themes of quatrains attributed to Mahsatī are diverse; hence, their attribution cannot be confirmed or rejected solely based on thematic or content analysis. In what follows, I analyze two recurring themes in quatrains attributed to Mahsatī —humorous quatrains and those about the beloved’s beard—as examples of verses that are most likely not hers. I will analyze the quatrains in three sections: 1) Quatrains that do not belong to Mahsatī, 2) Quatrains with vulgar themes, and 3) Quatrains with the theme of the beloved’s beard. In the fourth section, I will introduce newly discovered quatrains by Mahsatī to open avenues for research in Mahsatī studies.

1. Quatrains That Do Not Belong to Mahsatī

Many of the quatrains attributed to Mahsatī and included in collections of her poetry are not hers based on the reasons which will be explained. Some of these verses have been identified by compilers, especially Fritz Meier, but there are still quatrains in these collections that belong to other poets but have become famous under Mahsatī’s name.

Usually, the attribution of verses to Mahsatī in ancient texts has been accepted without question by those who have collected her poetry. There are examples of such verses that have been recorded in old texts like Shirvānī’s Nuzhat al-majālis and Jājarmī’s Mūnis al-ahrār, but based on codicological evidence, their attribution to Mahsatī is incorrect.

1.1 Fritz Meier, citing Nuzhat al-majālis and manuscript no. 1203 of the Istanbul University Library, has recorded the following quatrain under Mahsatī’s name, and Mihrābī and Dihqān have followed suit:

I have a heart in ruins within me,

I have a soul with a thousand twists within it.

Day and night, in longing your face, I have

An eye with a thousand springs of water in it.”¹³Fritz Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī [The Beautiful Mahsatī] (Wiesbaden, 1963), 360; Mahdī Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī (Tabrīz: Akhtar, 1393/2014), 139.

This quatrain does not seem to belong to Mahsatī. According to Meier’s research, manuscript no. 1203 of the Istanbul University Library was written under the influence of Nuzhat al-majālis. Most of Mahsatī’s quatrains are common in these two sources, and their errors are also shared.¹⁴Quoted from Musharraf, “Mahsatīʹshināsī,” 87. In fact, the only source attributing this quatrain to Mahsatī is the author of Nuzhat al-majālis. Yazdgirdī, in his edition of Zahīr’s Dīvān, used a manuscript dated 717/1317 as the basis, and this quatrain is present in that manuscript. In is also included under Zahīr’s name in another Yazdgirdī’s manuscript dated 759/1357 and in other manuscripts written in the 9th century AH.¹⁵Zahīr Fāryābī, Dīvān, ed. Amīr Husayn Yazdgirdī and Asghar Dādbih (Tehran: Qatrah, 1381/2002), 273. It is also attributed to Zahīr in a manuscript preserved in the Nuruosmaniye  Library dated 844/1440.¹⁶Zahīr Fāryābī, Dīvān, AH 844/1440, anonymous copyist, MS 4190, Nuruosmaniye Library, Süleymaniye Library, Istanbul, fol. 180. The writer of ꜥArafāt al-ꜥāshiqīn (The Mount ꜥArafāt of lovers) also attributes it to Zahīr.¹⁷Taqī al-Dīn Awhadī Baliyānī, ꜥArafāt al-ꜥāshiqīn va ꜥarasāt al-ꜥārifīn, corrected by Zabīh Allāh Sāhibkār and Āminah Fakhr Ahmad (Tehran: Mīrās-i Maktūb, 1389/2010), 4:2521. However, this quatrain is also present in the printed Dīvān (Collection of poems) of Kamāl Isfahānī, based on a single unreliable manuscript. It has another claimant. The author of Rasāʾīl al-ꜥushshāq va vasāʾil al-mushtāq (The epistles of the lovers and the means of the yearning) has attributed this quatrain to Sayfī.¹⁸Kamāl al-Dīn Isfahānī, Dīvān (Ghazaliyāt va rubāꜥiyāt), ed. Muhammad Rizā Zīāʾ (Tehran: Bunyād-i Mawqūfāt-i Afshār, 1399/2020), 347, 430. Though one cannot simply ignore the valuable single copy of the ancient Rasāʾīl al-ꜥushshāq, the consensus of most old manuscripts of Zahīr’s Dīvān in attributing the quatrain to Zahīr makes its belonging to him more probable compared to Mahsatī, Kamāl Isfahānī, and even Sayfī. Moreover, the confusion between Zahīr’s and Mahsatī’s poems has precedent beyond this quatrain. There are at least two other quatrains in Zahīr’s Dīvān¹⁹Fāryābī, Dīvān, ed. Yazdgirdī and Dādbih, 260, 273. that have been included in some editions of Mahsatī’s Dīvān²⁰Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 137; Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 210. but do not belong to her:

The wind came and scattered roses on the drinkers’ heads…

And:

Pour the pure ruby-colored tulip wine …²¹Fāryābī, Dīvān, ed. Yazdgirdī and Dādbih, 260, 273.

1.2 There are some quatrains attributed to Mahsatī in Mūnis al-ahrār that do not belong to her. Citing Muhammad Badr Jājarmī’s Mūnis al-ahrār and Iskandar Mīrzā’s collection, Meier has recorded the following quatrain as an example of antithesis under Mahsatī’s name:²²Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 265.

At times, from both great and small, more and less, I’ve known,

Good and evil, joy and pain, from kin and stranger shown.

Strange it is, the friend who, like an enemy, speaks,

Of my virtues and faults, day and night, from all directions thrown.

Others have also followed Meier in recording this quatrain under Mahsatī’s name.²³Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 105; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 125. However, Muhammad Shabānkārahʾī has attributed this same quatrain to Muzaffar al-Dīn Muhammad bin Mubāriz, a ruler of Shabānkārah, in Majmaꜥ al-ansāb (A collection of genealogies).²⁴Muhammad Shabānkārahʾī, Majmaꜥ al-ansāb, ed. Mīr Hāshim Muhaddis (Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1376/1997), 162. This book was written in 733/1332, a few years before Mūnis al-ahrār, and its author was a contemporary of Muzaffar al-Dīn Muhammad.

Considering the precedence of the text of Mūnis al-ahrār, this quatrain has been considered one of Mahsatī’s definite poems and has been recorded in her poetry collections. However, considering the proximity of the year of composition of Majmaꜥ al-ansāb, which attributes the above quatrain to Muzaffar, and even its slight precedence to Mūnis al-ahrār, one cannot give a definitive opinion on its attribution to Mahsatī.  

As mentioned, the quatrain in question is also attributed to Mahsatī in Iskandar Mīrzā’s collection. However, this text was written about a century after Majmaꜥ al-ansāb, and more than half of the quatrains attributed to Mahsatī in it are also recorded under her name in Mūnis al-ahrār.²⁵Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 77. Thus, there is a possibility that Mūnis al-ahrār was one of the sources for Iskandar Mīrzā’s collection in attributing quatrains to Mahsatī.

We should also not overlook the fact that some quatrains by other poets containing antithesis have been attributed to Mahsatī. For example, Masꜥūd Saꜥd Salmān’s quatrain: “O ringdove, when I look at you…” which appears anonymously in Mūnis al-ahrār, has been attributed to Mahsatī due to its use of antithesis and the observance of the similarity.²⁶Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 284, quoted from Musharraf, “Mahsatīʹshināsī,” 90

1.3 Meier and others, citing Mūnis al-ahrār, have attributed another quatrain to Mahsatī:²⁷Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 300; Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 115; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 131.

I saw a boy among the saddlers sit,

Worthy of life’s sacrifice, his head a treasure lit.

From his foul mood, the world endures its pain,

But from his fragrant scent, fairies dance in gain.

This quatrain which also contains antithesis is among the dubious quatrains attributed to Mahsatī. The same quatrain has been attributed to ꜥĀyīshah Muqrīyah, based on a text dated 763/1361.²⁸ꜥAlī Mīr Afzalī, Jung-i rubāꜥī [Collection of quatrains] (Tehran: Sukhan, 1394/2015), 166. This quatrain is also attributed to Sharaf Khutallā in Safīnah-‎ʾ‎i tarmad and Asīr in Nuzhat al-majālis.²⁹Muhammad ibn Yaghmūr, Safīnah-‎ʾ‎i tarmad, ed. Umīd Sarvarī (Tehran: Bunyād-i mawqūfāt-i Afsh ār, 1396), 491. Hence, it is possible that the attribution of this quatrain to Mahsatī, given its many claimants, is not correct, similar to the quatrain shared with Muzaffar al-Dīn Muhammad Mubāriz.

1.4 Quatrain

I said to the fever, “Why torment him so?

For God’s sake, release him, let him go.”

The fever replied, “Tremble not on his body more than I,

For in his matters, I burn hotter than your sigh.”

This quatrain has been recorded in Mahsatī’s poetry collections of her poetry such as Fritz Meier’s Die schöne Mahsatī and others, based on Nuzhat al-majālis.³⁰Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 261; Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 102; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 124. However, it also has another claimant named Fakhr al-Dīn Mubārakʹshāh Marvrūdī and has been recorded in his printed Dīvān.³¹Fakhr al-Dīn Mubārakʹshāh Marvarūdī, Rahīq al-tahqīq: Tasnīf-i Fakhr al-Dīn Mubārakʹshāh Marvarūdī dar sāl-i 584 hijrī bih inzimām-i ashꜥār-i dīgar-i ū [The nectar of investigation composed by Fakhr al-Dīn Mubārakʹshāh Marvarūdī in AH 584/1188 and other poems], ed. Nasr al-Allāh Pūrjavādī (Tehran: Markaz-i Nashr-i Dānishgāhī, 1381/2002), 151, quoted from Afzalī, “Muqāyisah-ʾi rubāꜥīyāt-i du majmūꜥah-ʾi kuhan,” 41.

1.5 Quatrain

What tale can I tell of the ache your longing brought?

Of the pain your heart, full of deceit, has wrought?

A night as endless as your tresses, I’d need,

To recount the torment your absence decreed.

This has been attributed to Mahsatī based on ꜥArafāt al-ꜥāshiqīn, Ātashkadah-i Āzar, Tazkirah-i riyāz al-ꜥārifīn (The pastures of the gnostics), Riyāz al-shuꜥarā (The pastures of the poets), and several other later sources.³²Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 208; Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 151; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 114. In fact, earliest source attributing this quatrain to Mahsatī is ꜥArafāt al-ꜥāshiqīn by Awhadī Baliyānī, and other sources have followed suit. However, Awhadī Baliyānī has also carelessly attributed the same quatrain to Sirāj Qumrī.³³Awhadī Baliyānī, ꜥArafāt al-ꜥāshiqīn,1830. This means he has attributed one quatrain to both Mahsatī and Sirāj Qumrī, reducing the likelihood of that it belongs to Mahsatī. The same quatrain has also been recorded in the unreliable print of Majd Hamgar’s Dīvān.³⁴Majd al-Dīn Hamgar, Dīvān, ed. Ahmad Karamī (Tehran: Mā, 1375/1996), 743. The quatrain in question has also be attributed to Hamgar in Kashī’s Khulāsat al-ashꜥār (The summary of poems).³⁵Taqī al-Dīn Kāshī, Khulāsat al-ashꜥār fī daqāyiq al-ashꜥār, AH 10th century/16th century, MS 7790, Kitābʹkhānah-i Markazī-i Dānishgāh-i Tehran, fol. 389. The time gap between the writing of ꜥArafāt al-āshiqīn va ꜥarasāt al-ꜥārifīn and Khulāsat al-ashꜥār is not that significant that one can be preferred over the other, and the accuracy attribution in either book cannot be considered certain. Thus, it must be said with probability that this quatrain may not belong to Mahsatī, and Awhadī Baliyānī’s error should not be overlooked in this. Considering Kāshī’s statement, the quatrain is more likely to belong to Hamgar.

1.6 Quatrain

For what crime was all this enmity needed?

Was it necessary to torment me so?

Refrain from spilling my innocent heart’s blood,

For now it’s gone—far more than it should.

Meier and others have attributed this quatrain to Mahsatī based on The Anthology of Quatrains (Jung-i rubāꜥiyāt) no. 1203 I the Istanbul University Library.³⁶Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 173; Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 172; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 109. However, this quatrain is recorded in Razī al-Dīn Nīshābūrī’s Dīvān in the section authentic quatrains (due to its presence in most manuscripts).³⁷Razī al-Dīn Nayshābūrī, Dīvān, ed. Abū al-Fazl Vazīrʹnizhād (Mashhad: Muhaqqiq, 1381/2002), 174.

1.7 The following is the first distich of a quatrain recorded in this form in Nuzhat al-majālis and attributed to Mahsatī:

May no one be in love with that honey-like lip of yours,  

May only Pherkad star and the moon be your resting place and cradle.

The quatrain is included Fritz Meier’s Die schöne Mahsatī and other works.³⁸Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 198; Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 180; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 113. However, the complete form of this quatrain is recorded in Lubāb al-albāb and is attributed to Rashīdī Samarqandī.³⁹Muhammad Awfī, Lubāb al-albāb, ed. Edward Brown (Leiden: Brill, 1903), 2:180.

May no one desire your honey-like lip

May only Pherkad and the moon be your resting place and cradle.

You strive for separation, while I long for union

Since mine is not to be, may yours also be denied

This quatrain contains several literary devices, and “one of the characteristics of Rashīdī’s poems is their inclusion of various devices and the poet’s skill in using them.”⁴⁰Zabīh Allāh Safā, Tārīkh-i adabiyāt dar Īrān [History of literature in Iran] (Tehran: Firdaws, 1373/1994), 2:548. Therefore, it most likely belongs to Rashīdī.

1.8 Quatrain

  Your face, which the moon cannot surpass,

  Will not bow to anyone through any spell.

   It brought a line (of beauty) around itself so that its charm

   Would never step out of bounds for all eternity.

This quatrain has been attributed to Mahsatī in Nuzhat al-majālis.⁴¹Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 243; Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 96; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 120. Dihqān and, before him, Mīr Afzalī, have noted that this quatrain is also attributed to Saꜥd Varāvajī in Khulāsat al-ashꜥār.⁴²Afzalī, “Muqāyisah-ʾi rubāꜥiyāt-i du majmūꜥah-ʾi kuhan,” 141; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 56. Abū Mahbūb includes this quatrain in Awhad al-Dīn Kirmānī’s collection of quatrains, citing the Lala İsmail Library‎ manuscript of Majmūꜥah-yi ashꜥār va murāsalāt (‎Collection of poetry and correspondence),  dated 742/1341.⁴³Awhad al-Dīn Kirmānī, Dīvān-i rubāꜥiyāt, ed. Ahmad Abū Mahbūb (Tehran: Surūsh, 1366/1987), 311. Thus, its attribution is shared among three poets. Given its specific theme (the beloved’s beard), which will be discussed later, it is unlikely that this quatrain belongs to Mahsatī.

1.9 Quatrain

Every stream I etched with my nails upon my face,  

Now fills with the tears that from my eyes trace.

If for a while my honor was left to wane  

I pour tears from my lashes to wash away the pain

[There is a wordplay between āb-i rūy (water on the face) and ābrūy (honor).]

This quatrain is recorded in Die schöne Mahsatī based solely on manuscript no. 900 of the Iranian Parliament Library. Meier notes the shared attribution of this quatrain to both Mahsatī and Zahīr Fāryābī. However, Dihqān attributes it to Mahsatī without considering its shared attribution to Zahīr Fāryābī.⁴⁴Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 279; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 127.

1.10  Some poems have been attributed to Mahsatī without clear sources, yet their appear in all collections of her quatrains. For example, a poem in Mahsatī’s Dīvān published by Tāhirī Shahāb reads:⁴⁵Tāhirī Shahāb, Dīvān-i Mahsatī Ganjavī (Tehran: Ibn-i Sīnā, 1347/1968), 55.

How long will the heart wash its face with blood from your sorrow?

And how long must my heart endure, longing for union with you?

Have mercy for no life falls like rain from the sky

Have pity, for no heart blooms from the earth.  

The source Tāhirī Shahāb used to attribute this quatrain to Mahsatī is unknown. However, following his lead, this quatrain has been included in collections of Mahsatī’s poetry compiled after him.⁴⁶Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 271; Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 196. This quatrain is not attributed to Mahsatī in older texts and likely does not belong to her. The quatrain also appears twice in Safīnah-ʾi kuhan-i rubāꜥiyāt (8th/13th century), once anonymously and once under the name of Mubārakʹshāh. The editors of this anthology have also found this quatrain in Kamāl Isfahānī’s Dīvān and Kulliyāt-i Shams, and noted in a footnote that it is attributed to Mahsatī in Iskandar Mīrzā’s Jung.⁴⁷Anonymous, Safīnah-ʾi kuhan-i rubāiꜥyāt, ed. Arhām Murādī and Muhammad Afshīnʹvafāʾī (Tehran: Sukhan, 1395/2016), 227, 260.

A quatrain like the one attributed to Mahsatī appears under the name of Sayyīd Ashraf in Nuzhat al-majālis,⁴⁸Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 271. but it is not recorded in Hasan Ashraf Ghaznavī’s Dīvān, edited by Mudarris Razavī. The same quatrain can be seen in the new edition of Hasan Ghaznavī’s Dīvān:⁴⁹Hasan Ghaznavī, Dīvān, ed. ꜥAbbās Bagjānī (Tehran: Majlis, 1397/2018), 359.

The heart constantly speaks of love

It washes its face with its eyes’ blood

Have mercy for no life falls like rain from the sky

Have pity, for no heart blooms from the earth 

The quatrain attributed to Mahsatī is recorded under Anvarī’s name in ꜥArafāt al-ꜥāshiqīn,⁵⁰Awhadī Baliyānī, ꜥArafāt al-ꜥāshiqīn, 1:356. and Khān Ārzū also attributes it to Anvarī in Majmaꜥ al-nafāyis (The collection of rare treasures), pointing out that “in some books this quatrain is attributed to another poet.”⁵¹Sirāj al-Dīn ꜥAlīʹkhān Ārzū, Majmaꜥ al-nafāyis, ed. Zayb al-Nisāʾ ꜥAlīʹkhān (Islamabad: Center for Persian Research of Iran and Pakistan, 2004), 1:74. This attribution is not significant and may be influenced by later Dīvāns written in India. Currently, Nuzhat al-majālis is the oldest source that records the above quatrain with the poet’s name, namely Sayyid Ashraf. 

2 Quatrains with Vulgar Themes

In Mahsatī’s poetry collections, there are quatrains that are not hers but have been attributed to her because of their specific themes. For example, some people have observed personal quatrains and poetic exchanges supposedly between Mahsatī and the son of preacher of Ganjah like the following mentioned in Jājarmī’s Mūnis al-ahrār:

I am Mahsatī, unmatched among all beauties,

Renowned for my charm in Khurāsān and ʿIrāq.

O son of Ganjah’s preacher, for God’s sake,

Bread, meat, and penis are needed, or else parting’s fate. ⁵²Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 271; Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 196. A translation of this quatrain can be found in Paul Sprachman, An Anthology of Forbidden Literature, Translated with Notes and an Introduction (Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publisher, 1995), 3.

Subsequently, some have viewed Mahsatī as a promiscuous woman and attributed vulgar quatrains to her, considering them characteristic of her style. This perception of Mahsatī is not new. There is evidence that she has been viewed as a morally corrupt woman at least since the 8th/14th century. However, it is highly probable that these types of quatrains are not by Mahsatī, or have been altered by scribes. For example, some sources have recorded the last hemistich of the above quatrain as “Do not let me burn so in the pain of separation.”⁵³Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 106.

There is further evidence that some have altered words in quatrains to support the idea of Mahsatī’s moral corruption. A quatrain recorded in an 8th/14^th century text reads:

To the bloodletter who knew neither faith nor creed,

With a sharp blade and a blunt tongue indeed,

I said, “Pierce my vein as closely as my heart,”

But heedless, he struck wide, like his wife’s rear part⁵⁴Tāj al-Dīn ꜥAlī bin Ahmad Tabrīzī, Safīnah, 1423, MS 3432, Esad Efendi Collection, Süleymaniye Library, Istanbul, Turkey, fol. 403r; Anonymous, Safīnah-ʾi kuhan-i rubāꜥiyāt, 220.

However, Fritz Meier, citing Ātashkadah-ʾi Āzar by Āzar Bīgdilī and other recent texts, presents the third hemistich in a vulgar form. Scribes of these texts have changed the word “heart” to a word referring to female genitalia.⁵⁵Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 266.

A quatrain attributed to Khayyām and Mujīr Baylaqānī reads:

One hand on the Qurāʾn, one on the wine cup,

At times a man of the licit, at times a man of the illicit,

Under this cracked turquoise dome we stand,

Neither true disbelievers, not full Muslims.⁵⁶Mujīr al-Dīn Baylaqānī, Dīvān, ed. Muhammad Ābādī (Tabrīz: Intishārāt-i Muꜥassisah-yi Tārīkh va Farhang-i Īrān, 1358/1979), 406; Yārʹahmad Rashīdī Tabrīzī, Tarabʹkhānah (Rubāꜥiyāt-i Khayyām), ed. Jalāl al-Dīn Humāʾī (Tehran: Humā, 1367/1988), 249. In the Dānishʹnāmah-ʾi adab-i fārsī, the similarity of this rubāꜥī in Mujīr and Khayyām is pointed out, see Anūshah, ed., Dānishʹnāmah-ʾi adab-i fārsī, 5:491. See also Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 274.

The second hemistich is recorded as “Sometimes near the licit and sometimes near the illicit” in Mujīr Baylaqānī’s Dīvān. None of the old manuscripts confirm the attribution of the quatrain to Mahsatī. However, the specific theme in this hemistich and its compatibility with the perception of Mahsatī as morally loose and promiscuous has led to the quatrain being included in Mahsatī’s poetry collections with the hemistich “Sometimes near the licit and sometimes near the illicit.” For example, Tāhirī Shahāb noted its attribution to Khayyām but ultimately attributed it to Mahsatī based on “the linguistic style.”⁵⁷Shahāb, Dīvān-i Mahsatī Ganjavī, 59. This quatrain is also included in Fritz Meier’s Die schöne Mahsatī and Mihrābī’s Mahsatī Ganjahʾī.⁵⁸Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 275; Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 196.

Ahlī Shīrāzī (858–942/1454–1535) openly called Mahsatī a symbol of debauchery:

The wayward soul repents from sin it is utter desolation,

While Mahsatī’s modesty stems from her profound lack of veil.⁵⁹Ahlī Shīrāzī, Dīvān, ed. Hāmid Rabbānī (Tehran: Sanāʾī, 1344/1965), 432.

Some manuscripts of the Dīvān of Salmān Sāvajī (709–778/1309–1376) record the following distich:

The enemy’s inaction stems solely weakness

The harlot’s modesty from the absence of a veil⁶⁰Salmān Sāvajī, Dīvān, AH 804/1401, MS 11842, Marꜥashī Library, Qum, Iran, fol. 78.

Ahlī Shīrāzī had this line from Sāvajī’s poem in mind and replaced the word “harlot” with Mahsatī!

Vālah Dāghistānī, author of Tazkirah-yi riyāz al-shuꜥarā, went even further and bluntly described Mahsatī, saying: “Though Mahsatī walked among the courtesans, the sphere’s grasp never touched the skirt of her union. She had slain the world, leaving it lifeless in the wake of her coquetry and allure!!”⁶¹ꜥAlīʹqulī Vālah Dāghistānī, Riyāz al-shuꜥarā, ed. Muhsin Nājī Nasrābādī (Tehran: Asātīr, 1384/2005), 2:2029.

In our time, Jalāl Khālighī Mutlaq has cited several crude quatrains attributed to Mahsatī, ultimately concluding that she had an inclination for ménage à trois, specifically one woman with two men!⁶²Jalāl Khālighī Mutlaq, “Tanʹkāmahʹsurāʾī dar adab-i fārsī” [Writing of body in Persian literature], Irānʹshināsī 8, no. 19 (Spring 1375/1996): 49.

However, most of the vulgar quatrains attributed to Mahsatī should not be considered hers. As mentioned before, the vulgar quatrains included in Safīnah-ʾi kuhan-i rubāꜥiyāt belong to this category. For example, the following obscene quatrain has not been attributed to Mahsatī in any text other than Safīnah-‎ʾ‎i kuhan-i rubāꜥiyāt:

I am not the one to deny the desire for the penis,

Nor can I ever be satisfied by its mere consumption.

Should the need for one penis arise,

I would become the pupil in the eyes of a hundred lions⁶³Anonymous, Safīnah-ʾi kuhan-i rubāꜥiyāt, 314.

Or consider this quatrain:

I have a penis as think as wood and tree

Soft as fur and silk, and hard as iron

I sit on the testicles like a traveler on luggage

And thrust it into the enemies’ bottoms at once⁶⁴Anonymous, Safīnahʾi kuhan-i rubāꜥiyāt, 318.

 It is obvious that the poet is a man, and not a woman, but the preconceived notion about Mahsatī has distorted the scribe’s understanding of this quatrain, to the extent that he did not realize that a male poet was boasting of his virility in it.

As mentioned, these quatrains are not attributed to Mahsatī in any other text and they do not belong to her. Fortunately, Safīnah-ʾi kuhan-i rubāꜥiyāt has been published in recent years and was unavailable to the compilers of Mahsatī’s poetry. Had it been accessible, it likely would have been included in the collections, because predates both Nuzhat al-majālis and Mūnis al-ahrār, from which every single attributed quatrain was sourced and cited.

3 Quatrains with the Theme of the Beloved’s Beard

In classical Persian literature, the male beloved is desirable and cherished as long as he remains beardless. Once his beard and mustache grow and the blackness of the beard overtakes the whiteness of his face, he loses his appeal for the lover. In the poetry of many male poets, one can find themes related to the disparagement of the bearded beloved. For example, in Saꜥdī’s poetry, the beardless beloved is compared to a gazelle, and when the same desirable gazelle grows beard, the poet perceives him as transformed into a panther.⁶⁵For more examples see, Nuzhat al-majālis, section seven; Khulāsat al-ashꜥār fī rubāꜥiyāt, part twenty-five; Sīrūs Shamīsā, Shāhidʹbāzī dar adab-i fārsī [Pederasty in Persian literature] (Tehran: Firdaws, 1381/2002).

Interestingly, one of the recurring themes in collections of poems attributed to Mahsatī is also the beloved’s beard. In fact, from the repetition of this theme in such quatrains, it appears that this female poet’s preference, like male poets, was for a beardless beloved. Here are some examples of such quatrains:

This quatrain is attributed to Mahsatī in Mūnis al-ahrār:

Since your beard first met your chin,

It’s become quite infamous upon your skin.

You’ve grown a beard, though I know you’ve plucked,

And if not, then where has it been struck?⁶⁶Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 184; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 111.

The following quatrain, which has been referred to earlier, is in Nuzhat al-majālis:

Your face, which the moon cannot surpass,

Will not bow to anyone through any spell.

It brought a line (of beauty, i.e., beard) around itself so that its charm

Would never step out of bounds for all eternity.⁶⁷Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 243; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 120. As it was mentioned earlier, this rubāꜥī, recoded in Awhad al-Dīn Kirmānī’s Dīvān, may not belong to Mahsatī at all.

The following two quatrains are recorded in ꜥAlā Marandī’s Bayāz:

The painter of eternity, to prevent my heart from bleeding,

To keep my longing from surpassing your beauty,

Drew a line of musk around your face,

So that your beauty would never stray beyond the circle.

O you whose sugar has brought forth candy,

Your facial hair has brought a warrant for my blood.

This verdure of yours that has sprouted is another Khizr,

Having brought its abode to the lip of the water of life.⁶⁸Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 120 and 136.

The next quatrain appears in ꜥArafāt al-ꜥāshiqīn:

         On my beloved’s cheek, the sky with its finger

         Wanted to write the decree of the decline of his beauty.

          That houri-natured one made a preemptive move,

Before it became hellish, he went to paradise.⁶⁹Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 110 and 181.

The following two quatrains are from the Istanbul University poetry collection no. 1203:⁷⁰Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 244 and 314; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 121 and 134.

When your facial hair, like violets, began to bloom,

It traced a line that stretched across the moon.

Always before, night would yield to dawn, but now,

The turmoil of my heart makes night emerge from dawn.

Your cheek is musk, the tip of your lock is blood,

O my beloved and my world, do you know how?

The cheek is musk, yet not within the navel,

The lock is blood, yet it emerges from the navel.

Did Mahsatī compose the quatrains by conforming to the dominant literary tradition? Or was the appeal of beardless beloved truly greater in the eyes of this female poet than the bearded beloved (for example, a husband)? I am inclined to believe that the some compilers of Mahsatī’s quatrains have attributed to her any quatrain with the theme of beard that they had encountered in any source. For example, they have attributed to Mahsatī a quatrain that appears in Nuzhat al-majālis under the name of Razīyyah Ganjah’ī:

Look at that lock of hair, bringing its head to the jasmine,

Carrying musk from Khotan around the bloom of jasmine.

They say it’s a line that frames his face,

It’s a line, but soaked in my blood.⁷¹Jamāl Khalīl Shirvānī, Nuzhat al-majālis (Tehran: ꜥIlmī, 1375/1996), 361; Shahāb, Dīvān of Mahsatī Ganjavī, 65.

There is also another quatrain that opens with “The line that sphere wrote on the beloved’s face….” Meier attributes it to Mahsatī based on Collection 900 of Majlis Library. It is attributed to Sālih Baylaqānī in Nuzhat al-majālis and to Mahsatī in the ancient text of Khulāsat al-ashꜥār fī al-rubāꜥiyāt (Safīnah-yi Tabrīz).⁷²Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 179; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 54.

Another quatrain begins with “Your smile brought two beautiful roses to your face…” It is attributed to ꜥAbd Allāh in Nuzhat al-majālis,⁷³Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 333; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 54. and to Mahsatī in Khulāsat al-ashꜥār, transcribed by Abū al-Majd Tabrīzī. Abū al-Majd Tabrīzī also transcribed Hāj Bulah’s Amālī (notes based on lectures) and attributed this same quatrain to Mahsatī on his authority.⁷⁴Hāj Bulah, Amālī, copied by Abū al-Majd Tabrīzī, recorded in Safīnah-yi Tabrīz, facsimile of the manuscript of the Majlis Library (Tehran: Markaz-i Nashr-i Dānishgāhī, 1381/2002), 532. However, Hāj Bulah also compiled a collection of Awhadī Kirmānī’s quatrains, also transcribed by Abū al-Majd Tabrīzī, and there, this same quatrain is attributed to Awhadī.⁷⁵Mīr Afzalī, Jung-i rubāꜥī, 417.

There is another quatrain starting with, “I asked why your beautiful face (literally, moon) fled into the clouds…” It is attributed to Khalīl Shirvānī in Nuzhat al-majālis and to Mahsatī in Khulāsat al-ashꜥār fī al-rubāꜥiyāt.⁷⁶Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 54. Hāj Bulah’s Amālī also attributes it to Mahsatī. We mentioned that the scribe and compiler of Khulāsat al-ashꜥār fī al-rubāꜥiyāt and the scribe of Hāj Bulah’s Amālī is Abū al-Majd Tabrīzī, who may have carried over his mistake in attributing these two quatrains to Mahsatī by confusing poets with each other in another text.⁷⁷Abū al-Majd Tabrīzī, Khulāsat al-ashꜥār, recorded in Safīnah-yi Tabrīz, photographic printing from the manuscript of the Majlis Library (Tehran: Markaz-i Nashr-i Dānishgāhī, 1381/2002), 604; Hāj Bulah, Amālī, 532.

Besides the mentioned quatrains, others numbered 57, 73, 83, 93, and 228 in Fritz Meier Die schöne Mahsatī also deal with the theme of disparaging the bearded beloved‎. In my view, none of the quatrains with the theme of the bearded beloved attributed to Mahsatī, even in ancient sources, have any relation with her.

In addition to quatrains, Fritz Meier has collected poems in other forms attributed to Mahsatī. One of these poems is a distich in the ramal meter (bahr-i ramal), which reads as follows:

نام اول حرف سی و اول و اول نامش سی           تو بدین عقل و بدین فهم و بدین در نرسی

وسط نام وی از اول حرف سی یک نیمه             و آخر نام وی از آخرِ سی آخرِ سی

The first name is the letter thirty (sī), and the beginning of his name is thirty,

With this intellect and understanding, you won’t reach this door.

The middle of his name is half the first letter thirty,

And the end of his name from the end thirty is the end of thirty.

Meier, based on manuscript no. 587 from Istanbul University, included this riddle, which refers to the name ꜥAlī, in Die schöne Mahsatī.⁷⁸Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 379. This poem is also recorded under the name of Mahsatī Dabīr in Rawzat al-nāzir (The garden of the observer) by Kāshī.⁷⁹ꜥIzz al-Dīn Kāshī, Rawzat al-nāzir va nuzhat al-khātir, 8th century AH/ 14th century AD, Handwritten MS 766, Istanbul University Library, 230. I believe this poem cannot be by Mahsatī and its attribution to her stems from a misreading of the title. Most likely, as it as it appears in Jung-i nazm va nasr (Collection of verse and prose) of Majlis Library (dated 738/1337), the original title of the quatrain was “muꜥammā” (معمی, meaning riddle),⁸⁰Anonymous, Jung-i nazm va nasr, collected for Shams al-Dīn Āvī, AH 725/1324, AH 735/1334, AH 738/1337, Handwritten MS 286, Majlis Library, Tehran, Iran, fol. 142v. and some, like the author or the scribe of Rawzat al-nāzir, misread «معمی» (riddle) as «مهستی» (Mahsatī), and this error also found its way in Die schöne Mahsatī. The correct form of the first hemistich is “His name is the beginning of thirty, the beginning of his name is all thirty”(nām-i ū avval sī avval nāmash hamah sī). This riddle is recorded without mentioning the poet’s name in Bayāz no. 3432 (The poetry notebook) of the Esad Efendi Collection in the Süleymaniye Library.⁸¹نام او اول سی اول نامش همه سی , Tāj al-Dīn ꜥAlī bin Ahmad Tabrīzī, Safīnah, Esad Efendi Collection, Süleymaniye Library, Istanbul, Turkey, fol. 465r.

4 Newly Discovered Quatrains

Drawing from ten manuscripts, this section will introduce quatrains and couplets that are not present in any of Mahsatī’s existing poetry collections. Naturally, some of these quatrains, despite the fact that the sources in which they appear are old, may not belong to Mahsatī, similar to the quatrains examined earlier in this article. For example, in a manuscript dated 763/1361, kept in the Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul under no. 280 and transcribed by Masʿūd Mutabbab, a distich of a quatrain is attributed to Mahsatī that has not been previously noted by Mahsatī scholars:

That idol, whose lips lead the course of speech,

With jasmine cheeks, pistachio lips, and a sugar-sweet mouth.⁸²Anonymous, Jung, AH 763/1361, copied by Masꜥūd bin Mansūr Mutabbab, Handwritten MS 280, Çelebi Abdullah Collection, Süleymaniye Library, Istanbul, Turkey, fol. 25v.

Some of the words in this distich are illegible and were deciphered with the help of a quatrain recorded in Kamāl Isfahānī’s Dīvān, who is the original author of this poem.⁸³Isfahānī, Dīvān, 267. This quatrain appears in most of old copies Kamāl Isfahānī’s Dīvān predating the Çelebi Abdullah manuscript and cannot belong to Mahsatī. Therefore, as mentioned earlier, one should not blindly trust older sources, as not every quatrain attributed to Mahsatī in ancient texts is necessarily hers. It is particularly important to remember that Mahsatī did not have an ancient Dīvān of quatrains, and her existing poems have been from anthologies and poetry collections, most of which are defective. It is evident that the accuracy of these texts is not always confirmed, and using these sources requires careful consideration by scholars. However, the main benefit of introducing these new poems and fresh sources containing poetry attributed to Mahsatī is to open new avenues for Mahsatī studies.

4.1 Hāj Bulah’s Amālī in Safīnah-i Tabrīz

In addition to selections of Awhadī Kirmānī’s quatrains, Hāj Bulah had several other treatises recorded in Safīnah-i Tabrīz. One of these texts is his Amālī or al-Latāʾif al-liʾālī (The subtle delights), which contains numerous quatrains by poets of previous centuries. There are about two hundred quatrains in this text. This collection of quatrains was transcribed by Abū al-Majd Tabrīzī, a student of Hāj Bulah and the author of Safīnah-i Tabrīz. Abū al-Majd Tabrīzī also Khulāsat al-ashꜥār fī al-rubāꜥiyāt and Awhadī’s selection of quatrains. In these three texts containing quatrains by various poets, except for the selections which exclusively include Awhadī’s quatrains and all transcribed by the same person, one can observe repetitive quatrains. However, this repetition does not mean Amālī is without value or that all its quatrains are duplicates.  Ten quatrains are attributed to Mahsatī in Hāj Bulah’s Amālī. Nine of them are exactly repeated in Abū al-Majd’s Khulāsat al-ashꜥār fī al-rubāꜥiyāt and other texts.

The following quatrain in Amālī is attributed to Mahsatī and it is not present in any of the texts that have so far recorded quatrains under her name and have been considered by Mahsatī scholars:

Each coquetry, a charm that she displayed,

I said I’d bear it, for need must outweigh.

She promised to take my hand, but withdrew,

And not just that, her foot slipped away too.⁸⁴Bulah, Amālī, 538.

4.2 The Collection of the Majlis Library

This collection, which belonged to Mahdī Bayānī, is a valuable anthology containing various materials and important poems. Muhammad Taqī Dānishʹpazhūh has published its initial treatise about the People of the House (i.e., the Prophet’s Family, ahl al-bayt). Javād Basharī and Pizhmān Firūzʹbakhsh have used this source to introduce the poems by Jalāl Jaꜥfarī and Hindūʹshāh Nakhjavānī.⁸⁵Javād Basharī, “Nuktahʹhā-yi tāzah darbārah-yi Hindūʹshāh Nakhjavānī va farzandash Shams Munshī,” Payām-i Bahāristān 1–2 (Autumn–Winter 1387/2008):188; Pizhmān Firūzʹbakhsh, “Dastūr-i sākht-i murakkab az Jalāl Jaꜥfarī,” Bukhārā (Parākandahʹhā 2) 15, no. 88–89 (Khurdād–Shahrīvar 1391/May–September 2012): 374. In this anthology, which was prepared for Shams al-Dīn Āvī, the dates 725/1324, 735/1334, ‎and 738/1337 are recorded. The contents include benefits worthy of attention, including two quatrains explicitly attributed to Mahsatī:

Your eyes and the line of your beard entwined,

They’ve signed a pact to spill my blood, confined.

Judge, don’t rule on that line and its witnesses,

For it’s a forged line, and the witnesses are drunk.

And:

A mole has fallen on that moon-faced beauty’s cheek,

It falls so perfectly, it pleases me.

Like a drop of musk in wine’s embrace,

Or a drop of water falling into fire’s trace. ⁸⁶Anonymous, Jung-i bayānī, AH 725/1324, AH 735/1334, AH 738/1337, collected for Shams al-Dīn Āvī, MS 286, Majlis Library, Tehran, Iran, fols. 28v and 141r.

The first quatrain has been erroneously attributed to Hāfiz in Masꜥūd Jannatī ꜥAtāʾī’s unreliable edition of Dīvān-i Hāfiz, which certainly does not belong to him.⁸⁷Masꜥūd Jannatī ꜥAtāʾī, Safīnahʾi Hāfiz (Tehran: n.p., 1346/1967), 635.

4.3 Mūnis al-ahrār va daqāyiq al-ashꜥār by Kalātī Isfahānī in the Habībʹganj Library

According to the author of Mūnis al-ahrār va daqāyiq al-ashꜥār, a poem by Tayyān Bamī, known as Zhāzhkhāy, with the rhyme riyam (I shit), did not sit well with Mahsatī and she composed a satirical verse in the same rhyme but not in the same meter:

Mahsatī passed by his grave and said:

“This is the pimp who took the world with filth.

It’s fitting to shit on his rhyme and grave.”⁸⁸Ahmad bin Muhammad Kalātī Isfahānī, Mūnis al-ahrār va daqāyiq al-ashꜥār, microfilm 3787, 13th of 14th AH century, Habībʹganj Library, Tehran University.

4.4 The ‎Lala İsmail‎ Collection of the Süleymaniye Library

Manuscript no. 487 of the Lala İsmail Collection‎ is a collection of poems and correspondences; the oldest dates recorded in it are 741/1340 and 742/1341. This text, which has long been of interest to researchers, includes Persian and Arabic poetry as well as prose correspondences in both languages. In this collection, which was compiled contemporaneously with Jājarmī’s Mūnis al-ahrār, five quatrains are attributed to Mahsatī. One of these quatrains has not yet been mentioned in Mahsatī studies. This is a vulgar quatrain, which is divided between two attributions: the first distich is attributed to the son of Preacher of Ganjah, which the second distich is attributed to Mahsatī:

Son of Preacher of Ganjah:

I said my penis weeps for the sake of an ass,

And for your vulva, it cries beyond measure.

Mahsatī:

My vulva too, six days each month

Weeps blood in longing for your penis!⁸⁹Anonymous, Majmūꜥah-yi ashꜥār va murāsalāt [Collection of poetry and letters], AH 741/1340 and AH 742/1341, MS 487, Lala İsmail Collection, Süleymaniye Library, Istanbul, Turkey, fol. 217r.

4.5 The Fatih Library Collection of Persian and Arabic Treatises

The scribe of this collection included specific prayers for the living by poets such as Ibn Yamīn.⁹⁰ꜥAlī Mīr Afzalī, “Muꜥarrifī-i sih manbaꜥ-i kuhan-i rubāꜥiyāt-i Khayyām,” Guzārish-i Mīrās 4 (Spring–Summer 1398/2019, published Winter 1399/2020): 10. Considering that Ibn Yamīn’s death is recorded as 769/1367, the verses recorded in this text must have been recorded before that year. In this manuscript, the following quatrain is attributed to Mahsatī:

Your drunken eyes ensnared the ancient world,

My poor heart was caught in the tangles of your hair.

You kept the falcon in hand, ready to hunt—

See how it rests, the falcon in your grasp.⁹¹Majmūʿah-i rasāʾil-i fārsī va ʿarabī (Collection of Persian and Arabic treatises), copied by Ahmad bin Ibrāhīm Rūmī, MS 5412, Fatih Library, Istanbul, fol. 104v.

This quatrain closely resembles those found in the Dīvāns of two other poets. Anvarī wrote:

That mistress, whose tress like a comb ensnared my heart,

Ensnared the world with her narcissus-like, intoxicated gaze.

How many hearts lie subdued beneath that mistress’s wrath

With the chisel she wielded in her hand.⁹²Awhad al-Dīn Anvarī, Dīvān, ed. Muhammad Taqī Mudarris Razavī (Tehran: Bungāh-i Tarjumah va Nashr-i Kitāb, 1340/1961), 966.

Similarly, Kamāl Isfahānī composed a quatrain that appears to be another version of the one attributed to Mahsatī:

That idol, whose coquettish, intoxicated glance seized the world,

Then captured my heart with the hook of her hair.

She placed the falcon on her hand to hunt again,

What a skill! See how the falcon rests in her grasp.⁹³Isfahānī, Dīvān, 256.

4.6 Marginalia of the Mirsād al-ꜥibād, Murad Buhari Library, Turkey

A manuscript of Najm Dāyah’s Mirsād al-ꜥibād (The path of God’s servants), dated 699/1299, was transcribed by ꜥAbd al-Kāfī bin Muhammad, known as Isfahānī. Some poems have been added on the margins of this text in a more recent handwriting. Considering the style of calligraphy and dates such as 741/1340, 748/1347, 769/1368, and 777/1376 recorded for the births and deaths of individuals, the date of recording these poems does not go beyond the 8th/14th century. In the margins of one of the pages of this manuscript, there are several quatrains that are attributed to Mahsatī.⁹⁴Najm al-Dīn Rāzī, Mirsād al-ꜥibād, 8th/14th century, MS 214, Murad Buhari Tekkesi, Süleymaniye Library, Istanbul, Turkey, 33v. The date of the original text is AH 699/1299. The first quatrain, “Belonging to Mahsatī,” reads as follows:

You whose promise is as crooked as your tresses,

Truly, you are not straight with me, unlike your lofty height.

Like your tangled locks, you are twisted with me,

But I, like your stature, stand upright before you.

Three other quatrains before and after the above quatrain should have come under «ولها» (i.e., “and hers”) but were mistakenly written under «وله» (i.e., “and his”):

If I seek the heart, I find it at your door,

If I seek the soul, it’s in the curl of your hair.

When thirst strikes and I drink from the stream,

In the water, I see the reflection of your face.

This quatrain appears anonymously in Nuzhat al-majālis.⁹⁵Shirvānī, Nuzhat al-majālis, 496. It is also recorded in Maqālāt-i Shams Tabrīzī (Discourses of Shams Tabrīzī) and Kulliyāt-i ashꜥār-i Mawlavī Balkhī (Mawlavī Balkhī’s complete collection of poems).⁹⁶Shams al-Dīn Muhammad Tabrīzī, Maqālāt-i Shams Tabrīzī, ed. Muhammad ꜥAlī Muvahid (Tehran: Khavārazmī, 1369/1990), 256; Jalāl al-Dīn Balkhī, Kulliyāt-i Shams, ed. Badīꜥ al-Zamān Furūzānfar (Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1378/1999), 8:212. Accompanied with this quatrain in Maqālāt-i Shams Tabrīzī, there is another quatrain: “The wind came and spread flowers over the drinkers’ heads…” which has been attributed to Zahīr Fāryābī, Mahsatī, and Mawlavī. It is possible that Shams Tabrīzī considered the quatrain and the one attributed to Zahīr Fāryābī to be Mahsatī’s and recited it in the circle of friends and disciples, thus finding its way into Mawlavī’s poetry and Maqālāt-i Shams. There is another piece of evidence for Shams’s interest in Mahsatī’s quatrains; it is possible that Shams also considered the quatrain attributed to Mahsatī beginning with “Sorrow with your kindness turns to joy…” to be hers. He must have liked and recited quatrain, as he it, like the two mentioned quatrains, has also been included in his Maqālāt.⁹⁷Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī, 202; Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 181. Mihrābī asserts that this rubāꜥī is attributed to Fakhr Khālid Hiravī, Najm Rāzī and Abū Saꜥīd Abū al-Khayr; Tabrīzī, Maqālāt, 247.

The third and fourth quatrains attributed to Mahsatī in the margins of Mirsād al-ꜥibād are as follows:

Love came and made me drunk and joyful,

And free from the bondage of the world.

When he saw me dying before his beauty

He caressed with kindness and gave me life.

“And his” (valah):

Your night and day justified my night and day,

My day and night are happy because of yours.

So long as night and day bring forth day and night,

May I never be without you, in any day or night.

4.7 The manuscript of al-Muꜥjam of the Laleli Collection in the Süleymaniye Library of Turkey

A valuable manuscript of Shams Qays Rāzī’s al-Muꜥjam (The lexicon), no. 1981, is available in the Laleli Collection. It was transcribed by al-Ghanī Ashraf ibn Muhammad al-Rizā al-Husaynī al-ꜥUrayzī in 829/1425. This version differs significantly in some places from the versions used in the three editions by ꜥAlāmah Qazvīnī, Mudarris Razavī and Shamīsā.

Evidence suggests that the changes in this manuscript are authentic, and not the result of the scribe’s interference. Therefore, it is not only possible but highly probably that these changes were made by the erudite author, Shams Rāzī, himself. The 829/1425 manuscript in Turkey has differences from other versions, including the mention of Atābak Zangī’s name with the title “heir to Solomon’s kingdom” in a section that is not present in the printed and available manuscript versions. The same name is repeated in the introduction. In this text, the first distich of a quatrain is attributed to Mahsatī:

O friend, who has taken the heart of this servant,

It is well that you have taken the heart of this servant.⁹⁸Shams al-Dīn Muhammad Qays Rāzī, al-Muꜥjam fī maꜥāʾīr ashꜥār al-ꜥajam, AH 829/1425, MS 1981, Laleli Collection, Süleymaniye ‎ Library, Istanbul, Turkey, fol. 75v.

This quatrain appears without mentioning the poet’s name in other versions of al-Muꜥjam.⁹⁹Shams al-Dīn Muhammad Qays Rāzī, al-Muꜥjam fī maꜥāʾīr ashꜥār al-ꜥajam, corrected by Muhammad Qazvīnī and comparison and correction by Muhammad Taqī Mudarris Razavī (Tehran: Intishārāt-i Dānishgāh Tehran, 1335/1956), 251. The complete form of this quatrain has been attributed to Mawlavī,¹⁰⁰Balkhī, Kulliyāt-i Shams, 8:278. but considering that this poem has been recorded in different versions of al-Muꜥjam, including the manuscript dated 739/1338 (the basis for Shamīsā’s version),¹⁰¹Shams al-Dīn Muhammad Qays Rāzī, al-Muꜥjam fī maꜥāʾīr ashꜥār al-ꜥajam, ed. Sīrūs Shamīsā (Tehran: ꜥIlm, 1388/2009), 280. it is unlikely to belong to Mawlavī, and its attribution to Mahsatī is noteworthy.

4.8 The Firdaws al-tavārīkh Kept in the M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin Public Library, Leningrad

The Firdaws al-tavārīkh (Paradise of histories) was written in 808/1405. Ibn Muꜥīn Abarʹqūhī, the author of this work, introduces Mahsatī by stating: “Mahsatī of Ganjah has excellent quatrains and lived during the era of Sultān Mahmūd Ghaznavī.” However, as discussed earlier in this article, this claim has been disproven. The quatrains attributed to Mahsatī in Firdaws al-tavārīkh are as follows:

Last night in the garden, lost in my sorrow and lament,

I wandered and wept for the torment of my own being.

The red rose came, and tore its hem,

Staining its entire garment with my tears.

Also:

My heart fell in love with a child,

Whose playful game makes light of my fall.

In love, such highs and lows unfold—

A fawn may capture a lion, a partridge, a falcon.¹⁰²In Awfī’s Javāmiꜥ al-hikāyāt we also have: “Much up and down happens in love / the fawn becomes a cub and partridge a falcon”; Sadīd al-Dīn Awfī, Javāmiꜥ al-hikāyāt va lavāmiꜥ al-rivāyāt-i Awfī (part one of section four), ed. Mazāhir Musaffā (Tehran: Muꜥassisah-ʾi Mutāliꜥāt va Tahqīqāt-i Farhangī, 1370/1991), 306.

Also:

Without your face, like the day, and those locks, like the night,

My days and nights have vanished, consumed in seeking you.

I’ve become like a goblet, passed from hand to hand,

My heart bled completely, until it reached your lips.

And Mahsatī also says:

O rebellious idol with your cunning ways,

The bird of your sorrow has hatched many chicks in my heart.

This anguish and turmoil stem from your locks,

For nothing but a snake can be born of a snake.¹⁰³Ibn Muꜥīn Abarʹqūhī, Firdaws al-tavārīkh, MS 1405, M. E. Saltykov-‎Shchedrin Public Library, Leningrad, Russia, vol. 3, fol. 146r.

The first and the fourth quatrains have been recorded in Die schöne Mahsatī based on Firdaws al-tavārīkh and ꜥArafāt al-ꜥāshiqīn. Following Meier, these quatrains have also been included in other collections of Mahsatī’s quatrains. While Meier utilized Firdaws al-tavārīkh and included the first quatrain based on this text, he overlooked the other quatrains recorded in it.¹⁰⁴Meier, Die schöne Mahsatī,‎ 269, 327; Mihrābī, Mahsatī Ganjahʾī, 105, 160; Dihqān, Rubāꜥiyāt-i Mahsatī Dabīr Ganjavī, 125, 135.

The second and third quatrains have not been found in any other texts under Mahsatī’s name until now, making them newly discovered. The fourth quatrain in Firdaws al-tavārīkh slightly differs from that in ꜥArafāt al-ꜥāshiqīn, which Meier and others have used:

O cunning idol with deceitful ways,

The bird of your sorrow has laid many eggs in my heart.

This twisting turmoil within me springs from your locks,

For nothing but a snake is born of a snake.

4.9 The Jung of Tehran Central Library

The manuscript no. 156 (Hikmat), currently housed at Tehran Central Library, is an important text for several reasons. This anthology contains selections from the poetry of earlier poets up to the 6th/12^th century, and Rūmī from the 7th/13^th century. Most of it was written in Ahmadābād and Gujarat, India during 1007-1008/1598-1599 by an unknown scribe. The beginning and end of the manuscript are missing, indicating that it was originally more extensive than what is now available. The scribe noted the number of selected verses and how many were accessible for each poet. Most of the poems were written in ꜥAlī Khān’s residence in Ahmadābād; however, at the conclusion of ꜥAttār’s poems, the scribe writes, “Completed on Tuesday, the sixth of Rabīꜥ al-ākhar in ꜥAlī Khān’s residence in the city of Gujarat.” Based on the earlier and later notes by the scribe, it becomes clear that ꜥAlī Khān’s was actually located in Ahmadābād rather than Gujarat proper. It is likely an error by the compiler.

Between 1027/1617-1032/1622, someone named Abū Hayyān ibn ꜥAlī, with the pen name Māʾlī, corrected this manuscript’s content and rectified errors made by the original scribe. Occasionally adding notes marked as «المقرر» (established) and mentioning the number of verses, he added to the original verses while also writing biographical sketches for some poets. In certain pages and margins, he added verses by other poets. Among these additions is the following quatrain referenced earlier to discuss Mahsatī’s with Sūzanī Samarqandī:

Māhastī Dabīr says about Sūzanī:

I asked Sūzanī, “Why is the hem at your bottom torn?

Your needle (sūzan) is known for its skill in sewing.”

He replied, “Haven’t you heard what they say?

The potter drinks water from a broken pot.”¹⁰⁵Annotations of Jung-i hikmat, AH 1027 to 1032‎/1617 to 1622, written by Abū Hayyān ꜥAlī MS 156, Tehran Central Library, fol. 180r.

4.10 Jung 964, Istanbul University Library

One of the poets associated with Sultan Sanjar’s court, like Mahsatī and Sūzanī, was Anvarī Abīvardī. His devotion to Sultan Sanjar is evident in his famous ode beginning with “If heart and hand were ocean and mine…”¹⁰⁶Awhad al-Dīn Anvarī, Dīvān, ed. Muhammad Taqī Mudarris Razavī (Tehran: Bungāh-i Tarjumah va Nashr-i Kitāb, 1340/1961), 135.

In Jung no. 964, which is housed at the Istanbul University Library,¹⁰⁷Subhānī and Āqsū date this manuscript to the 11th/17th century. See Tawfīq Subhānī and Hisām al-Dīn Āqsū, Fihrist-i nuskhāhʹhā-yi khattī Fārsī-yi Kitābkhānah-i Dānishʹgāh-i Istānbul (Tehran: Pazhūhishʹgāh-i ꜥUlūm-i Insānī, 1374/1995), 424. a riddle in four couplets about requesting a melon is attributed to Anvarī. This riddle has not been in the two existing editions of his poems:

A couple of free spirits, for three or four days

Host me as a guest for five or six days, give or take….

Beneath this piece, it is written:

“But in the form of a riddle, Mahsatī said:

What is it that lies knotted like two bows

Its cover like an armor or chain mail shows?

When you cut it with a knife and taste its core,

Applause echoes from both sides, evermore.¹⁰⁸Anonymous, Majmūꜥah-i favāꜥid, 11th/17th century, MS 964, Istanbul University Library, fol. 22.

Following this, a similar poem by ꜥIzz al-Dīn Sarakhsī on the same subject is also quoted.

The note by of the scribe of the Istanbul University manuscript, suggesting that a great poet like Anvarī was influenced by Mahsatī, if confirmed by other sources yet to surface, would be highly significant. At the very least, we know that both Mahsatī and Anvarī were affiliated with Sultan Sanjar’s court, and poetic interaction between the two is not an illogical assumption. If this is true, it would suggest that Mahsatī had poetic exchanges and mutual influence not only Sanāʾī, and Sūzanī, but also with Anvarī. We discussed the similarities between two quatrains by Anvarī and Mahsatī, raising the possibility that Anvarī may have been influenced by Mahsatī.

Conclusion

This article aimed to highlight several critical points regarding the authenticity of quatrains attributed to Mahsatī Ganjavī and to provide new perspectives on her life and work. The study primarily sought to accomplish the following objectives. First, many quatrains traditionally attributed to Mahsatī may not actually be her work. Quatrains attributed to her based solely on a single source, even in significant texts like Nuzhat al-majālis or Mūnis al-ahrār, cannot definitively be considered hers if other credible sources attribute them to different poets. This is especially true when one considers scholars’ enthusiasm for attributing poetry to a female poet like Mahsatī, whose life has been surrounded by captivating stories and speculation.

Second, there is no definite criterion for identifying Mahsatī’s authentic quatrains. Her collections include quatrains with diverse themes and subjects, making it impossible to discern a unified intellectual or stylistic preference for the poet. It is therefore inaccurate to label any specific theme distinctly “Mahsatī-like.” Furthermore, neither ancient texts can be trusted unequivocally nor can the repetition of a quatrain across multiple sources serve as conclusive evidence. Examples contradicting each of these assumptions have been provided.

Third, among the various themes found in Mahsatī’s attributed quatrains, the facetious quatrains and those related to the beloved’s beard have been disproportionately recorded under her name. I have sought to analyze why such attributions have occurred and critique the dominant male-centric and misogynistic perspective of society. It is highly likely that such verses were not composed by Mahsatī.

Fourth, the article has examined new sources, providing fresh insights into Mahsatī’s quatrains and life. Evidence from an old source identifies Mahsatī as a scribe of the Sultān Sanjar, and places her among his court poets. Some newly discovered quatrains shed light on her interaction with Sūzanī and suggest that Anvarī may have been influenced by her poetry.

Finally, the article has introduced several quatrains attributed to Mahsatī in various texts that have not previously been by scholars studying Mahsatī’s work. It showed that some of these poems may not belong to her for the same reasons used in the evaluation of other quatrains in the article. Until these poems are claimed by other sources, they can tentatively be attributed to Mahsatī. All these serve the main purpose, which is to present newly discovered poems that had not yet appeared in her collections or texts under her name, thereby paving the way for further research into Mahsatī’s life and work.