Entry Topic

Bibi Jān Hayāti / بی بی حیاتی

Definition

Hayāti, also known as Bibi Jān, was an eighteenth-century poetess and mystic from Herat. The sister of Rawnaq ʻAlī Shāh, she learned about mysticism from her husband, Nur-ʻAlī Shāh, and sought refuge in the Ottoman Empire. Her poetry is infused with mysticism. Vaḥid Dastgerdi considered Hayāti, whose divān comprises approximately 10,000 verses, to be one of the greatest poets of her times.