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Mahastī Ganjavī

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mahastī Ganjavī

Mahastī Ganjavī was a celebrated poetess who most likely lived during the sixth/twelfth century. Like many other female poetesses of classical Persian literature, her biography is semi-legendary. She was likely born in the city of Ganja in the Caucasus, but a few biographers also mention the city of Nishabur in Khurasan as her birthplace and hence called her “Mahastī Nishaburi.” She is most famous for her witty and refined quatrains (rubāʿīs), which, in terms of stylistic and literary sophistication, surpassed even those of the famous ʿUmar Khayyām.