Hasan b. Mahmud al-Kashi

This article is about Hasan b. Mahmud al-Kashi. For other people named Amuli, see Amuli (disambiguation).

Hasan b. Mahmud al-Kashi

Poet
The tomb of Hasan b. Mahmud al-Kashi in Zanjan
Full Name	Hasan b. Mahmud al-Kashi al-Amuli
Well-known As	Jamal al-Din, Kamal al-Din, Taj al-Din
Religious Affiliation	Twelver Shi'a
Birth	680/1281-2
Place of Birth	Amol
Place of Residence	Amol
Death/Martyrdom	Alive in 738/1337-8
Burial Place	Soltaniyeh in Zanjan
Era	Ilkhanate
Works	The collection of his ghazals and qasidas, Letter of knowledge (ma'rifat nama), ...
Activities	He tried to spread Shi'ite beliefs through his poems

Ḥasan b. Maḥmūd al-Kāshī al-Āmulī (Persian: حسن بن محمود الکاشی الآملی), also known as Mullā Ḥasan al-Kāshī ( ملاحسن الکاشی), was a Shiite poet in 7th/13th century. He composed poems to propagate his Shiite beliefs. He spent his whole life propagating Shiite beliefs, composing poems for Ahl al-Bayt (a), especially Imam 'Ali (a). Al-Kashi was born in Amol and is buried in Soltaniyeh in Zanjan.

Birth, Title, and Kunya

Hasan b. Mahmud al-Kashi al-Amuli was a poet in late 7th/13th century and the first half of the 8th/14th century. His family was from Kashan but lived in Amol. His father's name was Mahmud. His penname was "Kashi" and sometimes "Hasan". According to his own words, he was born in Amol, though his lineage goes back to Kashan.

Social Activities

When Sultan Muhammad Khudabande (a.k.a Uljeitu) expressed his Shiite tendencies, he needed some scholars of fiqh and literature to help him propagate his beliefs. Shaykh Hasan Kashi undertook the literature part. According to Mirza 'Abd Allah Afandi, there were three people who mainly contributed to the propagation and the promotion of Shiism in Iran: al-'Allama al-Hilli, al-Muhaqqiq al-Karaki and Shaykh Hasan Kashi who did so with his poems.

Qur'an and Hadiths in Poems

Kashi developed an interest in literary and religious disciplines, learned the Qur'an and gained sufficient knowledge of hadiths. He appealed to Quranic verses and hadiths in his poems such that a full understanding of his poems requires a good command of the Qur'an and hadiths.

Form and the Subject-matters of Poems

The subject-matter of all Kashi's poems is the praise of the Imams (a) and supplication. The forms of his poems include: qasida, tarkib-band (composite-tie), tarji'-band (return-tie), musammat (a kind of qasida), mukhammas (pentameter), musaddas, murabba', ghazal, and ruba'i.

Ahl al-Bayt (a) in Poetry

The biographer who mentioned Kashi is Dawlatshah Samarqandi. He referred to Kashi's serenity and elegance and introduced him as a knowledgeable scholar. Kashi was always proud of praising Imam 'Ali (a) and Ahl al-Bayt (a). He tolerated poverty for the sake of his belief in Imam 'Ali (a) and never sought the praise of rulers and the kings. Although most of his poems are praises of Imam 'Ali (a), there are some poems of his in which he praised other Imams (a) as well. His qasida for Imam al-Rida (a) is a case in point. He also composed poems regarding Imam al-Mahdi (a), introducing him as the savior of the humanity and the eradicator of cruelty in the world.

Kashi had a harsh, critical language with respect to the opponents of Ahl al-Bayt (a).

Work

Mulla Hasan Kashi has left many works that can be classified into different categories:

• The collection of his ghazals and qasidas
• Letter of knowledge (ma'rifat nama)
• Writing in science and literature

Death and Mausoleum

The years of Kashi's birth and death are not mentioned in any sources. According to some biographers, he lived in 7th/13th and 8th/14th centuries and was contemporary to Sultan Muhammad Khudabande and Bu Sa'id (from the Mogul Ilkhanate). However, from some of his poems an approximate year of his birth can be implied. And evidence of his poems show that he was alive until 738/1337-8.

His mausoleum is located in Soltaniyeh in Zanjan. The building was constructed in the period of Shah Tahmasb al-Safawi and changes were made in it in later periods.