ABSTRACT
Mongol incursion and under the Salghurid Atabegs enjoyed comparative peace and prosperity through the tumultuous years of the thirteenth century, a tranquillity purchased by voluntary surrender in 1256 to the Scourge of Islam. The city, which had already produced a goodly crop of scholars and divines, was now to become the centre of a brilliant literary movement that would give to Persia two of her greatest poets. The writing of literary history imposes an obligation, all too often irksome, to observe a strict economy of words and frequently to dismiss in three or four paragraphs authors whose achievements entitle them to less cavalier treatment. It is proposed now to relax this harsh rule and to devote separate chapters to a chosen few of Persia’s most outstanding writers; it is just that the first to claim this indulgence should be Sa‘di of Shiraz.
