Shāh ‘Abbās the Great (or Shāh ‘Abbās I) (Persian: شاه عَباس بُزُرگ‎) (January 27, 1571 – January 19, 1629) was Shah (king) of Iran, and generally considered the greatest ruler of the Safavid dynasty. He was the third son of Shah Mohammad.

Abbas came to the throne during a troubled time for Iran. Under his weak-willed father, the country was riven with discord between the different factions of the Qizilbash army, who killed Abbas' mother and elder brother. Meanwhile, Iran's enemies, the Ottoman Empire and the Uzbeks, exploited this political chaos to seize territory for themselves. In 1587, one of the Qizilbash leaders, Murshid Qoli Khan, overthrew Shah Mohammed in a coup and placed the 16-year-old Abbas on the throne. But Abbas was no puppet and soon seized power for himself. He reduced the influence of the Qizilbash in the government and the military and reformed the army, enabling him to fight the Ottomans and Uzbeks and reconquer Iran's lost provinces. He also took back land from the Portuguese and the Mughals. Abbas was a great builder and moved his kingdom's capital from Qazvin to Isfahan. In his later years, the shah became suspicious of his own sons and had them killed or blinded.

Shah Abbas is the name of:

Abbas Malekzadeh Milani (Persian: عباس ملک‌زاده میلانی‎; born 1949) is an Iranian-American historian and author. Milani is a visiting professor of Political Science and the director of the Iranian Studies program at Stanford University. He is also a research fellow and co-director of the Iran Democracy Project at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Milani has found evidence that Persian modernism dates back to more than 1000 years ago.

Milani was born in Iran to a prosperous family and was sent to California when he was sixteen, graduating from Oakland Technical High School in 1966 after only one year of studies. Milani earned his B.A. in political science and economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1970 and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Hawaii in 1974.

With his girlfriend Fereshteh, Milani returned to Iran to serve as an assistant professor of political science at the National University of Iran from 1975 to 1977. He lectured on Marxist themes veiled in metaphor but was jailed for one year as a political prisoner for "activities against the government". He was a research fellow at the Iranian Center for Social Research from 1977 to 1978. He was also an assistant professor of law and political science at the University of Tehran and a member of the board of directors of Tehran University's Center for International Studies from 1979 to 1986, but after the Iranian Revolution he was not allowed to publish or teach. With his young son Hamid and his wife Fereshteh, he left Iran in 1986.

Nadeem Ahmed Abbasi (born November 10, 1968, Rawalpindi, Punjab) is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in three Tests in 1989.

He also captained Khan Research Laboratories and Rawalpindi. During this tenure, he led KRL to a runners-up spot in the National One Day Cup in 2000. After retirement, he become a very successful Rawalpindi Coach and Regional Selector, as well as working in the Pakistan National Cricket Academy and Abbottabad Region, grooming players, who later played for Pakistan.

Abbasi is now a freelance journalist and appears regularly alongside former BBC Asian Network and now Radio 5 Live's, Adil Ray and Nihal, as a pundit and writes for several newspapers, as well as TV.

During the UK cricket season, he has been known to turn out as a guest professional for several teams and provides batting consultancy and specialist coaching to many past, present and potential future Pakistani players.

Waris Shah (Punjabi: وارث شاہ, ਵਾਰਿਸ ਸ਼ਾਹ) (1722–1798) was a Punjabi Sufi poet, renowned for his contribution to Punjabi literature. He is best known for his seminal work Heer Ranjha, based on the traditional folk tale of Heer and her lover Ranjha. Heer is considered one of the quintessential works of classical Punjabi literature. The story of Heer was also told by several other writers—including notable versions by Damodar Das, Mukbal, and Ahmed Gujjar—but Waris Shah's version is by far the most popular today.

Waris Shah was born in Jandiala Sher Khan, Punjab, Pakistan into a reputed Syed family who claimed descent from prophet Muhammad. His father's name was Gulshar Shah. Waris Shah acknowledged himself as a disciple of Pir Makhdum of Kasur. Waris Shah's parents are said to have died when he was young, and he probably received his education at the shrine of his preceptor. After completing his education in Kasur, he moved to Malka Hans, a village twelve kilometers north of Pakpattan. Here he resided in a small room, adjacent to a historic masjid, now called Masjid Waris Shah. His mausoleum is a place of pilgrimage today, especially for those in love.