- published: 22 Jun 2012
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Anvari (1126–1189), full name Awhad ad-Din 'Ali ibn Mohammad Khavarani or Awhad ad-Din 'Ali ibn Mahmud (Persian: اوحد الدین علی ابن محد انوری) was a Persian poet.
He was born in Abivard of (now in Turkmenistan) and died in Khurasanian Balkh, now in Afghanistan, and studied science and literature at the collegiate institute in Toon (now Ferdows, Iran), becoming a famous astronomer as well as a poet.
Anvari's poems were collected in a Deewan, and contains panegyrics, eulogies, satire, and others. His elegy "Tears of Khorasan", translated into English in 1789, is considered to be one of the most beautiful poems in Persian literature. The Cambridge History of Iran calls Anvari "one of the greatest figures in Persian literature". Despite their beauty, his poems often required much help with interpretation, as they were often complex and difficult to understand.
Anvari's panegyric in honour of the Seljuk sultan Sultan Sanjar (1117–1157), ruler of Khorasan, won him royal favour, and allowed him to go on to enjoy the patronage of two of Sanjar's successors. However, when his prophecy of disasters in October 1185 failed, he fell out of favour with the kingship, and was forced into a life of scholarly service, eventually taking his own life in 1189.
Inside the belly of a beast made of flesh and steel
My flesh and blood no longer seem so real
Inside this war machine that has blurred my sight
Distorting my vision of what's wrong or right
Blistering speed with a barrage of no mercy
Is the only thing fueling me to breathe
I am the future breed created through pure insanity
Simply shut off it I decide to think
I am the war machine
Forced to lead, bleed the weak
Lead by wicked hearts full of deceit
The war machine
Blistering speed with a barrage of no mercy
Is the only thing fueling me to breathe
I am the war machine
Forced to lead, bleed the weak
Lead by wicked hearts full of deceit
The war machine
All guns are locked and loaded
I am the weapon of mass destruction
This is the Armageddon of man
The time has come to unleash the master plan
Devastation and the ruins of man
Barren lands and blood soaked hands
Seek and destroy all survivors, nothing left but sand
I am the future breed created through pure insanity
Simply shut off it I decide to think
I am the war machine
Forced to lead, bleed the weak
Lead by wicked hearts full of deceit