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Rūdakī Khorāsāni

The first poet of note to compose poems in the “New Persian,” written in Arabic alphabet, widely regarded as the Father of Persian poetry. He created the concept of the diwan (a collection of the short works of a poet) and developed the literary forms of poetry, including the ghazal, qasidas, and rubais. A talented singer and instrumentalist, Rūdakī served as a court poet to the Sāmānid ruler in Bukhara until he fell out of favor in 937. He ended his life in wretched poverty. Approximately 100,000 couplets are attributed to Rūdakī, but of that enormous output, fewer than 1,000 have survived.