Khalil Shirazi and Masnavi "Anoushirvan and the pious woman"

Anushirvan Sasani often has a positive image in the stories narrated in Persian poetry and prose texts and is always described as a symbol of justice. However, in one of the Masnavis left over from the last centuries, Anushirvan is not only not just, but also a lustful king who tries to take possession of a chaste married woman by force and coercion. In this work, the pious woman, despite Anushirvan's many insistences, is not willing to go into his solitude. To the extent that out of necessity and in order to get rid of Anushirvan, she plucks out her own eyes and sends them to her, and it is after this incident that Anushirvan takes the path of regret and repentance; To the extent that out of necessity and rejection of Anushirvan, she takes out her eyes and sends them to him, and after that Anushirvan takes the path of repentance.This short poem is the work of an unknown poet named Khalil Shirazi, the oldest manuscript of which dates back to the middle of the 11th century AH and is preserved in the National Library of Iran. Some researchers believe that this Khalil Shirazi is the same Khalil Zargar Rashti, the court poet of Jamshid Khan Ishaqi in the 10th century and the owner of the missing Jamshidname...