Qom in the Mirror of the Poetry of Sheikh Abdul Razzāq Mas’aleh-Gu: (Khāif Qomī)

Sheikh Abdul Razzāq Khāif Qomī (d. 1329 AH) was not only a reciter of elegies at the shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh but also a powerful poet who, despite his strength, exhibited irony. He composed poetry in various literary forms, from ode and Ghazal to fragment and quatrain, praising the infallibles and Karbala. His Divan was published briefly before the Constitutional Revolution, but the original version remains in the library of Ayatollah al-Uzma Marashi, which is several times longer than the printed text. In this review, I have attempted to explore what he has written about the social and political issues of Iran, especially Qom, and also present a sample of his poetry about the custodianship lineage of the Holy Shrine to understand the culture of this city better. Khāif Qomī was close to the custodianship and spent years reciting elegies at the shrine. However, he also taught at Baqiriya School, one of the new schools in the city.