The Distressed

The Distressed is the name of a literary work by the famous Persian court, Ghaani (in the court of Qajars) which is written in the style of Sa’di’s Golestan (The Rose Garden) but it is not divided into chapters, that is why it is called the distressed (not arranged). It includes prose, poems and humorous and serious writings.

The author
Mirza Habib Allah Golshan, known as Ghaani (1809, Shiraz – 1951, Tehran - Iran). He finished his education in Mahshad, ####then went to Tehran and entered the Qajar Court. He was admitted by Naser al-Din Shah. Ghaani was the first Persian poet who knew French. He was fully expert at multiple poem and composite-tie. Ghaani had a unique style of poetry which was imitated for the years by the later poets.

Structure of the book
It contains 113 short and long stories which some of them are full of obscenities but have an ethical conclusion and also in some poems and stories there are mystic senses. The book has a rimed prose, the figures of speech and rhetoric are applied with great virtuosity. The Distressed was written by the order of Muhammad Shah (Qajar Shah).