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Nasir-i Khusraw is one of the few poets in the history of Persian literature to be given the honorific title of Hakim of Sage. One can compare this with the same title among the pre-Socratic Greeks. He is one of the early links in that chain of metaphysical peotry, so rich and prolific in Persia, which was continued by such figures as Rumi, Attar, Sadi and Hafiz. But more than other Nasir is a preacher of philosophical wisdom; he never loses an opportunity to encourage his reader to become wise, illumined, awakened. To stand face to face with reality which is perennial and at the same time always accessible.

The reader who takes even a cursory glance at the Diwan is struck by the frequent mention of Speech or Word, which might well be translated as Logos. His use of this word has a philosophical as well as a metaphysical significance. In Christianity, Christ is the Word or Logos of God, while in Islam the Quran plays the same role thus in the former, the Word is incarnated in a person, in the latter in a revealed Book. One of the miracles of Islam is the beauty of this revealed Word in an absolute sense and as an eternal prototype of literary excellence to be imitated but never successfully attained. The Prophet of Islam said, I am the most eloquent among the Arabs.

As to the moral or didactic nature of some of his poems, Nasir should not be taken as a mere preacher of certain moral dogmas as understood in the West today or the proponent of a certain moral school, or - still worse - as a moraliser in its current sense. His teaching is rooted in the essence of Wisdom. In Persian literature, especially in those poets whom we may call metaphysical, such as Rumi, the moral element is always emphasised but in the bosom of metaphysical doctrines. A poet in the traditional sense is one who leads people to enlightenment; unlike Platos poets, he is not to be banished from the ideal city. His moral injunctions are not of a merely individualistic and egoistic nature but have to do with the universal essence of man - man as he is in himself - or rather, as he should be in himself: eternal being, standing face to face with the Absolute.

The Western reader may be unfavourable struck by Nasirs warnings to abstain from the world and from all material desires. This abstinence, amounting almost to revulsion, should not be explained away on any psychological grounds. It is an attitude shared by certain saints and mystics throughout human history. Even if these poems seem at times pietistic and even dry, they are inevitably enlivened by Nasirs powerful poetic imagery, which allows the reader an imaginative participation - at least - in his worldview.

There is, too, a more positive aspect to this moral teaching. Life is a kind of struggle with the difficulties which surround us and keep us from realisation. One must endeavour ceaselessly to attain to the ultimate end of life. Man is inferior to the gigantic force of Nature from one point of view, but he far surpasses them in the potential for Wisdom. His destiny is determined by himself, he is responsible for his actions and must not blame no one but himself for his failures. The struggle should be waged with patience and even love, for pain and suffering will ultimately end in peace: dark night will usher in bring day. So, for Nasir, man is despicable only as one of the mob; as an image of the Divine, he is the highest of all realities on this plane of being.

One refreshing aspect of Nasirs poetry is the total absence of praise of rulers and the powerful; E.G. Browne points out that in this Nasir is virtually alone in his age. Kings and potentates kept poets, in some cases as they might keep clowns and chefs, and paid them for the most fulsome flattery. Addressing such parasites, Nasir says that they are pleased with telling lies; he mentions a bard who said of Sultan Mahmud, May he live for another thousand years! when in fact the king had already been dead for two decades!

Of course, Nasir does eulogise one person: the Caliph al-Mustansir. For him, however, the Caliph is not the representative of worldly rule or secular power, but rather the spiritual master of masters, representative of the Holy Prophet, the Pole of the Age. These eulogies are not mere poetic effusions, but deep felt songs of devotion.