Nasir Khusraw

Nasir Khusraw (born 1004 CE / 394 AH) was a Persian-language poet, philosopher and traveler, and the leading Ismaili Shi'i figure of medieval Khurasan (a region spanning today's northeastern Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia). Born at Qubadiyan near Balkh, he served for years as a financial administrator. By his own account he abandoned this career around 1045 after a dream that sent him on a "quest for truth."

His travelogue, the Safarnama ("Book of Travels"), records a roughly seven-year journey (1046–1052) through Syria and Palestine to Jerusalem, on pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca, and to Cairo, capital of the Ismaili Fatimid caliphate. There he embraced Ismaili Islam and, tradition and his own poetry hold, was appointed hujjat ("proof") of Khurasan — a senior rank in the Ismaili missionary (da'wa) hierarchy. The Safarnama, prized for its vivid observation, is his most widely read work.

Returning home to preach Ismailism in largely Sunni territory, he met fierce opposition and fled to the remote valley of Yumgan in Badakhshan (today northeastern Afghanistan), under the protection of a local ruler. There he spent his final decades writing philosophical and poetic works that fuse Ismaili theology with Neoplatonic philosophy (falsafa). His Divan laments his isolation. He is revered today as a founder-figure by the Ismailis of Badakhshan. Whether he was a practicing Sufi mystic is disputed among scholars.