A Short Biography of Abul Fazl Allami

Abul Fazl Allami

    Abul Fazl Allami was the second son of Shaikh Mubarak. He was born in 1551 A.D. and was first introduced at the court of emperor Akbar by his brother Faizi in 1575 A.D. By his rare wisdom and gifts of intellect he rose to the high ranked of minister of the state. He was a rare combination of a profound scholar, a great munshi, a distinguished historian, a brilliant administrator and a splendid statesman.

    Abul fazl was a prolific prose writer and unparalleled in writing of Insha. His greatness as a prose writer has been acknowledged by most of his contemporary poets and scholars as well as letter intellectuals and scholars literature. Abul Fazl was a genius and original classical prose writer. In the art of classical prose writing he led a new foundation and raised the dignity of ornate prose writing to its climax. Some scholars of Persian literature has compared Allami's Persian prose with the Persian poetry of Amir Khusraw on account of the blend of scholarship and excellence traced in their writings.
    Abul Fazl was a master of particular style in classical prose writing and few scholars of high reputes could reach the rank of Abul Fazl in composing such a lucid and verbose sentences. His art of Insha as well ornate prose writing was so impressive that most of the prose writers tried to emulate his style in their writing.
    Apart from being a prolific classical writer he is regarded as one of the most distinguished historians of the court of Akbar and his 'Akbar Nama' and 'Ain-e-Akbari' bear testimony for his profound scholarship and command over Persian prose.
    Considering the above facts, Abul fazl Allami can certainly be declared as one of the greatest classical prose writers of medieval India.