Adib Pishavari

Adib Pishavari
ادیب پیشاوری
Pishavari, c.1910s–1920s
Personal life
Born1844 (1844)
Died30 June 1930(1930-06-30) (aged 85–86)
Resting placeImamzadeh Abdollah, Tehran
Notable work(s)Qaysaria
Known forCoining the term old fox
Occupation
  • Scholar
  • poet
Religious life
ReligionShia Islam
DenominationTwelver
PhilosophyAdab and hikmah
LineageShihab al-Din 'Umar al-Suhrawardi
Senior posting
Based in
Influenced by

Seyyed Ahmad Adib Pishavari (Persian: ادیب پیشاوری), also known as Sayyed Ahmad B. Sehab al-Din Razawi (1844 – 30 June 1930), was a Sufi scholar who born in or near Peshawar in modern-day Pakistan, and was descended from Omar Sohravardi. Adib was a master of Persian literature.

When Adib was a young man, his father and several other relatives were killed in action while fighting in the Anglo-Persian War. For this reason, Adib relocated to Kabul and later Ghazni to complete his early education. He moved to Iran in 1877 and enrolled at the madrasa of Molla Hadi Sabzevari in Sabzavr, where he was exposed to advanced philosophical lectures. Motivated by the death of his father and other relatives in the Anglo-Persian War, Adib developed an intense Anglophobia and was frequently critical of British foreign policy in the Middle East; in his writings, Adib likened the United Kingdom to several animals such as an "old fox", "ominous raven", and a "venomous viper".