Mehri Heravi
Mehri Heravi (Persian: مهری هروی) was a 15th‑century Persian poet who lived in Herat during the Timurid Empire. Her birth name was Mehr al-Nisa, and Mehri was her pen name, a label cited by several Persian writers. She may have been of Jalair origin or from Tabriz, and she is often called Heravi because she spent much of her life in Herat, a place some consider her birthplace.
Some later biographical accounts claim she lived in 17th‑century Mughal India as a companion of Nur Jahan, but earlier sources do not support this.
Mehri was a friend and companion of Gawhar Shad, the wife of the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh (r. 1405–1447). She was forced to marry Khvajah Hakim Abd al-Aziz, a wealthy but old and frail physician who served Shah Rukh and Gawhar Shad, and she writes about him in many of her poems. Her unconventional lifestyle ultimately led to imprisonment.
She is regarded as a talented poet whose voice expresses women's concerns, though only a small portion of her poetry has survived. Mehri appears in many important biographical anthologies (tazkirahs), making her an important figure in Persian literature. It is said she wrote a divan (a poetry collection) modeled on the ghazals of the 14th‑century poet Hafez, though only the first verse survives. Her poetry shows early signs of the Indian Style.
Mehri openly opposed forced marriages to older men and condemned the mistreatment of wives in at least five quatrains. Iranian historian Yasaman Arang regards her as the "third poet to candidly reveal feminine emotions in Persian verse" after Rabia Balkhi and Mahsati. The theme of forced marriage would later be criticized by 20th‑century poet Zhaleh Alamtaj.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 12:42 (CET).