Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Behjat Tabrizi, known by his pen name Shahriar, was born in 1283 AH in Tabriz. His father was an honorable and reputed professional lawyer of Tabriz, who was also fond of literature. The poet spent his childhood years, which coincided with the revolution of Tabriz, in villages of Shangulabad, Qish Qorshan and Khoshangab. At school, he was taught the Golestan of Sa’di. He finished the first year of high school in Mottahedeh and Foyuzat school of Tabriz, and moved to Tehran in 1300 SH. He finished his high school in Dar-ol Fonun and later entered the medical college. When he was passing his final educational years in medicine, he met and fell in love with a beautiful young lady named Soraya. During the next two years, they met and were constantly in touch, as they had familiar acquaintances. However, Soraya married following her mother’s insists and heartbroken Shahriar lost his peace forever. His suffering and sorrow did not come to end until he met an experienced Sufi. Shahriar, who was greatly impressed by his presence, decided to take another path. The most important incident in Shahriar’s life is his love for Soraya and their painful separation. This is a theme that can be distinguished in most of his poems.
The poems of Shahriar can be divided into three groups: 1. the poems written in the traditional style. The impressions of the critics can be clearly seen in them. 2. The poems were written in romantic style, where the poet is referring to his personal experiences. 3. The poems that refer to social issues and are written in romantic style. In most of his poems impressions from great poets of Farsi literature can be seen. Shahriar has repeatedly incorporated their figure of speech as well as parts of their poems into his own. He says “It shouldn’t be considered as modesty, but I can hardly and only with great tolerance consider myself a poet. I am quite certain that I have not achieved perfection in poetry, and up till now, I become ashamed of myself every time I read a poem of Hafiz. This humble person (himself) believes that it is only Hafiz who has taken poetry to the extent of perfection and all parts of his poems are indefinite.” Shahriar also is a capable poet when it comes to Turkish language. He has written a valuable and lengthy book of poems called “Heydar Baba”. He passed away in 1367 SH as a result of sickness.