Muḥammad ibn Waṣīf (Persian:محمد بن وصیف; died 909 CE) was anIranian poet and secretary who flourished in the 9th century in the service of theSaffarid dynasty ofSistan. He is considered to be author of one of the earliest works of poetry inEarly New Persian according to the regulations of Arabic quantitative metre (sc.ʿarūḍ).^[1][2]

Fragments of four of Wasif's poems, probablyqasidas, are cited in theTarikh-i Sistan.^[1] The anonymous author of theTarikh-i Sistan mentions that the first of the poems had been written by Wasif around the time ofYa'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar's (r. 861–879) conquest ofHerat in 867 or his killing of theKharijite Ammar two years earlier in 865.^[1] According to the same author, Wasif had written the poem as Ya'qub could not understand thepanegyrics addressed to him inArabic by his court poets.^[1]

Wasif's career lasted for over fifty years, as the last fragment in theTarikh-i Sistan mentions the captivity ofAmr ibn al-Layth's (r. 879–901) two grandsonsTahir and Ya'qub in 908/9.^[1]

Wasif died in 909.^[3]

• Bosworth, C.E. (1993)."Muḥammad b. Waṣīf". InBosworth, C. E.;van Donzel, E.;Heinrichs, W. P. &Pellat, Ch. (eds.).The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill.ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
• Green, Nile (2019). "Introduction: The Frontiers of the Persianate World (ca. 800-1900)". InGreen, Nile (ed.).The Persianate World: The Frontiers of a Eurasian Lingua Franca. University of California Press. p. 42.ISBN 978-0520972100.
• Paul, Ludwig (2000)."PERSIAN LANGUAGE i. Early New Persian". InYarshater, Ehsan (ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation.

• 9th-century Iranian people
• Iranian poets
• 9th-century Persian-language poets
• Saffarid dynasty
• 9th-century births
• 909 deaths

• Articles containing Persian-language text
• Year of birth unknown