Jalal al-Din Davani

A native of the town of Davan in the southern Iranian region of Fars, Davani completed his education at the provincial capital of Shiraz, where he started to distinguish himself.

Initially taking refuge and distancing himself from the Aq Qoyunlu, Davani soon entered their service, being appointed as qadi (chief judge) of Fars by Uzun Hasan's son and successor, Ya'qub Beg (r. 1478–1490).

Davani was also in contact with figures outside Iran, such as the Ottoman sultan Bayezid II (r. 1481–1512) and the rulers in India, whom he dedicated several of his works to, especially during Ya'qub Beg's reign.

An ethnic Persian,[2] Davani was born in the town of Davan, near Shiraz, the capital city of the southern Iranian region of Fars, which was then under Timurid rule.

[7][8] In 1451, the Turkmen Qara Qoyunlu took advantage of the death of the Timurid ruler of Persian Iraq and Fars, Sultan Muhammad, conquering the regions in 1452 and 1453, respectively.

The commentary is dedicated to Mahmud Gawan (died 1481), the Persian vizier of the Bahmanid sultan of the Deccan, Muhammad Shah III Lashkari (r. 1463–1482).

[5][12] In 1474, Davani dedicated ethical work Lawami' al-ishraq fi makarim al-akhlaq (also known as Akhlaq-i Jalili) to Uzun Hasan and Khalil.

[15][16] During Khalil's brief rule in 1478, Davani dedicated another of his works to him; an explanation of Ali Qushji's (died 1474) commentary on the Tajrid al-i'itiqad by the 13th-century Persian scholar Nasir al-Din Tusi.

[18][7] Together with Abu-Yazid al-Davani and Maulana Muhammad al-Muhyavi, Davani sent letters to Ya'qub's vizier Qazi Isa Savaji to protest these reforms.

A close friend of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid II (r. 1481–1512), Mu'ayyadzade Abd al-Rahman Efendi (died 1516), arrived to Shiraz in 1479, where he studied under Davani until 1483.

[22] Some sources report that Davani planned to accept the invitation of the Samma sultan Nizam al-Din Shah Sindhi (r. 1461–1508) and leave for India.