Khayrat-é Hésan

[2][3] A notable writer and politician of the Qajar era, Etemad al-Saltaneh organized this work alphabetically and documented the lives of distinguished women from the early Islamic period to his own time.

[5] To compile Khayrat-é Hésan, Etemad al-Saltaneh relied primarily on the book Mashahir al-Nisa (Arabic: مشاهیر النساء; lit.

From that day forth, I resolved to undertake a thorough investigation of the conditions of renowned women, and, with the counsel of learned men in this art, to lay the groundwork for such an endeavor.

By fortunate happenstance, whilst occupied in these thoughts, I chanced upon the book Mashahir al-Nisa by the distinguished and erudite Mehmed Zihni Efendi—may his beneficence endure.

Upon beholding this work, I said to myself… Verily, I made it the foundation of my own translation, adding thereto my own learning, accompanied by such alterations as my feeble judgment deemed appropriate.

[5] Through his extensive study and research in various works, he was able to expand the scope of information in the book and include first-hand knowledge of women, particularly those of his era.

[5] Throughout the book, Etemad al-Saltaneh sometimes cites his sources and occasionally critiques the views of earlier authors to correct and expand upon their information.

[17] In total, Khayrat-é Hésan contains 927 entries:[18] According to Golchin Ma'ani's count,[18] the book includes biographies of 52 Persian-speaking poets, some of whom are mentioned more than once.

[3][5] Alongside the biographies of scholarly women, the author provides translations of poetry, tales, explanations of terms, meanings of verses, historical anecdotes, jurisprudential discussions, and other related information.

[18] The sole exception is the entry for Amina bint Wahb, which is placed at the beginning of the book before other names due to her revered status as the mother of the Muhammad.