when rudaki was born
Rudaki Samarqandi, whose full name is Abdollah Jafar-Ebn Mohammad, was born in 858 C.E. in the Rudak village, a settlement between Samarqand and Bokhara in central Asia. Rudaki began writing verses from early childhood. He was fond of playing the harp (chang in Persian), and had a beautiful voice. He was one of the first poets to use the newly devised Persian alphabet, a transcription of the Pahlavi language using Arabic letters. When his fame in poetry reached Bokhara, he was invited to the court by Amir Nasr-Ebn Ahmad Samani. Rudaki's poetry captured the hearts and minds of his contemporaries.