TEHRAN – A new restoration project has started on the mausoleum of Ya’qub ibn Layth al-Saffar, who was the founder of Saffarid Empire (861–1003).

The mausoleum is located in Shah-Abad, a village some 10 km south-east of Dezful in the southwestern Khuzestan province.

Ya’qub (born 840—died 879) rose from obscurity to rule much of present Iran as well as portions of Afghanistan and Pakistan; at one point he came close to capturing Baghdad, the seat of the caliph (the religious leader of all Islam), according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Ya’qub is a popular folk hero in the Iranian history, and it was at his court that the revitalization of the Persian language began after two centuries of eclipse by Arabic.

The word “Saffar” literary means “coppersmith”.

AFM/MQ/MG