Ahmad Shamlou (Persian: احمد شاملو) (December 12, 1925 — July 24, 2000) was a Persian poet, writer, and journalist. His poetry was initially very much influenced by and was in the tradition of Nima Youshij. Shamlou's poetry is complex, yet his imagery, which contributes significantly to the intensity of his poems, is simple. As the base, he uses the traditional imagery familiar to his Iranian audience through the works of Persian masters like Hafez and Omar Khayyám.