Sharaf ad-Din 'Ali Yazdi, a Persian historian, becomes the close adviser of the governor of Iraq, Mirza Sultan Muhammad, who lives in the city of Qom, in 1442/4.

His patron, however, attempts a revolt against the reigning Shah Rokh, and Sharaf ad-Din is fortunate enough to be cleared of any complicity.

He is granted permission to return to his native city, where he will live until his death.

The work for which he is best known is the Zafernameh (1424/25; The Book of Victory), a history of the world conqueror Timur (Tamerlane; 1370–1405) and is probably based on the history of the same name by Nizam ad-Din Shami, a work written at Timur's request.

Sharaf ad-Din 'Ali had been a teacher in his native Yazd as a young man and a close companion of the Timurid ruler Shah Rokh and his son Mirza Ibrahim Sultan.