The literature and poetry had shown great development in these Islamic-Turkish states. The poets of the Iranian literature that were limited in number were trained under the protection of Gazneli Mahmud. Among those persons was Firdevsi, the author of the famous work titled as Şehname (Poetical History) that laid foundation for the literary Farsi language of today. In the palace of Delhi, the poets would take “Mavacib-i şâ’iri”(allowance for poets) especially in the period of Alâ’üd-din Kalaç- just like in the Gazneli and Seljuk States-.

The Indian-Turkish rulers had provided assistance for the translations of the ancient Indian works. Among these translations, the most important work was the work of Pançatantra known as “Kelile and Dimne” that was an ethical book. This book was translated into Farsi language by Nizâm’üd-dîn Ebu’l-Ma’alî in the name of Gazneli Sultan Bahrâm-shah (died in 1157). In the period of Seljuk State, great developments were observed in the fields of poetry and literature and particularly the Farsi literature was highly developed. The most distinguished characters of Iranian literature had been trained in this period due to the material and spiritual protection of the Turkish sultans.

As it has been known, the Turkish literature developed in Anatolia in this period. The Turkmen poets would sing the ancient Oguz sagas and the heroic stories that were decorated with the epics of the steppe lands since the Manzikert victory. In the further periods, these Turkmen folk poets started to sing the Islamic traditions in Turkish folk song that were suitable for the spirit of holy war and conquest in Anatolia in the 12th and 13th centuries (the legends that were patterned around Ebû Muslim, Hz. Hamza, Hz. Ali, etc.). This literature that had been initiated with these folk songs and poets yielded the outputs such as Danishmendname, Battal Ghazi epic, Sarı Saltuk’s saga, etc. Besides, the era of a mystic Turkish literature was opened under the influence of Yesevi poets. At the same time, this era was contemporary with the representatives of the classical Turkish poetry such as Gulsehri and Asik Pasha, etc. through the mediation of Sultan Veled. In this era, the famous Turkmen poet named as Yunus Emre (died in 1320) was exalted to the summit that could not be reached for centuries .