Parviz Natel Khanlari was born in Tehran in 1914. He was the son of a government official from the Natel Nur region of Mazandaran. Khanlari graduated from the University of Tehran with a doctorate degree in Persian literature and, for a time thereafter, he taught in the schools of Gilan and later at the University of Tehran. In 1949, while keeping his position at Tehran University, he attended Paris University and studied linguistics. He also traveled to Tajikistan (1956) and India (1978).

Khanlari's contributions fall into several categories. First and foremost, he held some of the highest positions in the Iranian government in the 1960's through the late 1970's. Early in his career, he was the Governor of Azerbaijan Province. Later on, he served first as the Deputy Prime Minister and later as the Minister of Education of Iran. He served as the representative of Mazandaran in four sessions of the Iranian Parliament. He was also the Director of the Shahname Foundation and of the Iranian Cultural Foundation. His efforts were instrumental in the establishment and operation of the Iran Academy of Arts and Literature of Iran, the Franklin Institute, and other similar institutions.

Khanlari's early works consisted of both prose and poetry. His first contribution appeared in Iqdam in 1931. This was followed by research in major studies in Persian poetics, linguistics, and the history of Iran both before and after the Islamic invasion. In 1932, he translated Dukhtari Sarvan from French. Like his study of poetics and linguistics, this too led to a series of wonderful and needed translations of European works into Persian. These include translations from the works of Pushkin, Rilke, Arthur A. Pope, and others.

Probably the most unique and lasting contribution of Khanlari is his editorship of Sukhan, a monthly to which many major figures of Iranian culture and literature of his time contributed. His editorship, which lasted, with some interruption, for some 35 years (1944-1979) has provided the scholars in Iranian studies a most useful tool for the study of aspects of the Iranian scene. The publication of the monthly came to an end in 1979.

Natel Khanlari is distinguished for the simplicity of his style. He did not follow the traditionalists nor did he advocate the new. Indeed, his approach accommodated the entire spectrum of creativity and expression in Persian literature. His Oqob (eagle), reproduced below with a translation by this author, is an example of his achievements in this vein.