Background/Objectives: This study aims to analyze the criteria employed by Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub in literary criticism. It addresses two principal questions: What criteria did Zarrinkoub rely upon in evaluating literary works, and how are these criteria related to one another? As one of the most influential academic literary critics and scholars, this article offers valuable insights into the development of academic literary criticism in Iran.

Methods/Approach: Adopting a descriptive-analytical approach, this study examines Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub's major works on literary criticism. Particular attention is given to those evaluative criteria that, although not explicitly or systematically formulated by Zarrinkoub himself, are consistently reflected in his practical critical analyses. His views are also compared with some literary schools and theories.

Results/Findings: Simplicity, balance, innovation, and authenticity of experiece (the relationship between a literary work and the author's lived experience) constitute the principal criteria underlying Zarrinkoub's literary criticism. Simplicity is associated with natural expression and the avoidance of artificiality. This rejection of artificiality, in turn, links simplicity to authenticity of experience, as works rooted in genuine lived experience tend to manifest themselves in a natural and unforced manner, while their originality likewise emerges organically rather than through deliberate contrivance. For Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub, however, all these qualities acquire critical value only when governed by a sense of balance, particularly in the use of literary devices. Taken together, these four criteria are both intrinsically interconnected and indicative of the fundamentally neoclassical orientation of Zarrinkoub's approach to literary criticism.