Nezami
Encyclopedia
Nizami Ganjavi Nizami Ganje'i, Nizami, or Nezāmi , whose formal name was Niẓām ad-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyās ibn-Yūsuf ibn-Zakkī ,was a 12th-century Persian
poet. Nezāmi
is considered the greatest romantic epic poet in Persian literature
, who brought a colloquial and realistic style to the Persian epic. His heritage is widely appreciated and shared by Afghanistan
, Azerbaijan
, Iran
, and Tajikistan
.
(Great Seljuq
empire now present-day Azerbaijan
) and is believed to have spent his whole life in South Caucasus
. According to De Blois, Ganja was a city which at that time had predominantly an Iranian population. The Armenian historian Kirakos Gandzaketsi
(Ca. 1200-1271) mentions that: "This city was densely populated with Iranians and a small number of Christians".
Because Nezami was not a court poet, he does not appear in the annals of the dyansties. Tazkerehs
, which are the compilations of literary memoirs that include maxims of the great poets along with biographical information and commentary of styles refer to him briefly. Much of this material in these Tazkerehs are based on legends, anecdotes, and hearsays. Consequently, few facts are known about Nezami's life, the only source being his own work, which does not provide much information on his personal life.
background. His father, whose name was Yusuf is mentioned once by Nezami in his poetry. In the same verse, Nezami mentions his grandfather's name as Zakki. In part of the same verse, some have taken the word Mu'ayyad as a title for Zakki while others have interpreted it as the name of his great grandfather. Some sources have stated that his father might be possibly from Qom
.
Nezami was at least half Iranian
, but there exists a difference of opinion, about his father's ethnicity and Iranic
and others have been mentioned.
slave girl, was sent to him by Fakhr al-Din Bahramshah, the ruler of Darband
, as a part of a larger gift. She became Nezami's first and most beloved wife. His only son Mohammad was from Afaq. Afaq died after "Khosrow and Shirin" was completed. Mohammad was seven at the time. Strangely enough, Nezami's other wives, too, died prematurely - the death of each coinciding with the completion of an epic, prompting the poet to say, "God, why is it that for every mathnavi I must sacrifice a wife!"
or an expositor of theoretical sufism in the sense of Ibn 'Arabi. However, he is regarded as a philosopher and gnostic who mastered various fields of Islamic thoughts which he synthesized in a way that brings to mind the traditions of later Hakims such as Qutb al-Din Shirazi.
Often referred to by the honorific Hakim("the Sage"), Nezami is both a learned poet and master of a lyrical and sensuous style. About Nezami's prodigious learning there is no doubt. Poets were expected to be well versed in many subjects; but Nezami seems to have been exceptionally so. His poems show that not only he was fully acquainted with Arabic and Persian
literatures and with oral and written popular and local traditions, but was also familiar with such diverse fields as mathematics
, astronomy
, astrology
, alchemy
, medicine
, botany
, Koranic exegesis, Islamic theory and law
, Iranian
myths and legends, history, ethics
, philosophy
and esoteric thought
, music, and the visual arts
. His strong character, social sensibility, and knowledge of oral and written historical records, as well as his rich Persian cultural heritage unite pre-Islamic and Islamic Iran into the creation of a new standard of literary achievement. Being a product of the Iranian culture of the time, he not only created a bridge between pre-Islamic and Islamic Iran, but also between Iran and the whole ancient world.
The recent discovery and publication of the anthology titled Nozhat al-Majales
contains Persian language quatrains from Nizami and 114 other poets from the northwestern Iran (Arrān, Šarvān, Azerbaijan; including 24 poets from Ganja alone) during the same era. Unlike other parts of Persia, where the poets mostly belonged to higher echelons of society such as scholars, bureaucrats, and secretaries, a good number of poets in the northwestern areas rose from among the common people with working class backgrounds, and they frequently used colloquial expressions in their poetry. Accordingly, the book demonstrates the social conditions at the time, reflecting the full spread of Persian language and the culture in the region, which is evidenced by the common use of spoken idioms in poems and the professions of many of the poets. The influence of the northwestern Pahlavi language, for example, which had been the spoken dialect of the region, is clearly observed in the poems contained in this anthology. However, at the same time, the Caucasus region was entertaining a unique mixture of ethnic cultures. Khaqani
's mother was a Nestorian Christian, Mojir Baylqani's mother was an Armenian
, and Nezami's mother was a Kurd
. Their works reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of the region.
By the end of the tenth century, Persian literature became widespread from the eastern Mediterranean to the banks of the Indus. The earliest extant example of Persian poetry from the area is that of Qatran Tabrizi
(1009–1072) who served in the courts of the Shaddadid
and Rawadid
dynasties. Qatran Tabrizi, is credited with what some scholars in the last century have termed as the founder of the "Azerbaijan" or "Trans-Cacausian" school or "Tabriz School" or "Shirvan School" or "Arranian Style" of Persian poetry. This school produced a distinctive style of poetry in Persian, which contrasted with "Khurasani" ("Eastern") style in its rhetorical sophistication, its innovative use of metaphor, its use of technical terminology
and Christian
imagery, the presence of Persian archaism while borrowing from Arabic vocabulary, as well as new concepts.
The Seljuqs took control of Ganja
from the Shaddadid
s in 1075 A.D. and spread Persian literary westwards to their courts. In the middle of the twelfth century, the Seljuk
s control of the region weakened and their provincial governors, virtually autonomous local princes, further encouraged Persian culture, art and poetry in their courts. Persian culture characteristically flourished in this era when political power was diffused and Persian remained the primary language, Persian civil cervants, merchants were in great demand and rival dynastines continue to vie for the service of Persian poets. This was especially true in Ganjeh, the Caucasian outpost town where Nizami lived. Nezami was patronized by different rulers and dedicated his epics to various rival dynasties including the Seljuqs, Eldiguzids
(who maintained control of Ganja during most of the later 12th century), Shirvanshah
s, the ruler of Ahar and Ahmadilis. Although he enjoyed the patronage of various rulers and princes, he avoided the court life and is generally believed to have lived a secluded life. Since he was not a court poet, he does not appear in the annals of the dynasties which list the names of events of the ruling families.
According to Professor Chelkowski: It seems that Nezami's favorite pastime was reading Firdawsi's
monumental epic Shahnameh
(The book of Kings). Nezami has mentioned Ferdowsi
as the Sage (Hakim) and Knower/Wise (daanaa) and the great master of discourse: who has decorated words like new bride. Nezami advises the son of the Shirvanshah
to read the Shah-nama and to remember the meaningful sayings of the wise. Nezami has used the Shahnameh
as a source in his three epics of "Haft Paykar", "Khosrow and Shirin" and "Eskandar-nameh".
The story of Vis and Ramin also had an immense influence on Nezami. Although Nezami takes the bases for most of his plots from Ferdowsi
, but the basis for his rhetoric comes from Gorgani. This is especially noticeable in the Khosrow and Shirin, which is of the same meter and imitates some scenes from Vis and Ramin. Nezami's concern with astrology also has a precedent in an elaborate astrological description of the night sky in Vis and Ramin. Nezami had a paramount influence on the romantic tradition, and Gorgani can be said to have initiated much of the distinctive rhetoric and poetic atmosphere of this tradition, with the absence of the Sufi influences, which are seen in Nezami's epic poetry.
The first monumental work of Nezami, the Makhzan al-Asrar is influenced by Sanai
's "Hadikat al-Hakika". Nezami acknowledges this but considers his work to be superior. The main similarities between Sanai's poem and Nezami's are in its ethico-philosophical genre, although Nezami uses a different metre and organized the whole work in a different fashion. Khaqani
Sherwani daring imagery, was to have a momentous influence on Nezami Ganjavi and through the latter on Persian poetry in general.
Nezami lived in an age of both political instability and intense intellectual activity, which his poems reflect; but little is known about his life, his relations with his patrons, or the precise dates of his works, as the many legends built up around the poet color the accounts of his later biographers.
(which was compiled around 1250 A.D.) by Jamal Khalil Shirvani along with 23 other poets from Ganja
.
style (double-rhymed verses). He wrote poetical works; the main one is the Panj Ganj (Persian: Five Jewels) "Quinary", also known by the Persian pronunciation of the same word in Arabic, Khamsa. The first of his five 'Treasures', called The Storehouse of Mysteries was influenced by Sanai
of Ghazna's (d. 1131) monumental Garden of Truth. The other ‘Treasures’ were medieval romances. Khusaw and Shirin, Bahrām-e Gur, and Alexander the Great, who all have episodes devoted to them in Ferdowsi's Book of Kings, appear again here at the center of three of four of Nezami's narrative poems. The adventure of the paired lovers, Leyli and Majnun, is the subject of the second of his four romances, and derived from Arabic sources. In all these cases, Nezami reworked the material from his sources in a substantial way.
The Khamsa was a popular subject for lavish manuscripts illustrated with painted miniatures at the Persian and Mughal
courts in later centuries. Examples include the Khamsa of Nizami (British Library, Or. 12208)
, created for the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the 1590s.
The Quinary(Five Treasures-Panj Ganj) includes the five Persian books of Nezami:
The ethico-philosophical poems of about 2,250 Persian distichs was dedicated to Fakhr al-Din Bahramshah, the ruler of Erzinjan. The story deals with such esoteric subjects as philosophy and theology. The story contains twenty discourses, each of them portraying an exemplary story on religious and ethical topics. Each chapter concludes with apostrophe to the poet himself containing his pen name. The content of the poems are indicated in the heading to each chapter and are written in a typical Homiletics
style. The stories which discuss spiritual and practical concerns enjoin kingly justice, riddance of hypocrisy, warning of vanity of this world and the need to prepare for the after-life. The general message of the discourse is that Nezami preaches the ideal way of life drawing attention to his reader of the supreme rank man among God's creatures and approaching of the end life and the necessity of man becoming aware of his spiritual destination. In a few chapters he address the duties of a King, but as a whole he addresses himself to mankind in general rather than his royal patrons. In the introduction, the poet provides an account of his solitary vigils, called Khalwat. There is no indication that these were Sufi vigils, but are used as a literally fantasy on the duty of spiritually inclined poet he wanted to be. In highly rhetorical style, the aim he pursues is to transcend the limitation of secular literature of the courts. With this work, Nezami joins the destination of Persian poetry which had started with Sanai
and was continued by others, in the first place by Attar Neyshapuri
Not a romantic epic, "The Treasury of Mysteries" was translated into English by Gholam H. Darab in 1945. After this early work, Nezami turned into narrative poetry.
A story of pre-Islamic Persian origin which is found in the great epico-historical poems of Shahnameh and is based on a true story that was further romanticized by Persian poets. The story chosen by Nezami, was commissioned and dedicated to the Seljuk Sultan Toghril II, the Atabek Muhammad ibn Eldiguz Jahan Pahlavan and his brother Qizil Arsalan. It contains about 6,500 distichs in length, the story depicts the love of Sassanian
Khosrow II Parviz
towards his Armenian princess Shirin
. Khusrow and Shirin recounts the story of King Khosrow's courtship of Princess Shirin, and vanquishing of his love-rival, Farhad. The story has a complex structure with several genres exploited simultaneously; and contains many verbal exchanges and letters, all imbued with lyrical intensity. Khosrow endures long journeys, physical and spiritual, before returning to Shirin, his true love. They are eventually married, but eventually Khosrow is killed by his son and Shirin commits suicide over the body of her murdered husband. Pure and selfless love is represented here embodied in the figure of Farhad, secretly in love with Shirin, who finally falls victim to the king's ire and jealousy.
The influence of Vis o Ramin is visible as the poem imitates a major scene (that of the lovers arguing in the snow) from Vis o Rāmin, as well as being in the same meter (hazaj) as Gorgāni's poem. Nezami's concern with astrology also has a precedent in an elaborate astrological description of the night sky in Vis o Rāmin. In turn, Nezami's great work had a tremendous influence on later authors and many imitations of this work were made. With complete artistic and sturctual unity, the epic of Khosrow o Shirin turned to be a turning point not only for Nizami but for all of Persian literature.
A story of Arabic origin which was later absorbed and embellished by the Persians. The poem of 4,600 distichs was dedicated, in 1192, to Abu al-Muzaffar Shirvanshah, who claimed descent from the Sassanid King, whose exploits are reflected in Nezami's "Seven Beauties"(Haft Paykar). The poem is based on the popular Arab legend of ill-starred lovers: the poet Qays falls in love with his cousin Layla, but is prevented from marrying her by Layla's father. Layla's father forbids contact with Qays and Qays becomes obsessed and starts signing of his love for Layla in public. The obsession becomes so severe that he sees and evaluates everything in terms of Layla; hence his sobriquet "the possessed" (Majnun). Realizing that cannot obtain union even when other people intercede for him, he leaves society and roams naked in the desert among the beasts. However the image of Layla was so ingrained in him that he cannot eat or sleep. His only activity becomes composing poetry of longing for Layla. Meanwhile Layla is married against her will, but she guards her virginity by resisting the advances of her husband. Arranging a secret meeting with Majnun, they meet, but have no physical contact. Rather they recite poetry to each other from a distance. Layla's husband dies eventually which removes the legal obstacles to a licit union. However Majnun is so focused on the ideal picture of Layla in his mind that he had fled to the desert. Layla dies out of grief and is buried in her bridal dress. Hearing this news, Majun rushes to her grave where he instantly dies. They are buried side by side and their grave becomes a site of pilgrimage. Someone dreams that in Paradise they are united and live as a king and queen. Nezami composed his romance at the request of the Shirvanshah
Akhsatan. Initially, he doubted that this simple story about the agony and pain of an Arab boy wandering in rough mountains and burning deserts would be a suitable subject for royal court poetry and his cultured audience. It was his son who persuaded him to undertake the project, saying: "wherever tales of love are read, this will add spice to them". Nezami used many Arabic anecdotes in the story but also adds a strong Persian flavor to the legend. He adapted the disconnected stories about Majnun to fit the requirement of a Persian romance.
He Persianises the poem by adding several techniques borrowed from the Persian epic tradition, such as the portrayal of characters, the relationship between characters, description of time and setting, etc. and adapts the disconnected stories to fit the requirements of a Persian romance.
The Story of Layla and Majnun by Nizami, was translated and edited by Dr. Rudolf Gelpke into an English version in collaboration with E. Mattin and G. Hill Omega Publications and published in 1966. A comprehensive analysis in English containing partial translations of Nezami's romance Layla and Majnun examining key themes such as chastity, constancy and suffering through an analysis of the main characters was recently accomplished by Ali Asghar Seyed-Gohrab.
The Romance of Alexander the Great
" contains 10,500 distichs. There are differences of opinion on whether this was Nezami's last epic or the Haft Paykar. The names of its dedicatees are uncertain but the ruler of Ahar, Nosart al-Din Bishkin b. Mohammad has been mentioned. The story is based on Islamic myths developed about Alexander the Great, which derive from Qur'an
ic references to the Dhu'l-Qarnayn as well as from the Greek Alexander romance of Pseudo-Callisthenes. It consists of two books, Sharaf-Nama and Iqbal-nameh. The poem narrates the three stages in Alexander's life: first as the conqueror of the world; then as a seeker after knowledge, gaining enough wisdom to acknowledge his own ignorance; and finally as a prophet, traveling once again across the world, from west to east, and south to north to proclaim his monotheistic creed to the world at large. The Sharaf-nama discusses the birth of Alexander, his succession to the throne of Rum (Greece), his wars against Africans who invaded Egypt, his conquest of Persia and his marriage to the daughter of Darius. The episode also discusses Alexander's pilgrimage to Mecca
, his stay in the Caucasus and his visit to Queen Nushaba of Barda' and her court of Amazons. Alexander conquers India, China and the land of the Rus. The Sharafnama concludes with Alexander's unsuccessful search for the water of immortal life.
The Iqbal-nameh is a description of Alexander's personal growth into the ideal ruler on a model ultimately derived, through Islamic intermediaries, from Plato
's Republic
. He has debates with Greek and Indian philosophers (c.f. with Garshaspnama
) and a major portion of the text is devoted to the discourses he has with seven Greek sages. The poet then tells of Alexander's end and adds an account of the circumstances of the death of each of the seven sages. Nezami's image of Alexander is that of an Iranian knight.
An English translation of the Sharaf-Nama by Henry Wilberforce-Clarke
was published in 1881 under the title Sikandar Nama e Bara and is available online.
A pre-Islamic story of Persian origin, it was dedicated to the ruler of Maragha, 'Ala' Al-Din korp Arslan. It is the story of Bahram V, the Sassanid
king, who is born to Yazdegerd
after twenty years of childlessness and supplication to Ahura Mazda
for a child. The Haft Paykar is a romanticized biography of the Sasanian Persian empire ruler Bahram Gur. His adventurous life had already been treated by Ferdowsi
in the Shahnama, to which fact Nezami alludes a number of times. In general, his method is to omit those episodes that the earlier poet had treated, or to touch on them only very briefly, and to concentrate on new material. The poet starts by giving an account of the birth of Bahram Gur and his upbringing in the court of the Arab King No'man and his fabled palace Khwarnaq. Bahram whose upbringing is entrusted to Nom'man becomes a formidable huntsman. While wandering through the fabled palace, he discovers a locked room which contains a depiction of seven princesses; hence the name Haft Paykar (seven beauties). Each of these princesses is from the seven different climes (traditional Zoroastriani-Islamic division of the Earth) and he falls in love with them. His father Yazdegerd I
passes away and Bahram returns to Persia to claim his throne from pretenders. After some episodes he is recognized as King and rescues the Persians from a famine. Once the country is stable, the King searches for the seven princesses and wins them as his brides. His architect is ordered to construct seven domes for each of his new brides. The architect tells him that each of the seven climes is ruled by one of the seven planets (classical planetary system of Zoroastrian-Islamic world) and advises him to assure good fortune by adorning each dome with the color that is associated with each clime and planet. Bahram is skeptical but follows the advice of the architect. The princesses take up residence in the splendid pavilions. On each visit, the king visits the princesses on successive days of the week; on Saturday the Indian princess, who is governed by Saturn and so on. The princesses names are Furak (Nurak), the daughter of the Rajah of India, as beautiful as the moon; Yaghma Naz, the daughter of the Khaqan of the Turks; Naz Pari, the daughter of the king of Khwarazm; Nasrin Nush, the daughter of the king of the Slavs; Azarbin (Azareyon), the daughter of the king of Morocco; Humay, the daughter of the Roman Caesar; and Diroste(wholesome), a beautiful Iranian princess from the House of Kay Ka'us. Each princess relates to the king a story matching the mood of her respective color. These seven beautifully constructed, highly sensuous stories occupy about half of the whole poem. While the king is busy with the seven brides, his evil minister seizes power in the realm. Bahram Gur discovers that the affairs of Persia are in disarray, the treasury is empty and the neighboring rulers are posed to invade. He clears his mind first by going hunting. After returning from hunt, he sees a suspended dog from a tree. The owner of the dog, who was shepherd, tells the story of how his faithful watchdog had betrayed his flock to a she-wolf in return for sexual favors. He starts investigating the corrupt minister and from the multitude of complains, he selects seven who tell him the injustice they have suffered. The minister is subsequently put to death and Bahram Gur restores justice and orders the seven pleasure-domes to be converted to fire temple
s for the pleasure of God. Bahram then goes hunting for the last time but mysteriously disappears. As a pun on words, while trying to hunt the wild ass (gūr) he instead finds his tomb (gūr).
Ritter, in his introduction to the critical edition describes it as: the best and most beautiful epic in New Persian poetry and at the same time . . . one of the most important poetical creations of the whole of oriental Indo-European literature. The Haft Paykar is considered the poet's masterpiece. Overall, in this masterpiece, Nezami illustrates the harmony of the universe, the affinity of the sacred and the profane, and the concordance of ancient and Islamic Iran.
The story was translated to English in 1924 by Charles Edward Wilson. A newer English rendering based on more complete manuscripts was accomplished by Professor Julia Scott Meysami.
An excerpt (Original Persian):
English translation by Wilson:
The influence of Neẓāmi’s work on the subsequent development of Persian
literature has been enormous and the Khamsa became a pattern that was emulated in later Persian poetry (and also in other Islamic literatures). The legacy of Nezami is widely felt in the Islamic world and his poetry has influenced the development of Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish and Urdu poetry amongst many other languages.
In Persian miniature, the stories in Nezami’s poems alongside those of Ferdowsi's Shahnama have been the most frequently illustrated literary works.
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica: Nezami is admired in Persian-speaking lands for his originality and clarity of style, though his love of language for its own sake and of philosophical and scientific learning makes his work difficult for the average reader. Nezami composed his verses in Persian
and Western Encyclopedias such as Encyclopedia of Islam, Encyclopædia Iranica
, Encyclopædia Britannica
and orientalists of many countries consider Nezami as a significant Persian
poet and hail him as the greatest exponent of romantic epic poetry in Persian literature
.
Amongst the many notable poets who have taken the Five Treasures of Nezami as their model may be mentioned Amir Khusro
, Jalal Farahani, Khwaju Kermani
, Mohammad Katebi Tarr-Shirini, Abdul Rahman Jami
, Hatefi Jami, Vahshi Bafqi
, Maktabi Shirazi, Ali-Shir Nava'i, Abdul Qader-e Bedel Dehlavi, Fuzûlî
, Hashemi Kermani, Fayzi, Jamali and Ahmad Kahni. Not only poets, but historians such as Rawandi were also influenced by Nezami's poetry and used his poem in rendering history. Besides these, scores of poets have started their composition with the first line of the Makhzan al-Asrar.
According to Dr. Rudolf Gelpke: Many later poets have imitated Nizami's work, even if they could not equal and certainly not surpass it; Persians, Turks, Indians, to name only the most important ones. The Persian scholar Hekmat has listed not less than forty Persians and thirteen Turkish versions of Layli and Majnun.
According to Vahid Dastgerdi, If one would search all existing libraries, one would probably find more than 1000 versions of Layli and Majnun.
Jami
in his Nafahatol Ons remarks that: Although most of Nezami's work on the surface appear to be romance, in reality they are a mask for the essential truths and for the explanation of divine knowledge.
Jami
in his Baharestan mentions that: Nezami's excellence is more manifest than the sun and has no need of description. Hashemi of Kerman remarks: The empire of poetry obtained its law and order from Nezami's beautiful verses and To present words before Nezami's silent speech is a waste of time.
Amir Khusro
writes:
"The ruler of the kingdom of words, famed hero,
Scholar and poet, his goblet [glass] toasts.
In it - pure wine, it's drunkingly sweet,
Yet in goblet [glass] beside us - only muddy setting."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe writes:
A gentle, highly gifted spirit, who, when Ferdowsi
had completed the collected heroic traditions, chose for the material of his poems the sweetest encounters of the deepest love. Majnun and Layli, Khosrow and Shirin, lovers he presented; meant for one another by premonition, destiny, nature, habit, inclination, passion staunchly devoted to each other; but divided by mad ideas, stubbornness, chance, necessity, and force, then miraculously reunited, yet in the end again in one way or another torn apart and separated from each other.
With regards to the recitation of his poetry, Peter Chelkowski states: "The memorization and recitation of their literary heritage has alway beens vital to Iranians, whose attitude towards the power of the written and spoken word is revential. Even today the national passion for poetry is constantly expressed over radio and television, in teahouses, in literary socities, in daily conversation, and in the Musha'areh, the poetry recitation contest. Nizami's work serves as a vehicle and a symbol of this tradition, for it unites universality with deep-rooted artistic endeavor, a sense of justice and passion for the arts and sciences with spirituallity and genuine piety. for richness and fineness of metaphor, accuracy, and profundity of psychological observation, and sheer virtuosity of storytelling, Nizami is unequalled".
Nezami's story of Layla and Majnun also provided the namesake for a hit single by Eric Clapton
, also called Layla. Recorded with Derek and the Dominos
, Layla was released on the 1970 album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
. The album was highly influenced by Nezami and his poetry of unrequited love. The fifth song of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
, "I Am Yours", was in fact a Nezami composition, set to music by Clapton.
The Soviet ballet produced a film, Leili and Medjnun, named after a poem by Nizami Gandjevi. The ballet "Seven Beauties" by Azerbaijani composer Gara Garayev
, based on Nezami's famous poem, won an international acclaim.
A minor planet
3770 Nizami
, discovered by Soviet
astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh
in 1974 is named after him. Monuments to Nezami are found in many cities of Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as in Moscow
, St. Petersburg and Udmurtiya (Russia), Kiev
(Ukraine), Tashkent
(Uzbekistan), Marneuli
(Georgia), Chişinău
(Moldova). The Museum of Azerbaijan literature
in Baku is named after Nezami.
Nezami was depicted on the obverse
of the Azerbaijani 500 manat
banknote of 1993-2006. In 2008, coinciding with the 800th anniversary of his death, the National Bank of Azerbaijan
minted a 100 manat gold commemorative coin
dedicated to his memory.
In 2004, there was a conference organized in the University of Cambridge
bringing about eminent scholars on Nezami. The book containing the proceedings of this conference was published under the title: "Nizami: A Key to the Treasure of Hakim " in 2011 by Leiden Press.
The Nizami Museum of Literature
is located in Baku
, Azerbaijan Republic. The Nezami Mausoleum
, built in honor of Nezami, stands just outside the city of Ganja, Azerbaijan Republic. It is a tall cylindrical building, surrounded by gardens. To one side, there is a metal statue commemorating Nezami's epic poems. The mausoleum was originally built in 1947 in place of an old collapsed mausoleum, and rebuilt in its present form after Azerbaijan Republic regained its independence after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
viewpoint on Nezami's Background
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
poet. Nezāmi
is considered the greatest romantic epic poet in Persian literature
Persian literature
Persian literature spans two-and-a-half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources have been within historical Persia including present-day Iran as well as regions of Central Asia where the Persian language has historically been the national language...
, who brought a colloquial and realistic style to the Persian epic. His heritage is widely appreciated and shared by Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, and Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
.
Life
His personal name was Ilyas and his chosen pen-name was Nezami (also spelled as Nizami and Neẓāmi). He was born of an urban background in GanjaGanja, Azerbaijan
Ganja is Azerbaijan's second-largest city with a population of around 313,300. It was named Yelizavetpol in the Russian Empire period. The city regained its original name—Ganja—from 1920–1935 during the first part of its incorporation into the Soviet Union. However, its name was changed again and...
(Great Seljuq
Great Seljuq Empire
The Great Seljuq Empire was a medieval Persianate, Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire, originating from the Qynyq branch of Oghuz Turks. The Seljuq Empire controlled a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to eastern Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf...
empire now present-day Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
) and is believed to have spent his whole life in South Caucasus
South Caucasus
The South Caucasus is a geopolitical region located on the border of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia also referred to as Transcaucasia, or The Trans-Caucasus...
. According to De Blois, Ganja was a city which at that time had predominantly an Iranian population. The Armenian historian Kirakos Gandzaketsi
Kirakos Gandzaketsi
Kirakos of Gandzak was an Armenian historian of the 13th century and author of the History of Armenia, a summary of events from the 4th to the 12th century and a detailed description of the events of his own days. The work concentrates primarily on the history of Medieval Armenia and events...
(Ca. 1200-1271) mentions that: "This city was densely populated with Iranians and a small number of Christians".
Because Nezami was not a court poet, he does not appear in the annals of the dyansties. Tazkerehs
Tazkira
Tazkira is one of the principal forms of Persian literature and also Urdu literature. Tazkira is a type biographical anthology, almost always of poetry alone...
, which are the compilations of literary memoirs that include maxims of the great poets along with biographical information and commentary of styles refer to him briefly. Much of this material in these Tazkerehs are based on legends, anecdotes, and hearsays. Consequently, few facts are known about Nezami's life, the only source being his own work, which does not provide much information on his personal life.
Parents
Nezami was orphaned early and was raised by his maternal uncle Khwaja Umar who took responsibility for him and afforded him an excellent education. His mother, named Ra'isa, was of a KurdishKurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
background. His father, whose name was Yusuf is mentioned once by Nezami in his poetry. In the same verse, Nezami mentions his grandfather's name as Zakki. In part of the same verse, some have taken the word Mu'ayyad as a title for Zakki while others have interpreted it as the name of his great grandfather. Some sources have stated that his father might be possibly from Qom
Qom
Qom is a city in Iran. It lies by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province. At the 2006 census, its population was 957,496, in 241,827 families. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River....
.
Nezami was at least half Iranian
Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
, but there exists a difference of opinion, about his father's ethnicity and Iranic
Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
and others have been mentioned.
Family
Nezami was married three times. His first wife, Afaq, a KipchakKipchaks
Kipchaks were a Turkic tribal confederation...
slave girl, was sent to him by Fakhr al-Din Bahramshah, the ruler of Darband
Derbent
Derbent |Lak]]: Чурул, Churul; Persian: دربند; Judæo-Tat: דארבּאנד/Дэрбэнд/Dərbənd) is a city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, close to the Azerbaijani border. It is the southernmost city in Russia, and it is the second most important city of Dagestan...
, as a part of a larger gift. She became Nezami's first and most beloved wife. His only son Mohammad was from Afaq. Afaq died after "Khosrow and Shirin" was completed. Mohammad was seven at the time. Strangely enough, Nezami's other wives, too, died prematurely - the death of each coinciding with the completion of an epic, prompting the poet to say, "God, why is it that for every mathnavi I must sacrifice a wife!"
Education
Nezami was not a philosopher in the sense of AvicennaAvicenna
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...
or an expositor of theoretical sufism in the sense of Ibn 'Arabi. However, he is regarded as a philosopher and gnostic who mastered various fields of Islamic thoughts which he synthesized in a way that brings to mind the traditions of later Hakims such as Qutb al-Din Shirazi.
Often referred to by the honorific Hakim("the Sage"), Nezami is both a learned poet and master of a lyrical and sensuous style. About Nezami's prodigious learning there is no doubt. Poets were expected to be well versed in many subjects; but Nezami seems to have been exceptionally so. His poems show that not only he was fully acquainted with Arabic and Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
literatures and with oral and written popular and local traditions, but was also familiar with such diverse fields as mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
, alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, Koranic exegesis, Islamic theory and law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, Iranian
Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
myths and legends, history, ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and esoteric thought
Thought
"Thought" generally refers to any mental or intellectual activity involving an individual's subjective consciousness. It can refer either to the act of thinking or the resulting ideas or arrangements of ideas. Similar concepts include cognition, sentience, consciousness, and imagination...
, music, and the visual arts
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
. His strong character, social sensibility, and knowledge of oral and written historical records, as well as his rich Persian cultural heritage unite pre-Islamic and Islamic Iran into the creation of a new standard of literary achievement. Being a product of the Iranian culture of the time, he not only created a bridge between pre-Islamic and Islamic Iran, but also between Iran and the whole ancient world.
Influences and Literary Scene
Nozhat al-Majales
Noz'hat al-Majāles is an anthology which contains around 4,100 Persian quatrains by some 300 poets of the 5th to 7th11th-13th centuries. The anthology was compiled around the middle of the 7th/13th century by the Persian poet Jamal al-Din Khalil Shirvani...
contains Persian language quatrains from Nizami and 114 other poets from the northwestern Iran (Arrān, Šarvān, Azerbaijan; including 24 poets from Ganja alone) during the same era. Unlike other parts of Persia, where the poets mostly belonged to higher echelons of society such as scholars, bureaucrats, and secretaries, a good number of poets in the northwestern areas rose from among the common people with working class backgrounds, and they frequently used colloquial expressions in their poetry. Accordingly, the book demonstrates the social conditions at the time, reflecting the full spread of Persian language and the culture in the region, which is evidenced by the common use of spoken idioms in poems and the professions of many of the poets. The influence of the northwestern Pahlavi language, for example, which had been the spoken dialect of the region, is clearly observed in the poems contained in this anthology. However, at the same time, the Caucasus region was entertaining a unique mixture of ethnic cultures. Khaqani
Khaqani
Khāqāni or Khāghāni was a Persian poet. He was born in the historical region known as Shirvan , under the Shirvanshah and died in Tabriz, Iran.- Life :Khaqani was born into the family of a carpenter in...
's mother was a Nestorian Christian, Mojir Baylqani's mother was an Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
, and Nezami's mother was a Kurd
Kürd
Kürd or Kyurd or Kyurt may refer to:*Kürd Eldarbəyli, Azerbaijan*Kürd Mahrızlı, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Goychay, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Jalilabad, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Qabala, Azerbaijan*Qurdbayram, Azerbaijan...
. Their works reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of the region.
By the end of the tenth century, Persian literature became widespread from the eastern Mediterranean to the banks of the Indus. The earliest extant example of Persian poetry from the area is that of Qatran Tabrizi
Qatran Tabrizi
Abū-Mansūr Qatrān-i Tabrīzī was a royal Persian poet.He was born in Sahar near Arrah, bihar Tabriz and was the most famous panegyrist of his time in Iran. His full name according to an old manuscript handwritten by the famous poet Anvari Abivardi is Abu Mansur Qatran al-Jili al-Azerbaijani...
(1009–1072) who served in the courts of the Shaddadid
Shaddadid
The Shaddadids were a Kurdish dynasty who ruled in various parts of Armenia and Arran from 951-1174 AD. They were established in Dvin. Through their long tenure in Armenia, they often intermarried with the Bagratuni royal family of Armenia....
and Rawadid
Rawadid
Rawadid , , was a Kurdish principality ruling Azerbaijan from the 10th to the early 11th centuries, centered around Tabriz and Maragheh. The Rawadid tribe was one of the Arab tribes who became Kurdish by culture through assimilation...
dynasties. Qatran Tabrizi, is credited with what some scholars in the last century have termed as the founder of the "Azerbaijan" or "Trans-Cacausian" school or "Tabriz School" or "Shirvan School" or "Arranian Style" of Persian poetry. This school produced a distinctive style of poetry in Persian, which contrasted with "Khurasani" ("Eastern") style in its rhetorical sophistication, its innovative use of metaphor, its use of technical terminology
Technical terminology
Technical terminology is the specialized vocabulary of any field, not just technical fields. The same is true of the synonyms technical terms, terms of art, shop talk and words of art, which do not necessarily refer to technology or art...
and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
imagery, the presence of Persian archaism while borrowing from Arabic vocabulary, as well as new concepts.
The Seljuqs took control of Ganja
Ganja, Azerbaijan
Ganja is Azerbaijan's second-largest city with a population of around 313,300. It was named Yelizavetpol in the Russian Empire period. The city regained its original name—Ganja—from 1920–1935 during the first part of its incorporation into the Soviet Union. However, its name was changed again and...
from the Shaddadid
Shaddadid
The Shaddadids were a Kurdish dynasty who ruled in various parts of Armenia and Arran from 951-1174 AD. They were established in Dvin. Through their long tenure in Armenia, they often intermarried with the Bagratuni royal family of Armenia....
s in 1075 A.D. and spread Persian literary westwards to their courts. In the middle of the twelfth century, the Seljuk
Great Seljuq Empire
The Great Seljuq Empire was a medieval Persianate, Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire, originating from the Qynyq branch of Oghuz Turks. The Seljuq Empire controlled a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to eastern Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf...
s control of the region weakened and their provincial governors, virtually autonomous local princes, further encouraged Persian culture, art and poetry in their courts. Persian culture characteristically flourished in this era when political power was diffused and Persian remained the primary language, Persian civil cervants, merchants were in great demand and rival dynastines continue to vie for the service of Persian poets. This was especially true in Ganjeh, the Caucasian outpost town where Nizami lived. Nezami was patronized by different rulers and dedicated his epics to various rival dynasties including the Seljuqs, Eldiguzids
Atabegs of Azerbaijan
The Ildegizids, Eldiguzids or Ildenizids, also known as Atabegs of Azerbaijan were a Turkic dynasty of Kipchak origin which controlled most of northwestern Persia/eastern Transcaucasia, including Arran, most of Azerbaijan, and Djibal...
(who maintained control of Ganja during most of the later 12th century), Shirvanshah
Shirvanshah
Shirvanshah also spelled as Shīrwān Shāh or Sharwān Shāh, was the title in mediaeval Islamic times of an Arab in Ethnos but speedily Persianized dynasty within their culturally Persian environment. The Shirvanshah established a native state in Shirvan...
s, the ruler of Ahar and Ahmadilis. Although he enjoyed the patronage of various rulers and princes, he avoided the court life and is generally believed to have lived a secluded life. Since he was not a court poet, he does not appear in the annals of the dynasties which list the names of events of the ruling families.
According to Professor Chelkowski: It seems that Nezami's favorite pastime was reading Firdawsi's
Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...
monumental epic Shahnameh
Shahnameh
The Shahnameh or Shah-nama is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c.977 and 1010 AD and is the national epic of Iran and related societies...
(The book of Kings). Nezami has mentioned Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...
as the Sage (Hakim) and Knower/Wise (daanaa) and the great master of discourse: who has decorated words like new bride. Nezami advises the son of the Shirvanshah
Shirvanshah
Shirvanshah also spelled as Shīrwān Shāh or Sharwān Shāh, was the title in mediaeval Islamic times of an Arab in Ethnos but speedily Persianized dynasty within their culturally Persian environment. The Shirvanshah established a native state in Shirvan...
to read the Shah-nama and to remember the meaningful sayings of the wise. Nezami has used the Shahnameh
Shahnameh
The Shahnameh or Shah-nama is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c.977 and 1010 AD and is the national epic of Iran and related societies...
as a source in his three epics of "Haft Paykar", "Khosrow and Shirin" and "Eskandar-nameh".
The story of Vis and Ramin also had an immense influence on Nezami. Although Nezami takes the bases for most of his plots from Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...
, but the basis for his rhetoric comes from Gorgani. This is especially noticeable in the Khosrow and Shirin, which is of the same meter and imitates some scenes from Vis and Ramin. Nezami's concern with astrology also has a precedent in an elaborate astrological description of the night sky in Vis and Ramin. Nezami had a paramount influence on the romantic tradition, and Gorgani can be said to have initiated much of the distinctive rhetoric and poetic atmosphere of this tradition, with the absence of the Sufi influences, which are seen in Nezami's epic poetry.
The first monumental work of Nezami, the Makhzan al-Asrar is influenced by Sanai
Sanai
Hakim Abul-Majd Majdūd ibn Ādam Sanā'ī Ghaznavi was a Afghan Sufi poet who lived in Ghazna, in what is now Afghanistan between the 11th century and the 12th century. Some people spell his name as Sanayee. He died around 1131.-Life:...
's "Hadikat al-Hakika". Nezami acknowledges this but considers his work to be superior. The main similarities between Sanai's poem and Nezami's are in its ethico-philosophical genre, although Nezami uses a different metre and organized the whole work in a different fashion. Khaqani
Khaqani
Khāqāni or Khāghāni was a Persian poet. He was born in the historical region known as Shirvan , under the Shirvanshah and died in Tabriz, Iran.- Life :Khaqani was born into the family of a carpenter in...
Sherwani daring imagery, was to have a momentous influence on Nezami Ganjavi and through the latter on Persian poetry in general.
Works
Nezami lived in an age of both political instability and intense intellectual activity, which his poems reflect; but little is known about his life, his relations with his patrons, or the precise dates of his works, as the many legends built up around the poet color the accounts of his later biographers.
Persian Lyrical Poetry
Only a small corpus of his lyric poetry, mainly qaṣīdahs ("odes") and ghazals ("lyrics") have survived. Some of his quatrains have also been recorded in the anthology Nozhat al-MajalesNozhat al-Majales
Noz'hat al-Majāles is an anthology which contains around 4,100 Persian quatrains by some 300 poets of the 5th to 7th11th-13th centuries. The anthology was compiled around the middle of the 7th/13th century by the Persian poet Jamal al-Din Khalil Shirvani...
(which was compiled around 1250 A.D.) by Jamal Khalil Shirvani along with 23 other poets from Ganja
Ganja, Azerbaijan
Ganja is Azerbaijan's second-largest city with a population of around 313,300. It was named Yelizavetpol in the Russian Empire period. The city regained its original name—Ganja—from 1920–1935 during the first part of its incorporation into the Soviet Union. However, its name was changed again and...
.
Quinary ("Panj Ganj" or "Khamsa")
Nezami is best known for his five long narrative poems, which have been preserved. He dedicated his poems to various rulers of the region as was custom of that time for great poets, but avoided court life. Nezami was a master of the MasnaviMasnavi
The Masnavi, Masnavi-I Ma'navi or Mesnevi , also written Mathnawi, Ma'navi, or Mathnavi, is an extensive poem written in Persian by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, the celebrated Persian Sufi saint and poet. It is one of the best known and most influential works of both Sufism and Persian literature...
style (double-rhymed verses). He wrote poetical works; the main one is the Panj Ganj (Persian: Five Jewels) "Quinary", also known by the Persian pronunciation of the same word in Arabic, Khamsa. The first of his five 'Treasures', called The Storehouse of Mysteries was influenced by Sanai
Sanai
Hakim Abul-Majd Majdūd ibn Ādam Sanā'ī Ghaznavi was a Afghan Sufi poet who lived in Ghazna, in what is now Afghanistan between the 11th century and the 12th century. Some people spell his name as Sanayee. He died around 1131.-Life:...
of Ghazna's (d. 1131) monumental Garden of Truth. The other ‘Treasures’ were medieval romances. Khusaw and Shirin, Bahrām-e Gur, and Alexander the Great, who all have episodes devoted to them in Ferdowsi's Book of Kings, appear again here at the center of three of four of Nezami's narrative poems. The adventure of the paired lovers, Leyli and Majnun, is the subject of the second of his four romances, and derived from Arabic sources. In all these cases, Nezami reworked the material from his sources in a substantial way.
The Khamsa was a popular subject for lavish manuscripts illustrated with painted miniatures at the Persian and Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
courts in later centuries. Examples include the Khamsa of Nizami (British Library, Or. 12208)
Khamsa of Nizami (British Library, Or. 12208)
The illuminated manuscript Khamsa of Nizami is a lavishly illustrated manuscript of the Khamsa or "five poems" of Nizami Ganjavi, a 12th century Persian poet, which was created for the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the early 1590s by a number of artists and a single scribe working at the Mughal court,...
, created for the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the 1590s.
The Quinary(Five Treasures-Panj Ganj) includes the five Persian books of Nezami:
Makhzan al-Asrar
- Makhzan al-Asrar(Persian: مخزن الاسرار) "The Storehouse of Mysteries" (1163) (some put it at 1176)
The ethico-philosophical poems of about 2,250 Persian distichs was dedicated to Fakhr al-Din Bahramshah, the ruler of Erzinjan. The story deals with such esoteric subjects as philosophy and theology. The story contains twenty discourses, each of them portraying an exemplary story on religious and ethical topics. Each chapter concludes with apostrophe to the poet himself containing his pen name. The content of the poems are indicated in the heading to each chapter and are written in a typical Homiletics
Homiletics
Homiletics , in theology the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific department of public preaching. The one who practices or studies homiletics is called a homilist....
style. The stories which discuss spiritual and practical concerns enjoin kingly justice, riddance of hypocrisy, warning of vanity of this world and the need to prepare for the after-life. The general message of the discourse is that Nezami preaches the ideal way of life drawing attention to his reader of the supreme rank man among God's creatures and approaching of the end life and the necessity of man becoming aware of his spiritual destination. In a few chapters he address the duties of a King, but as a whole he addresses himself to mankind in general rather than his royal patrons. In the introduction, the poet provides an account of his solitary vigils, called Khalwat. There is no indication that these were Sufi vigils, but are used as a literally fantasy on the duty of spiritually inclined poet he wanted to be. In highly rhetorical style, the aim he pursues is to transcend the limitation of secular literature of the courts. With this work, Nezami joins the destination of Persian poetry which had started with Sanai
Sanai
Hakim Abul-Majd Majdūd ibn Ādam Sanā'ī Ghaznavi was a Afghan Sufi poet who lived in Ghazna, in what is now Afghanistan between the 11th century and the 12th century. Some people spell his name as Sanayee. He died around 1131.-Life:...
and was continued by others, in the first place by Attar Neyshapuri
Attar
Abū Hamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm , better known by his pen-names Farīd ud-Dīn and ‘Attār , was a Persian Muslim poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer from Nīshāpūr who had an abiding influence on Persian poetry and Sufism.-Biography:Information about Attar's life is rare...
Not a romantic epic, "The Treasury of Mysteries" was translated into English by Gholam H. Darab in 1945. After this early work, Nezami turned into narrative poetry.
Khosrow o Shirin
- Khosrow o Shirin(Persian: خسرو و شیرین) "Khosrow and Shirin" (1177–1180)
A story of pre-Islamic Persian origin which is found in the great epico-historical poems of Shahnameh and is based on a true story that was further romanticized by Persian poets. The story chosen by Nezami, was commissioned and dedicated to the Seljuk Sultan Toghril II, the Atabek Muhammad ibn Eldiguz Jahan Pahlavan and his brother Qizil Arsalan. It contains about 6,500 distichs in length, the story depicts the love of Sassanian
Sassanid Empire
The Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
Khosrow II Parviz
Khosrau II
250px|thumb|Khosrau II 250px|thumb|Khosrau II 250px|thumb|Khosrau II (Khosrow II, Chosroes II, or Xosrov II in classical sources, sometimes called Parvez, "the Ever Victorious" – (in Persian: خسرو پرویز), was the twenty-second Sassanid King of Persia, reigning from 590 to 628...
towards his Armenian princess Shirin
Shirin
Shirin was a wife of the Sassanid Persian Shahanshah , Khosrau II. In the revolution after the death of Khosrau's father Hormizd IV, the General Bahram Chobin took power over the Persian empire. Shirin fled with Khosrau to Syria where they lived under the protection of Byzantine emperor Maurice...
. Khusrow and Shirin recounts the story of King Khosrow's courtship of Princess Shirin, and vanquishing of his love-rival, Farhad. The story has a complex structure with several genres exploited simultaneously; and contains many verbal exchanges and letters, all imbued with lyrical intensity. Khosrow endures long journeys, physical and spiritual, before returning to Shirin, his true love. They are eventually married, but eventually Khosrow is killed by his son and Shirin commits suicide over the body of her murdered husband. Pure and selfless love is represented here embodied in the figure of Farhad, secretly in love with Shirin, who finally falls victim to the king's ire and jealousy.
The influence of Vis o Ramin is visible as the poem imitates a major scene (that of the lovers arguing in the snow) from Vis o Rāmin, as well as being in the same meter (hazaj) as Gorgāni's poem. Nezami's concern with astrology also has a precedent in an elaborate astrological description of the night sky in Vis o Rāmin. In turn, Nezami's great work had a tremendous influence on later authors and many imitations of this work were made. With complete artistic and sturctual unity, the epic of Khosrow o Shirin turned to be a turning point not only for Nizami but for all of Persian literature.
Layli o Majnun
- Layli o Majnun(Persian: لیلی و مجنون) "Layla and MajnunLayla and MajnunLayla and Majnun, also known as The Madman and Layla – in Arabic مجنون ليلى or قيس وليلى , in , Leyli və Məcnun in Azeri, Leyla ile Mecnun in Turkish, in Urdu and Hindi – is a classical Arab story, popularized by Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi's...
" (1192)
A story of Arabic origin which was later absorbed and embellished by the Persians. The poem of 4,600 distichs was dedicated, in 1192, to Abu al-Muzaffar Shirvanshah, who claimed descent from the Sassanid King, whose exploits are reflected in Nezami's "Seven Beauties"(Haft Paykar). The poem is based on the popular Arab legend of ill-starred lovers: the poet Qays falls in love with his cousin Layla, but is prevented from marrying her by Layla's father. Layla's father forbids contact with Qays and Qays becomes obsessed and starts signing of his love for Layla in public. The obsession becomes so severe that he sees and evaluates everything in terms of Layla; hence his sobriquet "the possessed" (Majnun). Realizing that cannot obtain union even when other people intercede for him, he leaves society and roams naked in the desert among the beasts. However the image of Layla was so ingrained in him that he cannot eat or sleep. His only activity becomes composing poetry of longing for Layla. Meanwhile Layla is married against her will, but she guards her virginity by resisting the advances of her husband. Arranging a secret meeting with Majnun, they meet, but have no physical contact. Rather they recite poetry to each other from a distance. Layla's husband dies eventually which removes the legal obstacles to a licit union. However Majnun is so focused on the ideal picture of Layla in his mind that he had fled to the desert. Layla dies out of grief and is buried in her bridal dress. Hearing this news, Majun rushes to her grave where he instantly dies. They are buried side by side and their grave becomes a site of pilgrimage. Someone dreams that in Paradise they are united and live as a king and queen. Nezami composed his romance at the request of the Shirvanshah
Shirvanshah
Shirvanshah also spelled as Shīrwān Shāh or Sharwān Shāh, was the title in mediaeval Islamic times of an Arab in Ethnos but speedily Persianized dynasty within their culturally Persian environment. The Shirvanshah established a native state in Shirvan...
Akhsatan. Initially, he doubted that this simple story about the agony and pain of an Arab boy wandering in rough mountains and burning deserts would be a suitable subject for royal court poetry and his cultured audience. It was his son who persuaded him to undertake the project, saying: "wherever tales of love are read, this will add spice to them". Nezami used many Arabic anecdotes in the story but also adds a strong Persian flavor to the legend. He adapted the disconnected stories about Majnun to fit the requirement of a Persian romance.
He Persianises the poem by adding several techniques borrowed from the Persian epic tradition, such as the portrayal of characters, the relationship between characters, description of time and setting, etc. and adapts the disconnected stories to fit the requirements of a Persian romance.
The Story of Layla and Majnun by Nizami, was translated and edited by Dr. Rudolf Gelpke into an English version in collaboration with E. Mattin and G. Hill Omega Publications and published in 1966. A comprehensive analysis in English containing partial translations of Nezami's romance Layla and Majnun examining key themes such as chastity, constancy and suffering through an analysis of the main characters was recently accomplished by Ali Asghar Seyed-Gohrab.
Eskandar Nameh
- Eskandar-nameh (Persian: اسکندرنامه) "The Book of Alexander" (1194) or (1196–1202)
The Romance of Alexander the Great
Alexander Romance
Alexander romance is any of several collections of legends concerning the mythical exploits of Alexander the Great. The earliest version is in Greek, dating to the 3rd century. Several late manuscripts attribute the work to Alexander's court historian Callisthenes, but the historical figure died...
" contains 10,500 distichs. There are differences of opinion on whether this was Nezami's last epic or the Haft Paykar. The names of its dedicatees are uncertain but the ruler of Ahar, Nosart al-Din Bishkin b. Mohammad has been mentioned. The story is based on Islamic myths developed about Alexander the Great, which derive from Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
ic references to the Dhu'l-Qarnayn as well as from the Greek Alexander romance of Pseudo-Callisthenes. It consists of two books, Sharaf-Nama and Iqbal-nameh. The poem narrates the three stages in Alexander's life: first as the conqueror of the world; then as a seeker after knowledge, gaining enough wisdom to acknowledge his own ignorance; and finally as a prophet, traveling once again across the world, from west to east, and south to north to proclaim his monotheistic creed to the world at large. The Sharaf-nama discusses the birth of Alexander, his succession to the throne of Rum (Greece), his wars against Africans who invaded Egypt, his conquest of Persia and his marriage to the daughter of Darius. The episode also discusses Alexander's pilgrimage to Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
, his stay in the Caucasus and his visit to Queen Nushaba of Barda' and her court of Amazons. Alexander conquers India, China and the land of the Rus. The Sharafnama concludes with Alexander's unsuccessful search for the water of immortal life.
The Iqbal-nameh is a description of Alexander's personal growth into the ideal ruler on a model ultimately derived, through Islamic intermediaries, from Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
's Republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
. He has debates with Greek and Indian philosophers (c.f. with Garshaspnama
Asadi Tusi
Abu Mansur Ali ibn Ahmad Asadi Tusi is arguably the second most important Persian poet of the Iranian national epics, after Ferdowsi who also happens to come from the same town of Tus. He was a poet, a linguist and copyist of ancient manuscripts.- Life :The information on Asadi's lifetime is scant...
) and a major portion of the text is devoted to the discourses he has with seven Greek sages. The poet then tells of Alexander's end and adds an account of the circumstances of the death of each of the seven sages. Nezami's image of Alexander is that of an Iranian knight.
An English translation of the Sharaf-Nama by Henry Wilberforce-Clarke
Henry Wilberforce-Clarke
Henry Wilberforce Clarke was the translator of Persian works by Saadi, Hafez and Suhrawardi, as well as writing some works himself. He was an officer in the British India corps and the grandson of William Stanley Clarke, Director and Chairman of the East India Company.-Hafez:Wilberforce Clarke...
was published in 1881 under the title Sikandar Nama e Bara and is available online.
Haft Paykar
- Haft Paykar(Persian: هفت پیکر) "The Seven Beauties" (1197) (also called Bahram-Nama)
A pre-Islamic story of Persian origin, it was dedicated to the ruler of Maragha, 'Ala' Al-Din korp Arslan. It is the story of Bahram V, the Sassanid
Sassanid Empire
The Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
king, who is born to Yazdegerd
Yazdegerd I
Yazdegerd I, or Izdekerti , was the thirteenth Sassanid king of Persia and ruled from 399 to 421. He is believed by some to be the son of Shapur III and by others to be son of Bahram IV...
after twenty years of childlessness and supplication to Ahura Mazda
Ahura Mazda
Ahura Mazdā is the Avestan name for a divinity of the Old Iranian religion who was proclaimed the uncreated God by Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism...
for a child. The Haft Paykar is a romanticized biography of the Sasanian Persian empire ruler Bahram Gur. His adventurous life had already been treated by Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...
in the Shahnama, to which fact Nezami alludes a number of times. In general, his method is to omit those episodes that the earlier poet had treated, or to touch on them only very briefly, and to concentrate on new material. The poet starts by giving an account of the birth of Bahram Gur and his upbringing in the court of the Arab King No'man and his fabled palace Khwarnaq. Bahram whose upbringing is entrusted to Nom'man becomes a formidable huntsman. While wandering through the fabled palace, he discovers a locked room which contains a depiction of seven princesses; hence the name Haft Paykar (seven beauties). Each of these princesses is from the seven different climes (traditional Zoroastriani-Islamic division of the Earth) and he falls in love with them. His father Yazdegerd I
Yazdegerd I
Yazdegerd I, or Izdekerti , was the thirteenth Sassanid king of Persia and ruled from 399 to 421. He is believed by some to be the son of Shapur III and by others to be son of Bahram IV...
passes away and Bahram returns to Persia to claim his throne from pretenders. After some episodes he is recognized as King and rescues the Persians from a famine. Once the country is stable, the King searches for the seven princesses and wins them as his brides. His architect is ordered to construct seven domes for each of his new brides. The architect tells him that each of the seven climes is ruled by one of the seven planets (classical planetary system of Zoroastrian-Islamic world) and advises him to assure good fortune by adorning each dome with the color that is associated with each clime and planet. Bahram is skeptical but follows the advice of the architect. The princesses take up residence in the splendid pavilions. On each visit, the king visits the princesses on successive days of the week; on Saturday the Indian princess, who is governed by Saturn and so on. The princesses names are Furak (Nurak), the daughter of the Rajah of India, as beautiful as the moon; Yaghma Naz, the daughter of the Khaqan of the Turks; Naz Pari, the daughter of the king of Khwarazm; Nasrin Nush, the daughter of the king of the Slavs; Azarbin (Azareyon), the daughter of the king of Morocco; Humay, the daughter of the Roman Caesar; and Diroste(wholesome), a beautiful Iranian princess from the House of Kay Ka'us. Each princess relates to the king a story matching the mood of her respective color. These seven beautifully constructed, highly sensuous stories occupy about half of the whole poem. While the king is busy with the seven brides, his evil minister seizes power in the realm. Bahram Gur discovers that the affairs of Persia are in disarray, the treasury is empty and the neighboring rulers are posed to invade. He clears his mind first by going hunting. After returning from hunt, he sees a suspended dog from a tree. The owner of the dog, who was shepherd, tells the story of how his faithful watchdog had betrayed his flock to a she-wolf in return for sexual favors. He starts investigating the corrupt minister and from the multitude of complains, he selects seven who tell him the injustice they have suffered. The minister is subsequently put to death and Bahram Gur restores justice and orders the seven pleasure-domes to be converted to fire temple
Fire temple
A fire temple in Zoroastrianism is the place of worship for Zoroastrians. Zoroastrians revere fire in any form. In the Zoroastrian religion, fire , together with clean water , are agents of ritual purity...
s for the pleasure of God. Bahram then goes hunting for the last time but mysteriously disappears. As a pun on words, while trying to hunt the wild ass (gūr) he instead finds his tomb (gūr).
Ritter, in his introduction to the critical edition describes it as: the best and most beautiful epic in New Persian poetry and at the same time . . . one of the most important poetical creations of the whole of oriental Indo-European literature. The Haft Paykar is considered the poet's masterpiece. Overall, in this masterpiece, Nezami illustrates the harmony of the universe, the affinity of the sacred and the profane, and the concordance of ancient and Islamic Iran.
The story was translated to English in 1924 by Charles Edward Wilson. A newer English rendering based on more complete manuscripts was accomplished by Professor Julia Scott Meysami.
An excerpt (Original Persian):
English translation by Wilson:
Influence and Legacy
literature has been enormous and the Khamsa became a pattern that was emulated in later Persian poetry (and also in other Islamic literatures). The legacy of Nezami is widely felt in the Islamic world and his poetry has influenced the development of Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish and Urdu poetry amongst many other languages.
In Persian miniature, the stories in Nezami’s poems alongside those of Ferdowsi's Shahnama have been the most frequently illustrated literary works.
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica: Nezami is admired in Persian-speaking lands for his originality and clarity of style, though his love of language for its own sake and of philosophical and scientific learning makes his work difficult for the average reader. Nezami composed his verses in Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
and Western Encyclopedias such as Encyclopedia of Islam, Encyclopædia Iranica
Encyclopædia Iranica
Encyclopædia Iranica is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times...
, Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
and orientalists of many countries consider Nezami as a significant Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
poet and hail him as the greatest exponent of romantic epic poetry in Persian literature
Persian literature
Persian literature spans two-and-a-half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources have been within historical Persia including present-day Iran as well as regions of Central Asia where the Persian language has historically been the national language...
.
Amongst the many notable poets who have taken the Five Treasures of Nezami as their model may be mentioned Amir Khusro
Amir Khusro
Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrow , better known as Amīr Khusrow Dehlawī , was an Indian musician, scholar and poet. He was an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent...
, Jalal Farahani, Khwaju Kermani
Khwaju Kermani
Khwaju Kermani whose full name is Abu’l-ʿAṭā Kamāl-al-Din Maḥmud b. ʿAli b. Maḥmud Morshedi was a famous Persian poet and Sufi mystic from Persia.-Life:He was born in Kerman, Iran in 24 December 1290....
, Mohammad Katebi Tarr-Shirini, Abdul Rahman Jami
Jami
Nur ad-Dīn Abd ar-Rahmān Jāmī also known as DJāmī, Mawlanā Nūr al-Dīn 'Abd al-Rahmān or Abd-Al-Rahmān Nur-Al-Din Muhammad Dashti who is commonly known as Jami , is known for his achievements as a scholar, mystic, writer, composer of numerous lyrics and idylls, historian, and one of the greatest...
, Hatefi Jami, Vahshi Bafqi
Vahshi Bafqi
Kamal al-din known by his pen name Vahshi Bafghi was a Persian poet of the Safavid period. Vahshi was born in the agricultural town of Bafq, southeast of Yazd.- Life :...
, Maktabi Shirazi, Ali-Shir Nava'i, Abdul Qader-e Bedel Dehlavi, Fuzûlî
Fuzûlî
Fużūlī was the pen name of the Azerbaijani or the Bayat branch of Oghuz Turkish and Ottoman poet, writer and thinker Muhammad bin Suleyman...
, Hashemi Kermani, Fayzi, Jamali and Ahmad Kahni. Not only poets, but historians such as Rawandi were also influenced by Nezami's poetry and used his poem in rendering history. Besides these, scores of poets have started their composition with the first line of the Makhzan al-Asrar.
According to Dr. Rudolf Gelpke: Many later poets have imitated Nizami's work, even if they could not equal and certainly not surpass it; Persians, Turks, Indians, to name only the most important ones. The Persian scholar Hekmat has listed not less than forty Persians and thirteen Turkish versions of Layli and Majnun.
According to Vahid Dastgerdi, If one would search all existing libraries, one would probably find more than 1000 versions of Layli and Majnun.
Jami
Jami
Nur ad-Dīn Abd ar-Rahmān Jāmī also known as DJāmī, Mawlanā Nūr al-Dīn 'Abd al-Rahmān or Abd-Al-Rahmān Nur-Al-Din Muhammad Dashti who is commonly known as Jami , is known for his achievements as a scholar, mystic, writer, composer of numerous lyrics and idylls, historian, and one of the greatest...
in his Nafahatol Ons remarks that: Although most of Nezami's work on the surface appear to be romance, in reality they are a mask for the essential truths and for the explanation of divine knowledge.
Jami
Jami
Nur ad-Dīn Abd ar-Rahmān Jāmī also known as DJāmī, Mawlanā Nūr al-Dīn 'Abd al-Rahmān or Abd-Al-Rahmān Nur-Al-Din Muhammad Dashti who is commonly known as Jami , is known for his achievements as a scholar, mystic, writer, composer of numerous lyrics and idylls, historian, and one of the greatest...
in his Baharestan mentions that: Nezami's excellence is more manifest than the sun and has no need of description. Hashemi of Kerman remarks: The empire of poetry obtained its law and order from Nezami's beautiful verses and To present words before Nezami's silent speech is a waste of time.
Amir Khusro
Amir Khusro
Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrow , better known as Amīr Khusrow Dehlawī , was an Indian musician, scholar and poet. He was an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent...
writes:
"The ruler of the kingdom of words, famed hero,
Scholar and poet, his goblet [glass] toasts.
In it - pure wine, it's drunkingly sweet,
Yet in goblet [glass] beside us - only muddy setting."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe writes:
A gentle, highly gifted spirit, who, when Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...
had completed the collected heroic traditions, chose for the material of his poems the sweetest encounters of the deepest love. Majnun and Layli, Khosrow and Shirin, lovers he presented; meant for one another by premonition, destiny, nature, habit, inclination, passion staunchly devoted to each other; but divided by mad ideas, stubbornness, chance, necessity, and force, then miraculously reunited, yet in the end again in one way or another torn apart and separated from each other.
With regards to the recitation of his poetry, Peter Chelkowski states: "The memorization and recitation of their literary heritage has alway beens vital to Iranians, whose attitude towards the power of the written and spoken word is revential. Even today the national passion for poetry is constantly expressed over radio and television, in teahouses, in literary socities, in daily conversation, and in the Musha'areh, the poetry recitation contest. Nizami's work serves as a vehicle and a symbol of this tradition, for it unites universality with deep-rooted artistic endeavor, a sense of justice and passion for the arts and sciences with spirituallity and genuine piety. for richness and fineness of metaphor, accuracy, and profundity of psychological observation, and sheer virtuosity of storytelling, Nizami is unequalled".
Nezami's story of Layla and Majnun also provided the namesake for a hit single by Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, also called Layla. Recorded with Derek and the Dominos
Derek and the Dominos
Derek and the Dominos were a blues rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton with keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon, who had all played with Clapton in Delaney, Bonnie & Friends...
, Layla was released on the 1970 album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is a blues-rock album by Derek and the Dominos, released in November 1970, best known for its eponymous title track, "Layla"...
. The album was highly influenced by Nezami and his poetry of unrequited love. The fifth song of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is a blues-rock album by Derek and the Dominos, released in November 1970, best known for its eponymous title track, "Layla"...
, "I Am Yours", was in fact a Nezami composition, set to music by Clapton.
The Soviet ballet produced a film, Leili and Medjnun, named after a poem by Nizami Gandjevi. The ballet "Seven Beauties" by Azerbaijani composer Gara Garayev
Gara Garayev
Gara Abulfaz oghlu Garayev , also spelled as Qara Qarayev or Kara [Abulfazovich] Karayev, was a prominent Azerbaijani composer of the Soviet period...
, based on Nezami's famous poem, won an international acclaim.
A minor planet
Minor planet
An asteroid group or minor-planet group is a population of minor planets that have a share broadly similar orbits. Members are generally unrelated to each other, unlike in an asteroid family, which often results from the break-up of a single asteroid...
3770 Nizami
3770 Nizami
3770 Nizami is a main-belt asteroid discovered on August 24, 1974 by L. Chernykh at Nauchnyj.- External links :*...
, discovered by Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh
Lyudmila Chernykh
Lyudmila Ivanovna Chernykh is a Russian, Ukrainian and Soviet astronomer.In 1959 she graduated from Irkutsk State Pedagogical University. Between 1959 and 1963 she worked in the 'Time and Frequency Laboratory' of the All-Union Research Institute of Physico-Technical and Radiotechnical Measurements...
in 1974 is named after him. Monuments to Nezami are found in many cities of Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, St. Petersburg and Udmurtiya (Russia), Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
(Ukraine), Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
(Uzbekistan), Marneuli
Marneuli
Marneuli is a small city in the Kvemo Kartli region of southern Georgia and administrative center of Marneuli District that borders neighboring Azerbaijan and Armenia.-Population:...
(Georgia), Chişinău
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...
(Moldova). The Museum of Azerbaijan literature
Nizami Museum of Azerbaijan Literature
The Nizami Museum of Azerbaijani Literature - was established in 1939, in Baku. It is located in the centre of the capital of Azerbaijan, not far from the fountains square and near the entrance of Icheri Sheher...
in Baku is named after Nezami.
Nezami was depicted on the obverse
Obverse and reverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...
of the Azerbaijani 500 manat
Azerbaijani manat
The Manat is the currency of Azerbaijan. It is subdivided into 100 qəpik. The word manat is borrowed from "moneta" which is pronounced as "maneta"...
banknote of 1993-2006. In 2008, coinciding with the 800th anniversary of his death, the National Bank of Azerbaijan
National Bank of Azerbaijan
The Central Bank of Azerbaijan is the central bank of Azerbaijan Republic. The headquarters of the bank are located in the capital city Baku.-Mission and ownership:...
minted a 100 manat gold commemorative coin
Commemorative coin
Commemorative coins are coins that were issued to commemorate some particular event or issue. Most world commemorative coins were issued from the 1960s onward, although there are numerous examples of commemorative coins of earlier date. Such coins have a distinct design with reference to the...
dedicated to his memory.
In 2004, there was a conference organized in the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
bringing about eminent scholars on Nezami. The book containing the proceedings of this conference was published under the title: "Nizami: A Key to the Treasure of Hakim " in 2011 by Leiden Press.
Mausoleum and Museum in Azerbaijan Republic
Nizami Museum of Azerbaijan Literature
The Nizami Museum of Azerbaijani Literature - was established in 1939, in Baku. It is located in the centre of the capital of Azerbaijan, not far from the fountains square and near the entrance of Icheri Sheher...
is located in Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
, Azerbaijan Republic. The Nezami Mausoleum
Nezami Mausoleum
The Nizami Mausoleum , built in honor of the 12th-century poet Nizami Ganjavi, stands just outside the city of Ganja, Azerbaijan. The mausoleum was originally built in 1947 in place of an old collapsed mausoleum, and rebuilt in its present form in 1991....
, built in honor of Nezami, stands just outside the city of Ganja, Azerbaijan Republic. It is a tall cylindrical building, surrounded by gardens. To one side, there is a metal statue commemorating Nezami's epic poems. The mausoleum was originally built in 1947 in place of an old collapsed mausoleum, and rebuilt in its present form after Azerbaijan Republic regained its independence after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
See also
- FerdowsiFerdowsiFerdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...
- KhaqaniKhaqaniKhāqāni or Khāghāni was a Persian poet. He was born in the historical region known as Shirvan , under the Shirvanshah and died in Tabriz, Iran.- Life :Khaqani was born into the family of a carpenter in...
- Vis o Ramin
- Asadi TusiAsadi TusiAbu Mansur Ali ibn Ahmad Asadi Tusi is arguably the second most important Persian poet of the Iranian national epics, after Ferdowsi who also happens to come from the same town of Tus. He was a poet, a linguist and copyist of ancient manuscripts.- Life :The information on Asadi's lifetime is scant...
- Nozhat al-MajalesNozhat al-MajalesNoz'hat al-Majāles is an anthology which contains around 4,100 Persian quatrains by some 300 poets of the 5th to 7th11th-13th centuries. The anthology was compiled around the middle of the 7th/13th century by the Persian poet Jamal al-Din Khalil Shirvani...
- List of Persian poets and authors
- Persian literaturePersian literaturePersian literature spans two-and-a-half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources have been within historical Persia including present-day Iran as well as regions of Central Asia where the Persian language has historically been the national language...
External links
- Persian Literature in Translation The Packard Humanities Institute
- Persian Literature in Translation The Packard Humanities Institute: Lailî and Majnûn
- Persian Literature in Translation The Packard Humanities Institute: Haft Paikar: TRANSLATED FROM THE PERSIAN,WITH A COMMENTARY, BY C. E. WILSON, B.A. (LOND.)
- Persian Literature in Translation The Packard Humanities Institute: Eskandar-Nama (The Book of Alexander) translated by Henry Wilberforce-Clarke
- Biography of Nezami Ganjavi by Professor Julia Scott Meysami
- Nizami, Jamal al-Din Ilyas. A biography by Prof. Iraj Bashiri, University of Minnesota.
- Nezami's works in original Persian at RiRa—The Persian Digital Library
- Nezami's works in original Persian at Ganjoor Persian Library
- The Legend of Leyli and Majnun
- Bio: Nezami Ganjavi
- Encyclopedia Britannica Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
viewpoint on Nezami's Background
- Academician IM Diakonov, personal impressions of the anniversary of Nezami
- http://sites.google.com/site/rakhshesh/articles-related-to-iranian-history/politicization-of-the-background-of-nizami-ganjavi--attempted-de-iranization-of-a-historical-iranian-figure-by-the-ussr-nezami-ganjei-iranian-civilizationArticle arguing for an Iranian background of Nezami from an Iranian writer titled: "Politicization of the Background of Nizami Ganjavi: Attempted de-Iranization of a historical Iranian Figure by the USSR" by Ali Doostzadeh]PDF version Another site
- Article arguing for a Turkic father background from an Azerbaijani writer: "Appropriation of cultural and historical heritage of Azerbaijan by Iranian and Armenian governments: example of great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi (Nezami from Ganjeh)" by Adil Baguirov