Nizami Ganjavi
| Nizami (Ganjavi) | |
|---|---|
Rug depiction of Nizami Ganjavi (1939). Ganja Museum, Azerbaijan.
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| Born | 1141 (approximate) (Earlier date around c. 1130 has also been mentioned) Ganja, Persia (now Azerbaijan) |
| Died | 1209 Ganja, Persia |
| Period | 12th century |
| Genre | Romantic Persian epic poetry,Persian lyrical poetry, wisdom literature |
| Notable works | The Five Jewels (Panj Ganj) |
Nizami Ganjavi (Persian: نظامی گنجوی, translit. Niẓāmī Ganjavī, lit. 'Niẓāmī of Ganja') (1141 to 1209), Nizami Ganje'i,Nizami, or Nezāmi, whose formal name was Jamal ad-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyās ibn-Yūsuf ibn-Zakkī, was a 12th-century PersianSunniMuslim 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, the Kurdistan region and Tajikistan.
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 Ganja (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 dynasties.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.
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