Niẓāmī Ganjavī

Poet

One of the greatest Persian poets and thinkers, Niẓāmī (his pen-name) was a native of Ganja (modern Gyandzha, formerly Kirovabad, Azarbaijan) and spent most of his quiet life there far removed from court life. Biographers and researchers differ as to the exact date of his birth, but usually place it within the six-year period of 535-540/1141–46. The UNESCO declaration that 1991 was the year of Niẓāmī in honor of the 850th anniversary of the poet’s birth as well as Giacomo Puccini’s use of a story from Haft Paykar for the basis of his opera Turandot exemplify Niẓāmī’s lasting eminence beyond the realm of Persian literature. Niẓāmī’s fame rests on his five masterful masnavīs (epics in rhymed couplets) known collectively as the Ḫamsa, or Quintet: Maḫzan al-asrār, Ḫusraw u Shīrīn, Laylī u Majnūn, Haft Paykar, Iskandar-nāmah. One of the great Persian masters of poetry, “Niẓāmī’s absolute control over the Persian language and his use of compounds and learned double-entendres sometimes makes his poetry difficult to understand; nonetheless, his imagery and power of depiction have been often imitated but seldom rivaled”. The dates given for the death of Niẓāmī differ by 37 years. His traditional death dates are 599/1203 or 605/1209.