35 Facts About Nizami Ganjavi

Nizami Ganjavi's heritage is widely appreciated in Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Iran, the Kurdistan region and Tajikistan.

Nizami Ganjavi was born of an urban background in Ganja and is believed to have spent his whole life in the South Caucasus.

Nizami Ganjavi was orphaned early and was raised by his maternal uncle Khwaja Umar, who took responsibility for him and afforded him an excellent education.

Nizami Ganjavi's first wife was an enslaved Kipchak who was sent to him by Fakhr al-Din Bahramshah, the ruler of Darband, as part of a larger gift.

Nizami Ganjavi was not a philosopher in the sense of Avicenna or an expositor of theoretical Sufism in the sense of Ibn 'Arabi.

Poets were expected to be well versed in many subjects, but Nizami Ganjavi seems to have been exceptionally so.

Nizami Ganjavi's 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 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.

Khaqani's mother was a Nestorian Christian, Mojir Baylqani's mother was an Armenian, and Nizami Ganjavi's mother was a Kurd.

Nizami Ganjavi was patronized by different rulers and dedicated his epics to various rival dynasties, including the Seljuqs, Eldiguzids, Shirvanshahs, the ruler of Ahar and Ahmadilis.

Nizami Ganjavi used the Shahnameh as a source in his three epics of Haft Peykar, Khosrow and Shirin and Eskandar-Nameh.

Nizami Ganjavi 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 Nizami Ganjavi's epic poetry.

Nizami Ganjavi acknowledges this, but considers his work to be superior.

The main similarities between Sanai's poem and Nizami Ganjavi's are in its ethico-philosophical genre, although Nizami Ganjavi uses a different metre and organized the whole work in a different fashion.

Nizami Ganjavi 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.

Nizami Ganjavi dedicated his poems to various rulers of the region as was the custom of that time for great poets, but avoided court life.

Nizami Ganjavi was a master of the masnavi style.

Nizami Ganjavi's main poetical work, for which he is best known, is a set of five long narrative poems known as the Khamsa or Panj Ganj :.

The general message of the discourse is that Nizami Ganjavi 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.

The story chosen by Nizami Ganjavi, was commissioned and dedicated to the Seljuk Sultan Toghril II, the Atabek Muhammad ibn Eldiguz Jahan Pahlavan and his brother Qizil Arslan.

Nizami Ganjavi composed his romance at the request of the Shirvanshah Akhsatan.

Nizami Ganjavi used many Arabic anecdotes in the story, but adds a strong Persian flavor to the legend.

Nizami Ganjavi gave a Persian character to 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.

The Story of Layla and Majnun by Nizami Ganjavi, was edited and translated into English by Swiss scholar of Islamic culture Rudolf Gelpke and published in 1966.

Nizami Ganjavi's architect is ordered to construct seven domes for each of his new brides.

Nizami Ganjavi starts investigating the corrupt minister and from the multitude of complaints, he selects seven who tell him the injustice they have suffered.

Nizami Ganjavi's poetry is especially well known in Iran, and is very popular in Azerbaijan, where his birthplace and mausoleum are located.

Nizami Ganjavi is known in other countries, especially in India and Pakistan.

The legacy of Nizami Ganjavi 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.

Nizami Ganjavi has been imitated by many poets due to his unique style of speech and language of poetry.

Poets who have imitated Nizami Ganjavi's include: Amir Khusro Delhi, Khwaju Kermani, Jami, Hatefi, Ghasemi, Vahshi Bafqi, 'Orfi Shirazi, Maktabi, Faizi, Ashraf Maraghi, Azar Bigdeli, Badriddin Hilali, Rumi Kermani, Maulana Navidi Shirazi and Salman Savaji.

Nizami Ganjavi composed Leyli and Majnun that premiered on 25 May 1969 at the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in Baku and later was recorded as a film.

The Nizami Ganjavi Mausoleum, built in honor of Nizami Ganjavi, stands just outside the city of Ganja in Azerbaijan.

Nizami Ganjavi'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 spirituality and genuine piety.

The fifth song of the album, "I Am Yours", was based on a poem by Nizami Ganjavi, set to music by Clapton.

In 2004, a conference on Nizami Ganjavi was held at the University of Cambridge.