Nasimi | |
|---|---|
 Depiction byMikayil Abdullayev, 1973 | |
| Born | Ali Nasimi c. 1369/70 |
| Died | c. 1418/19 Aleppo,Mamluk Sultanate (now Syria) |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | |
Seyid Ali Imadaddin Nasimi[a] (Azerbaijani:سئید علی عمادالدّین نسیمی,romanized: Seyid Əli İmadəddin Nəsimi;c. 1369/70 – c. 1418/19), commonly known as simplyNasimi (نسیمی,Nəsimi), was a 14th- and 15th-centuryHurufipoet who composed poetry in his nativeAzerbaijani, as well asPersian andArabiclanguages. He is regarded as one of the greatestTurkic poets of his time and one of the most prominent figures inAzerbaijani literature.[3]
Born around 1369–70, Nasimi received a good education and was drawn toSufism at an early age. After becoming a faithful adherent of theHurufism movement, Nasimi leftAzerbaijan to spread Hurufism inAnatolia and laterAleppo following the execution of its founder and Nasimi's teacher,Fazlallah Astarabadi. In Aleppo, he gained followers as a Hurufisheikh but faced resistance fromSunni circles who eventually convinced theMamluk sultan to order his death for his religious beliefs around 1418–19. Nasimi was executed and buried in aSufi lodge (takya) in Aleppo.
His surviving works include twodīvāns (collections of poems) in Azerbaijani and Persian, along with some poems in Arabic. Nasimi's poems mainly centre around Hurufism and contain many references to Islamic texts. His poetry combines harmonious melodies and easily understood expressions with more complex topics related to religion. Nasimi had great influence on Turkic literature and influenced many major future poets such asHabibi, Haqiqi (pen name ofJahan Shah), Khatai (pen name ofIsmail I), among others. He is also considered the founder of Azerbaijani classicalʿarūż poetry (poetry using quantifying prosody) andghazal poetry (a form of love poetry), as well as the firstlyric poet inOghuz Turkic classic literature.
Nasimi's given name was Ali,[4] but he adopted the epithet (laqab)Imadaddin[b] ('Pillar of Faith'), which superseded his original name in use.[5] Some sources attribute other names to him, such as Nesîmüddin, Celâleddin and Ömer.[8]
His most prevalentpen name was Nasimi. Its etymology is disputed but most plausibly explained as an echo of Naimi, the pen name of Nasimi's teacherFazlallah Astarabadi.[4] It may also have been derived from the Arabic wordnasim, meaning 'breeze, breath of wind'.[9] He also employed other pen names sporadically, such as Hüseyni, Haşimi, Seyyid, Ali and İmad.[10] His epithet Imadaddin or the titleseyid (marking his claim of descent from the Islamic prophetMuhammad) are often added in order to distinguish him from other figures who also bore the name Nasimi.[4]
Much of Nasimi's life is considered obscure. His year of birth is uncertain, but it is commonly assumed to be 1369–70 without conclusive evidence.[4] Some sources state that he was born in 1339.[11] His exact birthplace is also contested: it has been argued asShamakhi,Tabriz,Baghdad,Aleppo,Shiraz orDiyarbakır.[12][13] He was ofAzerbaijani Turkic origin[14] and spokeAzerbaijani as his native language,[15] as well as fluentPersian andArabic.[4]
Nasimi had a good education as a child and pursuedSufism at an early age.[8] While in Tabriz, he met the mystic Fazlallah Astarabadi, who introduced him toHurufism. Nasimi stayed with him inBaku andShirvan for some time and became one of the most faithful adherents of the Hurufism movement, as well as Astarabadi's successor (khalifa).[16] After theTimurid emperorMiran Shah executed Astarabadi for his religious views, Nasimi leftAzerbaijan and travelled toAnatolia to spread Hurufism. He arrived inBursa duringMurad I's (r. 1362–1389) reign but was not welcomed there. He also attempted to meet the SufisaintHaji Bayram Veli inAnkara but was turned away because of his Hurufi beliefs.[17]
Unable to find a suitable environment for his beliefs in Anatolia, he went to Aleppo, which was the main centre of Hurufis inSyria at that time. Islamic scholarIbn Hajar al-Asqalani wrote about Nasimi's activity in Aleppo as a Hurufisheikh and his increasing followers. He used his poetry skills to further spread his beliefs. His ideas, such as "the human face being the manifestation of God" and "describing all the body organs with letters"[c] faced resistance inSunni circles.[5] In Aleppo, Nasimi continued to fight for freedom of expression through his poetry, challenging strict rules and religious intolerance.[19] Some contemporary Arab sources say that a group of Sunni Muslim scholars who followed the mainschools of law tried to get Nasimi killed by theMamluk deputy of Aleppo based on vague rumours, but they failed. The deputy then reportedly referred the case to the Mamluk sultanAl-Mu'ayyad Shaykh (r. 1412–1421) inCairo, who ordered Nasimi's death, likely due to his religious beliefs; Nasimi is sometimes referred to as akafir, or unbeliever.[4] According to theTurkologist Michael Hess, while some sources claim that Nasimi was killed by beingflayed alive, there is no clear evidence of this in contemporary sources. Some texts do mention flaying, but it may have been done posthumously for the purpose of public display.[4] The most likely year of execution is 1418–9, although some historians suggest 1417 and other dates have also been proposed.[4] Nasimi's body was buried in atakkah (Sufi lodge) named after him in Aleppo.[20]
Nasimi's execution is believed to have had a political component due to hisTurkic ancestry, which brought him closer to Mamluks' rival Turkic dynasties in Syria and Anatolia. According to Hess, Al-Mu'ayyad's order to distribute pieces of Nasimi's body to local Turkic rulers like theDulkadir and theAq Qoyunlu was motivated by politics.[4]
Nasimi's surviving works include twodīvāns (collections of poems), one in Azerbaijani and the other in Persian.[21] Although the 16th-centuryOttoman poet and bibliographerLatifî claimed that Nasimi had a "dīvān in all three languages", implying the existence of an Arabicdīvān as well, no evidence of such a work has been found.[22] His Azerbaijanidīvān contains over four hundredghazals (a form of love poetry) and several hundred other poems, includingmas̱navīs (a poem written in rhymingcouplets) andquatrains (a four-line poem).[5] According to the Turkologist Kathleen Burrill, Nasimi was able to maintain the quality of his Azerbaijani language in his poetry while using theʿarūż form (poetry using quantifying prosody). This sets him apart from later poets who relied heavily on borrowing from Persian because of what Burrill described as their "lack of skill" in mastering theʿarūż form.[23] His Persiandīvān consists of almost three hundredghazals and discusses topics such as Hurufism, praise toTwelve Imams and ImamAli, as well as Fazlallah Astarabadi.[5]
Nasimi's writing style often involves repeating sounds and grammatical patterns. His poems mainly centre around Hurufism and contain many references to Islamic texts such as theQuran. However, some of the beliefs behind his poems fall outside of mainstream Islam. Michael Hess states that Nasimi's poetry blends easily comprehensible language with more intricate themes related to Hurufism. Hess also notes that while Nasimi's poems have remained popular due to their emotional depth and technical proficiency, the concepts behind them are not as widely understood.[4] Burrill notes that some of Nasimi's poems can be difficult to read due to their complex religious references, when this is not the case, they convey his themes of love through "easy-flowing, harmonious melodies".[24]
Nasimi is considered one of the greatest figures ofTurkic literature.[24] According to the modern scholar Sakina Berengian, Nasimi was the first major poet not only inAzerbaijani literature but also in all of Turkic literature.[25] His influence on poetry extended throughout the Turkic world and impacted major poets such asHabibi, Haqiqi (pen name ofJahan Shah), Khatai (pen name ofIsmail I), and others.[26] Nasimi is also regarded as the founder of Azerbaijani classicalʿarūż poetry,ghazal poetry, as well as the firstlyric poet inOghuz Turkic classic literature.[27] His works had a significant impact on the development of both Azerbaijani andOttoman literature.[28] Nasimi's style has greatly influenced the general style of Azerbaijani poetry.[29] According to the professors of Turkish literature Azmi Bilgin and İlyas Üzüm, the Timurid poetAli-Shir Nava'i's words of praise about Nasimi show that he was also considered an "important personality in theCentral Asian Turkic world".[5]
In 1973,UNESCO declared the 600th anniversary of Nasimi's birth to be celebrated worldwide. Representatives from many countries participated in the celebrations held in Baku andMoscow.[30] Tokay Mammadov was commissioned to create Nasimi's statue.[31] Due to the short time frame for completion,Tokay Mammadov collaborated with his colleague Ibrahim Zeynalov. Initially, a 69-centimeter model and a 2-meter mock-up of thestatue were prepared. Subsequently, based on this mock-up, a 6.5-meter statue of Nasimi was created and installed in one of the central gardens of the city.[32] InAzerbaijan, 2019 was declared the "Year of Nasimi" to commemorate the 650th anniversary of the poet's birth.[33] A street, a metro station, and a district in Baku are also named after Nasimi. The NationalInstitute of Linguistics of Azerbaijan is also named in his honour. Additionally, there is a1973 Azerbaijani biopic film about his life.
In 2019, anasteroid that was discovered atKleť Observatory in 1995 was named "32939 Nasimi" in honour of the poet.[34]
In 2025 theYARAT Contemporary Art Space,Baku, presented an international art project by theUkrainian curatorKostyantyn Doroshenko "I and the Ark, I and the Great Flood" with a modern interpretation of the philosophy of Nasimi, in which artists fromAzerbaijan,UkraineGeorgia,Lithuania,Bosnia and Herzegovina andCzech Republic participated..[35]
AzerbaijaniWikisource has original text related to this article:İmadəddin Nəsimi
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