Imadeddin Nasimi

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Seyyid Imadeddin Nasimi (1369-1417) was one of the greatest medieval poets of Azerbaijan and Ottoman Turkey, the first to employ Azeri Turkic language in his poetry in its modern form.

Life and poetry

Very little is known about his life and origins. He was allegedly born in Shamakhy, Azerbaijan (Other sources indicate that he may have been born in Baghdad or Shiraz (Dehkhoda)). He was a poet who adopted hurufism doctrine, a movement headed by Nasimi's teacher Fadlullah Naimi or Fadlullah. Nasimi is considered one of the main propagandist of hurufism.

Nasimi left a Turkish divan of about 300 ghazal, qasida, and rubaiyat, as well as some Persian and Arabic poetry. His evocative language is intelligible to any modern Azeri reader, since it appealed directly masses and not to Persianized elites of the time. A large body of Bektashi and Alevi poetry is attributed to him.

One of the famous poem of Nasimi is "Mende sigar iki cahan" (Both worlds within me can be placed, but in this world I cannot fit").

This poem is an excellent example of his poetic brand of Hurufism in its mystical form, where he stressed that understanding of God is not possible within this world. Two worlds represent physical and spiritual all made one in a human being, who represent the Ultimate Truth. The Truth (Haqq) here has a second meaning as one of 99 Names of God. One of the task before the adherents of hurufism (and sufism, in general) was understanding of the Truth, purifying oneself and merging with God. Undoubtedly, the real and pure truth is the Allah Himself, so the real task would be to be as close to God, as is possible. Nasimi called people to look for a Truth within themselves as a real treasure and pearl (sufi term) is within a human being.

Nasimi's literary creativity is an important stage in the development of Azerbaijan's poetry, literary language and the linguistic evolution of the Azerbaijani Turkic language. Since after 15th century Nasimi's works had great influences on all of Turkic literature, especially Ottoman and Azeri ones. Famous Turkic poets such as Fuzuli, Pir Sultan Abdal and Khata'i can be counted amongst his followers.

In 1417, in Aleppo, Syria, Nasimi was seized and skinned alive for his Hurufi beliefs, which were considered blasphemous by the authorities. His tomb in Aleppo is an important point of pilgrimage for many Alawiyya.

Facts

The poet is venerated in the modern Republic of Azerbaijan. One of the districts of Baku city bears name of Nasimi. A monument (T.Mamedov, I.Zeynalov -sculptors) was erected him in Baku. Institute of Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan is named after him. An Azeri language movie under eponymous title of Nasimi (1973) was made about him.

600th Anniversary of Nasimi's birthday has been celebrated worldwide in (1973) by the decision of UNESCO. Representatives from many countries have taken part at the celebrations held in Azerbaijan and Moscow, Russia.de:Imadäddin Näsimi