Nesîmî
Encyclopedia
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
) was a 14th-century Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani people
The Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as in the neighbourhood states, Georgia, Russia and formerly Armenia. Commonly referred to as Azeris or Azerbaijani Turks , they also live in a wider area from the Caucasus to...
or Turkmen
Turkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
Ḥurūfī
Hurufism
Hurufism was a mystical kabbalistic Sufi doctrine, which spread in areas of western Persia, Anatolia and Azerbaijan in later 14th - early 15th century.- Foundation :...
poet. Known mostly by his pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
(or takhallus) of Nesîmî, he composed one divan
Diwan (poetry)
-Etymology:The English usage of the phrase Diwan Poetry comes from the Arabic word diwan , which is loaned from Persian means designated a list or register. The Persian word derived from the Persian dibir meaning writer or scribe...
in Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
, one in Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, and a number of poems in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
. He is considered one of the greatest Turkic mystical poets of the late 14th and early 15th centuries and one of the most prominent early divan
Diwan (poetry)
-Etymology:The English usage of the phrase Diwan Poetry comes from the Arabic word diwan , which is loaned from Persian means designated a list or register. The Persian word derived from the Persian dibir meaning writer or scribe...
masters in Turkic literary history.
Life
Very little is known for certain about Nesîmî's life, including his real name. Most sources indicate that his name was İmâdüddîn, but it is also claimed that his name may have been Alî or Ömer. It is also possible that he was descended from MuhammadMuhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
, since he has sometimes been accorded the title of sayyid
Sayyid
Sayyid is an honorific title, it denotes males accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husain ibn Ali, sons of the prophet's daughter Fatima Zahra and his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib.Daughters of sayyids are given the titles Sayyida,...
that is reserved for people claimed to be in Muhammad's line of descent.
Nesîmî's birthplace, like his real name, is wrapped in mystery: some claim that he was born in a province called Nesîm — hence the pen name — located either near Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
in modern-day Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, or near Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
in modern-day Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, but no such province has been found to exist. There are also claims that he was born in Shamakhi
Shamakhi
Shamakhi or Shamakhy is a rayon of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and a town in the rayon. It is the historical center of the region of Shirvan.The town is west of Baku. It has more than 20,000 inhabitants, among them Azerbaijanis and Russians...
-which is mostly likely because his brother is buried in Shamakhi, Azerbaijan.
According to the Encyclopædia of Islam,
Fazlallah Astarabadi (Naimi)
Fażlu l-Lāh Astar-Ābādī , also known as Fażlullāh Tabrīzī Astarābādī by a pseudonym al-Ḥurūfī and a pen name Nāimī, was an Iranian mystic who founded the Ḥurūfī movement...
of Astarābād, who was condemned for heresy and executed in Alinja near Nakhchivan. The center of Fażlullāh's influence was Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
and most of his followers came from Shirvan
Shirvan
Shirvan , also spelled as Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both Islamic and modern times...
.
Nesîmî become one of the most influential advocates of the Ḥurūfī doctrine and the movement's ideas were spread to a large extent through his poetry. While Fażlullāh believed that he himself was the manifestation of God, for Nesîmî, at the center of Creation there was God, who bestowed His Light on man. Through sacrifice and self perfection, man can become one with God. Around 1417, (or possibly 1404) as a direct result of his beliefs — which were considered blasphemous by contemporary religious authorities
Ulema
Ulama , also spelt ulema, refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law...
— Nesîmî was seized and, according to most accounts, skinned alive
Flaying
Flaying is the removal of skin from the body. Generally, an attempt is made to keep the removed portion of skin intact.-Scope:An animal may be flayed in preparation for human consumption, or for its hide or fur; this is more commonly called skinning....
in Aleppo.
A number of legends later grew up around Nesimi's execution, such as the story that he mocked his executioners with improvised verse and, after the execution, draped his flayed skin around his shoulders and departed. A rare historical account of the event — the Tarih-i Heleb of Akhmad ibn Ibrahim al-Halabi — relates that the court, which was of the Maliki
Maliki
The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...
school of religious law, was unwilling to convict Nesîmî of apostasy
Apostasy
Apostasy , 'a defection or revolt', from ἀπό, apo, 'away, apart', στάσις, stasis, 'stand, 'standing') is the formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person. One who commits apostasy is known as an apostate. These terms have a pejorative implication in everyday...
, and that the order of execution instead came from the secular power of the emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
of Aleppo, who was hoping to avoid open rebellion.
Nesîmî's tomb in Aleppo remains an important place of pilgrimage to this day.
Poetry
Nesîmî's collected poems, or dîvânDiwan (poetry)
-Etymology:The English usage of the phrase Diwan Poetry comes from the Arabic word diwan , which is loaned from Persian means designated a list or register. The Persian word derived from the Persian dibir meaning writer or scribe...
, number about 300, and include ghazal
Ghazal
The ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century...
s, qasida
Qasida
The qaṣīdaᵗ , in Arabic: قصيدة, plural qasā'id, قــصــائـد; in Persian: قصیده , is a form of lyric poetry that originated in preIslamic Arabia...
s (“lyrics”), and rubâ'î
Rubaiyat
"Rubāʿī" is Arabic for "quatrain", and is used to describe a Persian quatrain, or its derivative form in English and other languages. The plural form of the word, rubāʿiyāt ,often anglicised rubaiyat , is used to describe a collection of such quatrains.There are a number of possible rhyme schemes...
s (“quatrains”) in Azerbaijani Turkic
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
, Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, and Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
. His Turkish Divan is considered his most important work, contains 250–300 ghazal
Ghazal
The ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century...
s and more than 150 rubâ'î
Rubaiyat
"Rubāʿī" is Arabic for "quatrain", and is used to describe a Persian quatrain, or its derivative form in English and other languages. The plural form of the word, rubāʿiyāt ,often anglicised rubaiyat , is used to describe a collection of such quatrains.There are a number of possible rhyme schemes...
s. A large body of Bektashi
Bektashi
Bektashi Order or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi order founded in the 13th century by the Persian saint Haji Bektash Veli. In addition to the spiritual teachings of Haji Bektash Veli the order was significantly influenced during its formative period by both the Hurufis as well as the...
and Alevi
Alevi
The Alevi are a religious and cultural community, primarily in Turkey, constituting probably more than 15 million people....
poetry is also attributed to Nesîmî, largely as a result of Hurûfî ideas' influence upon those two groups. Shah Ismail I, the founder of Safavid dynasty
Safavid dynasty
The Safavid dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires since the Muslim conquest of Persia and established the Twelver school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning...
in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, who himself composed a divan
Diwan (poetry)
-Etymology:The English usage of the phrase Diwan Poetry comes from the Arabic word diwan , which is loaned from Persian means designated a list or register. The Persian word derived from the Persian dibir meaning writer or scribe...
in Azerbaijani Turkic
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
under the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of Khatai, praised Nesimi
Nesîmî
‘Alī ‘Imādu d-Dīn Nasīmī , often known as Nesimi, –1417 skinned alive in Aleppo) was a 14th-century Azerbaijani or Turkmen Ḥurūfī poet. Known mostly by his pen name of Nesîmî, he composed one divan in Azerbaijani, one in Persian, and a number of poems in Arabic...
in his poems
According to the Encyclopedia of Islam:
One of Nesîmî's most famous poems is the gazel beginning with the following lines:
- منده صغار ايكى جهان من بو جهانه صغمازام
- گوهر لامکان منم كون و مکانه صغمازام
- Məndə sığar iki cahan, mən bu cahâna sığmazam
- Gövhər-i lâ-məkân mənəm, kövn ü məkâna sığmazam
- Both worlds can fit within me, but in this world I cannot fit
- I am the placeless essence, but into existence I cannot fit
The poem serves as an excellent example of Nesîmî's poetic brand of Hurufism
Hurufism
Hurufism was a mystical kabbalistic Sufi doctrine, which spread in areas of western Persia, Anatolia and Azerbaijan in later 14th - early 15th century.- Foundation :...
in its mystical
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
form. There is a contrast made between the physical and the spiritual worlds, which are seen to be ultimately united in the human being. As such, the human being is seen to partake of the same spiritual essence as God
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
: the phrase lâ-mekân (لامکان), or "the placeless", in the second line is a Sufi term used for God. The same term, however, can be taken literally as meaning "without a place", and so Nesîmî is also using the term to refer to human physicality. In his poem, Nesîmî stresses that understanding God is ultimately not possible in this world, though it is nonetheless the duty of human beings to strive for such an understanding. Moreover, as the poem's constant play with the ideas of the physical and the spiritual underlines, Nesîmî calls for this search for understanding to be carried out by people within their own selves. This couplet has been described in different pictures, movies, poems, and other pieces of arts.
Some of Nesîmî's work is also more specifically Hurûfî in nature, as can be seen in the following quatrain
Quatrain
A quatrain is a stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines of verse. Existing in various forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and China; and, continues into the 21st century, where it is...
from a long poem:
- اوزكى مندن نهان ايتمك ديلرسه ڭ ايتمه غل
- گوزلرم ياشڭ روان ايتمك ديلرسه ڭ ايتمه غل
- برك نسرین اوزره مسکين زلفكى سن طاغدوب
- عاشقى بى خانمان ايتمك ديلرسه ڭ ايتمه غل
- Üzünü məndən nihân etmək dilərsən, etməgil
- Gözlərim yaşın reəvân etmək dilərsen, etməgil
- Bərq-i nəsrin üzrə miskin zülfünü sən dağıdıb
- Âşiqi bîxânimân etmək dilərsən, etməgil
- Seeing that moon I rejoiced
- I made of my eyes a cup for its wine
- I went on HajjHajjThe Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
in pilgrim's garb - I called FâPe (letter)Pe is the seventeenth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Pei and Persian, Arabic ....
, ZâdDADDAD is an abbreviation that may refer to:* D-A-D, a Danish rock band formerly known as "Disneyland After Dark"* Diode array detector, a type of detector in HPLC* Da Nang International Airport IATA airport code...
, and LâmLamedhLamed or Lamedh is the twelfth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Lamed and Arabic alphabet . Its sound value is .The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Lambda , Latin L, and Cyrillic Л.-Origins:...
by the name "Truth"
In the quatrain's last line, "Fâ", "Zâd", and "Lâm" are the names of the Arabic letters that together spell out the first name of the founder of Hurufism, Fazl-ullah. As such, Nesîmî is praising his shaykh, or spiritual teacher, and in fact comparing him to God, who is also given the name "Truth" (al-Haqq). Moreover, using the Perso-Arabic letters in the poem in such a manner is a direct manifestation of Hurûfî beliefs insofar as the group expounds a vast and complex letter symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
ism in which each letter represents an aspect of the human character, and all the letters together can be seen to represent God.
Nesîmî is also considered a superb love poet, and his poems express the idea of love on both the personal and the spiritual plane. Many of his gazels, for instance, have a high level of emotiveness, as well as expressing a great mastery of language:
- اوزكى مندن نهان ايتمك ديلرسه ڭ ايتمه غل
- گوزلرم ياشڭ روان ايتمك ديلرسه ڭ ايتمه غل
- برك نسرین اوزره مسکين زلفكى سن طاغدوب
- عاشقى بى خانمان ايتمك ديلرسه ڭ ايتمه غل
- Üzünü menden nihân etmek dilersen, etmegil
- Gözlerim yaşın revân etmek dilersen, etmegil
- Berq-i nesrin üzre miskin zülfünü sen dağıdıb
- Âşiqi bîxânimân etmek dilersen, etmegil
- Should you want to veil your face from me, oh please do not!
- Should you want to make my tears flow, oh please do not!
- Should you want to lay your hair of musk atop the rose
- And leave your lover destitute, oh please do not!
Legacy
Fuzûlî
Fużūlī was the pen name of the Azerbaijani or the Bayat branch of Oghuz Turkish and Ottoman poet, writer and thinker Muhammad bin Suleyman...
(1483?–1556), Khata'i (1487–1524), and Pir Sultan Abdal
Pir Sultan Abdal
Pir Sultan Abdal was a legendary Turkish Alevi poet, whose direct and clear language as well as the richness of his imagination and the beauty of his verses led him to become loved among the Turkish people. Pir Sultan Abdal reflected the social, cultural and religious life of the people; he was a...
(1480–1550) can be counted among his followers
Nesîmî is venerated in the modern Republic of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, and one of the districts of the capital city, Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
, bears his name. There is also a monument to him in the city, sculpted by T. Mamedov and I. Zeynalov. Furthermore, the Institute of Linguistics at the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan is named after him, and there was also a 1973 Azerbaijani film, Nasimi (the Azerbaijani language spelling of his name), made about him. The 600th anniversary of Nesîmî's birthday was celebrated worldwide in 1973 by the decision of UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
, and representatives from many countries took part in the celebrations held both in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
and in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Memory
- The poet dedicated to the movie NesimiNesimi (film)Nesimi is a full-length Azerbaijani film shot in Baku, Absheron, Gobustan, Nakhichevan, Shamakhi , Bukhara, Samarkand , Halab, Damascus in 1973. Screenplay was written by Isa Huseynov. Directed by Hasan Seyibbeyli, this film is in history drama genre depicting the life of a prominent Azerbaijani...
by AzerbaijanfilmAzerbaijanfilmAzerbaijanfilm is an Azerbaijani state film production company. It was established in 1920 as a photo-cinema department at Azerbaijan SSR People's Commissariat, and in 1923 renamed to "Azerbaijani Photo-Cinema Office"...
studio.
In honor of Nasimi named:
- Institute of Linguistics of Nasimi Azerbaijan National Academy of SciencesAzerbaijan National Academy of SciencesAzerbaijan National Academy of Sciences , located in Baku, is the main state research organization in Azerbaijan...
. - Raion in BakuBakuBaku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
. - Nəsimi - metro station in Baku.
- The average urban school N 2 names Nasimi (Balaken, Azerbaijan)
- The street in Agdjabedi, KhudatKhudatKhudat is a town in the Caspian lowlands located in the northern section of Azerbaijan. It is a part of the Khachmaz Rayon. It has a population of 14,442....
and Baku. - Villages Nasimi in Bilasuvar and in Sabirabad regions, as well as Nəsimikənd in Saatly region of Azerbaijan.