Ali-Shir Nava'i
Alisher Navoi (full name : Nizamiddin Mir Alisher Navoi, also known as Navoiy, Alishir Navai, Nawoi, Ali Sher Nawa'i; Persian: علیشیر نوایی 1441-1501) was a Central Asian poet of Uyghur heritage who lived in Herat during the 15th century.
- "Know, all humankind: The greatest curse is enmity; the greatest blessing - amity.
- Mind, ye peoples of the Earth, Enmity is an evil state.
- Live in friendship, one and all - Man can have no kinder fate."
Origins
Mir Ali Shir Nava'i was born in Herat, in what is now northwestern Afghanistan, in the year 1441. Nava'i belonged to an educated family his father Giyasiddin Kichki-na (the Little) served in the palace of Shahrukh ruler of Khorosan. His mother was a princes' governess in the palace. Mir Ali Shir's father died while he was at a young age, the ruler of Khorosan at that time Abulkosim Bobur adopted guardianship of young Nava'i[1]. He was educated in Marshad (North-Western Iran), Herat and Samarkand. He was a school mate of Husain Baiqara who later became Sultan of Khorasan he was the great-great grandson of Tamerlane. In the age of Nava'i Herat was then the capital city and became one of the leading cultural an interlectual center in the eastern Islamic world.
"He, who knows knowledge but applies not,
is like those who plow the land and, seeds plant not"
Achievements
Mir Ali Shir Nava'i was a public administrator and adviser to Sultan Husain Baiqara. A builder who is reported to have founded, restored, or endowed some 370 mosques, schools, libraries, hospitals, caravanserais and other educational, pious, and charitable institutions in Khorasan alone. In Herat he was responsible for 40 caravanserais, 17 mosques, 10 konaks, 9 bath-houses, 9 bridges, 20 pools all using his own money [2]
Among the most famous constructions for which he was responsible were the mausoleum of the 13th-century mystical poet, Farid al-Din 'Attar, in Nishapur (northeastern Iran) Khalasiya madrasa (school) in Heart. Infact he was one of the instrumental contributors of Heratt becoming in Rene Grousset's words, "the Florence of what has justly been called the Timurid Renaissance." Also he was a contributor to civilization, promoter/patron of scholarship, arts and letters, a musician, composer, calligrapher, painter and sculptor and most importantly such a fantastic writer that Bernard Lewis, the distinguished English historian of Islam, called him "the Chaucer of the Turks".
"What an ignorant rich man says,
is as clear as what the golden fly eats"
Nava'i literary achievements
He was universally known by the pen name, Nava’i, as Chaucer had done in England, Nava’i was one of the key writers who revolutionized Turkish. Mir Ali Shir produced 30 works over a time period of 30 years during this period the Turkish language was elevated and accepted as a prestigious, recognized and well respected language of literature.
Nava'i's best-known poems are found in his four Divans (collections of poetry) which consist of roughly 50000 verses Each part of the work corresponds to different periods of a person's life:
- Ghara’ib al-Sighar ("Wonders of Childhood")
- Naivadir al-Shabab ("Witticisms of Youth")
- Bada'i' al-Wasat ("Marvels of Middle Age")
- Fawi'id al-Kibar ("Advantages of Old Age")
His material had a far reaching impact as he also wrote technical works that would be helpful to other Turkish poets - such as Mizan al-Awzan ("The Measure of Meters"), a detailed treatise on poetical meters – in addition to this he compiled the monumental Majalis al-Nafa'is ("Assemblies of Distinguished Men"), a collection of over 450 biographical sketches of more or less contemporary poets, and a gold mine of information for modern historians of Timurid culture.
Other important works include:
- The "Hamsa" which is composed of five big epic poems "Hayratu-l-abror" (Excitement with good people), "Farhod va Shirin", "Layli va Majnun", "Sab'ai sayyor" ("Seven tourists (planets)"), "Saddi Iskandariy" (Epic poem about Alexander the Great)
- "Lisonu-t-tayr" - In which the thoughts, philosophical views and tasavvuf ideas of Nava'i are expressed. In addition to this "Nasoyimu-l-muhabbat" and "Besh hayrat" give a more in depth knowledge regarding his views on religion and tasavvuf.
However, perhaps his most passionate work was his last one - Muhakamat al-Lughatayn ("Judgment between the Two Languages"), completed in December, 1499. He defended the superiority of Turkish from various points of view in comparison to Persian. It was the writer’s last definitive statement on the subject dearest to his heart, the Muhakamat is a perfect example of an author's final work acting also as his last will and testament which was to emphasize the importance of his native language.
Repeatedly, Nava'i emphasizes the richness, precision and malleability of the Turkish vocabulary as opposed to Persian. Below are a few examples:
- We are informed that the Turks have a word for the beauty mark on a woman's face, but there is no comparable word in Persian.
- Many Turkish words have three or four or more meanings; Persian, according to Nava'i, lacks such flexible words.
- To illustrate the capacity of Turkish to make more precise distinctions, he lists nine Turkish words used to identify separate species of duck. Persian, he claims, has but one word that covers all of these.
Arguments of this nature fill page after page of the Muhakamat
Below is an extract from this major work
It is unfortunately true that the greater superiority, profundity and breadth of Turkish as compared to Persian as a medium for poetry has not yet been realized by everyone... In the early days of my youth I began to perceive a few jewels from the inkwell of my mouth. These jewels had not yet become a string of verse, but jewels from the sea of consciousness which were worthy of being placed on a string of verse began to reach shore, thanks to the nature of the diver.
Then I reached the age of comprehension and God (whose praises I recite and who be extolled!) instilled in me sensitivity and attentiveness and a desire for the unique. I realized the necessity of giving thought to Turkish words. The world which came into view was more sublime than 18,000 worlds, and its adorned sky, which I came to know, was higher than nine skies. There I found a treasury of superiority and excellence in which the pearls were more lustrous than the stars. I entered the rose garden. Its roses were more splendid than the stars of heaven, its hallowed ground was untouched by hand or foot, and its myriad wonders were safe from the touch of other hands.
Influence of Nava'i
Nava’i was to have an immense far reaching influence from areas as distant as India in the East to the Ottoman Empire in the West.
- Babur Khan (1483-1530) founder of the Mughal dynasty of India wrote one of the first autobiographies among Islamic rulers, the epic “Baburnama”. He was influenced heavily by Nava’i and even includes his respect for the writer in his famous book.
- In addition to this the Ottomans were highly conscious of their Central Asian heritage, Suleyman the Magnificent was very impressed by Nava’i and had the Divan-I Neva’I, Khamsa and Muhakamat added to his personal library. [3]
- The famous and well-renown Fuzulli was heavily influenced by the style of Nava’i.
- Further influence can be found in Kazan of Russia, Tabriz of Iran, Turkistan/Central Asia, modern day Turkey and all area’s which Turkic speakers inhabit.
He has become one of the most beloved poets in the Turkic-speaking world. With the rise of the great Ottoman and Azeri poets, the place of Turkish as a classical language of Islam and a major world literature was solidified.
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-Nava'i monument in Moscow -
-Nava;i monument in Taskent Ozbekistan
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-Theatre dedicated to Nava'i in Taskent, Ozbekistan.
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-Navoi city founded in 1958 in dedication of Nava'i
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Since the best of men must pass
through Death’s portal,
Happy is he who makes his name immortal.[4]
</centre>
A selection of Nava'i extracts
Below is a Rubai which is a poem consisting of four lines:
"I said, holding by your chin your cheeks I kiss,
Licking your eyes with eyelids your brows I kiss,
Smelling your eyes your rosy cheeks your lips I kiss,
If you say: No, No, No, your foot I kiss."
Original:
"Dedim: chineni tutib, saqog'ingni o'pay,
Ko'z qoshingga surtubon qabog'ingni o'pay,
Guldek yuzing islabon dudak'ingni o'pay
Yoq, Yoq, Yoq, desang agar ayoqingni o'pay"
Below is a Ghazel:
My Dark Eyed One....
"Come my dark eyed one come and show your kindnes,
Weave a nest for yourself, in the depth of my pupils.
Turn the garden of my heart into a flowerbed, for the blossom that is your face,
And the rest your slender form so like the sapling in the garden that is my heart.
Splash the hooves your brave steed in me heart's blood.
And weave a leash for your dog from the tendons of my sad soul.
O Heaven, if at the foot of the mountain of separtation my dust is discovered,
Knead it into the dough and sculpt from it a powerfull stone mason.
If you wish to encapture hearts in love by a meeting with you,
Curl your long hair into ringlets.
There is little the gardener can do to stop the advance of the fall,
Should he even spike the roof of his garden with pine needles.
O my friend, should I suddenly die at the sight of perspiration on your face,
Bathe me in rose water and lay me to rest in a shroud made of rose petals.
Navoi, if you can put your heart all into a bouquet of joy,
Pick a sheaf of wheat and touching a flame to it let this candle be the revelation of the nosegay"
Original -
Qaro ko'zim
"Qaro ko'zum, kelu mardumlug' emdi fan qilg'il,
Ko'zum qarosida mardum kibi vatan qilg'il.
Yuzung guliga ko'ngul ravzasin yasa gulshan,
Qading niholig'a jon gulshanin chaman qilg'il.
Takovaringg'a bag'ir qonidin hino bog'la,
Itingg'a g'amzada jon rishtasin rasan qilg'il.
Firoq tog'ida topilsa tufrog'im, ey charx,
Xamir etib yana ul tog'da ko'hkan qilg'il.
Yuzung visolig'a yetsun desang ko'ngullarni,
Sochingni boshdin-ayog' chin ila shikan qilg'il.
Xazon sipohiga, ey bog'bon, emas mone'
Bu bog' tomida gar ignadin tikan qilg'il.
Yuzida terni ko'rub o'lsam, ey rafiq, meni
Gulob ila yuvu gul bargidin kafan qilg'il.
Navoiy, anjumani shavq jon aro tuzsang,
Aning boshog'lig' o'qin sham'i anjuman qilg'il."
An example of a quotation is below:
"Hey Navoi do not worry of yellow, red and green, your gazels have grown into red, yellow, green".
In ancient times the Turkish nation described the four parts of the world with four colors: the North - in black color; the South in red color; the West- in yellow (white) color. The East consisting of never ending fields and deserts was always described with green color.
Using the different colors of his gazel that is to say, using markings of the world's parts as South, West, East Nava'i is explaining that he would like to challenge for "solidarity and unity of all nations".