Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

Works of Nizami Ganjavi are the greatest examples of the literary heritage of the Eastern Renaissance. His five poems, collectively known as the Khamsa (Quintet), are considered the treasury of Azerbaijani poetry.

A monument to the prominent Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi will be erected in Derbent, Russia. As a result of the jury voting, the sketch of the sculptor Magomedali Magomedov was chosen the best, Dagestan’s Terkeme public organization said in a message.

In total, five works by sculptors from Dagestan, Central Russia and the near abroad were submitted to the jury.

Magomedov is an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts, a member of the Russian Artists Union, People's Artist, and laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Dagestan.

Nizami Ganjavi’s statue will be installed in the city’s Nizami Ganjavi Park. In the sketch of Magomedov, the poet is depicted sitting in thought with a pen in one hand and paper in the other.

The creativity of Nizami Ganjavi is of great importance for Azerbaijani culture. The poet, who began by writing lyrics in short forms – gasida, gazal, rubai – gained popularity not only in the Near and Middle East, but also on distant shores.

The works of Nizami Ganjavi were translated into many languages. The rare manuscript copies of his works are kept and preserved like precious pearls in famous libraries, museums and literary foundations in cities such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Baku, Tashkent, Tabriz, Tehran, Cairo, Istanbul, Delhi, London, Paris and others.

In Khamsa (Quintet), the poet revealed the living pages of history. The attack of the Russians on Barda city, a fairy tale of the Russian Princess, the beautiful Shirin amazons, battles, described in various poems of Nizami - all this is historically and geographically related to medieval Azerbaijan and the Caucasus.

The description of a man's inner world, his feelings, and thoughts along with the dynamic development of the main hero's characters underlies the basic aim and content of Nizami’s literary school.

Nizami Ganjavi passed away in 1209 in his native city of Ganja. A grandiose tomb was raised over his grave.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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