Imadeddin Nasimi (1369-1417)
BIOGRAPHY
Nasimi (real name is supposed to be Ali Seidali) is an outstanding poet and pantheist philosopher, a master of word, who raised the Azerbaijanian poetic and literary language to a high level and expressed in his verses the most progressive ideas of his age.
Nasimi was born in Shamakhy – one of the ancient cultural centers of Azerbaijan and the capital of the Azerbaijan Shirvanshahlar State at that time. Nasimi’s creative works have been much influenced by the historical period he lived in. At that time Azerbaijan, having just recently escaped from the Mongol yoke, underwent invasion of Tamerlane. As a form of protest against the Timurides was appearance of the hurufizm,- a sectarian movement headed by Nasimi’s teacher Fazlullah Naimi (1339-1396). The hurufis that Man and Deity are one (Enelhaq – God is Myself!), that all the mysteries of life lay in the letters of Koran and the traces of these letters could be found on the face of Man – the creator of life and embodiment of Beauty. They insisted on the idea that any man being capable of cognizing himself could rise to the level of God. Nasimi adopted hurufizm and as a sign of solidarity with Naimi, assumed the similarly sounding pen-name “Nasimi”, which gives the sense of “pleasant breath of air”. For their ideas hurufis as well as Nasimi have been always persecuted. After the death of Naimi, who was murdered by Timur’s son, Nasimi left Azerbaijan and set off a journey about the Middle East to preach hurufizm. In 1417, in Aleppo, Syria, he was seized by the Islamic fanatics and mullahs, who on order from the town’s ruler, skinned him alive for his “blasphemous” poetry.
Some rumors tell us that among those present to witness execution was the Mufti of Aleppo by whose fetwa the poet was condemned. Pointing to the poet he cried: “Unclean is he! Did but one drop of his blood touch any limb, that limb must be cut off!” Just then a drop of Nasimi’s blood spurting forward, fell upon the Mufti’s finger. The people, who observed this demanded the Mufti’s finger be cut off. “It fell on me while I was exemplifying” replied the Mufti. The dying poet saw what had passed and uttered this couplet:
So thou’d cut the zealot’s finger, from the truth
he turns and flees!
Lo, this hapless Lover weeps not though they flay him head to foot.
Nasimi left us works written in Azeri-Turkish, Persian and Arabic. He has greatly enriched the Azerbaijanian poetic language. Nasimi’s verses are rich in their original poetic devices. While glorifying Beauty, he uses words in different meanings based upon hurufi symbols, therefore, sometimes full understanding, of real meaning of his verses is impossible without prior knowledge of hurufizm. As an indispensable poet Nasimi created the first perfect patterns of love-lyrics in the Azerbaijanian language. The glorification of Human Beauty and Human Might occupies an important place in his poetry. His verses inspire such spiritual feelings as Love, Knowledge, Devotion and Faith.
Nasimi (real name is supposed to be Ali Seidali) is an outstanding poet and pantheist philosopher, a master of word, who raised the Azerbaijanian poetic and literary language to a high level and expressed in his verses the most progressive ideas of his age.
Nasimi was born in Shamakhy – one of the ancient cultural centers of Azerbaijan and the capital of the Azerbaijan Shirvanshahlar State at that time. Nasimi’s creative works have been much influenced by the historical period he lived in. At that time Azerbaijan, having just recently escaped from the Mongol yoke, underwent invasion of Tamerlane. As a form of protest against the Timurides was appearance of the hurufizm,- a sectarian movement headed by Nasimi’s teacher Fazlullah Naimi (1339-1396). The hurufis that Man and Deity are one (Enelhaq – God is Myself!), that all the mysteries of life lay in the letters of Koran and the traces of these letters could be found on the face of Man – the creator of life and embodiment of Beauty. They insisted on the idea that any man being capable of cognizing himself could rise to the level of God. Nasimi adopted hurufizm and as a sign of solidarity with Naimi, assumed the similarly sounding pen-name “Nasimi”, which gives the sense of “pleasant breath of air”. For their ideas hurufis as well as Nasimi have been always persecuted. After the death of Naimi, who was murdered by Timur’s son, Nasimi left Azerbaijan and set off a journey about the Middle East to preach hurufizm. In 1417, in Aleppo, Syria, he was seized by the Islamic fanatics and mullahs, who on order from the town’s ruler, skinned him alive for his “blasphemous” poetry.
Some rumors tell us that among those present to witness execution was the Mufti of Aleppo by whose fetwa the poet was condemned. Pointing to the poet he cried: “Unclean is he! Did but one drop of his blood touch any limb, that limb must be cut off!” Just then a drop of Nasimi’s blood spurting forward, fell upon the Mufti’s finger. The people, who observed this demanded the Mufti’s finger be cut off. “It fell on me while I was exemplifying” replied the Mufti. The dying poet saw what had passed and uttered this couplet:
So thou’d cut the zealot’s finger, from the truth
he turns and flees!
Lo, this hapless Lover weeps not though they flay him head to foot.
Nasimi left us works written in Azeri-Turkish, Persian and Arabic. He has greatly enriched the Azerbaijanian poetic language. Nasimi’s verses are rich in their original poetic devices. While glorifying Beauty, he uses words in different meanings based upon hurufi symbols, therefore, sometimes full understanding, of real meaning of his verses is impossible without prior knowledge of hurufizm. As an indispensable poet Nasimi created the first perfect patterns of love-lyrics in the Azerbaijanian language. The glorification of Human Beauty and Human Might occupies an important place in his poetry. His verses inspire such spiritual feelings as Love, Knowledge, Devotion and Faith.
posted by Mehran Baharlı at 3:17 PM
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