Ali-Shir Nava'i (9 February 1441 – 3 January 1501), also known as Nizām-al-Din ʿAli-Shir Herawī (Chagatai: ) was a Timurid poet, writer, statesman, linguist, Hanafi Maturidi mystic and painter who was the greatest representative of Chagatai literature.
Nava'i believed that his native Chagatai Turkic language was superior to Persian for literary purposes, an uncommon view at the time, and defended this belief in his work titled Muhakamat al-Lughatayn (The Comparison of the Two Languages). He emphasized his belief in the richness, precision and malleability of Turkic vocabulary as opposed to Persian.
Due to his distinguished Chagatai language poetry, Nava'i is considered by many throughout the Turkic-speaking world to be the founder of early Turkic literature. Many places and institutions in Central Asia are named after him, including the province and city of Navoiy in Uzbekistan.
Life Alisher Nava'i was born in 1441 at the city of Herat to a family of well-read Turkic chancery scribes. During Alisher's lifetime, Herat was ruled by the Timurid Empire and became one of the leading cultural and intellectual centres in the Muslim world. Alisher belonged to the Chaghatai mir class of the Timurid elite. Alisher's father, Ghiyāth al-Din Kichkina ("The Little"), served as a high-ranking officer in Khorasan in the palace of the Timurid ruler Shahrukh Mirza. His mother served as a prince's governess in the palace. Ghiyāth al-Din Kichkina served as governor of Sabzawar at one time. He died while Alisher was young, and another ruler of Khorasan, Abul-Qasim Babur Mirza, adopted guardianship of the young man.
Alisher was a schoolmate of Sultan Husayn Bayqara, who would later become sultan of Khorasan. Alisher's family was forced to flee Herat in 1447 after the death of Shah Rukh created an unstable political situation. His family returned to Khorasan after order was restored in the 1450s. In 1456, Alisher and Bayqara went to Mashhad with Abul-Qasim Babur Mirza. The following year Abul-Qasim died and Alisher and Bayqara parted ways. While Bayqara tried to establish political power, Alisher pursued his studies in Mashhad, Herat, and Samarkand.
After the death of Abu Sa'id Mirza in 1469, Husayn Bayqara seized power in Herat. Consequently, Alisher left Samarkand to join his service. In 1472, Alisher was appointed emir of the dīvān-i aʿlā (supreme council), which eventually led him into a conflict with the powerful Persian bureaucrat Majd al-Din Muhammad Khvafi, due to the latter's centralising reforms, which posed a danger to the traditional privileges that the Turkic military elite (such as Alisher) enjoyed. Alisher remained in the service of Bayqara until his death on 3 January 1501. He was buried in Herat.
Alisher Nava'i led an ascetic lifestyle, "never marrying or having concubines or children."
Work Alisher served as a public administrator and adviser to his sultan, Husayn Bayqara. Mirkhvand composed his Timurid universal history under the patronage of Ali-Shir Nava’i. He was also a builder who is reported to have founded, restored, or endowed some 370 mosques, madrasas, libraries, hospitals, caravanserais, and other educational, pious, and charitable institutions in Khorasan. In Herat, he was responsible for 40 caravanserais, 17 mosques, 10 mansions, nine bathhouses, nine bridges, and 20 pools.
Among Alisher's constructions were the mausoleum of the 13th-century mystical poet, Farid al-Din Attar, in Nishapur (north-eastern Iran) and the Khalasiya madrasa in Herat. He was one of the instrumental contributors to the architecture of Herat, which became, in René Grousset's words, "the Florence of what has justly been called the Timurid Renaissance". Moreover, he was a promoter and patron of scholarship and arts and letters, a musician, a composer, a calligrapher, a painter and sculptor, and such a celebrated writer that Bernard Lewis, a renowned historian of the Islamic world, called him "the Chaucer of the Turks".
Among the many notable figures who were financially backed by Alisher include the historians Mirkhvand (died 1498), Khvandamir (died 1535/6) and Dawlatshah Samarqandi (died 1495/1507); the poets Jami (died 1492), Asafi Harawi (died 1517), Sayfi Bukhari (died 1503), Hatefi (died 1521), and Badriddin Hilali (died 1529/30); and the musicians Shaykh Na'i and Husayn Udi.
Literary works Under the pen name Nava'i, Alisher was among the key writers who revolutionized the literary use of the Turkic languages. Nava'i himself wrote primarily in the Chagatai language and produced 30 works over a period of 30 years, during which Chagatai became accepted as a prestigious and well-respected literary language. Nava'i also wrote in Persian under the pen name Fāni, and, to a much lesser degree, in Arabic.
Nava'i's best-known poems are found in his four diwans, or poetry collections, which total roughly 50,000 verses. Each part of the work corresponds to a different period of a person's life:
Ghara'ib al-Sighar "Wonders of Childhood" Navadir al-Shabab "Rarities of Youth" Bada'i' al-Wasat "Marvels of Middle Age" Fawa'id al-Kibar "Benefits of Old Age"
To help other Turkic poets, Alisher wrote technical works such as Mizan al-Awzan "The Measure of Meters", and a detailed treatise on poetical meters. He also crafted the monumental Majalis al-Nafais "Assemblies of Distinguished Men", a collection of over 450 biographical sketches of mostly contemporary poets. The collection is a gold mine of information about Timurid culture for modern historians.
Alisher's other important works include the Khamsa (Quintuple), which is composed of five epic poems and is a response of Nizami Ganjavi's Khamsa:
Hayrat al-abrar "Wonders of Good People" (حیرت الابرار) Farhad va Shirin "Farhad and Shirin" (فرهاد و شیرین) Layli va Majnun "Layla and Majnun" (لیلی و مجنون) Sab'ai Sayyar "Seven Travelers" (سبعه سیار) (about the seven planets) Sadd-i Iskandari "Alexander's Wall" (سد سکندری) (about Alexander the Great)
Alisher also wrote Lisan al-Tayr after Attar of Nishapur's Mantiq al-Tayr or "The Conference of the Birds", in which he expressed his philosophical views and ideas about Sufism. He translated Jami's Nafahat al-uns (نفحات الانس) to Chagatai and called it Nasayim al-muhabbat (نسایم المحبت). His Besh Hayrat (Five Wonders) also gives an in-depth look at his views on religion and Sufism. His book of Persian poetry contains 6,000 lines (bayts).
Nava'i's last work, Muhakamat al-Lughatayn "The Trial of the Two Languages" is a comparison of Turkic and Persian and was completed in December 1499. He believed that the Turkic language was superior to Persian for literary purposes, and defended this belief in his work. Nava'i repeatedly emphasized his belief in the richness, precision and malleability of Turkic vocabulary as opposed to Persian.Ali Shir Nava'i Muhakamat al-lughatain tr. & ed. Robert Devereaux (Leiden: Brill) 1966
This is the excerpt from Nava'i's "Twenty-One Ghazals", translated into English:
List of works Badoyi' ul-bidoya Nawadir al-nihaya
Below is a list of Alisher Nava'i's works compiled by Suyima Gʻaniyeva, a senior professor at the Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies.
Badoe ul-Vasat (Marvels of Middle Age) – the third diwan of Nava'i's Hazoin ul-maoniy. It consists of 650 ghazals, one mustazod, two mukhammases, two musaddases, one tarjeband, one qasida, 60 qit'as, 10 chistons, and three tuyuks. Overall, Badoe ul-Vasat has 740 poems and is 5,420 verses long. It was compiled between 1492 and 1498.
Waqfiya – a documentary work by Nava'i. He wrote it under the pen name Fāni in 1481. Waqfiya depicts the poet's life, spiritual world, dreams, and unfulfilled desires. Waqfiya is an important source of information about the social and cultural life in the 15th century.
Layli wa Majnun (Layli and Majnun) – the third dastan in the Khamsa. It is about a man mad with love. Layli wa Majnun is divided into 36 chapters and is 3,622 verses long. It was written in 1484.
Lison ut-Tayr – an epic poem that is an allegory for the man's need to seek God. The story begins with the birds of the world realizing that they are far from their king and need to seek him. They begin the long and hard journey with many complaints, but a wise bird encourages them through admonishment and exemplary stories. Nava'i wrote Lison ut-Tayr under the pen name Fāni between 1498 and 1499. The poem is 3,598 verses long. In the introduction, the author notes that he wrote this poem as a response to Attar of Nishapur's Mantiq-ut Tayr.
Majolis un-Nafois – Nava'i's tazkira (anthology). Written in 1491–92, the anthology was completed with additions in 1498. It consists of eight meeting reports and has much information about some poets of Nava'i's time. Overall, in Majolis un-Nafois Nava'i wrote about 459 poets and authors. The work was translated three times into Persian in the 16th century. It has also been translated into Russian.
Mahbub ul-Qulub – Nava'i's work written in 1500, a year before his death. Mahbub ul-Qulub consists of an introduction and three main sections. The first part is about status and the duties of different social classes; the second part is about moral matters; the third, final part contains advice and wise sayings. Mahbub ul-Qulub has been translated into Russian. Some of the stories contained within this work originate from the Sanskrit book Kathāsaritsāgara which has, for example, the “Story of King Prasenajit and the Brāhman who lost his Treasure”.
Mezon ul-Avzon – Nava'i's work about Persian and Turkic aruz. Mezon ul-Avzon was written in 1490.
Minhoj un-Najot (The Ways of Salvation) – the fifth poem in the Persian collection of poems Sittai zaruriya (The Six Necessities). Minhoj un-Najot is 138 verses long. It was written in response to Khaqani's and Ansori's triumphal poems.
Munojot – a work written in prose by Nava'i in the last years of his life. It is a small work about pleading and repenting before Allah. In Munojot, Nava'i wrote about his unfulfilled dreams and regrets. The work was translated into English in 1990. It has also been translated into Russian.
Munshaot (A Collection of Letters) – a collection of Nava'i's letters written to different classes of people about various kinds of matters. The collection also includes letters addressed to Nava'i himself and his adopted son. Munshaot was collected between 1498 and 1499. The work contains information about Husayn Bayqara and Badi' al-Zaman Mirza. It also contains letters expressing Nava'i's dream about performing the Hajj pilgrimage. In Munshaot, Nava'i provides much insight about political, social, moral, and spiritual matters.
Mufradot – Nava'i's work about problem solving written in 1485. In this work, Nava'i discussed the many different types of problems and offered his own solutions. The first section of Mufradot entitled Hazoin-ul-maoni contains 52 problems in Chagatai and the second section entitled Devoni Foni contains 500 problems in Persian.
Muhakamat al-Lughatayn – Nava'i's work about his belief in the richness, precision and malleability of Turkic as opposed to Persian. In this work, Nava'i also wrote about some poets who wrote in both of these languages. Muhakamat al-Lughatayn was written in 1499.
Navodir ush-Shabob (Rarities of Youth) – the second diwan of Nava'i's Hazoin ul-maoniy. Navodir ush-Shabob contains 650 ghazals, one mustazod, three muhammases, one musaddas, one tarjeband, one tarkibband, 50 qit'as, and 52 problems. Overall, the diwan has 759 poems and is 5,423.5 verses long. Navodir ush-Shabob was compiled between 1492 and 1498.
Nazm ul-Javohir – Nava'i's work written in 1485 in appreciation of Husayn Bayqara's risala. In Nazm ul-Javohir, the meaning of every proverb in Ali's collection of proverbs entitled Nasr ul-laoliy is told in one ruba'i. The creation and purpose of the work is given in the preface.