Biography
Nizami Ganjei, or Ganjavi, نظامی گنجهای، گنجوی Nezāmi Ganjei/Ganjavi, was a Persian poet, born in the city of گنجه Ganje Ganja around the year 1141 AD, in modern-day Azerbaijan. He is considered to be the ‘great romantic storyteller’ of the classical Persian poets, and he brought a more colloquial or realistic style to Persian epic love poems, building upon and following in the footsteps of his predecessor Ferdowsi.
Nizami was brought up in a family environment which valued science and literature. Nizami’s mother, بانو رئیسه Bānu Ra’iseh (of Kurdish origin), and his father Yusef, were noteworthy for the romantic bond which they shared together and choosing to marry for love. Nizami is known to have spent the majority of his lifetime in the city of Ganja, as evidenced in some of his poetry. He had a good knowledge of the Arabic language, Persian language and literature, philosophy, logic, and music. The field of medicine is also something in which he expressed an interest, as can also be seen in some of his poems. He was held in high regard within mystic circles and many regard him as one of the leaders of mysticism. Prominent Iranian and non-Iranian scholars propose that Nizami was a devout follower of the prophet Ali, and a follower of the Shafi’i school of Islam, because readers can easily observe these themes within some of his poetic work.
Nizami’s poetry, especially his romantic poetry, is so pleasant and soulful that there are few poets in the field of Persian literature who are able to match him. For this reason, one can call him a ‘creator of poetic scenes’. His proficiency in creating these scenes is such that when someone reads his poetry they often get the feeling they are stepping into another world.
Many scholars believe that Nizami’s work, which includes six volumes, were composed at the request of the current king. His most celebrated compilation of work is his خمسه Khamseh ‘Quintet’, commonly referred to in Persian as his پنج گنج Panj Ganj ‘Five Treasures’. The Five Treasures is a five-part narrative poem composed of: 1) مخزن الاسرار Makhzan-ol-Asrār ‘the Treasury of Mysteries’, a poem filled with Sufi and theological advise to its readers; 2) خسرو و شیرین Khosrow va Shirin, the love story between king Khosrow II and princess Shirin; 3) the tragic love story of لیلی و مجنون Leyli-yo Majnun; 4) هفت پیکر Haft Peykar or ‘Seven Beauties’, an epic love story based on the life of the Sasanian king بهرام گور Bahrām-e Gur; and 5) اسکندرنامه Eskandar-nāmeh ‘the Book of Alexander’, an epic which loosely narrates the life of Alexander of Macedon.
Nizami passed away around the year 1209 AD, and is laid to rest in Ganja, where Safavid King Shah Abbas ordered a mausoleum to be built in his honour.
Written by Shahrokh Pirnia, translated by Sam Styan.
نامش الیاس و شهرتش نظامیست. نظامی گنجهای (گنجوی) که در شهر گنجه زاده شد، محققان سال های ۵٢۴ تا ۵٣٠ قمری را تاریخ تولد او می دانند. در خانواده ای اهل علم رشد کرد. مادرش بانو رئیسه از نژاد کردهای اصیل با یوسف، پدر نظامی پیوندی عاشقانه داشت. وی که به حکیم نظامی هم معروف است تقریبا تمام عمر خویش را در شهر گنجه گذراند. خود نیز در بعضی از اشعارش به این موضوع اشارت
.کرده است
نظامی در علوم عربی و زبان و ادبیات فارسی و فلسفه و منطق اشراف کامل داشت و موسیقی را هم خوب می دانست. علم طب هم مورد علاقه اش بود و در بعضی از اشعارش به واژه های علم پزشکی بر می خوریم
او در سیر و سلوک و عرفان مقامی بس بلند داشت و بسیاری او را از پیشوایان عرفان می دانند. محققان برجسته ایرانی و غیر ایرانی بر این عقیده اند که نظامی مهر و ارادتی خاص به مولا علی داشت زیرا در بعضی از اشعارش این مطلب برای خواننده به آسانی دریافتنی است. بعضی از محققان نظامی را پیرو مذهب شافعی می دانند
اشعار نظامی به قدری لطیف و دلنشین و روح بخش است که کمتر شاعری در پهنه ادبیات فارسی یارای برابری با او را دارد. باید وی را «شاعر صحنه آفرین» نامید. در این آفرینش به قدری تبحر دارد که خواننده شعرهایش این صحنه ها را با چشم دل می بیند و گویی در جهان دیگر سیر می کند
در اشعار نظامی، به ویژه سروده های عاشقانه اش، عشق ورزی در نهایت زیبایی و لطافت ترسیم شده و لحظات شیرین که عاشق و معشوق در کنار هم اند با زبانی دلنشین و دوست داشتنی و پاک چون زلال آب تشریح شده است
بیشتر محققان معتقدند که نظامی آثار خود را که شامل شش دفتر است، به درخواست پادشاهان وقت سروده است، شرفنامه و اقبالنامه را در یک مجموعه به نام اسکندرنامه به تقریر درآورده، به همین سبب مجموع آثار استاد سخن را «خمسۀ نظامی» یا «پنج گنج» نامیده اند. مخزن الاسرار، خسرو و شیرین، هفت پیکر، لیلی و مجنون و اسکندرنامه از دیگر آثار اوست. مرگ او را در سال های ۵٩٩ تا ۶۰۲ ذکر کرده اند. آرامگاه نظامی بزرگ در گنجه قرار دارد که به دستور شاه عباس صفوی بنا گردیده است
شهرخ پیرنیا
Excerpt 1 from Nizami’s Makhzan-ol-Asrār
Recited by Nasrin Ahmadi
‘All of existence is created by you
You who has given the weak soil strength’
Ey hame hasti ze to peydā shode
Khāk-e za’if az to tavānā shode
ای همه هستی ز تو پیدا شده
خاک ضعیف از تو توانا شده
Notes:
In this poem we can assume that Nizami is addressing God, and alluding to God being the creator of all things.
Vocabulary:
هستی | Hasti | This is an ambiguous little word which can mean either ‘you are’ or ‘existence’. In the above line of poetry, the intended meaning is definitely ‘existence’. |
ضعیف | Za’if | ‘Weak’ (the associated noun is ضعف za’f ‘weakness’) |
Excerpt 2 from Nizami’s Makhzan-ol-Asrār
Recited by Nasrin Ahmadi
‘You won’t appreciate the value of youth
Until you get old you won’t comprehend
That a young tree is like a garden’s beauty
As it gets old, even the gardener would cut it down.’
Fāreghi az qadr-e javāni ke chi-st
Tā nashavi pir nadāni ke chi-st
Shāhed-e bāgh ast derakht-e javān
Pir shavad beshkanad-ash bāghbān
فارغی از قدر جوانی که چیست
تا نشوی پیر ندانی که چیست
شاهد باغ است درخت جوان
پیر شود بشکندش باغبان
قَدرِ جَوانی | Qadr-e javāni | ‘The appreciation/value of youth’ |
شاهِد | Shāhed | The primary meaning of شاهِد is ‘witness’, from the Semitic triconsonantal root sh-h-d ‘related to witnessing’. However, شاهِد can also be a synonym of دِلبَر delbar ‘a lover’, and in the above poem it has this meaning. We have translated it simply as ‘beauty’. |
باغبان | Bāgh(e)bān | ‘Gardener’ |
Excerpt 1 from Nizami’s Khosrov-o Shirin
Recited by Nasrin Ahmadi
‘Like the moon’s light, her face brightens the night,
Her dark eyes twinkle in the eternal light,
Full of love and affection are her flowing curls,
Her lips are rubies and her teeth like pearls.’
Shab-afruzi chu mahtāb-e javāni
Siyah-chashmi chu āb-e zendegāni
Sar-e zolfi ze nāz-o delbari por
Lab-o dandāni az yāqut-o az dorr
شب افروزی چو مهتاب جوانی
سیه چشمی چو آب زندگانی
سر زلفی ز ناز و دلبری پر
لب و دندانی از یاقوت و از در
Notes:
This is an excerpt from the tragic love story of خسرو و شیرین Khosrov-o Shirin, which tells the ill-fated tale of King Khosrow II and the Armenian princess Shirin. These four lines are a beautiful وَصفِ شیرین vasf-e Shirin ‘description of Shirin’. Descriptions of Shirin’s beauty, such as the one above, are integral to the story of Khosrow and Shirin, because Khosrow initially falls in love with princess Shirin solely from hearing a description of her beauty.
Vocabulary:
شب افروز | Shab-afruz | ‘Spotlight, nightlight’ |
مهتاب جوانی | Mahtāb-e javāni | ‘Youthful moonlight’ (We can assume two meanings here: firstly, that Nizami is comparing Shirin’s face to the moon. This is an extremely common poetic device found time and time again in Persian poetry, whereby a lover’s beautiful face is compared to the moon. Secondly, we can assume that ‘youthful moonlight’ means a young moon, as opposed to a full moon.) |
سیه چشمی | Siyah-chashmi | ‘A dark-eyed [lit: ‘black-eyed’] beauty’ (The word سیه siyah is an alternative form of سیاه siyāh ‘black’) |
یاقوت | Yāqut | ‘Ruby’ (a synonym of یاکند yākand, لعل la’l, or لال lāl) |
دُرّ | Dorr | ‘Pearl’ (a synonym of مروارید morvārid/marvārid) |
Excerpt 2 from Nizami’s Khosrov-o Shirin
Here we have another وَصفِ شیرین vasf-e Shirin ‘description of Shirin’s beauty’:
Recited by Nasrin Ahmadi
‘The Goddess Shirin, with her sweet Armenian lips,
Walks from one bouquet of flowers to the next,
Sometimes her face’s beauty conceals even the moon,
Sometimes she drinks her wine from the flowers’ nectar.’
Bot-e shirin dahān bānu-ye arman
Kharāmad gol be gol kharman be kharman
Gahi bar ārez-e mah parde pushad
Gahi az kharman-e gol bāde nushad
بت شیرین دهان بانوی ارمن
خرامد گل به گل خرمن به خرمن
گهی بر عارض مه پرده پوشد
گهی از خرمن گل باده نوشد
بُت | Bot | ‘Idol, goddess, lover’ (In the above excerpt, the phrase بُتِ شیرین bot-e shirin takes on a double meaning, as it could be translated as ‘sweet goddess’ or as ‘the goddess Shirin’, due to the word شیرین shirin being both a female given name and the adjective for ‘sweet’). |
بانوی اَرمَن | Bānu-ye arman | ‘Armenian lady’ |
خرامیدن | Kharāmidan | ‘To walk elegantly’, or ‘to strut’ |
خَرمَن | Kharman | ‘Bouquet, harvest, crop, stack/bale [e.g. of hay]’ |
عارِضِ مَه | Ārez-e mah | ‘Moon-face’ (Another reference to Shirin’s beauty, a beautiful face is often compared to the moon in Persian poetry. مه mah is an alternative form of ماه māh). |
Excerpt 1 from Nizami’s Leyli-o Majnun
Now we turn to the third section of Nizami’s پنج گنج Panj Ganj ‘Five Treasures’: the story of Leyli and Majnun. The plot and tragic ending to Leyli and Majnun’s love story is often compared to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet tragedy, and in this short excerpt one can hopefully get a sense of the familiar scenes of sorrow and anguish:
Recited by Nasrin Ahmadi
‘After Leyli was made to separate from Majnun,
She wept her pearl-like tears in secret,
After Majnun could no longer see Leyli’s face,
From his every eyelash cameforth a flood of tears.’
Leyli chu boride shod ze Majnun
Mirikht ze dide dorr-e maknun
Majnun chu nadid ru-ye Leyli
Az har mozhe-i goshād seyli
لیلی چو بریده شد ز مجنون
میریخت ز دیده در مکنون
مجنون چو ندید روی لیلی
از هر مژهای گشاد سیلی
Vocabulary:
بُریده شدن | Boride shodan | ‘To become separated’ (a synonym of جدا شدن jedā shodan) |
مَکنون | Maknun | ‘Hidden’ (a native Persian synonym for the phrase دُرِّ مَکنون dorr-e maknun found in the above excerpt would be مُرواریدِ پنهان morvārid-e penhān ‘hidden tears [lit: ‘pearls’]’). |
مُژه | Mozhe | ‘Eyelash’ |
سیل | Seyl | ‘Flood’ (In this poem we can see that سیلی seyli ‘a flood’ rhymes with لیلی Leyli. This female name is pronounced as لیلیٰ Leylā in Arabic, and sometimes in Persian too, however this rhyming couplet provides us with evidence that the name should be read here as Leyli). |
Excerpt 1 from Nizami’s Haft Peykar
This excerpt from the ‘Haft Peykar’ perfectly encapsulates Nizami’s beautifully descriptive and romantic way of illustrating the world:
Recited by Nasrin Ahmadi
‘Until the mountaintops and rolling plains
Are covered in the gold of the morning’s scales
And that Sunday light of the world
Has crept under the golden rays like a hidden sun’
Chu garibān-e kuh-o dāman-e dasht
Az tarāzu-ye sobh por-zar gasht
Ruz-e yekshanbe ān cherāgh-e jahān
Zir-e zar shod chu āftāb-e nahān
چو گریبانِ کوه و دامنِ دشت
از ترازوی صبح پر زر گشت
روز یکشنبه آن چراغ جهان
زیر زر شد چو آفتاب نهان
Notes:
In the first line, Nezami uses anthropomorphism to allude to the height and depth of the landscape: گریبانِ کوه garibān-e kuh ‘mountaintops’ (lit: ‘mountain necks’) and دامَنِ دَشت dāman-e dasht ‘rolling plains’ (lit: ‘the skirt of the plain’). In the second line, he compares the morning to a set of scales تَرازوی صُبح tarāzu-ye sobh ‘the morning’s weighing scales’, creating the illusion that the morning carefully balances the sun’s light across the world in equilibrium. The word زَر zar ‘gold’ is mentioned twice in the poem, where both times it has a double meaning of both ‘gold’ and ‘[golden] light’ or ‘the sun’s [golden] rays’.
Excerpt 1 from Nizami’s Iskandarnāme
Recited by Nasrin Ahmadi
‘O musician, quickly start playing a tune,
I’m befuddled from all these thoughts inside my head,
So play me that exquisite melody,
To calm down my restless mind.’
Moghanni yeki naghme benvāz zud
K-az andishe dar maghzam oftād dud
Chonān barkesh ān naghme-ye naghz rā
Ke sāken koni dar sar in maghz rā
مغنی یکی نغمه بنواز زود
کز اندیشه در مغزم افتاد دود
چنان برکش آن نغمهٔ نغز را
که ساکن کنی در سر این مغز را
Vocabulary:
مغنی | Moghanni | ‘Singer, musician’ (a Persian synonym would be نوازنده navāzande or خواننده khānande) |
نغمه | Naghme | ‘Melody, tune’ |
مغز | Maghz | ‘Brain, mind’ |
نغز | Naghz | ‘Exquisite, fine, elegant’ |