Nezami Ganjavi (نظامی گنجوی in Persian, Nizami Gəncəvi in Azerbaijani)‎ (1140? – 1217?), with the complete name of Nezam al-Din Abu Mohammad Elyas Ibn Yosouf Ibn Zaki Ibn Mo’ayyed Nezami Ganjavi, was a Azerbaijanian poet and storywriter. He was born in Ganja (known during the Soviet period as Kirovabad) in Azerbaijan. His father originated from the Persian city of Qom and his mother, named Ra'isa, was an Iranian Kurd.

He was the master of Masnavi style (double-rhymed verses) and one of the four great Persian poets in 12th century. He had two poetical works; the main one is Panj-ganj (The Quinary) in 30,000 couplets. It includes five books:

• Makhzan al-Asrar (The Storehouse of Mysteries) (1165)
• Khosrow va Shirin (The story of Khosrow and Shirin) (1175)
• Leily va Majnoun (The story of Leily and Majnoun) (1188)
• Eskandar-Nameh (The Book of Alexander) (1191)
• Haft Paykar (The Seven Beauties) (1198)

Nezami also compiled a Divan (a collection of odes and lyrics) in 1188.

See also

Persian literature

External links

• The Legend of Leyli and Majnun
• Nizami, Jamal al-Din Ilyas. A biography by Prof. Iraj Bashiri, University of Minnesota.