There are many legends about the world famous poet, whose name is Alisher Navoi. His biography is full of various myths, but we will try to dispel them and bring some clarity to his life story.
Homeland of the great poet
Born Navoi in the ancient city of Herat (modern Afghanistan) in 1441, at birth he was named Nizamiddin Mir Alisher. Historians still have not come to an exact opinion regarding his nationality: some consider him a barlas or chagatai, others consider him an Uzbek or a Uyghur. However, one can say for sure that by origin he belongs to the Turkic peoples. This is evidenced, in addition to the verses of his close friend Abdurahman Jami (which says "even though I was a Persian, and he is a Turk, we were best friends"), his personal works, where he wrote that his native people are Turkic. During the Soviet era, Alisher Navoi was interpreted precisely as an Uzbek poet and thinker.
Poet's family
The poet's family was very wealthy, his father was a well-known official at the court of the Timurids, and his uncle was a poet. For this reason, from childhood, Alisher Navoi (whose biography is closely related to public administration) wrote poems on a variety of topics. From 1466 to 1469, the young poet lived and studied in Samarkand, taught for some time at the madrasah and strongly supported every budding poet or scientist.
Alisher Navoi: biography
The great leader belonged to the Sufi order of believers (Naqshbandi), who refused worldly life (fani - transience of being) and therefore never started a family. Like any member of the holy order, Alisher Navoi (whose verses also describe this circumstance, for example, “Lysun ut-tayir”) believed that there was only one love - for Allah, therefore he was not interested in women and marriage.
The great poet grew up and was brought up in the same yard with the children of the Timurid clans. With Hussein Baykara (who later became the ruler of the Khorasan state) Navoi had the closest friendly relations that lasted his whole life. And the reason that Alisher Navoi (his biography changed dramatically as a result of this decision) returned from Samarkand to his native Herat, it was the coronation of his friend Hussein. In 1469, upon the return of the poet, the ruler Hussein Baykar appointed him the chief Keeper of the seal of the Khorasan state.
Throughout his life, Alisher Navoi, whose poems are still relevant today, served the state, wrote multifaceted poetic works, and also provided material assistance to all poets, writers, artists and musicians. In the history of Central Asia, he was remembered as the main initiator of the construction of numerous madrassas, hospitals and even libraries.
The works of Alisher Navoi
The great poet and thinker wrote most of his works in Chagatai, taking the pseudonym Alisher Navoi (in Uzbek, this means "melodic, tuneful"). He wrote his first poem at age 15. The poet had a huge impact on the development of the literary language, made an invaluable contribution to improving the structure of the Chagatai dialect, and later the Uzbek language.
The cultural heritage of the poet contains more than 3,000 works in various genre compositions. Perhaps one of the most famous works of the poet is "The Five", which contains 5 dastans. Leyli and Majnun, Farhad and Shirin, Confusion of the Righteous are the most read poems by Alisher Navoi.
Alisher Navoi: verses in Russian
Many of the poet's works written in Farsi and Chagatai were translated into Russian. One of the most famous poems - "Two frisky gazelles .." - translated by the Soviet poet Vsevolod Rozhdestvensky. Despite the fact that Alisher Navoi denied love and other feelings for women, he still wrote very sensual poems. Among them - "On that night of my sorrow, the whole world could have nullified ...", "My soul always screams, as soon as they offend it with evil ...", "As the smoke flows from hopeless sighs, look! .." and others.
However, the author also raised social and philosophical problems ("The homeless is dressed in rags ...", "Meet with wine and evening, and sunrise ...", "Give everything away, depriving yourself ...", etc.)
In addition to lyric poems, the poet also created historical treatises in which he described the life of legendary cultural figures. For example, the “Five of the Humble” was dedicated to his teacher and ally Abdurahman Jami.
At the end of his creative activity, Alisher Navoi wrote two philosophical poems describing his ideas about the ideal state structure. One poem - “The Language of the Birds”, or, as it is called, the “Parliament of the Birds: Semurg” - is the pinnacle of his work, this allegorical treatise ridicules all ignorant rulers who do not know the principles of state structure. All the works of Alisher Navoi are full of meaning and are devoted to a variety of topics, ranging from love to politics and improving the social life of ordinary peasants.
Political activity
It can be noted that Alisher Navoi had liberal views on many things. For example, he always opposed medieval despotic laws, openly condemned officials who took bribes, and also tried to protect the interests of the poor class. In 1472, Navoi received the title of emir (becoming the vizier of the state), he used his powers to improve the lives of poor people. Despite the friendship with the ruler and other notable officials, Alisher Navoi was nevertheless exiled by the ruler of the Khorasan state of Baikara to another region for his frank statements against the embezzlers and bribe takers. In Astrabad, he continued his plans to improve the social and social life of the people.
Alisher Navoi made a huge contribution not only to the development of the state system, he had a significant impact on improving the Uzbek language. His works are known in many eastern countries (Uzbekistan, Iran, Turkey and other countries of Central Asia). The great poet died in his homeland, in Herat, in 1501.