Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

The Nizami Ganjavi International Centre has published a book about one of the most prominent figures of medieval Azerbaijani philosophical poetry.

The book "The interpretation of Nizami's cultural heritage in the contemporary period" published in English was presented at the Azerbaijani National Library, Azertag reported.

The book was published under the relevant order signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of the Nizami Ganjavi Year announced in the country.

The publication was edited by Rahila Geybullayeva and Christine Ruymbeke. The book was funded by the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre.

In his speech, the National Library's director, Professor Karim Tahirov, said that three events had already been held at the National Library within the Nizami Ganjavi Year.

The director noted that the culture minister and the National Library with the support of Heydar Aliyev Foundation Vice-President Leyla Aliyeva continue to work on finding the poet's manuscripts in national libraries and museums around the world and to obtain their digital versions and paper copies from other countries.

He noted that Nizami Ganjavi is the most prominent poet who introduced Azerbaijan to the world. Karim Tahirov emphasized that Nizami's legacy has become an integral part of the spirituality of the Azerbaijani people for more than eight centuries. His works had a strong impact on the development of the literature of the peoples of the Caucasus and the Middle East and entered the treasury of world culture.

Karim Tahirov praised the publication of the English-language book, noting its contribution to the 880th anniversary of Nizami Ganjavi.

Then the chairman of the Board of Trustees at the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre, Elnur Aliyev, said that the main centre focuses on promoting Nizami's heritage at the international level. The Nizami Ganjavi Centre is successfully cooperating with world-famous legal scholars and orientalists to study and promote the poet's legacy.

As a result of this cooperation, the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre and the Azerbaijan Comparative Literature Association organized the first international conference on "Modern interpretation of Nizami cultural heritage" (2018), uniting 13 different countries like Canada, Brazil, India, USA, Egypt, Georgia, Turkey and many others.

The conference discussed theoretical and practical aspects of the subject, the aesthetics and philosophy of Nizami's poetry.

Speaking about the book, Elnur Aliyev stressed that it reflects the views of well-known scholars from the United Kingdom, Germany, Georgia and other countries, who also joined the virtual conference.

He underlined that Nizami Ganjavi wrote many miniatures, and the fact that these miniatures are kept in libraries and museums around the world once again proves the greatness of Nizami's personality.

The event was followed by a book exhibition dedicated to Nizami Ganjavi.

The works of Nizami Ganjavi were translated into many languages. The rare manuscript copies of his works are kept and preserved like precious pearls in famous libraries, museums and literary foundations in cities such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Baku, Tashkent, Tabriz, Tehran, Cairo, Istanbul, Delhi, London, Paris and others.

In Khamsa (Quintet), the poet revealed the living pages of history. The attack of the Russians on Barda city, a fairy tale of the Russian Princess, the beautiful Shirin amazons, battles, described in various poems of Nizami - all this is historically and geographically related to medieval Azerbaijan and the Caucasus.

The description of a man's inner world, his feelings, and thoughts along with the dynamic development of the main hero's characters underlies the basic aim and content of Nizami’s literary school.

Nizami Ganjavi passed away in 1209 in his native city of Ganja. A grandiose tomb was raised over his grave.

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