Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

New manuscripts have enriched the original collection of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center.

Nizami Ganjavi International Center with its head office in Azerbaijan's second largest city, Ganja, was established in September 2012 to increase awareness of the great works of prominent Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi, to help return his masterpieces to the homeland, to serve as a depository for Nizami's works, and to further develop the values embodied in his works through community engagement.

According to the center, the most important manuscript is the Holy Quran written by the most famous calligrapher of the Ottoman Empire, Sheikh Hamdullah (1436-1520), who devoted his life to the art of calligraphy, creating 47 magnificent Qurans.

There are also original gold scripts of Surah Al Baqarah and Al Fatiha of Quran of 1126 AH (1709 AD).

The Nizami Ganjavi International Center has organized 15 exhibitions of the original manuscripts and illustrations dedicated to "Khamsa" by Nizami Ganjavi from its collection in Bishkek, Washington, Alexandria and Tbilisi.

Starting from 2014, the original manuscripts and illustrations will also be presented to a wider audience in the frame of the "Silk Road" joint project of the center with the Library of Alexandria, the National Library of Turkey and the Kuwait Foundation.

More ancient manuscripts and illustrations are delivered to Azerbaijan annually. In 2012, ancient Azerbaijani and Turkish manuscripts were brought from Poland.

Nizami Ganjavi's "Khamsa", Muhammad Fizuli's "Divan", Sahib Tabrizi's "Divan", the "Tovheyi Shahidi" dictionary, "Nusehi Jahanara" and "Khoja Nasreddin's anecdotes" are among the manuscripts.

Nizami Ganjavi, the 12th century greatest representative of the Eastern Renaissance, displayed the quintessence of world literature and philosophy in Khamsa (Five), via the aesthetic power of his art.