Life
Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209), of the city of Ganja, was among the greatest poets of the Persian language, master of the romantic and narrative masnavi. His Khamsa, a quintet of long poems, wove love, chivalry, wisdom, and mysticism into works — above all the tragic romance of Layla and Majnun — that were imitated and illustrated across Persia, Turkey, and India for centuries. Revered for his imagery and moral depth, he shaped the literary imagination of the whole eastern Islamic world; his verses remain beloved and his figure a point of cultural pride across the region.