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Iskandarnameh Of Nizami
The ''Iskandarnameh'' (''Book of Alexander'') is a poetic production in the '' Alexander Romance'' tradition authored by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi (d. 1209) that describes Alexander the Great as an idealized hero, sage, and king. More uniquely, he is also a seeker of knowledge who debates with great philosophers Greek and Indian philosophers, one of them being Plato. The poem is the fourth part of the Khamsa of Nizami, a posthumous collection of five of Nizami's major works. It consists of two main and independent parts: the ''Sharaf-nama'' (Book of Glory) followed by the Iqbal-nama (Book of Fortune) (though the names are reversed in some copies). Both are written in rhymed couplets. In India, the two sections are known as the ''Eskandar-(''or ''Sekandar-) nāma-ye barrī'' and ''baḥrī'' respectively. It was likely completed by 1194. Narrative Summary The Sharaf-nama discusses the birth of Alexander, his succession to the throne of Rum (Greece), his wars against Afri ...
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Gog And Magog
Gog and Magog (; he, גּוֹג וּמָגוֹג, ''Gōg ū-Māgōg'') appear in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran as individuals, tribes, or lands. In Ezekiel 38, Gog is an individual and Magog is his land; in Genesis 10, Magog is a man and eponymous ancestor of a nation, but no Gog is mentioned; by the time of Jewish tradition had long since changed Ezekiel's "Gog ''from'' Magog" into "Gog ''and'' Magog". The Gog prophecy is meant to be fulfilled at the approach of what is called the "end of days", but not necessarily the end of the world. Jewish eschatology viewed Gog and Magog as enemies to be defeated by the Messiah, which would usher in the age of the Messiah. Christianity's interpretation is more starkly apocalyptic, making Gog and Magog, here indicating nations rather than individuals, allies of Satan against God at the end of the millennium, as described in the Book of Revelation. A legend was attached to Gog and Magog by the time of the Roman period, that the Gat ...
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Ali-Shir Nava'i
'Ali-Shir Nava'i (9 February 1441 – 3 January 1501), also known as Nizām-al-Din ʿAli-Shir Herawī ( Chagatai: نظام الدین علی شیر نوایی, fa, نظام‌الدین علی‌شیر نوایی) was a Timurid poet, writer, statesman, linguist, Hanafi Maturidi mystic and painter who was the greatest representative of Chagatai literature. Nava'i believed that his native Chagatai Turkic language was superior to Persian for literary purposes, an uncommon view at the time and defended this belief in his work titled '' Muhakamat al-Lughatayn'' (''The Comparison of the Two Languages''). He emphasized his belief in the richness, precision and malleability of Turkic vocabulary as opposed to Persian. Because of his distinguished Chagatai language poetry, Nava'i is considered by many throughout the Turkic-speaking world to be the founder of early Turkic literature. Many places and institutions in Central Asia are named after him. Life Alisher Nava'i was born ...
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Sadd-i Iskandari
The ''Sadd-i Iskandarī'' (''Alexander's Wall'') was composed by Ali-Shir Nava'i (1441–1501) in the second half of the fifteenth century. It is the only rendition of the '' Alexander Romance'' in Chagatai Turkish. Alexander legends did exist in other forms of Turkish though, such as Taceddin Ahmedi's '' Iskendername''. The name of Nava'i's work is a reminder of the story of Dhu al-Qarnayn, whom Nava'i believes to be Alexander the Great. As described in the Quran, Dhu al-Qarnayn (Alexander) is entrusted by God to build a wall sealing away the apocalyptic tribes Gog and Magog. The text proceeds in four main parts: * The ''Andarz'' section, involving a general discussion of aspirations, aims, and ideals. * The ''Ḥikāyat'' section, involving a story of the beggar-king. * The ''Ḥikmat'' section, where Alexander converses with Aristotle regarding the best way to achieve one's aim. * The ''Dāstān'' section, involving a biography of Alexander The ''Sadd-i Iskandari'' was a s ...
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Jami
Nūr ad-Dīn 'Abd ar-Rahmān Jāmī ( fa, نورالدین عبدالرحمن جامی; 7 November 1414 – 9 November 1492), also known as Mawlanā Nūr al-Dīn 'Abd al-Rahmān or Abd-Al-Rahmān Nur-Al-Din Muhammad Dashti, or simply as Jami or Djāmī and in Turkey as Molla Cami, was a Persian Sunni poet who is known for his achievements as a prolific scholar and writer of mystical Sufi literature. He was primarily a prominent poet-theologian of the school of Ibn Arabi and a Khwājagānī Sũfī, recognized for his eloquence and for his analysis of the metaphysics of mercy. His most famous poetic works are '' Haft Awrang, Tuhfat al-Ahrar, Layla wa Majnun, Fatihat al-Shabab, Lawa'ih, Al-Durrah al-Fakhirah.'' Jami belonged to the Naqshbandi Sufi order. Biography Jami was born in Kharjerd, in Khorasan. Previously his father Nizām al-Dīn Ahmad b. Shams al-Dīn Muhammad had come from Dasht, a small town in the district of Isfahan. A few years after his birth, his ...
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Kherad-nâme
The ''Kherad-nâme-ye Eskandari'' (''Alexandrian Book of Wisdom'') (also referred to as the ''Khiradnāma'') of Abd-al-Rahmân Jâmi is a piece of Persian literature which existed as an heir to the tradition of the ''Khamsa'' of Nizami Ganjavi (d. 1209). It constitutes the final book of Jami's larger seven-book composition, his ''Haft Awrang''. More specifically, it focuses on legends of Alexander the Great as recounted in Nizami's ''Iskandarnameh'' and ultimately in the tradition of the Alexander Romance genre of literature. Jami's representation of the genre offers his readers a spiritual reflection on Alexander's journeys interspersed with long philosophical meditations exemplified through short anecdotes ('' hekâyat''). As with other Islamic authors of this era, Alexander is ultimately identified with Dhu al-Qarnayn in his construction of the eastern wall against Gog and Magog. The text was composed before 1489, possibly in 1485, and was dedicated to the Timurid ruler of H ...
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Ayina-i Iskandari (Amir Khusrau)
The ''Ayina-i Iskandarī'' (''Alexandrine Mirror'') is a Persian legend of the life and exploits of Alexander the Great composed by the poet Amir Khusrau (d. 1325), completed in 1299/1300 during the reign of Muhammad II of Khwarazm. It is presented in the form of 35 discourses, running at 4,416 verses in the 1977 edition of the text produced by Jamâl Mirsaydof. Like his predecessor Nizami Ganjavi, Amir Khusrau's Alexander legend formed the fourth part of his ''Khamsa'' (a collection of five of his major works), and it was the first response to Nizami's Iskandarnameh. The text expresses a wish for the peace and stability brought about by Alexander as opposed to the period of instability and political turnover of his own time, and makes frequent reference to the "second Alexander" as a means of addressing his ruler Muhammad II, who assumed that title for himself during his reign. Mirrors are used to play an important role across the Ayina. First of all, Alexander invents two mirr ...
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Amir Khusrau
Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253–1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate. He is an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. He was a mystic and a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, India. He wrote poetry primarily in Persian, but also in Hindavi. A vocabulary in verse, the ''Ḳhāliq Bārī'', containing Arabic, Persian and Hindavi terms is often attributed to him. Khusrau is sometimes referred to as the "voice of India" or "Parrot of India" (''Tuti-e-Hind''), and has been called the "father of Urdu literature." Khusrau is regarded as the "father of qawwali" (a devotional form of singing of the Sufis in the Indian subcontinent), and introduced the ghazal style of song into India, both of which still exist widely in India and Pakistan. Khusrau was an expert in many styles of Persian poetry which were developed in medieval Persia, fr ...
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Theodor Nöldeke
Theodor Nöldeke (; born 2 March 1836 – 25 December 1930) was a German orientalist and scholar. His research interests ranged over Old Testament studies, Semitic languages and Arabic, Persian and Syriac literature. Nöldeke translated several important works of oriental literature and during his lifetime was considered an important orientalist. He wrote numerous studies (including on the Qur’ān) and contributed articles to the Encyclopædia Britannica. Among the projects Nöldeke collaborated on was Michael Jan de Goeje’s published edition of al-Tabari's ''Tarikh'' ("Universal History"), for which he translated the Sassanid-era section. This translation remains of great value, particularly for the extensive supplementary commentary. His numerous students included Charles Cutler Torrey, Louis Ginzberg and Friedrich Zacharias Schwally. He entrusted Schwally with the continuation of his standard work "The History of the Qur’ān". Biography Nöldeke was born in Harburg, ...
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Syriac Alexander Legend
Composed in Syriac in northern Mesopotamia, the ''Syriac Alexander Legend'', also known as the ''Neṣḥānā'' ( syr, ܢܨܚܢܐ}, "triumph"), is a legendary account of the exploits of Alexander the Great. It is independent of the '' Alexander Romance'' and served as a source for apocalyptic literature in the 7th century. It is the earliest work to mention the fusion of Alexander's gate with the Biblical apocalyptic tradition of Gog and Magog. Dating The composition of the ''Legend'' is commonly attributed to north Mesopotamia around 629–630 CE, shortly after Heraclius defeated the Sasanians. However, some have argued that the Syriac recension was originally produced in an earlier form in the early 6th century and was updated in the early 7th century in light of then-contemporary apocalyptic themes. Another position taken up by some scholars is that the text was composed around the Byzantine-Sassanid events surrounding the year 614. There is also a poem (often wrongly att ...
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Pahlavi Scripts
Pahlavi is a particular, exclusively written form of various Middle Iranian languages. The essential characteristics of Pahlavi are: *the use of a specific Aramaic-derived script; *the incidence of Aramaic words used as heterograms (called '' hozwārishn'', "archaisms"). Pahlavi compositions have been found for the dialects/ethnolects of Parthia, Persis, Sogdiana, Scythia, and Khotan. Independent of the variant for which the Pahlavi system was used, the written form of that language only qualifies as Pahlavi when it has the characteristics noted above. Pahlavi is then an admixture of: *written Imperial Aramaic, from which Pahlavi derives its script, logograms, and some of its vocabulary. *spoken Middle Iranian, from which Pahlavi derives its terminations, symbol rules, and most of its vocabulary. Pahlavi may thus be defined as a system of writing applied to (but not unique for) a specific language group, but with critical features alien to that language group. It has th ...
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Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia ( Republic of Dagestan) to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the west, and Iran to the south. Baku is the capital and largest city. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic proclaimed its independence from the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic in 1918 and became the first secular democratic Muslim-majority state. In 1920, the country was incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Azerbaijan SSR. The modern Republic of Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence on 30 August 1991, shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the same year. In September 1991, the ethnic Armenian majority of the Nagorno-Karabakh region for ...
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