Molla Vali Vidadi () (17 March 1709, Shamkir – 13 May 1809, near Gazakh) was an Azerbaijani poet. Little is known about Vidadi. He spent most of his life in his native town of Shamkir (then called Shamkhor) where he taught at a religious school. According to some sources, Vidadi spent some years in

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, Georgia, where he served as a court poet for King Erekle II. Upon the death of the king's son Levan in 1781, Vidadi wrote an elegy dedicated to the deceased. His court service did not last long, possibly due to his open criticism of the ruling class. At its early stage, Vidadi's poetry expressed a positive view on life, however as years passed, his poems began expressing a more pessimistic attitude. His was also known for his poetic dialogue with

Molla Panah Vagif Molla Panah (), better known by his pen-name Vagif (), was an 18th-century Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijani poet, statesman and diplomat. He is regarded as the founder of the realism genre and the modern school in Azerbaijani literature, Azerbaijani poe ...

. Vidadi's simple and realistic (sometimes involving elements of

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...

) literary style resembled the traditional Azeri

ashik An ashik (; ) or ashugh (; ka, :ka:აშუღი, აშუღი) is traditionally a List of oral repositories, singer-poet and bard who accompanies his song—be it a dastan (traditional epic story, also known as ''Azeri hikaye, hikaye' ...

genre.Molla Vali Vidadi
''Great Soviet Encyclopædia''

References

1709 births 1809 deaths Azerbaijani-language poets Azerbaijani men centenarians People from Qazax People from Shamkir {{Azerbaijan-poet-stub