The ''Sadd-i Iskandarī'' (''Alexander's Wall'') was composed by

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 ...

(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 Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

. As described in the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing.: ...

, Dhu al-Qarnayn (Alexander) is entrusted by God to build a wall sealing away the apocalyptic tribes

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 ep ...

. 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 Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatet ...

regarding the best way to achieve one's aim. * The ''Dāstān'' section, involving a biography of Alexander The ''Sadd-i Iskandari'' was a section of a larger text that acted as the equivalent of Nava'i's own version of

Nizami Ganjavi Nizami Ganjavi ( fa, نظامی گنجوی, lit=Niẓāmī of Ganja, Azerbaijan, Ganja, translit=Niẓāmī Ganjavī; c. 1141–1209), Nizami Ganje'i, Nizami, or Nezāmi, whose formal name was ''Jamal ad-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyās ibn-Yūsuf ...

's ''Khamsa''. More specifically, the ''Sadd-i Iskandari'' was his version of Nizami's ''Iskandarnameh'', and it was composed in the same meter (''mutaqārib'') as Nizami's. Nava'i composed his text roughly the same time, though slightly after, the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

poet

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 J ...

completed his own ''

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 ...

'' (''Book of Alexandrian Intelligence''), which influenced Nava'i's text. The two poets had a close relationship, and Nava'i was the disciple of Jami. In Nava'i's own ''Khamsa'', he acknowledges the influence of his teacher in the prologue of each ''

mathnawi Mathnawi ( ar, مثنوي ''mathnawī'') or masnavi ( fa, مثنوی) is a kind of poem written in rhyming couplets, or more specifically "a poem based on independent, internally rhyming lines". Most mathnawī poems follow a meter of eleven, or o ...

''.

References

{{Reflist 15th-century literature Alexander the Great in legend Chagatai Turkic literature Dhul-Qarnayn Turkish literature

See also

References