page_title: Azerbaijani literature
section_title: Divan poetry
hierarchical_section_title: Azerbaijani literature / Safavid literature / Divan poetry
caption_attribution_description: English: Medieval European rendering by an unknown Venetian artist. The original rendering is kept in the Uffizi Gallery museum in Florence, Italy. See en: for the credits. Русский: Исмаил 1й 1487-1524 English: Portrait of Shah Ismail I of Persia (1487-1524) Deutsch: Schah Ismail I. (1501–1524), Porträt aus dem 17. Jahrhundert Azərbaycanca: Şah İsmayılın XVI əsrdə naməlum Florensiyalı rəssam tərəfindən çəkilmiş portreti (Uffitsi muzeyi. Florensiya. İtaliya). Bahasa Melayu: Lukisan Ismail I dari Parsi (1487-1524) Uffizi Museum &#160;&#160;Native nameGalleria degli UffiziLocationFlorenceCoordinates43°&#160;46′&#160;06.24″&#160;N, 11°&#160;15′&#160;21.24″&#160;E Established1581 (built), 1765 (open to public)Web pagewww.uffizi.itAuthority control : Q16335227 VIAF:&#8201;316731929 institution QS:P195,Q16335227
context_page_description: Azerbaijani literature is written in Azerbaijani, a Turkic language, which is the official state language of the Republic of Azerbaijan, where the North Azerbaijaini variety is spoken, and is the first-language of most people in Iranian Azerbaijan, where South Azerbaijani is spoken. While the majority of Azerbaijani people live in Iran, modern Azerbaijani literature is overwhelmingly produced in the Republic of Azerbaijan, where the language has official status. Three scripts are used for writing the language: Azerbaijani Latin script in the Republic of Azerbaijan, Persian alphabet in Iranian Azerbaijan and Cyrillic script in Russia.
  The earliest development of Azerbaijani literature is closely associated with Anatolian Turkish, written in Perso-Arabic script. Examples of its detachment date to the 14th century or earlier. Several major authors helped to develop Azerbaijani literature from the 14th century until the 17th century and poetry figures prominently in their works. Towards the end of the 19th century, popular literature such as newspapers began to be published in Azerbaijani language.
context_section_description: Safavid Divan poetry was a highly ritualized and symbolic art form. From the Persian poetry that largely inspired it, it inherited a wealth of symbols whose meanings and interrelationships—both of similitude (مراعات نظير mura'ât-i nazîr / تناسب
  tenâsüb) and opposition (تضاد tezâd)—were more or less prescribed. Examples of prevalent symbols that, to some extent, oppose one another include, among others:
  the nightingale (بلبل bülbül) — the rose (ﮔل gül)
  the world (جهان cihan; عالم ‘âlem) — the rosegarden (ﮔﻠﺴﺘﺎن gülistan; ﮔﻠﺸﻦ gülşen)
  the ascetic (زاهد zâhid) — the dervish (درويش derviş)
  As the opposition of "the ascetic" and "the dervish" suggests, Divan poetry—much like Azerbaijani folk poetry—was heavily influenced by Shia Islam. One of the primary characteristics of Divan poetry, however—as of the Persian poetry before it—was its mingling of the mystical Sufi element with a profane and even erotic element. Thus, the pairing of "the nightingale" and "the rose" simultaneously suggests two different relationships:
  the relationship between the fervent lover ("the nightingale") and the inconstant beloved ("the rose")
  the relationship between the individual Sufi practitioner (who is often characterized in Sufism as a lover) and God (who is considered the ultimate source and object of love)
  Similarly, "the world" refers simultaneously to the physical world and to this physical world considered as the abode of sorrow and impermanence, while "the rosegarden" refers simultaneously to a literal garden and to the garden of Paradise. "The nightingale", or suffering lover, is often seen as situated—both literally and figuratively—in "the world", while "the rose", or beloved, is seen as being in "the rose-garden".
  Ottoman and Safavid divan poetry heavily influenced each other. As for the development of Divan poetry over the more than 500 years of its existence, that is—as the Ottomanist Walter G. Andrews points out—a study still in its infancy; clearly defined movements and periods have not yet been decided upon. Early in the history of the tradition, the Persian influence was very strong, but this was mitigated somewhat through the influence of poets such as the Azerbaijani Nesîmî (1369–1417) and the Uyghur Ali Şîr Nevâî (1441–1501), both of whom offered strong arguments for the poetic status of the Turkic languages as against the much-venerated Persian. Partly as a result of such arguments, Divan poetry in its strongest period—from the 16th to the 18th centuries—came to display a unique balance of Persian and Turkic elements, until the Persian influence began to predominate again in the early 19th century.
  Azerbaijani poets although they had been inspired and influenced by classical Persian poetry, it would be a superficial judgment to consider the former as blind imitators of the latters, as is often done. A limited vocabulary and common technique, and the same world of imagery and subject matter based mainly on Islamic sources were shared by all poets of Islamic literature.
  Despite the lack of certainty regarding the stylistic movements and periods of Divan poetry, however, certain highly different styles are clear enough, and can perhaps be seen as exemplified by certain poets:
  Fuzûlî (1494–1556); a unique poet who wrote with equal skill in Azerbaijani, Persian, and Arabic, and who came to be as influential in Persian as in Divan poetry
  Bâkî (1526–1600); a poet of great rhetorical power and linguistic subtlety whose skill in using the pre-established tropes of the Divan tradition is quite representative of the poetry in the time of Süleyman the Magnificent
  Nef‘î (1572–1635); a poet considered the master of the kasîde (a kind of panegyric), as well as being known for his harshly satirical poems, which led to his execution
  Nâbî (1642–1712); a poet who wrote a number of socially oriented poems critical of the stagnation period of Ottoman history
  Nedîm (1681–1730); a revolutionary poet of the Tulip Era of Ottoman history, who infused the rather élite and abstruse language of Divan poetry with numerous simpler, populist elements
  Şeyh
caption: Ismail I, Shah of Safavid Empire and a prolific poet who, contributed greatly to the literary development of the Azerbaijani language.
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