Azerbaijani or Azeri, also referred to as Azeri Turkic or Azeri Turkish, is a Turkic language from the Oghuz sub-branch. It is spoken primarily by the Azerbaijani people, who live mainly in the Republic of Azerbaijan where the North Azerbaijani variety is spoken, and in the Azerbaijan region of Iran, where the South Azerbaijani variety is spoken. North Azerbaijani has official status in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Dagestan, but South Azerbaijani does not have official status in Iran, where the majority of Azerbaijani people live. It is also spoken to lesser varying degrees in Azerbaijani communities of Georgia and Turkey and by diaspora communities, primarily in Europe and North America.
Seyid Ali Imadaddin Nasimi, commonly known as Nasimi, was a 14th- and 15th-century Hurufi poet who composed poetry in his native Azerbaijani, as well as Persian and Arabic languages. He is regarded as one of the greatest Turkic poets of his time and one of the most prominent figures in Azerbaijani literature.
Magtymguly Pyragy, born Magtymguly, was an Iranian spiritual leader, philosophical poet, Sufi and traveller who is considered to be the most famous figure in Turkmen literary history.
Azerbaijani literature is written in Azerbaijani, a Turkic language, which is the official state language of the Republic of Azerbaijan, where the North Azerbaijani variety is spoken. It is also natively spoken in Iran, where the South Azerbaijani variety is used, and is particularly spoken in the northwestern historic region of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani is also spoken natively in Russia, Georgia and Turkey. 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, Arabic script in Iran and Cyrillic script formerly used in Soviet Azerbaijan.
Seyyed Mohammad-Hossein Behjat Tabrizi, known by his pen name Shahriar, was an Iranian poet who composed works in both Azerbaijani and Persian. His most important work, Heydar Babaya Salam, is considered to be the pinnacle in Azerbaijani literature which gained great popularity in the Turkic world and was translated to more than 30 languages.
Muhammad bin Suleyman, better known by his pen name Fuzuli, was a 16th-century poet who composed works in his native Azerbaijani, as well as Persian and Arabic. He is regarded as one of the greatest poets of Turkic literature and a prominent figure in both Azerbaijani and Ottoman literature. Fuzuli's work was widely known and admired throughout the Turkic cultural landscape from the 16th to the 19th centuries, with his fame reaching as far as Central Asia and India.
Divan-i Kabir, also known as Divan-i Shams and Divan-i Shams-i Tabrizi, is a collection of poems written by the Persian poet and Sufi mystic Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, also known as Rumi. A compilation of lyric poems written in the Persian language, it contains more than 40,000 verses and over 3,000 ghazals. While following the long tradition of Sufi poetry as well as the traditional metrical conventions of ghazals, the poems in the Divan showcase Rumi’s unique, trance-like poetic style. Written in the aftermath of the disappearance of Rumi’s beloved spiritual teacher, Shams-i Tabrizi, the Divan is dedicated to Shams and contains many verses praising him and lamenting his disappearance. Although not a didactic work, the Divan still explores deep philosophical themes, particularly those of love and longing.
'Ali-Shir Nava'i, also known as Nizām-al-Din ʿAli-Shir Herawī was a Timurid poet, writer, statesman, linguist, Hanafi Maturidi mystic and painter who was the greatest representative of Chagatai literature.
In Islamic cultures of the Middle East, North Africa, Sicily and South Asia, a Diwan is a collection of poems by one author, usually excluding his or her long poems (mathnawī).
Asaf Halet Çelebi was a Turkish mystical poet. Although not very widely known, due to his erudite and often foreign-influenced style, he is considered to be Turkey's first surrealist poet.
Humam-i Tabrizi, was a Persian Sufi poet of the Ilkhanate era. He was one of the most distinguished figures of his time due to his poetry, teachings, piety, and Sufi spirituality.
Saib Tabrizi was an Iranian poet, regarded as one of the greatest masters of a form of classical Persian lyric poetry characterized by rhymed couplets, known as the ghazal. He also established the "Indian style" in the literature of his native language, Azerbaijani Turkic, in which he is known to have written 17 ghazals and molammaʿs.
Mu'in al-Din Ali Husayni Sarabi Tabrizi, commonly known by his laqab of Qasim-i Anvar was a Sufi mystic, poet, and a leading da'i (preacher) of the Safavid order.
Sheikh Izzeddin Esfarayeni, who wrote under the pseudonyms of Hasanoghlu and Pur-e Hasan, was a 13th and 14th century poet who wrote in Azerbaijani and Persian. He is the earliest known author of Azerbaijani literature.
Gadāʼī, or Gadā, was a 15th-century poet of Central Asia who wrote in the Chaghatay Turkic language. He is recognised by the better-known Ali-Shir Nava'i as a predecessor, whom he had met.
Süruri (15th century, Aq Qoyunlu state) was an Azerbaijani poet who lived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
"Hashish and Wine", also known as "Opium and Wine", "Bangu Bada" or "Bang u Bada Munazarasi" - is an allegorical-satirical poem, written by Fuzuli in the Azerbaijani language. The poem is dedicated to Shah Ismail I.
Habibi was a late 15th and early 16th century poet. He is regarded as the most important Azerbaijani poet of his generation.
Amir Afsahaddin Hidayatullah Bey, better known by his pen name Hidayat, was a 15th-century poet and statesman who served under the Aq Qoyunlus. His only surviving work is a divan in Azerbaijani.
Yusuf Meddah was an early 14th-century poet. He is considered one of the earliest known authors of Azerbaijani literature, and his poetry played a significant role in the development of the Azerbaijani literary language. Although little is known about his life, it is estimated that he lived at the beginning of the 14th century. Meddah was well-educated and fluent in Azerbaijani, Arabic, and Persian.
