A poet of stories
Nizami lived in the city of Ganja, in the Caucasus, and wrote in Persian. He is best known for the Khamsa, meaning “five,” a set of five long narrative poems. They include the tale of the lovers Khosrow and Shirin and the story of Layla and Majnun, the poet-lover driven mad by longing.
A model for later poets
Nizami’s five poems became a pattern that later poets copied, and scenes from his stories fill the manuscripts and miniature paintings of Persia and beyond. Compare him with Ferdowsi, who told the epic of kings, and Attar, who told of the soul.
