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, Persian: نظامالدین علیشیر نوایی) was a Timurid poet, writer, statesman, linguist, Hanafi Maturidi mystic and painter who was the greatest representative of Chagatai literature.
Ali-Shir Nava'i | |
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16th-century portrait of Ali-Shir Nava'i by Mahmud Muzahhib, now located in the Museum of the Astan Quds Razavi in Mashhad, Iran | |
| Born | 9 February 1441 Herat, Timurid Empire |
| Died | 3 January 1501 (aged 59) Herat, Timurid Empire |
| Resting place | Herat, Afghanistan |
| Pen name | Navā'ī (or Nevā'ī) and Fāni |
| Occupation | Poet, writer, politician, linguist, mystic and painter |
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Nava'i believed that his native Chagatai Turkic language was superior to Persian for literary purposes, an uncommon view at the time and defended this belief in his work titled Muhakamat al-Lughatayn (The Comparison of the Two Languages). He emphasized his belief in the richness, precision and malleability of Turkic vocabulary as opposed to Persian.
Because of his distinguished Chagatai language poetry, Nava'i is considered by many throughout the Turkic-speaking world to be the founder of early Turkic literature. Many places and institutions in Central Asia are named after him, including the province and city of Navoiy in Uzbekistan.