Fuzûlî
c. 1483–1556
Biography
Fuzûlî (c. 1483–1556), whose given name was Muhammad bin Suleyman, was a poet who wrote in Azerbaijani Turkish, Persian and Arabic. He was born in what is now Iraq and as a boy studied literature, mathematics, astronomy and languages. During his lifetime his homeland passed between the Aq Qoyunlu, Safavid and Ottoman states, and he wrote verse for officials of all three. He never found a patron who fully satisfied him, and he never travelled beyond Iraq. He died of plague in 1556 and was buried at Karbala. Sources differ on his birth year, placing it variously around 1480 and 1494.
He is best known for his Azerbaijani work: ghazals, which are short lyric poems of love and longing, and a long poem on Leyli and Majnun, the tragic love story that had been retold across the Middle East for generations. His verse combines intense feeling with mystical metaphor and symbol. He also wrote divans, collections of poems, in Azerbaijani, Persian and possibly Arabic. He is credited with lifting Azerbaijani poetry and language to a new level, and his work brings together Azerbaijani, Persian and Arabic literary practice. He remains widely read in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran and Iraq.
Dâstân-ı Leylî vü Mecnûn, a version of the Leyli and Majnun story, is listed on this site under his name, so it is the book through which many readers here will meet him. Readers who want a fuller account of his life, including the disputed dates, should start with the English and Azerbaijani articles cited below.
This biography was written by a language model. The sources below are where to check it; treat details with care.
Books
Dâstân-ı Leylî vü Mecnûn
by Fuzûlî
Kays loves Leyla from childhood, but her family keeps them apart, and he wanders the desert among the wild animals, the Mecnun of the title. Fuzuli's 1535 masnavi of some three thousand couplets tells of a love that can only be completed in death.
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.