The Azerbaijan State Translation Centre is pleased to announce the publication of the book This World Cannot Compass Me to mark 650 years since the birth of the great Azerbaijani poet Imadaddin Nasimi.

The book includes more than 300 of the poet’s ghazals, accompanied by illustrations and scenes from the period.

The editor and author of the foreword to the book is Pasha Alioghlu, doctor of philology.

An excerpt from the preface:

“Nasimi’s brilliant literary legacy, progressive and humanist ideas, steadfast personality, courage in fighting for his mission, incorruptibility and his martyrdom for his own convictions immortalized the great poet’s name in the literature of all the peoples of the Middle East and gained him world fame. Following the martyrdom of Imam Huseyn (680), Mansur al-Hallaj (1322), and Fazlullah Naimi (1394), Nasimi’s brutal flaying alive in 1417 in Aleppo was an outstanding example of martyrdom for one’s convictions, and passed into legend. As stated in written sources from the Middle Ages, Nasimi wrote poetry of immense depth and artistry in Turkish, Persian and Arabic, earning him great respect as a poet of genius in the Middle East. Nevertheless, the poet’s greatest achievement was surely to expand the expressive capacity of our native language and to raise our poetry to the highest peak.”