After gaining independence, the Republic of Azerbaijan, one might say, has always honored all our writers and poets from our classical heritage. Our President Ilham Aliyev has declared this year the Year of the classic poet Nizami Ganjavi. The main goal is the desire to lead our nation forward, to protect it, to preserve the legacy left to us by our great leader, world politician Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev. He also pointed out the importance of preserving our classical poets such as Nizami Ganjavi and passing on their works to the younger generation. Female images play a key role in the works of Nizami Ganjavi. In his works, he highlighted the place of a woman, depicting a woman as a mother, an ornament of life. In Sultan Sanjar and the Old Woman Beit from Treasury of Secrets, the first poem in the five-verse Hamsa, Nizami Ganjavi describes a woman as the leading force of society, defending her rights. In the second poem — Khosrov and Shirin, Nizami Ganjavi always wanted to see women free and made it clear that a society without women would become an orphan. In his third poem, Layli and Majnun, he described in detail the image of Layli as a selfless oriental woman, attached to her family and devoted to her love. In fact, Nizami Ganjavi foresaw the role of women in society thousands of years ago. The fourth poem Seven Beauties shows the customs and traditions of Chinese, Russian, Persian, Indian, Arab and Turkish women. The poem describes in detail the maternal care of a woman, regardless of her nationality. In his works, Nizami Ganjavi called for an end to all forms of violence against women and wanted to see women free.
Benjamin R. Young. 2021. Guns, Guerillas, and the Great Leader. North Korea and the Third World. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Ebook ISBN 9781503627642. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503627642