Naim Frashëri

He is considered to be the most representative writer of Sufi poetry in Albanian, and having been under the influence of his uncle Dalip Frashëri, he tried to mingle Sufism with Western philosophy in his poetical ideals.

Naim Frashëri was born on 25 May 1846[8] into a wealthy Albanian family of religious belief affiliated with the Bektashi tariqa of Islam, in the village of Frashër in what was then part of the Ottoman Empire and now Albania.

[11] Upon the death of his father, he and his family settled to Ioannina where he earned initial inspiration for his future poetries written in the lyric and romantic style.

[9] Apart from languages he learned in the Zosiamaia (Ancient and Modern Greek, French and Italian), Naim took private lessons in Persian, Turkish and Arabic from two important local Bektashi.

[21] In a letter to Faik Konitza in 1887, Frashëri expressed sentiments regarding the precarious state of the Ottoman Empire that the best outcome for Albanians was a future annexation of all of Albania by Austria-Hungary.

[23] "Oh mountains of Albania and you, oh trees so lofty, Broad plains with all your flowers, day and night I contemplate you, You highlands so exquisite, and you streams and rivers sparkling, Oh peaks and promontories, and you slopes, cliffs, verdant forests, Of the herds and flocks I'll sing out which you hold and which you nourish.

In his poem Bagëti e Bujqësi, Frashëri idyllically describes the natural and cultural beauty of Albania and the modest life of its people where nothing infringes on mystical euphoria and all conflicts find reconciliation and fascination.

[25] Frashëri saw his liberal religion as a profound source for Albanian libration, tolerance and national awareness among his religiously divided people.

[28][29] He is also widely regarded as the national poet of Albania and is celebrated as such among the Albanian people in Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and other Albanian-inhabited lands in the Balkans.

After his death, Frashëri became a great source of inspiration and a guiding light for the Albanian writers and intellectuals of the 20th century amongst them Asdreni, Gjergj Fishta, Mitrush Kuteli and Lasgush Poradeci.

[6][7] His great work such as Bagëti e Bujqësi, Gjuha Jonë and Feja promoted national unity, consciousness, and tolerance in the breasts of his countrymen an enthusiasm for the culture and history of their ancestors.

[29] Numerous organizations, monuments, schools, and streets had been founded and dedicated to his memory throughout Albania, Kosovo as well as to a lesser extent in North Macedonia and Romania.

His family's house, where he was born and raised, in Frashër of Gjirokastër County is today a museum and was declared a monument of important cultural heritage.

The family house of Naim Frashëri in Frashër .
A bust of Naim Frashëri in Bucharest , Romania .