In Aleppo, he gained followers as a Hurufi sheikh but faced resistance from Sunni circles who eventually convinced the Mamluk sultan to order his death for his religious beliefs around 1418–19.

Its etymology is disputed but most plausibly explained as an echo of Naimi, the pen name of Nasimi's teacher Fazlallah Astarabadi.

[10] His epithet Imadaddin or the title seyid (marking his claim of descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad) are often added in order to distinguish him from other figures who also bore the name Nasimi.

Nasimi stayed with him in Baku and Shirvan for some time and became one of the most faithful adherents of the Hurufism movement, as well as Astarabadi's successor (khalifa).

[15] After the Timurid emperor Miran Shah executed Astarabadi for his religious views, Nasimi left Azerbaijan and travelled to Anatolia to spread Hurufism.

Islamic scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani wrote about Nasimi's activity in Aleppo as a Hurufi sheikh and his increasing followers.

[5] In Aleppo, Nasimi continued to fight for freedom of expression through his poetry, challenging strict rules and religious intolerance.

[18] Some contemporary Arab sources say that a group of Sunni Muslim scholars who followed the main schools of law tried to get Nasimi killed by the Mamluk deputy of Aleppo based on vague rumours, but they failed.

According to Hess, Al-Mu'ayyad's order to distribute pieces of Nasimi's body to local Turkic rulers like the Dulkadir and the Aq Qoyunlu was motivated by politics.

This sets him apart from later poets who relied heavily on borrowing from Persian because of what Burrill described as their "lack of skill" in mastering the ʿarūż form.

Michael Hess states that Nasimi's poetry blends easily comprehensible language with more intricate themes related to Hurufism.

Hess also notes that while Fuzuli's poems have remained popular due to their emotional depth and technical proficiency, the concepts behind them are not as widely understood.

[4] Burrill notes that some of Nasimi's poems can be difficult to read due to their complex religious references, when this is not the case, they convey his themes of love through "easy-flowing, harmonious melodies".

[28] According to the professors of Turkish literature Azmi Bilgin and İlyas Üzüm, the Timurid poet Ali-Shir Nava'i's words of praise about Nasimi show that he was also considered an "important personality in the Central Asian Turkic world".