[15] Tazkerehs, which are the compilations of literary memoirs that include maxims of the great poets along with biographical information and commentary of styles, refer to him briefly.

Strangely enough, Nizami's two other wives, too, died prematurely – the death of each coinciding with the completion of an epic, prompting the poet to say, "God, why is it that for every mathnavi I must sacrifice a wife!".

However, he is regarded as a philosopher[26] and gnostic[26] who mastered various fields of Islamic thoughts which he synthesized in a way that brings to mind the traditions of later Hakims such as Qutb al-Din Shirazi.

His poems show that not only he was fully acquainted with Arabic and Persian literatures and with oral and written popular and local traditions, but was also familiar with such diverse fields as mathematics, astronomy,[27] astrology,[27] alchemy, medicine, botany, Koranic exegesis, Islamic theory and law, Iranian myths and legends,[28] history, ethics, philosophy and esoteric thought, music, and the visual arts.

[3] His strong character, social sensibility, and knowledge of oral and written historical records, as well as his rich Persian[15] cultural heritage unite pre-Islamic and Islamic Iran into the creation of a new standard of literary achievement.

[30] Accordingly, the book demonstrates the social conditions at the time, reflecting the full spread of Persian language and the culture in the region, which is evidenced by the common use of spoken idioms in poems and the professions of many of the poets.

In the middle of the 12th century, the Seljuk Empire's control of the region weakened and their provincial governors, virtually autonomous local princes, further encouraged Persian[29] culture, art and poetry in their courts.

Nizami lived in an age of both political instability and intense intellectual activity, which his poems reflect, but little is known about his life, his relations with his patrons, or the precise dates of his works, as the many legends built up around the poet color the accounts of his later biographers.

Khosrow and Shirin, Bahram-e Gur, and Alexander the Great, who all have episodes devoted to them in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh,[5] appear again here at the center of three of four of Nizami's narrative poems.

[40] The stories which discuss spiritual and practical concerns enjoin kingly justice, riddance of hypocrisy, warning of vanity of this world and the need to prepare for the after-life.

[44] The story chosen by Nizami, was commissioned and dedicated to the Seljuk Sultan Toghril II, the Atabek Muhammad ibn Eldiguz Jahan Pahlavan and his brother Qizil Arslan.

[46] The story has a complex structure with several genres exploited simultaneously; and contains many verbal exchanges and letters, all imbued with lyrical intensity.

[29] The poem of 4,600 distichs was dedicated, in 1192, to Abu al-Muzaffar Shirvanshah, who claimed descent from the Sasanian King, whose exploits are reflected in Nizami's Haft Paykar (Seven Beauties).

Initially, he doubted that this simple story about the agony and pain of an Arab boy wandering in rough mountains and burning deserts would be a suitable subject for royal court poetry and his cultured audience.

[50] The Story of Layla and Majnun by Nizami, was edited and translated into English by Swiss scholar of Islamic culture Rudolf Gelpke and published in 1966.

[5] The Sharaf-nama discusses the birth of Alexander, his succession to the throne of Rum (Greece), his wars against Africans who invaded Egypt, his conquest of Persia and his marriage to the daughter of Darius.

[45] The Iqbal-nameh is a description of Alexander's personal growth into the ideal ruler on a model ultimately derived, through Islamic intermediaries, from Plato's Republic.

It is a romanticized biography of Bahram V Gur, the Sassanid king, who is born to Yazdegerd after twenty years of childlessness and supplication to Ahura Mazda for a child.

[52] The poet starts by giving an account of the birth of Bahram Gur and his upbringing in the court of the Arab king No'man and his fabled palace Khwarnaq.

The minister is subsequently put to death and Bahram Gur restores justice and orders the seven pleasure-domes to be converted to fire temples[52] for the pleasure of God.

گوهر نیک را ز عقد مریز   وآنکه بد گوهرست ازو بگریز بدگهر با کسی وفا نکند   اصل بد در خطا خطا نکند اصل بد با تو چون شود معطی   آن نخواندی که اصل لایخطی کژدم از راه آنکه بدگهرست   ماندنش عیب و کشتنش هنرست هنرآموز کز هنرمندی   در گشائی کنی نه در بندی هرکه ز آموختن ندارد ننگ   در برآرد ز آب و لعل از سنگ وانکه دانش نباشدش روزی   ننگ دارد ز دانش‌آموزی ای بسا تیز طبع کاهل کوش   که شد از کاهلی سفال فروش وای بسا کور دل که از تعلیم   گشت قاضی‌القضات هفت اقلیم Take not apart the good pearl from the string; from him who is of evil nature flee.

A famous ghazal of Nizami talks about altruism as the path for reaching the ultimate spiritual goal: I went to the Tavern last night, but I was not admitted I was bellowing yet nobody was listening to me Either none of the wine-sellers were awake Or I was a nobody, and no one opened the door for a Nobody When more or less half of the night had passed A shrewd, perfect man (rind) raised his head from a booth and showed his face I asked him: “to open the door”, he told me: “go away, do not talk nonsense!

At this hour, nobody opens door for anybody This is not a mosque where its doors are open any moment Where you can come late and move quickly to the first row This is the Tavern of Magians and rinds dwell here There are Beauties, candle, wine, sugar, reed flute and songs Whatever wonders that exists, is present here (in this tavern there are) Muslims, Armenians, Zoroastrian, Nestorians, and Jews If you are seeking company of all that is found here You must become a dust upon the feet of everyone in order to reach your (spiritual perfection) goal” O Nezami!

In the history of Persian miniature painting, the stories in Nizami's poems alongside those of Ferdowsi's Shahnama have been the most frequently illustrated literary works.

[58] According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Nizami is "admired in Persian-speaking lands for his originality and clarity of style, though his love of language for its own sake and of philosophical and scientific learning makes his work difficult for the average reader.

[61] Amongst the many notable poets who have taken the Five Treasures of Nizami as their model may be mentioned Amir Khusro, Jalal Farahani, Khwaju Kermani, Mohammad Katebi Tarr-Shirini, Abdul Rahman Jami, Hatefi Jami, Vahshi Bafqi, Maktabi Shirazi, Ali-Shir Nava'i, Abdul Qader-e Bedel Dehlavi, Fuzuli, Hashemi Kermani, Fayzi, Jamali[62] and Ahmad Khani.

Monuments to Nizami exist in many cities of Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Udmurtiya (Russia), Kyiv (Ukraine), Beijing (China), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Marneuli (Georgia), Chişinău (Moldova), Rome (Italy).

[71] German poet and writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote: "A gentle, highly gifted spirit, who, when Ferdowsi had completed the collected heroic traditions, chose for the material of his poems the sweetest encounters of the deepest love.

Majnun and Layli, Khosrow and Shirin, lovers he presented; meant for one another by premonition, destiny, nature, habit, inclination, passion staunchly devoted to each other; but divided by mad ideas, stubbornness, chance, necessity, and force, then miraculously reunited, yet in the end again in one way or another torn apart and separated from each other.

Nizami's work serves as a vehicle and a symbol of this tradition, for it unites universality with deep-rooted artistic endeavor, a sense of justice and passion for the arts and sciences with spirituality and genuine piety.