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Arabia: A 16th-century mythological illustration of Alexander the Great kneeling before the Kaaba in Mecca, from the ‘Book of Alexander’, the last of five classic poems that make up the ‘Khamsa’ by Persian poet Nezami Ganjavi.

Arabia: A 16th-century mythological illustration of Alexander the Great kneeling before the Kaaba in Mecca, from the ‘Book of Alexander’, the last of five classic poems that make up the ‘Khamsa’ by Persian poet Nezami Ganjavi.

Nezami-ye Ganjavi (1141—1209) is considered the greatest romantic epic poet in Persian literature, who brought a colloquial and realistic style to the Persian epic. His heritage is widely celebrated and shared in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran and Tajikistan. Nezami is best known for his five long narrative poems, the ‘Panj Ganj’ or ‘Khamsa’ (Persian: Five Jewels), which are written in the Masnavi style (double-rhymed verses).

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