ʿALĪ SHĪR NAVĀʾĪ (AH 844–906/1441–1501 CE), more fully Mīr Niẓām al-Dīn ʿAlī Shīr Navāʾī; Central Asian poet, biographer, and patron of arts, letters, and Islamic institutions. Navāʾī was a man of versatile accomplishments who, born into the upper aristocracy of the city of Herāt (now in Afghanistan), devoted his life to public service and the arts. Honored in the eastern Islamic world, he is regarded as the greatest classical poet of the Soviet Uzbek people and a significant contributor to Persian cultural history.

The period during which Navāʾī lived saw much political conflict owing to the disintegration of rule by the descendants of Timur (Tamerlane). Small princedoms, chiefly of Turkic origin, intrigued for domination and...