Naim Frasheri

Naim Frashëri was the Albanian national poet, historian, translator and journalist. He was born in Frasher, Albania on 25th May 1846 and died in Istanbul, Turkey on 20th October 1900 aged 54.

“Bagëti e bujqësia” (Cattle and Crops) (1886) 
“Luletë e Verësë” (The Flowers of Summer) (1890)
“Parajsa dhe Fjala Fluturake” (Paradise and Winged Words) (1894)
“Istori e Skënderbeut” (The History of Skanderbeg) (1898) 

1846: Naim Frashëri was born on 25th May in Frasher, then part of the Ottoman Empire, into a wealthy Albanian and Islamic family. His father was Halid Frashëri a military commander and landowner and his mother was called Emine from the Korce region. Naim was one of eight children. He studied Arabic and Persian in the Tekke Shrine of Frasher.

1865: At the Zosimaia secondary school in Janina where the family move to after the death of his parents he studies the classics as well as modern Greek, French and Italian. His eldest brother Abdyl becomes the head of the family.

1870: After he finishes his studies Frashëri works for a few months at the press office in Constantinople (Istanbul) but a bout of his congenital tuberculosis forces him to return to his home village. There he begins work as a clerk for the Ottoman government.

1871: He writes “Kavâid-i Farisiyye dar Tarz-i Nevîn” (Grammar of the Persian Language According to the New Method).

1876: He leaves his post in Frasher and goes to Baden, Austria seeking a cure for his rheumatism.

1879: Together with his brother Sami and twenty-five other Albanians, Frashëri founds the Society for the Publication of Albanian Writings in Constantinople. They are both seen as fighters for national freedom in the Albanian Renaissance.

1881: He writes “Ihtiraat ve Kessfiyyat” (Inventions and Discoveries).

1884: He writes “Fusuli Erbea” (Four Seasons) and “Tahayyülat” (Dreams).

1885: The Ottoman authorities forbid writing in Albanian and new publications new to be published abroad. Because of his work as director of the board of censorship of the Turkish Ministry of Education he uses his initials N.H.F. or N.H. to bypass restrictions for his publications.

1886: His most important poetry collection “Bagëti e Bujqësija” (Herds and Crops) is published in Bucharest. It describes his love for his mountain homeland and countryside and his dislike of city life. He publishes “E Këndimit Cunavet” (Reader for Boys) and several other text books in the Albanian language for the Albanian School in Korce. He also publishes “O Alithis pothos ton Skypetaron” (The True Desire of Albanians).

1887: Albanian schools are established in southeastern Albania and Frashëri decides that due to the declining state of the Ottoman Empire the best outcome for Albanians is a future annexation of Albania by Austria-Hungary. 

1890: He publishes his poetry collection “Luletë e Verësë” (The Flowers of Summer).

1894: He publishes his poetry collection “Parajsa dhe Fjala Fluturake” (Paradise and Winged Words) and the spiritual essays “Mësime” (Teachings).

1895: He publishes “Gjithësia” (Omneity). 

1896: He publishes “Fletore e Bektashinjët” (The Bektashi Notebook) which is religious in tone about the pantheistic Bektashi sect of Dervishes. Frashëri hopes that liberal Bektashi will one day become the new religion of Albania as it has roots in the Koran and the Holy Bible and could help promote unity among a religiously divided people.

1898: “Istori’ e Skenderbeut” (History of Skanderbeg) is published. It is an historical epic poem of over 11,000 verses probably written in 1895 which Frasheri thought his masterpiece. He also publishes “Qerbelaja” (Kerbela), a Shi’ite religious epic dealing with the Battle of Kerbela in Iraq in 680 A.D. 

1899: He publishes “Istori e Shqipërisë” (History of Albania) in Sofia. All in all, Naim Frashëri wrote a total of twenty-two works, fifteen in Albanian, four in Turkish, one in Persian and two in Greek. 

Naim Frashëri died on 20th October 1900 in Istanbul and was buried there but in the 1950s the Turkish government allowed his remains to be reburied in Albania.

Naim Frashëri spent his childhood in the village of Frashër where he began learning Turkish, Persian and Arabic from private tutors as well as spiritual traditions at the Bektashi monastery. He attended the Zosimaia secondary school which taught him a classical education along Western lines and he studied Ancient and Modern Greek, French and Italian. His earliest influence was from his uncle Dalip Frashëri and he was brought up in a Bektashi Sufi tradition. The Bektashi Order is a mystical Sufi Muslim tradition founded in thirteenth century Anatolia and promotes religious tolerance, love, pantheism and blends Shia Islam and folk elements.

His work was shaped by a unique blend of Eastern mysticism, classical European literature, local folklore and the patriotism for the Albanian National Renaissance (Rilindja Kombëtare). Nowadays he is widely considered to be the national poet of Albania. After the adoption of Islam, Turkish became widespread in the Balkan countries, through which Arabic and Persian elements also entered into Albanian language and literature and he was deeply inspired by classical Persian masters including Rumi, Hafez, and Saadi. He wrote his works in Albanian, Turkish, Greek, and Persian. The Islamic influence in Albanian literature emerged in the eighteenth century after the development of Albanian cities and the greater interaction of people. During the Ottoman Turk period, Arabic was the language of science, theology, and Sharia law, Turkish was the language of administrators and Persian was the language of emotion, poetry and art. Sufi literary works were widely read in Albanian madrasas. (schools).

He also extensively studied Ancient Greek literature, and in particular Homer was his model for his epic style. He assimilated Western Enlightenment principles and European Romanticism, bridging the gap between Eastern traditions and modern Western philosophies. In his creative writings, he deliberately emphasised his pantheistic philosophy, the doctrine that God is the ultimate reality of which the material universe and human beings are only manifestations and all Nature is the manifestation of Deity. Throughout his work God is everywhere, in what is visible and invisible to human perception. He called for the unification of Albanians beyond religious differences of Christians and Muslims since they had their roots both in the Muslim Koran and in the Christian Bible and this put him in a clear contradiction of the official religious policy of the Ottoman government of the time. 

In all he wrote twenty-two works: four in Turkish, one in Persian, two in Greek and fifteen in Albanian and due to his position as director of the board of censorship of the Turkish Ministry of Education he was occasionally able to circumvent the ban on Albanian-language publications imposed by the Ottoman Government. His poem “Bagëti e Bujqësija” (Bucolics and Georgics) of 1886 for instance is a 450-line pastoral poem reminiscent in the style of Vergil and is full of the imagery of his mountain homeland.

His significance as a Rilindja poet of the Albanian Renaissance rests not so much upon his skill as a writer but upon the political and social messages contained within his verse as well as the Bektashi tradition of overcoming religious barriers within the country. He worked alongside his brothers Sami and Abdyl (a leading figure in the revolutionary League of Prizren) to fight for linguistic and cultural autonomy of the country and he emphasised the hope of the renewal of freedom and prosperity for the Albanian people.

He played a major role in transforming Albanian into a literary language of substantial refinement. In his poem “Gjuha Jonë” (Our Language) he called for Albanians to honour their country and write in Albanian and in “Feja” (Religion or Faith) he pleaded with them not make religious distinctions among themselves as they all were all one people who spoke Albanian. In “Istori’ e Skënderbeut” (History of Skanderbeg), he celebrated his love for Albania by referring to the medieval battles between the Albanians and the Ottomans and Skenderbeg’s victories over them during the fifteenth century. Many of his poems were set to music during his lifetime and were sung as folk songs.

His influence upon Albanian writers at the beginning of the twentieth century was enormous. His romantic and patriotic writings shaped generations of writers after the Albanian National Awakening, and promoted Bektashi mystical and cultural traditions. Writers such as Asdreni, Gjergj Fishta, Mitrush Kuteli and Lasgush Poradeci were all influenced by his monumental style and deep lyricism as well as his dedication to the Albanian cause.

Besides being the national poet of Albania he is also celebrated in Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

List of works by Frashëri.