About the book: 1968 / Over the last thirty years of his life, Nizami created five large poems (“Five”), with a total volume of about sixty thousand lines (thirty thousand beits). In this edition, the poems are presented in abbreviated poetic translations outlining the contents of the missing chapters, provided with commentaries. “Treasury of Secrets” was written between 1173 and 1180, “Khorsov and Shirin” was completed in 1181, “Leili and Majnun” - in 1188. These three poems belong to the periods of youth and maturity of the poet. Complaints about old age and illness appear in the poem "Seven Beauties", completed in 1197, when Nizami was about sixty years old. In the “Iskander-Nama”, completed around 1203, traces of haste are noticeable, caused, presumably, by the premonition of imminent death. The creation of such a “poetic giant” as the “Five” is a poetic feat of Nizami. Translation from Farsi by K. Lipskerov, S. Shirvinsky, P. Antokolsky, V. Derzhavin. Introductory article and notes by A. Bertels. Illustrations: Sultan Muhammad, Agha Mirek, Mirza Ali, Mir Seid Ali, Mir Musavvir and Muzaffar Ali.