In 2026, the 900th anniversary of the great Azerbaijani poet Afzaladdin Khagani Shirvani will be celebrated.

Khagani Shirvani is one of the great figures that the golden age of Azerbaijani literature and culture has bestowed on the treasury of universal culture. A powerful master of words who deeply knew the most diverse sciences of his time and rose majestically on the basis of the centuries-old cultural traditions of the East, he left a rich heritage consisting of examples of art that stand at the peak of poetry. The call for justice, the spirit of struggle and personal freedom, spiritual exaltation, human dignity and faith in the power of understanding are the characteristic features of this rare heritage. The thoughtful artist, in his works of humanistic content, which were kneaded from socio-philosophical and didactic-moral thoughts and had high aesthetic value, interpreted socio-historical events with unique artistic meaning and recommended to learn from them. Patriotic motifs, which found expression in bright lyrical paintings in Khagani's work, are a full poetic manifestation of the poet's boundless love for his native land and its beauties. Khagani Shirvani, who was amazingly closely connected with the cultural life of his century, had a strong influence on the development of the literary and philosophical thought of the peoples of the Near and Middle East as a whole with the innovations he brought to classical literature. Master poets of the following centuries always treated Khagani's genius with respect and benefited from it like a school.

Guided by clause 32 of article 109 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in order to ensure the celebration of the 900th anniversary of the great representative of Azerbaijani literature, Khagani Shirvani, I hereby decide:

1. The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, together with the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, shall prepare and implement a plan of events dedicated to the 900th anniversary of the great Azerbaijani poet Khagani Shirvani.
2. The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan shall resolve the issues arising from this Order.

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, January 28, 2026