Timurid official, builder, art patron, and poet who singlehandedly elevated his native Turkic language, Chaghatay, to the same high level as Persian. He is said to have constructed or restored hundreds of public buildings within his native city of Herat and elsewhere in the Timurid empire. He was also a noted writer and composer of courtly music and sung poetry. He studied and worked in Herat, a city of considerable cultural importance during his lifetime, as well as in Samarkand. His poetry may be his most important legacy, and Alisher Nava'i is claimed by several cultures as a writer, particularly in modern Uzbekistan, where is he is considered the country's national poet.

Without Fortune and prospect, I ignite the fire
Of impatience – the guards of prudence have vanished
My caravan defenseless in the coming fire.
A lightening flash has struck and changed me utterly
As rushes burst and spread in a sea of fire….
Understand, Navoiy, I deny my suffering
As the Masandran forests turned red with fire.