| Layeq Sherali | |
| Native Name: | Лоиқ Шералӣ |
| Native Name Lang: | fa لائق شیرعلی |
| Birth Date: | 20 May 1941 |
| Birth Place: | Mazar-e Sharif, Panjakent, Tajik SSR (now Tajikistan), USSR |
| Death Date: | 30 June 2000 |
| Death Place: | Dushanbe, Tajikistan |
| Nationality: | Tajik |
| Profession: | Poet |
Layeq Sherali (1941–2000, in Tajiki/Persian: Лоиқ Шералӣ/لائق شیرعلی, sometimes also Romanised as Laeq or Laiq or Loiq) was a Tajik poet, Iranologist and one of the most celebrated Persian literary figures of Tajikistan and central Asia.
Loiq Sher-Ali had expertise in classical Persian poetry. The influence of Firdowsi, Khayyam and Molana Jalaleddin-e Balkhi is evident in Shir-Ali's works. He also translated several literary master pieces into Persian.[1]
He was the head of the Tajik-Persian Language International Foundation in Middle Asia and he was called as Shah-Poet of Tajikistan. A chosen collection of his works is published in Iran, 1994. Another collection, "Rakh's Spirit" is published in Iran, in 1999, by Mirzo Shakurzoda.[2]
An excerpt from one of Sher-Ali's most famous poems, about three years before his death:[3]
English:Once you said "You're Iranian," then you said "You are Tajik"May he die separated from his own origin, who has separated us