Navoi and Tabiby: Literary Following

Sh. N. Amonov

Tashkent State University of Uzbek Language and Literature named after Alisher Navoi, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Keywords: Alishir Navoi, Akhmad Tabiby, Diwan, “Munis-l-ushshak”, “Khayratu-l-ushshak”, Handwrite, Lithography,

Fund, Source, Text, Poet, Gazel, Mukhammas, Musaddas.

Abstract: Akhmad Tabiby stands as an eminent poet who has significantly contributed to the continuance of classical

literary traditions. His body of work reflects an extraordinary ability to echo the stylistic traits of his Turkic

and Persian predecessors, a characteristic that sets him apart in the literary domain. His remarkable diwans,

or collections of poetry, hold works inspired by a broad range of over 80 poets. This showcases his extensive

knowledge of, and profound connection to, Eastern classical literature. An in-depth analysis of Tabiby's

literary heritage indicates a profound influence from the works of the great thinker, Alisher Navoi. This is

evident in several of Tabiby's pieces, which appear to be crafted as stylistic homages to Navoi's work. The

remarkable similarity underlines Tabiby's deep-rooted admiration and respect for Navoi's extraordinary

literary contributions.

1 INTRODUCTION

During the reign of the royal Shah and poet, Feruz

(1845-1910), the advancement and accomplishments

of over 50 poets and translators within the 'Literary

Environment of Khiva' were no mere coincidence.

Rather, it can be suggested that their success in poetic

creation was linked to eminent poets like Navoi and

Ogahi. Observing the literary sources from this

period, it is clear that each poet began their work in a

manner akin to that of the great thinker, Alisher

Navoi, followed by Shermuhammad Munis,

Muhammad Riza Ogahi. Akhmad Tabiby, well-

versed with the works of such thinkers as Navoi,

Munis, and Ogahi, considered them as his spiritual

guides or teachers.

As previously mentioned, an analysis of Tabiby's

creative works reveals his profound admiration for

Navoi, the thinker. This is most evident in the

structure of Tabiby's diwans (Arabic: dīwān, a

collection of poems by one author) and in his poetic

creations within similar genres. In fact, the majority

of Tabiby's poetry adheres to patterns similar to

mukhamas, musaddas and other forms of poetry by

Hadhrat (an honorific Arabic and Turkish title)

Navoi's ghazals (a form of amatory poem or ode).

Even the dībācha (preface) of Ahmad Tabiby's diwan

Corresponding author

named “Munis al-Ushshaq” recalls the preface

written by Hadhrat Alisher Navoi for his own diwan.

Tabiby's work frequently parallels both the form and

content of Navoi's oeuvre. Literary scholar F.

Ghanikhodjaev, who has conducted an in-depth study

of Akhmad Tabiby's work, noted that Tabiby

composed several mukhammas in response to more

than 20 of Navoi's ghazals. 'Munis-al-Ushshaq'

(literally “A friend of lovers”) is one of the Turkic

diwans of the poet, which comprises Akhmad

Tabiby's poetic works. Pristine examples of this

manuscript are currently housed in the collection of

the Institute of Oriental Studies, named after Abu

Rayhan Beruni, at the Academy of Sciences of

Uzbekistan under inventory numbers 3461, 6226. The

collection also includes another diwan (inventory

number 3460), which contains Tabiby's Turkic

poetry.

This source is Tabiby's diwan, titled “Hayrat-al-

Ushshaq” (literally “Wonder of lovers”). The

collection holds many resources featuring the works

of Ahmad Tabiby, including collections of specific

works or samples of several genres of Tabiby's

poetry. However, the sources mentioned above

(№3461, №6226, №3460) are complete, flawless

copies of the poet's diwans. There is another resource

in the collection, housing the diwans “Munis-al-

200

Amonov, S.

Navoi and Tabiby: Literary Following.

DOI: 10.5220/0012482700003792

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR 2023), pages 200-202

ISBN: 978-989-758-687-3

Ushshaq” and “Hayrat-al-Ushshaq”, stored under the

inventory number 8989.

2 MAIN PART

There are two copies of Tabiby's diwan manuscript in

the main collection of the Institute of Oriental

Studies, with one stored under the inventory number

6226, and the other under 3461.

The diwan copy labelled 6226 is a well-preserved

manuscript, beautifully copied. Its cover is black,

though the diwan's cover has faded. From page 175a

of this manuscript, the mukhammas written in

response to poets' ghazals begin. Five mukhammas,

written in response to Navoi's ghazals, are found

within this diwan. The first mukhammas pertaining to

Navoi's ghazals in the diwan “Munis-al-Ushshaq” is

titled 'Mukhammasi Tabiby Ghazali Navoi'. This

poem is the mukhammas written in response to the

celebrated ghazal comprising 13 couplets in the

poetry collection called 'Navadir al-Shabab' (literally

“Rarities of Youth”).

Interestingly, Tabiby's mukhammas appears to have

been written in the same hazaj meter as Navoi's

ghazal, following the mafāʿīlūn-mafāʿīlūn-mafāʿīlūn-

mafāʿīlūn (- - - -/ - - - -/ - - - -/ - - - -) pattern. The

second mukhammas, written in response to Navoi's

ghazal within the diwan, is also titled “Mukhammasi

Tabiby ghazali Navoi”. Notably, this ghazal of Navoi

is written in one of the types of the ramal (long-short-

long-long/long-short-long-long/long-short-long-

long/long-short-long) meter. And Tabiby's

mukhammas adopts the same meter as mentioned

above. The third mukhammas responding to Navoi's

ghazal in the diwan “Munis-al-Ushshaq” is likewise

titled as “Mukhammasi Tabibi ghazali Navoi”. This

mukhammas is also written in the ramal meter.

This mukhammas relates to the twenty-third ghazal,

beginning with 'aylasa' in the diwan Ghara'ib al-

Sighar, meaning "Wonders of Childhood", which is

the first part of Alisher Navoi's poetry collection of

four diwans named "Khazayin al-Ma'ani" (literally

“the treasure of meaningfulness”). Notably, this

ghazal of Alisher Navoi consists of 10 couplets.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

It is noteworthy that certain poems, such as

mukhammas written in response to classic poets'

works, may appear altered or incomplete in the verses

of the ghazals. However, Ahmad Tabibi's

mukhammas in response to Hadhrat Navoi's ghazals

are notably complete and appropriate in terms of

meter, qaafiyaa (rhyming pattern), and verses. For

example, the fourth mukhammas in Akhmad Tabiby's

diwan “Munis-al-Ushshaq” was composed in

response to the ghazal with the radif (the refrain word

or phrase) “boʼluptur” from the “Ghara'ib al-Sighar”

(“Wonders of Childhood”) diwan.

The final mukhammas by Tabiby was written in

response to the ghazal with the radif “kerak” in

Navoi's diwan “Fawa'id al-Kibar” (literally “Benefits

of Old Age”). Similarly, Tabiby's mukhammas

comprises seven couplets. Only one word was

replaced in the published version of Navoi's ghazal

with a word in Tabiby's mukhammas. Stored in the

Manuscript Fund of the Institute of Oriental Studies

named after Abu Rayhan Beruni at the Academy of

Sciences of Uzbekistan under inventory number

3460, is a manuscript containing the poetic works of

Akhmad Tabiby. This manuscript, with its now-faded

light green cover, begins with "Ikilamchi Diwani

Tabiby Turki musamma Bahayrat-al-Oshiqin"

inscribed in red ink. This is followed by "Bismillahir-

Rahmanir-Raheem" in black ink, marking the

commencement of Tabiby's poetic works from the

diwan "Hayrat-al-Ushshaq". The manuscript contains

Tabiby's mukhammas written in response to the

ghazals of well-known poets such as Lutfi, Navoi,

Husayni, Fuzuli, Munis, Ogahi, and less familiar

poets such as Ulvi, Naf'i, Nasib, Gharibi, Boqi, Avni,

Noili, Laila, Zevar, Fitnat, Sham'i, Mahir, Muhibi,

Somi, Quddusi, Adli. Additionally, in Tabiby's

"Hayrat-al-Ushshaq" diwan, mukhammas and two

musaddas relating to Navoi's ghazals are included.

The first mukhammas written in response to Navoi's

ghazals in the diwan Hayrat-al-Ushshaq' is titled

"Mukhammas ghazali Navoi". This poem is a

mukhammas written in response to a seven-couplet

ghazal from the diwan "Nawadir al-nihaya".

Tabiby's mukhammas in response to this ghazal also

consists of seven couplets, beginning with the

following one.

It's well-known that “ramali musammani maqsur”

(long-short-long-long/long-short-long-long/long-

short-long-long/long-short-long) is one of the most

frequently used meters in classical literature. Notably,

334 out of 2,600 ghazals in the diwan 'Hazoin ul-

maoniy' were written in this style. Tabiby's

mukhammas was also written in the 'ramali

musammani maqsur' meter, which Navoi utilised in

his ghazal.

The second mukhammas, responding to Navoi's

ghazal in the diwan, was also titled "muhammasi

ghazali Navoi". This mukhammas was a response to

Navoi and Tabiby: Literary Following

201

the 266th ghazal of "Nawadir al-nihaya". As an

example, this nine-couplet ghazal by Navoi was

written in the 'ramali musammani mahzuf' meter.

Clearly, this Navoi ghazal was written in the “ramali

musammani mahzuf” meter of Aruz. Poems written

in this meter were also prevalent in classical

literature. Furthermore, Tabiby's takhmis was written

in this same meter. The third mukhammas, titled

'mukhammas ghazali Navoi' in the diwan "Hayrat-al-

Ushshoq", was written in response to the ghazal with

the radif 'hanuz' by Navoi.

In Aruz studies, it's stressed that only the rhyming

verses in this meter (or wezn) should be in the “ramali

musammani maqsur” meter, while most of the

remaining verses typically follow the “ramali

musammani mahzuf” meter. Tabiby also composed a

takhmis (or mukhammas) containing the same

number of verses as this seven-verse ghazal. Tabiby's

mukhammas was written in the same Aruz meter as

the ghazal composed by Navoi.

Tabiby's subsequent mukhammas in the diwan

"Hayrat-al-Ushshaq" was a response to the ghazal in

the diwan “Bada'i' al-Wasat” (“Marvels of Middle

Age”). The fifth mukhammas by Tabiby was written

in response to Navoi's ghazal, which begins with the

following couplet: “Ishq jurmigʼa meni, ey do‘stlar,

yozgʼurmangiz, Begunah men xud kuyarmen, siz

dagʼi kuydurmangiz”.

Tabiby's sixth mukhammas in the diwan “Hayrat-al-

Ushshaq” starts with the couplet: “Meni ushshoq

jonbozi qatoridan hisob aylab”. This mukhammas

was written in response to Navoi's ghazal in the diwan

"Nawadir al-nihaya", which begins with the

following couplet: “Tun oqshom keldi kulbam sari ul

gulruh shitob aylab, Xiromi surʼatidin gul uza

xoʼydin gulob aylab”.

The seventh mukhammas by Tabiby in the

aforementioned diwan was written as a response to

the nine-couplet (or bayt) ghazal. Tabiby's

mukhammas also comprises nine couplets. The

difference between the two poems lies in the phrase

"pardasida ayladi" in Tabiby's mukhammas,

corresponding to Navoi's ghazal. This was published

as “pardasidin istadi” in Navoi's ghazal. This

mukhammas was written in the "ramali musammani

maqsur" meter of Aruz.

In the diwan "Hayrat-al-Ushshaq", there are two other

mukhammas by Tabiby, written in response to

Navoi's ghazal, which begins with the following

couplet: "Kelib husni malohat ichra ul oy xoʼb aʼlosi,

Hamisha ishq eli boshidadur ishq malolosi, Olib jon

xalq jismidan nigoh chashmi shahlosi, Oʼlukka jon

berur chun nukta aytur laʼli guesi, Masiho mimidin

goʼyo chiqar jonbaxsh anfosi". This mukhammas was

presumably written in response to Navoi's ghazal

beginning with “O‘lukka jon berur chun nukta aytur

laʼli gesui, Masiho mimidin goʼyo chiqar jonbaxsh

anfosi", which was written in the 'hazaji musammani

solim” meter of Aruz.

4 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Tabiby crafted his poems in harmony

with the principles of truth, justice, and humanity that

were propagated in the works of the eminent poet.

Dozens of Tabiby's poetic creations were inspired by

the works of the great poet Alisher Navoi. That's why

Tabiby endeavoured to express his works in a

poetically flawless manner, akin to the poetic

masterpieces of the influential thinker Alisher Navoi.

Since Tabiby's poetic works are being studied for the

first time, their first and last couplets have been

quoted. The objective here is to provide preliminary

insights into the traditions of Alisher Navoi as

represented in the works of Akhmad Tabiby. Indeed,

the full transformation of such poetic works from

their original form to contemporary ones, and deeper

research based on the criteria of poetry, represent a

scientific challenge awaiting resolution.

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