The Origins of the Literary Heritage of Scholar Mahmud

Zamakhshari

Nigora Sulaymonova

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

Keywords: Zamakhshari, “Nawabig’u-l-kalim”, “Atwaqu-z-zahab”, “Rabi’u-l-abror”, Source Studies.

Abstract: This article discusses the literary heritage of scholar Mahmud Zamakhshari from Khorezm. Zamakhshari is a

great Islamic scholar, linguist, literary scholar who has created excellent and detailed works in a number of

fields of science. In particular, his "Nawabig'u-l-kalim", "Atwaqu-z-zahab", "Rabi'u-l-abror", "Maqomotu-z-

Zamakhshari", "Nuzhat-ul-mut'anis", "Al-Qasidatu-l- Ba'udiyya", "Devonu-z-Zamakhshari", "Al-Mustaqsa

fi-l-amsol" are masterpieces of the literary heritage of the scholar. This article gives thorough information

about the structure and content of Mahmud Zamakhshari's literary works. Moreover, the works were analysed

from a source studies perspective. Manuscripts and lithographic copies of the scholar's works, including

"Nawabig'u-l-kalim", "Atwaqu-z-zahab", and “Rabi’u-l-abror", which are kept in the manuscript fund of the

Institute of Oriental Studies named after Abu Rayhan Beruni of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan and

in the library of the Office of Muslims of Uzbekistan were analyzed. In the analysis, the sources of the works

are detailed bibliographically. Valuable information regarding their global distribution is also provided.

1 INTRODUCTION

Scholars, polymaths and thinkers who grew up in

Uzbek soil have amazed the people of the world with

their intelligence, deep thoughts, and scientific

discoveries. The rich scientific heritage left by them

has become a priceless treasure of world culture. It is

this legacy that plays an incomparable role in the

development of young people. The great spiritual

heritage left by our scholars serves as an invaluable

tool for nurturing individuals imbued with the spirit

of oriental manners and universal ideas.

Scholar Mahmud Zamakhshari, who hailed from our

country's Khorezm oasis, is one of our compatriots

who left a rich scientific legacy to his descendants.

Literary works of philosophical and didactic content

form an integral part of his scientific heritage. These

works include but are not limited to "Nawabig'u-l-

kalim", "Atwaqu-z-zahab", "Rabi'u-l-abror",

"Devonu-z-Zamakshari", and "Maqamotu-z-

Zamakshari".

These works contain instructive and wise words of

the scholar and his moral advice to the humanity. His

works in this direction are: "Atwaqu-z-zahab fi-l-

Corresponding author

mawaiz wa-l-khutab", "Nawabig'u-l-kalim", "Rabi'u-

l-abror wa nususu-l-akhyor" which are available in

the manuscript fund of the Institute of Oriental

Studies at the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan

named after Abu Rayhan Beruni .

2 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Scholar's work "Atwaqu-z-zahab fi-l-mawaiz wa-l-

khutab" ("Golden joys in sermons and lectures") was

created in Makkah, and its original name was "an-

Nasaihu-s-sighar", that is, "Small advice". In creating

this work, the author drew not only from his own

knowledge of linguistics, literature, philosophy, and

history, but also on the views and opinions of

scientists and philosophers who had preceded him.

The scientist was able to draw insightful conclusions

from these influences, his rich life experience playing

a key role in this process.

The work consists of a hundred small articles, each

considered a brief text fragment within the content of

exhortation and moral instruction, written in the Saj

method. Mirza Yusuf Khan Ashtiyani, commenting

Sulaymonova, N.

The Origins of the Literary Heritage of Scholar Mahmud Zamakhshari.

DOI: 10.5220/0012485900003792

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 277-281

ISBN: 978-989-758-687-3

277

on this, said, "Zamakhshari wrote this work while

circumambulating Baytullah in Mecca. In other

words, he wrote an article after each

circumambulation around Baitullah. After finishing

an article, he would circumambulate Baitullah again,

and after it was circled a hundred times, a hundred

articles were written that make up the work "Atwaqu-

z-Zahab fi-l-Mawaiz wa-l-Khutab". It contains

parables, narratives, instructive sayings, and useful

advices about the negative and positive qualities of a

person. Moreover, in the work, Zamakhshari

discussed a range of issues related to the social,

economic and spiritual life of his time. The author has

expressed his views and opinions about the role of

various social classes and professions in society. In

particular, he severely criticized the tyrannical kings,

corrupt judges and unjust officials of his time.

The fact that the work covers various social and

domestic topics can also be understood from the

names of the articles in it, including the titles in the

work: "Rising", "Look at your origins", "Abandon

pride", "Be content with what you have", "Strive for

prayer", "Abandon laziness", "Dignity is better than

wealth", "Being of good character", "Look at the end

result of your deeds", "Leave vanity", "Enjoy your

youth", "Be calm and dignified", "Strive for

greatness", "Stay away from making fun of other

people", " Do good to your loved ones", "Help

others", "Stay away from greed", "Teach your soul to

be satisfied", "Wake up from the suddenness", "Don't

rely on the world" and they cover various topics

(Fazil Zahid, 2011).

As noted by scientist Nurboy Jabbarov, "The great

scholar Mahmud Zamakhshari's wisdom in "Atwaqu-

z-zahab" is a wonderful mirror. Anyone who looks

into this mirror sees both their joy and anger reflected

in it. Unlike a conventional mirror, this one does not

merely show a person their flaws, but also shows the

ways to get rid of them and find salvation (Fazil

Zahid, 2011).

"Atwaqu-z-zahab" was translated from Arabic to

Turkish by researchers Muhammad Zehni and

Saidbek during the reign of the Roman Sultan

Abdulhamid II. This translation was later republished

by the Turkish scholar Rahmi Sirin, after an analytical

comparison with the Arabic text. Based on the edition

prepared by Rahmi Sirin, the work "Atwaqu-z-zahab"

was translated into Uzbek by translators Mahkam

Mahmud and Nazarbek Rahim and published in

Tashkent in 2010 (Mahkam Mahmud, (2010)).

In the words of Rashid Zohidov, a scholar of sources,

"It is not easy to translate the articles written in sajd

with the ancient and rare dictionaries of the Arabic

language into Uzbek" (Fazil Zahid, 2011). Despite

the difficulty, scholar Rashid Zohidov undertook this

task, translated this sample of fiction into Uzbek and

published it in Tashkent in 2011 under the name "The

tally of Zamakhshar or 101 Manzuma" with poetic

appendices given by his father Fazil Zahid.

Currently, there are three lithographic copies of the

work kept in the Manuscript Fund of the Institute of

Oriental Studies, named after Abu Rayhan Beruni of

the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan. Among

them, the lithographs stored under inventory numbers

16016 and 18970 are the same. Lithographs have a

size of 13x19 cm, the volume consists of 112 pages.

They were published by the publisher Muhammad

Saeed Rafi at Saadat Printing House in Egypt. The

first of the lithographs is presented as a separate book,

while the second is presented as the fourth work in a

collection of five works.

The title page of the lithograph contains the name of

the work, the author of the work and his honorary

names. At the same time, along with the text of the

work, it is noted that there is also a commentary on

some of the words and phrases in the copy.

The lithograph opens with an introduction by the

publisher, Muhammad Saeed Rafi'. It talks about the

genius of Zamakhshari, the significance of this work,

and necessity of its publication. It is noted that the

language of the work has its own complexity,

therefore, in most cases, comments are given on the

words and phrases, sentences, which serve as a

special help to the reader.

A table is drawn on each page of the lithograph, with

page numbers placed outside the table at the top of the

page. The upper part of the table features the text of

the work in larger letters, while the commentary is

presented in smaller letters in the lower part. . The

text of the work and the commentary are also

separated by hyphens. The text of the work is written

with diacritical marks of the Arabic alphabet, but

these are not used in the commentary section of the

lithograph. The footnote method was used in the

interpretation of the work. A number is placed in

parentheses at the end of the word, phrase or sentence

being explained, and the word, phrase or sentence

defined under that number is explained below.

Another lithographic copy of the work, stored under

inventory number 18952, can also be found in the

fund. It was printed in Egypt in 1290 AH/1873 AD.

The size of the lithograph is 13x21 cm, it has 177

pages. Despite having undergone several repairs, it

remains in poor condition.

A table is drawn on each page of the lithograph.

Outside the table, the page number is placed at the top

of the page. The work started begins with an

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278

introduction by Mahmud Zamakhshari, followed by

Zehni's Ottoman translation. Then its Ottoman

translation by Zehni is given.

Each article is followed by an analysis of some

grammatical issues. After that, the Ottoman meaning

of the article is given. In this way, the hundred articles

that comprise the work were grammatically

interpreted and their meanings in Ottoman were

provided.

All three lithographs of Mahmud Zamakhshari's work

"Atwaqu-z-zahab fi-l-mawaiz va-l-khutab" kept in

the Manuscript Fund of the Institute of Oriental

Studies named after Abu Rayhan Beruni of the

Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, are considered

among rare lithographs. Except for some minor

imperfections, they are complete copies. These

lithographs facilitate a comprehensive study of the

work.

Manuscript copies of the work are preserved in the

collection of Arabic manuscripts of the British

Museum in London (No.1003), the National Library

of Paris (No.3973), the Vatican Library of Arabic

Manuscripts (No.1380), the Asiatic Museum in St.

Petersburg (No.922), the Doru-l-Qutub Library in

Cairo (No.203). Also, manuscript copies of the work

are available in the collections of Asir Efandi

(No.416, 417), Ayo Sofia (No.2911, 3780), Hafiz

Efandi (No.275-I), Rashid Efandi (No.715-3) in the

Suleymaniye Library of Turkey (Milli egitim

basimevi, (1986).).

The work has been translated into several languages.

For example, the German translation by Von Joseph

Hammer was reprinted with the Arabic text in 1835

in Vienna and the same year in Leipzig. In 1863,

Gustav Fail translated the work into German for the

second time in Stuttgart. The French orientalist Barbe

Leynard also worked with the work "Atwaqu-z-zahab

fi-l-mawaiz va-l-khutab". He published the French

translation in 1876 in Paris. It also contains detailed

commentary and comments on the text of the French

authorities. The Turkish translation of the work was

published in Constantinople in 1870 (Milli egitim

basimevi, (1986).)

“Atwaqu-z-zahab fi-l-mawaiz wa-l-khutab" was also

published in Arab countries. The work was originally

published in Beirut in 1875 with a commentary by

Sheikh Yusuf ibn Abdul Qadir and was reprinted in

1895 and 1903. This work was also published in 1909

by al-Saadat Publishing House in Egypt, in 1925 by

Mahmoudiya Publishing House in Cairo, and in 1992

in Damascus. Commentaries and comments were

written on the work by various scholars, and their

manuscript and lithographic copies are kept in the

libraries of cities such as Cambridge, Leipzig, Berlin,

Vatican, St. Petersburg, Mashhad, Istanbul, and

Beirut (Вrоckelmann C., 1937).

The works on ethics, which are an integral part of the

scientific heritage of Mahmoud Zamakhshari, are of

incomparable importance. The scholar's works in this

field include his work "Nawabig'u-l-kalim"

("Delicate Phrases"). This treatise, small in size, is

recognized not only in its time, but even today as a

great school of ethics because it contains teachings

and advices related to education, spirituality and

perfection. The scholar's moral views in this work are

brilliant. In them, Zamakhshari recognizes the

beautiful qualities of a person as a great blessing and

talks about instilling the rules of conduct in people.

The moral teaching in "Subtle Phrases" are more

frequently expressed through comparisons. The

thinker emphasizes that among the good qualities, it

is the exemplary manners that give beauty to a person,

add beauty to his beauty, add charm to his charm.

"Well, there is nothing that gives beauty to a person

except goodness," he says. People with a positive

attitude and knowledge are the beauty of every people

and nation. Analyzing the wise words and advices of

Zamakhshari, we see those positive qualities such as

fairness, honesty, truthfulness, purity, goodness,

kindness is glorified in them. He urges people to do

good deeds and writes: "Virtue, earnestly engage in

good deeds, give up thinking that you will do them

later, do not act with haste, which Satan leads you

astray, but with thinking and understanding." It can

be seen from these words that the more a person does

good to others, the more he can lighten their burden,

the more strength is added to his strength. And

people's confidence in him is increasing.

In Zamakhshari's moral perspective, lofty human

qualities, including friendship, hold particular

importance. The scholar has the following words

about this: "Praise your brother with words sweeter

than crushed musk, even if he is in a city far away

from you." According to Zamakhshari, "One of the

most beautiful qualities of a brave and noble person

is to hide the faults of his friend and treat all his affairs

as his own." It can be seen from this advice that

loyalty to a friend is a beautiful decoration of a

person.

A number of instructive ideas about knowledge and

being knowledgeable are also presented in the work

"Delicate Phrases". "The beauty of the Earth is with

the scientists," says the great thinker. It is knowledge

that can take a person out of the ocean of ignorance.

"Pursue knowledge, even if it is in China." As a direct

continuation of this hadith, Zamakhshari says: "Be

The Origins of the Literary Heritage of Scholar Mahmud Zamakhshari

279

knowledgeable or act based on knowledge, listen to

knowledge as much as possible, but don't be the

fourth one, because you will suffer misfortune and

perish (you will die young)."

Currently, three lithographic copies of the work

"Navobig'u-l-kalim" are stored in the UzASOS

Manuscripts Fund, with inventory numbers 3938,

7104 and 8319. Among them, the lithograph under

inventory number 3938 was made in Kazan in 1904

at the Karimi brothers printing house. The lithograph

measures 23x16 cm and has 54 pages. This lithograph

with a cardboard cover has been repaired several

times, it is well preserved, it can be called a complete

copy.

The title page of the lithograph mentions that the

work belongs to Abu-l-Qasim Mahmud ibn Umar

Zamakhshari, and the Tatar translation of the work to

Shahabeddin ibn Abdulaziz. The text of the work and

its translation are presented in a unique form. The

tables provided on each page of the lithograph are

divided into two columns. The wise words of

Zamakhshari are given in the column on the right, and

his Tatar translation is given one by one in the column

on the left. This makes it easier for the student.

Despite the fact that the text of the work and its

translation are separated by columns, the wise words

of Zamakhshari are given in larger letters and slightly

darkened. Since the text is in Arabic, it is fully

provided with movements for the reader's ease. The

Tatar translation in the left column is given in smaller

letters.

The remaining two lithographs of the work in the fund

under inventory numbers 7104 and 8319 are the same,

and they were made in 1314 AH in Kazan at the B.L.

Dombrovsky printing house. The lithograph

measures 21x13 cm and has 190 pages. This

lithograph with a cardboard cover is well preserved,

it can be called a complete copy. The title page of the

lithograph mentions that this lithograph was printed

by Olimjon Barudi.

On the first 18 pages of the lithograph, Zamakhshari's

work "Nawabig'u-l-kalim" is given. The Arabic text

is given within the table, but is not fully provided with

movements as in the copy above. The words of

wisdom are presented sequentially in text form within

the table. Only each word of wisdom is separated

from each other by special marks.

A new title-page is given on page 19 of the lithograph.

It is written that starting from this page of the

lithograph, the commentary of Sheikh Abu-l-Hasan

ibn Abdu-l-Wahhab on Zamakhshari's work

"Nawabig'u-l-kalim" entitled "Kitabu-s-sawabig' fi

sharhi-n-nawabig'" began. The commentary began

with praise to Allah and praise to Prophet Muhammad

(pbuh). After that, the author spoke about the

personality of Zamakhshari and the importance of his

work "Nawabig'u-l-kalim". Following this, he quoted

and explained the scholar's wise words sequentially.

The volume of the commentary consists of 172 pages.

Including the work and commentary pages, the total

size of the lithograph is 190 pages.

The Uzbek translation of this work by Orientalist

Ubaydulla Uvatov was published in Tashkent in 1992

(Abu-l-Qasim Mahmud az-Zamakhshari, 1992).

This treatise was published in 1772 with a Latin

translation by the Dutch scientist Schultein. In 1871,

a French translation of the work was published under

the leadership of the French orientalist Leynard. Its

Turkish translation by Mustafa Isomiddin was

published in Istanbul in 1866. This work was

published in 1870 and 1887 in Cairo, in 1871 in Paris,

in 1885 in Istanbul, and in 1888 in Beirut under the

leadership of Muhammad al-Kisti al-Bayruti. The

work was published several years later, in 1914 and

1927 in Cairo. In 1971, Professor Baqir Hosni

prepared a critical edition of this book by

Zamakhshari, and this edition was published in "al-

Arab" magazine.

Currently, a number of manuscripts and lithographic

copies of the work are kept in the British Museum, as

well as in the library and manuscript funds of major

European cities such as Cambridge, Paris, Leipzig,

Leiden, and Berlin (Az-Zamakhshari, 1998).

The work "Rabi'u-l-abror va nususu-l-akhyor"

("Spring of the Good and News of the Virtuous"),

which is a part of Scholar's legacy, is also among the

works of didactic importance.

The work consists of 98 chapters, which include life

proverbs, useful advice, instructive wisdom and

teachings. Each chapter covers a different topic. In

the work, the author glorifies human qualities such as

kindness, happiness, modesty, patience, honesty,

wisdom, fairness, loyalty, and courage, and

condemns bad vices such as ignorance, verbal abuse,

lying, insults, enmity, and laziness. As noted, the

main part of the work is devoted to social issues.

The work covers various topics such as worldly and

otherworldly issues worldly and otherworldly issues,

the importance of education, appropriate etiquette,

the characteristics of maturity, , good deeds, i.e.,

forming attitudes towards relatives, and wonders of

the animal world.

Scholar Zamakhshari skilfully utilised holy hadith to

elaborate on the topics in depth. Additionally, he

shares his personal views on various topics,

comparing them to the opinions of several people. In

particular, in the work, the analysis of the quotes

about human virtues and vices, friendship and

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brotherhood, love for the Motherland, and knowledge

from the words of the sages and virtuous scholars of

his time was carried out. However, according to

researcher Laziz Toraev, in many cases the authors of

the quotations given in the work are not indicated.

Therefore, it is very difficult to identify them (Toraev

L.A., 2022).

The manuscript of the work "Rabi'u-l-abror va

nususu-l-akhyor" is stored in the manuscript fund of

the ‘Institute of Oriental Studies’, named after Abu

Rayhan Beruni of the Academy of Sciences of

Uzbekistan under inventory number 2384. The 28x18

cm manuscript has a sturdy cover. The text of the

work cited in the manuscript is provided in the table

in the manuscript. Pages indicate which page the next.

Information about the number of chapters in the work

can be obtained from the index page beginning with

the sentence. "This work "Rabi'u-l-Abror" is the work

of Imam, Scholar, the Honor of Khorezm, Islamic

Sheikh, Jorullah Abu-l-Qasim Mahmud ibn Umar al-

Zamakhshari, who is the author of "al-Kashshof".

However, according to the research conducted by L.

Toraev, one of the researchers of this work, there was

a disorder in the order of chapters in the manuscript

(Toraev L.A., 2022).

A manuscript copy of the work "Rabi'u-l-abror" is

stored in the library of the Office of Muslims of

Uzbekistan under inventory number 1490. It has a

cardboard cover, the total volume is 402 sheets, the

size is 26x17 cm. The manuscript is in poor condition,

although every page has been repaired, most pages

are pierced, some pages have faded text, and the title

page is missing. Each page is marked with a table in

red and blue ink, inside which the text of the work is

given in small letters in beautiful Naskh script. The

Quranic verses and hadiths given in the text are

underlined with red ink. Each page of the manuscript

is referred in the page it precedes and succeeds.

Both copies stored in the Tashkent funds described

above are considered complete copies.

Copies of the work are kept in the libraries of in the

British Museum (No.1134-1135), the Berlin Arabic

and Turkish Manuscripts Fund (No.8151-8153), the

Asiatic Museum in St. Petersburg (No.747), the

Raylance Library in Manchester (No.424), the

Leipzig Manuscript Fund (No.601), In the academic

library of Leyden (No. 470), the National Library of

Paris (No. 6742, 5985, 3499, 3500), the Rampur

Library of Mashhad (No. 15, 18, 53), the "Doru-l-

ulum-il-Islamiya" library of Peshawar (No. 1113 ),

"Buhar" of Calcutta (No.416-417), "al-Awqaf" of

Baghdad and "Daru-l-kutub" of Cairo (No.386-389).

3 CONCLUSION

A number of the above-mentioned moral works are

an integral part of the literary heritage of Khorezmian

scholar Mahmud Zamakhshari, and they have not lost

their importance even today. All three works analysed

above complement each other in terms of the scope of

the topics covered. Reading and studying these

works, as well as applying the ideas presented in them

to the education of the young generation, is one of the

important tasks ahead.

In conclusion, we would like to refer to the views of

Islam Karimov, the first president of Uzbekistan. “It

is necessary to thoroughly study the rich scientific

heritage of our scholars and draw appropriate

conclusions, enriching it with modern knowledge and

insights arising from the demands of contemporary

life. Additionally, we need to consider this great

heritage as an incomparable spiritual food for

ourselves and for the education of our future

generations. The most important thing is to never

forget what kind of immortal inheritance we have, to

preserve this wealth very preciously, to be deemed as

worthy heirs of our great ancestors - it is both a debt

and a duty for every person living on this generous

and beautiful country” (Karimov I.A. 2001).

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Abu-l-Qasim Mahmud az-Zamakhshari. (1992).Delicate

Phrases. The author of the translation and comments is

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Az-Zamakhshari. (1998). Asos-ul-balagha. V. 1. - Beirut:

Dar-ul-kutub-il-ilmiyya,

Вrоckelmann C. (1937). Geschichte der arabischen

litteratur. Bd. I. - Leiden,

Fazil Zahid. (2011). Zamakhshar Tasbehi or 101 Manzuma.

- T.: Muharrir,

Encyclopedia of Islam. 13th gilt. - Istanbul: Milli egitim

basimevi, (1986).

Karimov I.A. 2001. Each of us is responsible for the

development of the country. T.9. - T.: Uzbekistan,

Mahkam Mahmud, (2010).Nazarbek Rahim. Golden

cheers. - T.: Extremum press,

Toraev L.A. (2022). "The work of "Rabi' al-Abror" as an

important source in the scientific heritage of Mahmud

Zamakhshari" is a dissertation written for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy in History. - T.:

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