In the Footsteps of Magtymguly: Vamberi's Literary Mastery

Bahodir Karim

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

Keywords: G. Vamberi, Magtymguly, Fragi, Scholar, Translator, Philologist, Literary Critic, Language.

Abstract: Men of letters and other remarkable individuals, who have glorified their nation, stand as feathers in its cap

on the global stage. Magtymguly Fragi, a poet and thinker, navigated the depths "on the ship of intellect into

the river of thought," earning reverence not only from the Turkmen nation but also from all Turkish-speaking

peoples. Exploring his life and creative legacy, which has secured a significant place in the hearts of millions,

has spawned a new scholarly pursuit known as "Magtymguly studies." This discipline delves into the poet's

contributions and influence, shedding light on his profound impact on literature and thought across cultural

boundaries.

1 INTRODUCTION

This trend extended beyond national boundaries,

capturing the attention of scholars worldwide. The

poet's works, embodying a unique artistic

perspective, compelled global interest. When delving

into the artificial world of Magtymguly based on his

translated works, researchers invariably encounter the

name of the Hungarian scholar Germanicus Vambery

(1832-1913). In his publication "Travelling to Central

Asia," Vambery emphasizes the significance of

Magtymguly's poems, noting them as essential

examples of the pure Turkmen dialect. Furthermore,

Magtymguly provides detailed insights into the

content and spirit of Oriental peoples, a perspective

often absent in the works of other Oriental writers.

Although the information from this source is

familiar to specialists, Germanius Vambery's work

"The Turkmen Language and the Divan of

Magtymguly" has not received the specialized

attention it deserves in the study of Magtymguly's

creativity. Published in 1879 in Leipzig's "Journal of

the German Eastern Society" ("Zeitschrift der

deutschen Morgenhandischen Gezellschaft"), the

work comprises two parts. Accompanying the article

are 31 poems and 10 excerpts from Magtymguly's

poems, translated into German by Vambery himself.

The originals in Arabic alphabet, along with footnotes

explaining the meanings of nearly 100 words and

word combinations, enrich the exploration of

Magtymguly's literary contributions.

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Employing the historical-functional method, this

research focuses on luminaries who have brought

prestige to their nations. Magtymguly Fragi, a revered

poet and philosopher, sailed "on the ship of intellect

into the river of thought," earning admiration not only

from the Turkmen people but also from Turkish-

speaking communities globally. This exploration of

his life and lasting legacy has given rise to the

academic pursuit of "Magtymguly studies." This

discipline meticulously examines the poet's

contributions and pervasive influence, illuminating

his profound impact on literature and thought

transcending cultural boundaries.

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The given literary source is a proof of the high

intellectual level of G. Vamberi and the fact that he

was a connoisseur of the culture of Turkish peoples,

in particular, the composition of their tribes, their

everyday life, and geographical environment, as well

as the original character of the Turkmen language.

For example, the phonetic peculiarity of the

Turkmen language he explains in the following way:

“If we compare the Turkmen language with the

modern Seljuk language, and also with the language

of Osman Turk, then they could not even distinguish

them. First of all, in the phonetics of the Turkmen

Karim, B.

In the Footsteps of Magtymguly: Vamberi’s Literary Mastery.

DOI: 10.5220/0012956800003882

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

In Proceedings of the 2nd Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR-2 2023), pages 1197-1201

ISBN: 978-989-758-723-8

1197

language, as in the phonetics of the Osman Turks

language, we can see a frequent tendency to

palatalization. For example, the vowels «kaf» (ii) and

«kaf» at the end of the word, thanks to the existing

affixation, almost always turn into «g». So, as

derivatives of the verbs “dokmek”, “Ijilmak” the

words “dokmage”, “kylmaga” are formed, and also,

in the Osman Turks language instead of the word

“dejil” there is the word “deel”, Chigatayen «tegil» -

as “togul”. These peculiarities become more vivid

between dental sounds “t” - “d”. Here the sound “t”,

placed at the end and at the beginning of the word, is

changed into the sound “d”. For example, such words

as “turmek”, “tatli“, “toje” and others start to sound

like “durmak”, “dadli”, “doje”.

Such opinions are correct from a linguistic point

of view. Vamberi, glorifying Magtymguly, places the

emotions of his poems in one row with the works of

such geniuses of the Orient as Ahmed Yasavi, Fizuli,

Sufi Allahyar, and Mashrab. In fact, Magtymguly in

his poems reminds Mansur Hallaj, who once said:

«Апа-1-Нак», who got up in rags and tatters of Hoja

Ahmed Yasavi, generous Bahauddin Naksh- band,

Nasimi, who suffered severe tortures, Mawlan Jami,

and Hazrat Navoi.

In the poet’s opinion, following his way is

possible at some certain conditions, i.e., spiritual

advisors are required for the “dervishes, who follow

the way of truth”. Because this way is long, and while

passing it some genies and ghosts, tigers, wolves, and

other misfortunes may stalk to the travellers,

bitterness and disappointment may penetrate into his

soul. God forbid Satan to try to go too far afield, and

if he does it successfully, then all business and good

intentions may turn backward. On the assumption of

moral postulates, the poet calls to be courteous with

parents, contain themselves from gossips, renounce

from haughtiness, not to disclose one’s own secrets to

alien people, to be watchful and brave; he compares

insatiable passion with a dragon, scientists without

business - with a garden, deprived of fertility, life in

the corporeal - a temporary guest in it; he advises

everybody to reconsider the perfection of his

spirituality, not to be taken by the accumulation of

wealth without allocation of obligatory zakat

(purification donations), not to be a companion to a

mean man and not to present friendship affection to

those who have a “black soul”.

Magtymguly, who stated: “My word is my

admonition”, calls people to kindness, turns people

from the possibility to fulfill crimes. In this aspect

Vamberi’s statement that the poet’s gazels “in most

of cases dominate views on religion and morality” is

quite reasonable. Indeed, the meaning and the content

of Quran’s ayahs and blessed Hadises are laid in the

basis of Magtymguly creativity.

The key to the correct interpretation of such of his

lines as “Be with the hope, as Joseph”, “Be as

tolerable as Ayub”, “To be a sacrifice, a sacrificial

altar to Ismail, son of Halil”, “Suleiman is the king of

humanity and gins”, “Comfortably laid the dwellers

of a cave”, is concluded in the Koranic narrations. A

man who lived in two poles, in two cultural

environments, belongs by his mentality to nature -

this is one more acknowledgment of Vambery -

researcher of Magtymguly poems. He states: “It may

turn laughable that if we, in a society where stealing

and robbery prevail, start to recite poems against

stealing, or, notifying his countrymen about the harm

of smoking tobacco in his gazels, thus, trying to

arouse a feeling of fear”.

Such frank interpretations and true

acknowledgments may be put forward only by a

scientist who possesses a keen eye, who sees

something with his own eyes and who has deeply

researched the life of peoples of Central Asia from

within and having compared it with the way of life in

Europe. “In his poems, the poet narrates about the

effaced sand migrations of prophets, Saints, the topics

of paradise and hell in his own interpretation”. This

note is also natural because it underlines the width of

the topics of the author’s poems. From the other side,

as the scholar mentions, the oriental Muslim man

apprehends all concepts, which are related to divinity,

as real truth; this is the decree of his faith.

By the way, it is impossible to agree with G.

Vamberi’s opinion, set forth in his article, that “In

fact, in Magtymguly’s gazelles, one cannot find direct

references that he studied in the medrese”, and also a

statement that the poet did not receive an education in

the medrese. Because it is a well-known fact that he

studied in medrese Shirgazi in Khiva, which is

confirmed by a farewell poem “Medrese Shirgazi” to

this great abode. It begins with the lines:

Three years, each day, you shared salt with me, -

Farewell, I'm leaving, fine Shirgazi.

Probably, Vamberi did not know about this poem.

But the scholar pays attention to the key topic:

“Aiming at the harmony with the existing in the desert

customs, inspired Magtymguly in line with the moral

traditions, carols the combative spirit as well”. The

poet characterizes what type of person a fighter

should be, about his horse and armour; he praises

brevity and courage of the Turkmen tribes yomud,

goklen, teke. And these acknowledgments do not

cause claims. For, as it appears from the expressions

used in his poems, one only needs to proclaim:

“Mount, oh, you, mount!”, immediately a brave man,

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on his playful horse, being armed with a sword with

two blades and other swords and shields, will rush

underway, as a tiger. His aim is to prevent the

enemy’s hand touch his flower. For a brave young

man Motherland’s freedom, honour, and dignity are

higher than everything”.

As well as G. Vamberi, appreciating the

peculiarity of the Turkmen language, personality, and

creativity of Magtymguly, acquaints the European

community with them; it should be apprehended as

his merit, display of respect, and objective attitude to

the culture of the Turkish-language people, in

particular, to the greatest poet. Because the scholar

himself modestly asks his work “...to be considered

as the first and indecisive attempt”. Moreover, the

copy of the divan, with which he dealt, was

distinguished by big drawbacks. In this connection,

the scientist expresses his regret: “For this reason, it

is difficult and unreliable not only to understand a

gazelle but even to read it. For example, there are

orthographic mistakes in the spelling of the Arab

words: instead of ﺍﺪﻧﻭﺩ there is ﺍﺪﻧﺩ, and instead of ﺕﻮﻗ

– ﺕﺍﻮﻗ . Probably, the rewriter-calligrapher was born

in Iran and related to the inscription of the Turkmen

words not with such responsibility. Maybe for this

reason, not only letters but even the whole words are

missed. This creates difficulties in the reading of the

whole words, which makes it difficult to read this

list”.

To our opinion, today the processes of the more

detailed reading and comprehension, analysis, and

comparative study of literary and historical source in

the named reputable in volume German journal are

called to elucidate the value of Vamberi’s merits as a

researcher and translator. The study of the German

text, as well as its free translation into German,

published by him, anyway, reveals new meaningful

layers of the poet’s poems. The comparison of some

lines of just one poem “Together with stones” may

serve as the proof of our idea. There are some

differences between its variants in Turkmen, Uzbek,

and the variant, which had Vamberi. These

differences made immense influences on the content

of the work. In Turkmen: “Garry dunya al içinda,

Adamzat hyyal içinde”. In the Uzbek language, these

lines are told differently: “Қари дунё қуради дом,

Инсон хаёл сурар мудом”. In Vamberi’s variant,

there is a difference in one word: “Қаро дунё ал

ичинда, Одамзод хаёл ичинда”.

Vamberi transfers the meaning of the word “ал”

by the construction “der Trug", i.e., in the meaning

“lie, deception”. However, what is the world like:

dark (каро) or old (гарры)? And which of them is

closer to the outlook and philosophy of Magtymguly?

In the Arab alphabet, these words have a similar

inscription. Maybe in the West, the world is

characterized as consisting of dark color (In Trug est

diese schwarze Welt). But in the East, the world is

defined as “ancient, old”. Moreover, Magtymguly

uses the word-combination “old world” («коnе

dunya»). And later, in the continuation of the poem,

there are moments that deserve special consideration.

In Turkmen: "Kop koyler bile oturdym, Bilmedim ne

iş bitirdim In the translation into the Uzbek language:

“Кўп ўйлар суриб ўтирдим, Билмадим, не ишлар

битирдим”. Vamberi has it the following way: “Кўп

гўйлар лабима уйирдим, Билмадим, на иш

битирдим”. The first line has the meaning: “Many

words were uttered; many things were told”. Vamberi

transfers the meaning of the Persian word “гуй” as:

“die Rede”, i.e., as “speech, sentence”, which sounds

convincingly. There is one more example of

difference. In the Turkmen: Bikar goyma omur tagty,

Oyandyrsak uyumyş bagty - Maxtumkuly (1974). In

the Turkmen language, the word “уюмиш” has the

meaning “to sleep”, and it is just this, what was taken

into consideration while translating the word into the

Uzbek language: Бекор қўйма умр тахтин, Уйғот

ухлаб ётган бахтни - Makhtumkuli. (1992). In

Vamberi`s variant the word “тагт” is absent, instead

of it the word “саxт” is used, which has the meaning:

“exacting, strict, heavy”: Бекор қўйма умр сахти,

Унидиёрсан уймиш багти. The combination of

words “умр сахты” is translated as “das schwere

Leben”, which means '’strong, powerful life”. In the

whole, the meaning of the translation corresponds this

meaning. In fact, the word « уймиш

» contains the

meaning: «folding, gathering, submission,

following». In Magtymguly’s creativity this word is

very frequently used exactly in these meanings

(«нафсингга уйма», “Куръонга уйдим”). The word-

combination “уймыш багт” Vamberi translates as

«das gunstige Schickasal», i.e. «convenient fate».

The two lines in Vamberi’s variant correspond the

meaning: «Do not leave your life, which is full of

power and strength, without devoting it to a business,

do not be useless, otherwise, you’ll fall into oblivion

the happiness, which smiled upon your grant of fate».

Thus, a brief study of one poem with its translation

revealed few differences, which influence the

translation. Such serious versions, the cardinal

change of the content is met in the other poems also.

For example, let’s take one stanza of the poem “Meet

Field” («Мейдан ёлукса”) as an example, and

compare it. In Turkmen: “Yigit bardyr, sozun tapmaz,

surrudyr, Yigit bardyr, demi da§lar eridir. Jay yerinde

gayra galsa, garrydyr, Gog yigidin aty gaman

yoluksa” - Maxtumkuly (1974). In Uzbek: “Йигит

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борки, сузи дилинг _ orpumap, Йигит борки, дами

тошни эритар, Узок, жойда ёлгиз к,олса к;аритар,

Мард йигитнинг оти чаман учраса” -

Makhtumkuli. (1992). Here is deep understanding

and craftsmanship, which is displayed by the

translator. The text, which served as a source text for

Vamberi, was a little bit different: The word-

combination “дами тошни эритар” (“his breath will

dissolve the stones”), In Vamberi’s variant appeared

in the derivative word “дамдоши , which is translated

into German in the meaning ‘ihre Umgebung

(Genosse), i.e. «those friends, who surround him».

Outside the text, this word Vamberi explains as “a

companion, a fellow who became a relative”. And the

word “ихрамок” he translates as “verachten in the

meaning: «hates, don’t respect». In all Turkmen and

Uzbek variants the word «ат» (“horse”) in the fourth

line means the name of a beast, intended for riding.

Vamberi by mistake appreciated it as a word, which

characterizes «name, fame, heroism of a young man»,

which is expressed by him in the German language.

The word «чаман» in his opinion, may correspond to

the German word «die Flur» - ’’flower garden”. In the

variant, which he uses, instead of the word “кариш"

(become old) is the word “куриш” (to dry, to become

dry). For this reason, the meaning of this poem may

be understood as: “There are such brave young men,

who, if they do not know what to say, they without

fail will ask other people; and there are such mean

young men, who do not display respect even to their

close person, hating him. If a young man is a poor

wanderer and finds himself in foreign countries, and

even if he lives in a blossoming place, his glory and

his good name will fade, as a dried canal, where there

is no water”. another variant may be more powerful

and authentic than this one. Most likely that we

should believe the variant, which Vambery had.

Because both the art of “tazod" (тазод) (skilful usage

of antonyms in the poem), and the blame of the

wandering life in foreign countries are important

peculiarities, which are inherent to Magtymguly’s

poetry. Undoubtedly, there are differences in the

variants of the poet’s divan, which are rewritten or

issued at different times and on different geographic

latitudes. It was well known to specialists. Because

the existence of manuscripts is naturally determined,

and each time, rewriting them, each representative of

Turkish nations strived at adjusting them to his own

dialect. And it is not known whose variant is the one,

which Vamberi used. Comparing this variant (1879)

with the one of the last editions, which published in

(vol. I - 1992; vol. II - 1994) in Ashgabat, we found

many textual alternative versions. There are, for

example, such differences, which do not influence

them eaning, as: юрак- кунгил (heart or soul), аёл -

хотин (woman), ал - цул (hand), уят - х,аё (shame),

жушиб - тулиб (raging -overfilling^, “ах” чекар -

“ах” деяр” (gasp). Along with this, there are enough

differences which influence the content, melody and

meter: “царо дунё - цари дунё (dark world- ancient

world), амалинг надир - аслинг надир (what is your

trade - what is your origin) and so on. Such kind of

alternative versions occur also in the names of places,

and also in the names (For example: %омун - Харун\

Фаргона шах,рина - Дарганнтг шахрина). Of

course, one cannot but notice such like alternative

versions in the texts of Magtymguly poems. On the

other side, separate words, word-combinations and

even lines sometimes seem to be more well-grounded

even more than their contrasts in the copies, which are

the property of contemporary readers. For example:

“Сирка айтур: “Бол манам”, зифт узини ёг саяр

(“Vinegar says: “I’m honey”, resin considers itself

butter”). In the Turkmen and Uzbek variants instead

the word “зифт” (from the Afab language - glue,

resin) the word “oil” (“nebit”) is used. Seriously

considering, logically correct is the definition of

boasting zift (glue, resin), which considers itself

“oil”, but having less value than oil, which is called

“black gold”. Another example: “Алцукму лиллац”,

Давлат бсщийс“Апхукму лиллах,” - “Command

belongs to Allah”. “Алхамдулиллах,” - “Praise

Allah”. Because a person, who asks eternal richness,

expressing his thankfulness to Allah for goods, which

He presented him, can pray God for addition.

Secondly, he, who asks such wealth believing that all

people are given as much as they have deserved, may

become a Muslim, who will reconcile oneself to

destiny. In this meaning both Arab word-

combinations are equal, and for this reason the usage

of any of them is not considered as a mistake from

life, literary or scientific point of view and by Shariat.

4 CONCLUSION

In a word, the variant used by G. Vamberi, and his

translations, can assist in the training of the critical

text of Magtymguly’s “Divan” and also benefit those

who want to translate the poet’s poems into other

languages. Magtymguly is a great word, and his word

is sacred; for this reason, it penetrates deeply into the

hearts of people. Today, the number of researchers

studying Magtymguly abroad is growing day by day,

including in Uzbekistan. The work of each person

who has enough wisdom and skills to translate the

lines of the Great poet, transferring their true meaning

from the bottom of his soul, deserves praise. The

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merit of each intelligent person lies in translating the

works of Fragy to save the wealth implied in them and

carry them to other people, thus widely publicizing it.

German Vamberi, a Hungarian scientist, is one of

them.

REFERENCES

Vamberi, G. (1865). Journey to Central Asia (Vol. 1, p.

159). St. Petersburg.

Quoted from the source: Validi, A. Z. (1913). Devoni

Maxtumkuly. Shuro Magazine, 13, 393.

Maxtumkuly. (1974). Selected - Turkmenistan (p. 42).

Makhtumkuli. (1992). Poems: It has three roofs (1st roof, p.

286, 101). Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

Makhtumkuli. (2013). Poems (pp. 48-49, 257). Tashkent:

Academic Edition.

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