''Ashiq Qarib'' ( az, Aşıq Qərib, literally "the wandering

ashik An ashik ( az, aşıq, ; tr, âşık; fa, عاشیق) or ashugh ( hy, աշուղ; ka, აშუღი) is traditionally a singer-poet and bard who accompanies his song—be it a dastan (traditional epic story, also known as '' hikay ...

") is an anonymous romantic

dastan Dastan ( fa, داستان ''dâstân'', meaning "story" or "tale") is an ornate form of oral history from Central Asia, Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan. A dastan is generally centered on one individual who protects his tribe or his people from an o ...

, composed not earlier than the 16—17th centuries and popular in

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. The verses, which are incorporated into the prose, are ascribed to the eponymous hero, a wandering Ashik who began his journeys with worldly love and attains wisdom by travelling and learning then achieving sainthood. The original Azerbaijani version was first recorded by

Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (; russian: Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjurʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲɛrməntəf; – ) was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucas ...

in 1837 and was published in 1846. In 1915 Azerbaijani composer

Zulfugar Hajibeyov Zulfugar Abdulhuseyn oghlu Hajibeyov ( az, Zülfüqar bəy Əbdülhüseyn bəy oğlu Hacıbəyov, 17 April 1884 – 30 September 1950) was an Azerbaijani composer and a member of a family noted for its musical talents. He was one o ...

wrote an opera ''

Ashiq Qarib ''Ashiq Qarib'' ( az, Aşıq Qərib, literally "the wandering ashik") is an anonymous romantic dastan, composed not earlier than the 16—17th centuries and popular in Transcaucasia and Central Asia. The verses, which are incorporated into the p ...

''. The dastan is popular in

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

and

Middle Asia Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ( ...

.''

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

'', 3rd Edition (1970-1979) The

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

version assumed the form of cycles (''Son of Ashik-Garip'' and ''Grandson of Ashik-Garip''). The

Turkmen Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to: Peoples Historical ethnonym * Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages Ethnic groups * Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...

version (''Shasenem and Garib'') abounds in ethnic details and historical names. The story of Ashiq Qarib has been the main feature of a movie with the same name by director and producer

Sergei Parajanov Sergei Parajanov, ka, სერგო ფარაჯანოვი, uk, Сергій Параджанов (January 9, 1924 – July 20, 1990) was an Armenian filmmaker. Parajanov is regarded by film critics, film historians and filmmakers t ...

Notes

Azerbaijani fiction Romantic fiction Turkic mythology Azerbaijani mythology {{azerbaijan-stub