Seyid Azim Shirvani ( az, Seyid Əzim Şirvani; 9 July 1835, Shamakhy – 1 June 1888, Shamakhy) was an
Azerbaijani poet and enlightener. He got his first religious education in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
. After returning to motherland he refused his spiritual dignity and opened a private school. Seyid Azim Shirvani continued
Fuzûlî’s traditions in his love-lyrical poems. In his satirical poems and fables Seyid Azim Shirvani ridiculed priesthood, opposed backwardness and ignorance, called to enlightenment and culture. Contemporary poets consider him their teacher.
Education and Teaching
Seyid Azim Shirvani was born in
Shamakhi
Shamakhi ( az, Şamaxı, ) is a city in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Shamakhi District. The city's estimated population was 31,704. It is famous for its traditional dancers, the Shamakhi Dancers, and also for perhaps giving it ...
, in family of a clergyman. He lost his father early, and his grandfather undertook a care of him. For finishing the education he was sent to
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, where he got spiritual title of
akhund
Akhund (akhoond, akhwand, akhand or akondo) ( fa, آخوند) is a Persian title or surname for Islamic scholars, common in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Azerbaijan. Other names for similar Muslim Scholar include shei ...
. After returning to Shamakhi Seyid Azim Shirvani was interested in secular sciences, problems of education, and learnt
Russian language. He didn’t limit himself to knowing only
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
and
Arabic language
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
s and creativity of the eastern authors, but he was also interested in
European and
Russian literature, acquainted with works of
Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
,
Nekrasov and other famous poets.
Taking care of the nation’s progress, its spiritual emancipation, Seyid Azim opened a Russo-Azerbaijani school in Skamakhi, where was paid attention to studying of secular sciences, and also
Azerbaijani and Russian languages. He read poems of Azerbaijani poets and translations of works of such poets as
Saadi, Hafiz and
Khayyam
Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīsābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131), commonly known as Omar Khayyam ( fa, عمر خیّام), was a polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, ...
to his pupils instead of
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
and rules of
Sharia. He taught at this school, refusing to be a clergyman. With the lapse of time his interest to social problems, to scientific knowledge changed his attitude to serving a religion. Seeing hypocrisy and sanctimony of clergymen, he was inspired by dream to dedicate himself to creativity and enlightenment of the nation, to propaganda of science and knowledge, which called dissatisfaction and hostile attitude of clergymen. Shirvani was reputed as politically disloyal person and soon he was discharged from teaching.
Creativity
Shirvani was in charge of literary society called “
Beyt-us-safa
Beyt-us-safa was a literary council which was first held in the 19th century in Azerbaijan.
History
The literary council was held in the middle of the 19th century, its center was Shamakhy and it was called "Beytus-safa" ("Comfort, fun house"). I ...
” in
Shamakhi
Shamakhi ( az, Şamaxı, ) is a city in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Shamakhi District. The city's estimated population was 31,704. It is famous for its traditional dancers, the Shamakhi Dancers, and also for perhaps giving it ...
. Grouping progressively aiming intelligentsia of the city around him, he communicated with analogical societies in
Baku,
Guba,
Shusha
/ hy, Շուշի
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg
, image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govha ...
and
Ordubad
Ordubad is the second largest city of Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the capital of an eponymous district. Ordubad is a medieval city of the Caucasus and in its current capacity of a town was founded in the 18th century. The town ...
.
In a rich heritage of the poet was broadly represented the poems in genres of
ghazal,
rubai, gaside, marsiye, and also poetic stories,
fable
Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse (poetry), verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphized, and that illustrat ...
s,
parables,
epistles, literary works. He also wrote a literature textbook.
Selfless love, dream of meeting, burning boredom of lover, complaints about destiny are themes of Shirvani’s ghazals. But following of his great ancestors, especially Fuzuli’s traditions, the poet glorified not divine, but real love. Educational mind is the supreme measure of values in the creativity of Shirvani. Education should change a spiritual essence of a human, that is why communion with humanistic values means more than race and religion.
Shirvani called
Caucasian
Caucasian may refer to:
Anthropology
*Anything from the Caucasus region
**
**
** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region
*
*
*
Languages
* Northwest Caucasian l ...
Muslims to acquire knowledge of natural sciences, refuse superstition and fanaticism, follow the road of progress and cultural renaissance (“Address to Caucasian Muslims” poem).
In connection with opening ceremony of Pushkin's monument in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
, in 1880, Shirvani wrote a poem to Pushkin, where he told about the great importance of poetical heritage of Russian poet for nations of East and the whole world. Decisive orientation of Shirvani to
Russian culture
Russian culture (russian: Культура России, Kul'tura Rossii) has been formed by the nation's history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and Western influence. Russian writers and ph ...
was reflected in his creative and pedagogical activity.
Satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
takes an important place in Shirvani's literary heritage, which became a leading area in
Azerbaijani literature in the second half of the 19th century due to the creativity of the poet. Shirvani could be called a “fierce talent”. There is something gloomy and grotesque in his stories-parables and poems, though they are finished by optimistic and moralizing ending in traditional enlightening spirit: knowledge, strong mind, humanity, reasonable rules are called to save people from cruelty, unfairness, shabby passions and stupidity. But a light coloring, democratic atmosphere of faith in humanity of
Akhundov were lost.
Seyid Azim combined the best features of Akhundov's democratic government, Fuzuli and
Vagif’s lyric,
Zakir’s satire and followed their traditions. Seyid Azim’s poetry is notable for variety of themes and genres. His ghazals are graceful and lyric.
His stories and fables are also heard sharply: “Bribe to the God”, “Burial of a dog”, “
Satan”, “Khan and a peasant”.
Satirical poetry of Shirvani paved the way for the future development of this genre, which found implementation in
M.A.Sabir’s creativity in the beginning of the 20th century.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirvani, Seyid Azim
1835 births
1888 deaths
Azerbaijani-language poets
People from Shamakhi
19th-century Azerbaijani poets
19th-century male writers