, image = Poster of play Sheykh Sanan.jpg , image_size = 200px , caption = Poster of the spectacle. 1956-1957.

Azerbaijan State Academic Drama Theatre The Azerbaijan State Academic Drama Theatre ( az, Azərbaycan Akademik Milli Dram Teatrı) is an academic theatre of drama in Baku, Azerbaijan. History of the theatre The theatre has its origins in national holidays and dances. Elements of theatr ...

, writer =

Huseyn Javid Huseyn Javid ( az, Hüseyn Cavid),was born Huseyn Abdulla oglu Rasizadeh (24 October 1882, Nakhchivan – 5 December 1941, Shevchenko, Tayshetsky District), was a prominent Azerbaijani poet and playwright of the early 20th century. He was one of ...

, characters = Sheikh Sanan
Khumar
others , setting = 1914 , premiere = 1921 , place =

, orig_lang = Azerbaijani , genre =

Tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

''Sheikh Sanan'' ( az, Şeyx Sənan), is a verse

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

in five acts, written by an Azerbaijani poet and playwright

about love of a Muslim sheikh - Sanan to a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

- Christian girl Khumar. It is based on an old story first made famous by the

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 ...

poet

Attar Neyshapuri Abū Ḥamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm (c. 1145 – c. 1221; fa, ابو حامد بن ابوبکر ابراهیم), better known by his pen-names Farīd ud-Dīn () and ʿAṭṭār of Nishapur (, Attar means apothecary), was a PersianRitter, H. ...

The Conference of the Birds ''The Conference of the Birds'' or ''Speech of the Birds'' ( fa, منطق الطیر, ''Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr'', also known as ''Maqāmāt-uṭ-Ṭuyūr''; 1177) is a Persian poem by Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar, commonly known as Attar of Ni ...

. As it was noted, a romantic riot against the anti-humanistic reality of religion is expressed in images of the main heroes of the play – Sanan and Khumar. Sanan, being a true believer Muslim and a notable scientist, dissuades from Islam and rejects its basis, blames all religions for separation of people. Sheikh Sanan opposes the world of love, friendship and humanity to the world of blind faith and dead religious dogmatics. Such anti-clerical thoughts, which had been already said by the poet in numerous lyrical works, were summed up in the play. The play was written in 1912-1914, during Javid’s lifetime in

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

and Nakhchivan. In 1915-1916, the play was published in various newspapers, in Baku. As a book it was published in 1917, by a publishing house of “Achig Soz” newspaper. For the first time it was staged in 1921, on a stage of the State Theatre. It was repeatedly published in 1926, 1958 and 1968.

Plot

Two images – Sanan and Khumar – stand in the center of the play. Sanan - a person of high intellect and moral purity, getting a religious education, penetrates into it with great hesitations. He began to keep away from people who believe in religious tales and looks for the God in himself. Hesitations of Sanan calls the anger of fanatics surrounding him and this anger strengthens after they know about Sanan’s love to the Georgian girl Khumar – a marvelous beauty, whom he had seen in his dream and after long searches found her in reality. He loved the girl in Tiflis and agreed with conditions of the girl’s father that he will burn the

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 become a swineherd. Neither national, nor religious prejudices couldn’t redeem Sanan’s love to Khumar, in which they saw the highest demonstration of human being and destroyed all barriers standing on their way. In the name of love, Sanan ultimately broke off with the environment surrounding him and lapsed from Quran. He made sure that religion is an evil, which saws seeds of discords among nations and separates people. A theme of ideal love is opposed to violence, fanaticism and prejudices in the play. But, finally, Sanan and Khumar gained the victory over surrounding them evil. Persecuted by fanatics, they found their salvation in death.

References

{{commons category, Sheikh Sanan Tragedy plays Azerbaijani plays 1914 plays Plays set in Azerbaijan Tragedies of Huseyn Javid Azerbaijani-language plays