It is not long before the end of 2021, which was declared the "Year of Regular Ganjavi" by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief Muzaffar Ilham Aliyev. So, we completed nine months. Those nine months that HUMAN, the greatest miracle of the universe, the most glorious of creations, takes this long way to fall into human form from a drop of water and be born on Earth...
It means that the systematic science of the Nizami Ganjavi year, which is a living organism, has already been born, and by placing its blessed steps on the monitor and paper, it is being brought to life with all its beauty and magnificence. Written and published within the framework of the anniversary events, as well as the colorful events supported by various institutions at the state level, the national love for our genius poet is having an effect.
However, the main significant event of every jubilee - "the end of the beautiful" - is the introductory book about the jubilee, printed in different languages of the world. We are glad that on the occasion of the 880th anniversary of the great Azerbaijani poet and thinker Nizami Ganjavi, such an introductory book was published in nine languages of the world... Yes, it should be considered a symbol that such a great book was published in the ninth month of the "year of Nizami Ganjavi" came to the light of the world.
It is no less gratifying that this kind of valuable introductory book was not written by someone else, but by one of the greatest representatives of modern Azerbaijani literary studies, academician Isa Habibbeyli, one of the greatest representatives of modern Azerbaijani literary studies, the head of our humanitarian science, academician Isa Habibbeyli, to once again introduce the genius Nizami to the whole world, and re-introduce the high humanist ideals in his works. has opened the way to evaluate and emphasize their contemporary importance more prominently.
One of the factors that necessitates the publication of a book on legal studies in this genre and in this format is that the last time this type of work in Azerbaijani legal studies was written exactly 40 years ago by an outstanding legal scholar in Russian and English, corresponding member of ANAS, the late Azade Mrs. Rustamova, and has long since become a bibliographic rarity.
In addition, during the past 40 years, the science of Nizami studies has developed by leaps and bounds and has not hidden the need to be summarized and systematized from a new perspective, and at the same time to be updated and evaluated from the modern level of humanitarian science. That is why the world of Nizami studies, which is in great demand to eliminate the "hunger" of 40 years, was impatiently waiting for the emergence of such a valuable work. He was waiting, and fortunately, this wait did not last long: a 440-page work was given to experts and Nizami Ganjavi lovers: "Isa Habibbayli. Great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi (in Azerbaijani, Turkish, English, Russian, German, Chinese, Polish, Georgian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian languages). Baku: "Science", 2021".
The book opens with these historical words spoken by the National Leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev, on May 24, 2000, when he visited the mausoleum of genius Nizami Ganjavi in Ganja, his hometown: "All the people of Azerbaijan are proud of Nizami Ganjavi. His works are not only poetry, each of them contains great science, great philosophy, genius ideas. That's why his works live, and so does he."
On the next page, of course, the following profound words are presented by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, who is a powerful follower and high-level developer of the ideas of National Leader Heydar Aliyev in all areas of our life, on January 24, 2014, during the opening of the Nizami Ganjavi Museum in Ganja: "The world Nizami Ganjavi, a prominent representative of literature, a genius Azerbaijani poet and thinker, is one of the rare personalities who opened a new page in the annals of artistic ideas of mankind. The brilliant legacy of the great artist, which has become an integral part of the spirituality of our people, has been preserving its unique and worthy place in the treasury of unparalleled cultural wealth of the East for centuries."
As we mentioned, the book, which introduces Nizami in nine other languages of the world besides Azerbaijani, opens with a 70-page essay in the language of his native people. Let me say from the beginning that this essay was also translated into Turkish, English and Russian languages, each in the same volume. Our opinions about the book will be based mostly on the Azerbaijani language version of this essay.
Academician Isa Habibbeyli always modestly says that he is not a legal scholar, but from the very first pages of the book, you can't help but think that you have a work written by a perfect legal scholar. At this point, I am reminded of a rhetorical question asked by Isa Habibbayli himself near the end of the essay - in the "Conclusion" section and his full answer:
Who is Nizami?
The highest answer given to this question is: Sheikh Nizami and Alexander the Great of Azerbaijani literature!"
Similarly, I would like to write such a question and answer:
Who is a regular scientist?
He only knew the language of skin, Nizam
Is he able to read Ganjavi's works from the original? - No!
Their work as a textual scholar should be highly appreciated. But the highest answer to this question is: a researcher who understands the heritage of Nizami Ganjavi deeply, understanding it at the genetic level, and can theoretically generalize at the level of a professional literary critic, regardless of whether he reads it from the original or a translation! Of course, there have been such precedents in the history of Azerbaijani legal studies, and today we can proudly mention their names:
Real member of ANAS, academician Mammad Jafar Jafarov!
Corresponding member of ANAS, academician Yashar Garayev!
Professor Arif Hajiyev!
Based on their deep theoretical thinking, these three scholars whose names I mentioned, in the true sense of the word, solved the problems of Nizami Ganjavi's creativity based on the poetic information provided by the translated texts, which still retain their profound scientific importance.
Academician Isa Habibbeyli also belongs to this generation of regular scholars. Because, first of all, he is one of the great theorists of our modern literary studies, and this talent allows him to express a valid, original opinion about any writer and poet, regardless of his era and language, and open a new way in this field!
In all cases, in the book "Literary Personality and Time" (2017, 1067 p.), 67 writers who lived and created in different centuries from classical literature to the new era, and from there to the independence stage, based on the new periodization concept of which he was the author, at all historical stages of the development path of Azerbaijani literature over the millennia and the high professionalism shown in the portrait-essays he published about the poet (including Nizami Ganjavi) clearly shows academician Isa Habibbeyli's talent to say perfect scientific words about the artists who are our classics and contemporaries, regardless of the era he lived in and the literary movements they belonged to. . The book "Great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi" also shows that Isa Habibbeyli is a professional literary critic with deep scientific knowledge and a high scientific-theoretical outlook.
From this point of view, it seems to me that teacher Isa should come back and take a critical approach to the opinion he humbly said that he is not a systematic scholar in any case...
After the "Introduction", which covers the main theses of the introductory book "The great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi", academician Isa Habibbayli summarizes the information written about the biography of Nizami from ancient times to the present day, and does not forget to introduce a number of new facts and polemical ideas into the scientific circulation. he not only expresses his attitude to them, but also provides solid and well-founded evidence to prove his opinion. For example, after examining the details of Nizami's only trip outside of Ganja with a jeweler's precision, the author patiently and step-by-step, following what Professor Rustam Aliyev wrote about it, comes to a convincing firm conclusion that: "... Nizami Ganjavi went to Sheki of Zangezur region to meet with Gizil Arslan. his only visit to his village took place in July 1187" (p. 16).
It is known that writing a scientific biography of Nizami Ganjavi, like other Eastern classics, is a very difficult, perhaps impossible task; because we don't have any reliable sources other than the information given by the poet himself. But, of course, academician Isa Habibbayli, as a competent literary historian and theoretical scientist, does not lose heart here and manages to involve and benefit from even the smallest details that seem insignificant at first glance. From this point of view, the connection with the "Akhilar" organization, which is not at all ambiguous in systematic studies, is presented on a theoretical level, and the genealogy of the genius poet and even the identity of his closest friend are presented by making them more interesting.
In the next sections of the book, Nizami Ganjavi's creativity is reviewed in terms of "Lyrics" and individual poems. In these sections, academician Isa Habibbayli does not act as a summary (this was also called "talkhis" in the Middle Ages), but on the contrary, looking at Nizami Ganjavi's work from a new perspective, he tries to reveal new meanings and points from this point of view. For example, such a bold idea about Nizami's lyrics, which I don't think anyone has thought of until now, could only be put forward by a theoretical scientist: "Minajat, net, madhiyya and honors in the opening parts of Nizami's Ganjavi poems, as well as the saginamas used by the poet as lyrical rajat, are independent poetic forms." (p. 33).
Indeed, the genres mentioned so far are automatically left out of Nizami's lyrical works because they are in the text of Nizami's poems, whereas, as the academician has very correctly defined, these genres should also be studied in the context of Nizami's lyrics.
Academician Isa Habibb also introduced "Khamsa", a five-petalled immortal rose of Nizami Ganjavi's heritage.
in contrast to the dull descriptions we find in literary textbooks and literary histories, he takes the path of presenting each poem as a living organism and achieves this goal at a highly scientific level. As if this were not enough, academician Isa Habibbayli presents his deep scientific ideas in such a figurative language that forces the reader to read the research in one breath. In my opinion, those who turn their writings into a terminological dictionary, those who show themselves with half-page incomprehensible sentences, and those who present themselves with sloppy academicism can learn a lot from academician Isa Habibbeyli in this regard. A clear presentation of facts, a tendency to innovate, conducting scientific-theoretical analyzes and summarizing at the level of results, even figurative evaluations are the essence of his research.
One of the most striking aspects of the book is the precise description and evaluation of each of Nizami Ganjavi's poems, as well as the images included in the poems, as well as Nizami Ganjavi himself. I can't resist giving a couple of examples in this direction:
"Nizami Ganjavi's poems are unique examples of great art.
"Treasure of Secrets" is a rich treasure of words and wisdom of Nizami Ganjavi.
"Khosrov and Shirin" is a presentation of political power, an instructive saga of the power of love.
"Leyli and Majnun" is a romantic love poem born before "Romeo and Juliet" in world literature.
"Seven beauties" is one of the seven wonders of world literature.
"Iskandername" is a magnificent verse poem about a just ruler and an ideal society" (p. 36-37).
The following successful and original comparison of Nizami Ganjavi's place and services in Azerbaijani and world literature sounds like a formula belonging to academician Isa Habibbayli. Nizami Ganjavi is the Macedonian Alexander of world literature. Nizami Ganjavi conquered the countries that Alexander conquered with a sword with a pen.
....Nizami Ganjavi is the greatest guide of the Eastern world and Azerbaijan in Western countries and the world in general.
In the "Renaissance Question" section given in the introductory book, in addition to summarizing the concepts put forward so far about the renaissance (renaissance) of the East and Azerbaijan, academician Isa Habibbeyli, as a prominent theoretician, of course, also expresses his point of view on this problem. In our opinion, the following considerations in the interpretation of Nizami Ganjavi and the renaissance issue belong only to academician Isa Habibbayli. "His clear understanding of the world on a wide geographical scale demonstrates that Nizami Ganjavi is a contemplative artist with a renaissance outlook... In this respect, Nizami Ganjavi can be compared with the world's most famous travelers who traveled from continent to continent. Nizami Ganjavi is the Columbus and Magellan of Azerbaijani literature.
.... Due to the universality of his scientific and literary ideas, Nizami Ganjavi is the Aristotle of Azerbaijan. "Iskandername" is a great art monument that performs the function of Plato's Academy of Azerbaijan and the East.
... Nizami Ganjavi's rich and multifaceted creativity is the greatest artistic event at the junction of the Eastern renaissance and the Western renaissance."
Finally, quite naturally, the five essays in the introductory book "The great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi" end with the "Azerbaijanism" section. Academician Isa Habibbeyli's theoretical eye succeeds in revealing new details and evaluating them from the perspective of independent statehood in this problem, which has been sifted by various researchers for almost a hundred years. Thus, academician Isa Habibbayli, who evaluates the "Definition of Barda" ("Iskandarname"), which is known even to schoolchildren, from his high scientific-patriotic level, writes: "When he praises the ancient city of Barda of Azerbaijan, the poet's love for the Motherland is clearly noticeable. In the poem, Nizami Ganjavi inspiredly glorified Barda, which he saw during his trip to Tartar-Istisu, Nakhchivan-Zangazur-Sheki, and the natural scenery in July in the mountains around it. At the same time, in the example of the poet Barda, he revived the beauties of his Motherland Azerbaijan with a sense of pride. In this sense, the poem "Praise of Barda" can be called "Praise of Azerbaijan". Or if we express the words "What is beautiful in Barda" in the poem with the words "How beautiful is my country", the meaning and purpose will not change" (p. 66).
One of the successful innovations that Academician Isa Habibbeyli added to the mentioned research genre is the provision of a 40-page photo album called "Nizami Ganjavi Almanac" at the end of the book. The pictures here are selected in such a way that it is possible to get a clear idea of Nizami Ganjavi's life and creativity by looking at them.
One of the important tasks facing Azerbaijani science in the jubilee year is the writing and publication of academician Isa Habibbeyli's introductory book "Great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi (in Azerbaijani, Turkish, English, Russian, German, Chinese, Polish, Georgian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian languages)".
It can also be considered as an important monographic work that marks the beginning of a new scientific style for works written in this genre.
To introduce the great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi to our people and the world in the depth and grandeur presented by academician Isa Habibbeyli means to present the great artist with the magnificent scale of his rich and multifaceted creativity.
Academician Teymur KARIMLI, General Director of the Institute of Manuscripts after Muhammad Fuzuli of ANAS,
"Azerbaijan" newspaper
2021, November 11
