Study of Complex Structural Genres in the Work

of Alisher Navoi

Khamidulla Boltaboev

and Dilrabo Kazakbaeva

†

National University of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Keywords: Genres with a Complex Structure, Classical Literature, Poetic System, Tarkibband and Sokinoma.

Abstract: The article focuses on complex structure of relatively rare poetic genres in Uzbek classical literature. The

authors studied modern views in Uzbek literature, got acquainted with the works of such scientists as A.

Hayitmetov, Yo.Iskhakov, R. Orzibekov, A. Qayumov, F. Nabiev, D. Yusupova, M. Asadov and gave their

assessment in terms of genre requirements in order to come to this conclusion. According to the authors,

complex structural genres are actively found in classical literature, in the work of Alisher Navoi. The article

analyzes the tarkibbands of Navoi, identifies their poetic features, considers the creativity of the poet based

on the requirements of the genre, gives scientific conclusions about the possibility of creating a system of

complex genres. In contrast to the works created up to that time, the article applies the term of complex

structural genres to the genres of Navoi’s works such as sokinoma, mughanniynoma, tarjiband, tarkibband,

masnavi-noma, musammat, and analyzes them through a single scientific system. In this system, the

tarkibband and sokinoma are shown as active genres, and their specific features are also demonstrated.

1 INTRODUCTION

The work “Funun ul-balagha” by Sheikh Ahmad

Tarazi provides the first information about tarkibband

in Turkic literature.. “And the fifth part is big, the

rhyme of each verse is the same, and the beyts of tarji

each have a separate rhyme and they do not repeat it.

And in this part, a marsiya (ode) and a madh (hymn)

are sung” (Sheikh Ahmad, 2017).

Approach to the tarkibband as a classic poetic genre

is found not only in Uzbek literary studies, but also in

the works of foreign scholars. The encyclopedic

dictionary “Literary studies” of Aziz Mirakhmedov,

Azerbaijani scientist, gives the following information

about these terms: “Tarkibband is one of the forms of

Eastern lyric poetry... Its subject is mostly love,

beauty, social-philosophical issues. The theme and

meter are the same, the rhyme system consists of

different verses.

Each verse has from 6 to 12-14, sometimes more”

(Әdebijjaшунаслыг, 1998).

Corresponding author

We know about the tarkibband written by Navoi in

Farsi to Abdurahman Jami and in Turkic to Sayyid

Hasan Ardasher. Navoi’s tarkibband dedicated to

Sayyid Hasan Ardasher consists of seven verses, each

verse has eight beyts, in total there are 56 beyts. At

the end of each verse there is an independent beyt, and

the hemistiches of this beyt rhyme with each other. In

the first verse, there is a complaint about the

unfaithfulness and infidelity of the world.

In the last verse of the tarkibband, the poet describes

his teacher Sayyid Hasan Ardasher as a pure person,

who has not been seen in seven parts of the world.

According to Navoi’s work entitled “Holoti Sayyid

Hasan Ardasher”, Navoi was not in Herat at the time

of Sayyid Hasan’s death. Therefore, he was not be

able to say goodbye to his teacher and was not be able

to attend his funeral. He regrets not being able to

fulfill his filial duty by being near his teacher. Even

though Navoi connects the hardships that befell him

with abstract ideas such as the fate of man and the

mortality of the world, and gives the work a partly

philosophical and mystical tone, vital emotions take a

leading place in it. This can be clearly observed,

especially in the sixth paragraph of the tarkibband; it

236

Boltaboev, K. and Kazakbaeva, D.

Study of Complex Structural Genres in the Work of Alisher Navoi.

DOI: 10.5220/0012483500003792

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

In Proceedings of the 1st Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR 2023), pages 236-240

ISBN: 978-989-758-687-3

contains the heart cries of a person who could not say

goodbye to his loved one, a letter of regret.

Navoi considers Sayyid Khasan not only a father, but

also a spiritual mentor and a pir-murshidi. “Sayyid

Hasan Ardasher is the insani kamil – a perfect person

for Navoi. There is a lot of similarity between the

positive and exemplary characters created in the

poems of “Khamsa” and Sayyid Hasan. If the

characters of “Khamsa” are imaginative-romantic

types created on the basis of artistic dreams and

observations, Sayyid Hasan is a certain historical

person, it can be said that a great poet was able to see

the features of the perfect person in his

contemporaries.” (Komilov N. Sufism, 2009). I.

Hakkulov elaborates on the image of the insani kamil

in Navoi’s works in his articles: “For the description

of a perfect person, Navoi draws attention to the

qualities of dozens of great people - prophets, famous

sheikhs, sages and dervishes, but he never forgets the

universal nature of the beauty of love, love and

suffering. This, in turn, probably opened a wide way

for continuous renewal of poetic meaning and

figurative expressions” (Hakkulov I. 2014.).

When Navoi’s tarkibband is read after the work titled

“Holoti Sayyid Hasan Ardasher”, its essence, the

poet’s ability to generalize and poetic skills are

demonstrated even more vivid.

The tarkibband expresses the poet’s inner experiences

with deep lyricism from beginning to end. As the

poem in fact is built on the basis of real human

feelings, some traditional images and phrases in it

cannot reduce its impact, and the poem can be

considered a beautiful example of lyricism in general

(Hayitmetov A. (2015).). It is clear, that the

tarkibband requires high artistry and special talent

from the poet. Navoi sums up his thoughts in the beyt

at the end of each verse in the tarkibband. By means

of the last beyts in the verses, a logical consistency is

created in the general content of the tarkibband.

2 METHODS

Any literature cannot be imagined without lyrical

genres. In the classical literature of the East, genres

with a complex structure such as tarjiband,

tarkibband, sokinoma, mughannynoma, marsia,

qasida, musammat were developed. They have their

own poetics and development history. The

development of complex structural genres in Uzbek

classical literature goes back to certain periods. In

particular, one can find all the genres with a complex

structure in Alisher Navoi’s work. In the divan

“Khazoyinu-l-maoni”, we can see high examples of

such genres as sokinoma, tarjiband, and tarkibband.

Navoi’s Turkic divan contains four tarjibands, one

tarkibband and one sokinama. In particular, every

genre that Navoi addressed was continued in the form

of tradition by his followers in later periods.

In the appendix of the collection of perfect works,

there is also a tarkibband dedicated to Shah Gharib

Mirza, the son of Husayn Baykara, the first child of

Khadicha Begim (Navoi Alisher. (2000).). The

professor Hamid Sulaymanov was the first to inform

the scientific community about this poem

(Sulaymanov H. (1971).). Literary scholar Yo.

Iskhakov gives the following information about this

tarkibband: “The second tarkibband-marsya is

available only in the copy of “Khazoyin ul-maoni”

kept in Dushanbe under the number 1990 (published

in 904/1499-1500). Tarkibband-marsiya is placed

among the sub-genres at the end of the divan “Badoe

ul-bidoya” (Iskhakov Yo. (2014).). Hamid

Sulaymanov and Yoqubjon Iskhakov say that this

tarkibband is a part of the divan “Badoe ul-bidoya”.

However, the professor D. Yusupova notes that this

volume is not part of the divan “Badoe ul-bidoya”:

“Based on the report of the Tajik scientist B.

Maksudov and the photocopy of the manuscript pages

sent to us, it became known that the tarkibband is

included in the last divan “Favoyid ul-kibar” of

“Khazoyin ul-maoni”. The poem is presented under

the title of a marsiya, after the last 650th – na’t ghazal,

before the mustazad beginning with “I went this

morning...”. In fact, this tarkibband corresponds to

the book of “Favoyid ul-kibar”, because in almost all

copies of the kulliyot (complete works) known to

science, this mustazad appears in the tarkibband of

“Favoyid ul-kibar” (Yusupova D. (2020).).

The tazkiranavis (biographer) Fakhri Hirawi wrote

about Shah Gharib Mirza, when one of the poets

chose the pseudonym “Gharibi”, Husayn Boyqaro

recommended him the pseudonym “Majlisi”, after

which he wrote poems under the pseudonym of the

poet Majlisi. Hossein Boyqaro’s son is still known as

Gharibi.

Babur describes Shah Gharib Mirza in his work

“Baburnoma” as follows: “There were fourteen sons

and eleven daughters. Badiuzzamon Mirzo was the

eldest of sons. His mother was the daughter of Sanjar

Mirza Marvi. Also, Shah Gharib Mirza was a

hunchback. Even his body was bad, he was talented.

Even his body was weak, his speech was attractive.

He used the pseudonym “Gharibi”, he also wrote a

divan, and he recited Turkic and Persian poetry.

(I was driven crazy when I saw a fairy face, I did not

know what her name was, where she lived). Many

times, Sultan Husayn Mirza gave the government of

Study of Complex Structural Genres in the Work of Alisher Navoi

237

Hiri to Shahgharib Mirza. He described the time of

his father. He had not no son or daughter” (Babur

Zahiruddin. ( 1990).). It is evident, that according to

Babur’s information, Shah Gharib Mirza was a “taabi

khub”, that is, a talented poet.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The 5-verse tarkibband written by Navoi in memory

of Shah Gharib Mirza consists of 6 beyts per verse,

totalling 60 hemistiches, and is written in the style of

marsiya. In this fifth verse of the tarkibband, no

pseudonym was used. In this regard, we have come to

the conclusion that this verse of the tarkibband is not

the last verse. That is why Professor H. Sulaimanov

did not consider the genre features of this work; the

tarkibband was not complete, and no pseudonym was

used. Later, the literary critic Yo. Iskhakov

emphasizes that this work belongs to the tarkibband

genre. In fact, the work fully meets the requirements

of the tarkibband genre. The tarkibband was rhymed

in the style of a-a, b-a, v-a, ........ a-a.

Navoi also devotes a separate chapter to Shah Garib

Mirza in “Farhad and Shirin” from “Khamsa” poems.

He lovingly mentions the good qualities of the prince

in this chapter, his thirst for knowledge, and

enlightenment. As a teacher, he advises the prince to

study fiqh, hadith and tafsiir, wisdom, and history.

Alisher Navoi, who wrote in various forms of the

lyrical genre, also tried to create a sokinoma. His

sokinoma containing 458-beyt is included in the

divan “Favoyid ul-kibar”. There is theoretical

information about sokinoma in Arabic, Persian-Tajik

sources and dictionaries. Sheikh Ahmad Tarazi’s

work “Funun ul-baloga” contains the first theoretical

information about this genre in Turkic literature. The

Uzbek scientists A.Hayitmetov, Yo.Iskhakov,

R.Orzibekov, A.Qayumov, F.Nabiev, M.Asadov are

known with their researches about the sokinoma of

Navoi.

Literary critic A.Hayitmetov, while researching

“Navoi’s lyrics”, focused on the formal features of the

sokinoma genre. “...at the beginning of each poem,

i.e., each verse, the poet turns to the soki asking for

may (wine). That is the reason why this series is called

“Sokinoma”. None of these formal requirements

prevents the poet’s thoughts, feelings, intuitions to be

expressed from the beginning to the end in an

expressive, effective, and truthful way” (Hayitmetov

A., 1961).

Navoi scholar Yo. Iskhakov’s research on the

sokinoma genre and Navoi sokinoma is one of the

noteworthy works in this regard. Yo. Iskhakov

expresses his opinion on the formation of sokinoma

in Arabic, Persian-Tajik, Turkic poetry, and

definitions of this genre in dictionaries. The scientist

shows that Navoi’s sokinoma differs from the work

of his predecessors in the following two aspects:

1. The issues raised in the works of Navoi’s

predecessors are extremely important, but of a

general nature, but Navoi considers it in connection

with a specific historical period and conditions.

2. The scope of the issues raised in Navoi’s sokinoma

is quite wide, and it is further deepened on the specific

ground of some social problems... (Yusupova D.

(2020).). The scientist deeply analyzes Navoi’s

sokinoma. He emphasizes that it is a whole work in

terms of content and form. He emphasizes that each

verse of sokinoma is an independent work in a certain

sense, and they are connected to each other in terms

of common spirit and style, creating a whole work.

The analysis of the academician A. Qayumov about

Navoi’s sokinoma are also aimed at wide coverage of

the topic scope of this genre. A. Qayumov calls the

sokinoma of Navoi “Sevginoma”. The scientist

analyzes the sokinoma of Navoi from an external

point of view. He does not consider mystical,

symbolic meanings. However, in the final part, he

explains the aspects related to may as follows: “May

in the Sokinoma is natural may, a drink made from

grape juice. Soki hands the poet such wine. Enjoying

it, he becomes “drunken with gratitude.” Now the

poet is rushing to the feast of rinds again. Because

those rinds and their community took place in his

heart. In any case, you should not confuse the may in

the Sokinoma with the may in the rinds party. One

leads to alertness (rindona may) and the other to

mastona happiness (grape juice)” (Babur Zahiruddin.

( 1990).). Indeed, A. Qayumov analyzes Navoi’s

sokinoma from the point of view of content rather

than form and poetry.

Detailed information about Navoi’s sokinoma is

given by professor R. Orzibekov in his works. We can

see that the scientist paid special attention to the

sokinoma in his research on types and genres in

classical literature (Hayitmetov A., 1961). The

beginning of the poem with an appeal to the soki

shows that the author finds a way to express his ideas

by knowing the soki and fine medium, which is one

of the important specific features of this genre.

However, any work mixed with soki, may, and

mughanni is not a sokinoma. The scientist focuses on

the type of sokinoma as a genre: “If we include works

with soki, may, mughbacha, mughanni exclamatory

beyts to the list of sokinoma-type works, the types of

sokinoma genre will increase” (Iskhakov Yo., 1983).

The syncretic aspects of the sokinoma genre can be

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given visually in the following order: ghazal-

sokinoma, masnavi-sokinoma, noma-sokinoma,

tarkibband-sokinoma, tarjeband-sokinoma, rubai-

sokinoma. According to the table, the scope of

sokinomas is given in yellow color (1), effectiveness

in blue color (2).

In general, sokinamas can be described as one of the

more complex forms of poetry, embodying

characteristics of a variety of epic and lyrical poetry

genres. Based on the theoretical opinions of Yo.

Iskhakov, R. Orzibekov and N.Komilov, I. Hakkulov

(N. Komilov and I.Hakkulov describes such images

as soki, may, mughanni in their analysis of Navoi’s

ghazals and in their comments) literary critic M.

Asadov analyzes poems in Navoi’s work in the

direction of sokinoma. He investigates sokinama-

ghazal, sokinama-rubai, and beyts that contain the

elements of sokinama in “Khamsa” (Kayumov A.

2011). Before this, the scientist gives examples of the

theme of may in Turkic literature in folklore, in

“Devoni lugotit turk”, “Kutadgu bilig”, “Hibat ul

hakoyik”, “Hikmatlar”, and in the works of Uzbek

classical poetry of the creative personalities of 12th-

15th centuries (Orzibekov R., 2006). M. Asadov

studies and analyzes the sokinoma from its genesis to

the processes of its transformation in the Turkic

literature of the 19th century. In this respect, this

study differs from previous works on sokinoma in

that it was studied in a comprehensive monographic

plan. The scientist examines the sokinoma genre in

the following sequence: 1. Sokinoma as a literary

genre. 2. Stages of sokinoma development. 3. The

first appearance of sokinoma in the literature of the

-15

centuries. 4. Poems in the form of sokinama

in the work of Alisher Navoi. 5. The scale of

sokinoma’s topic and its own characteristic. 6. The

artistry of sokinoma. 7. Formal and spiritual

innovations in masnavi-sokinoma. 8. Specific

features of tarjiband-sokinoma. 9. Ideological-artistic

uniqueness of sokinoma-ghazal and musammat. The

work is carried out on a large monographic scale.

M. Asadov, a literary critic, carries on the tradition of

scholars by studying the sokinoma genre in Turkic

literature from the 16th-19th centuries, incorporating

the syncretic nature of the genre. He delves into such

types as masnavi-sokinoma, tarjiband-sokinoma,

sokinoma-ghazal, and sokinoma-musammat (Asadov

M. (2020).).

4 CONCLUSION

In the process of analyzing Navoi’s tarkibband and

sokinoma, we can witness that the poet successfully

created in these complex structural genres. We have

seen from the tarkibband that Navoi had a special love

for Shah Gharib Mirza, and Babur appreciated his

work and acknowledged that he was “taabi khub” -

talented. From the point of view of the genre, the

work is an example of a beautiful creation that fully

meets the requirements of the tarkibband. In the

subsequent editions of Navoi’s works, it would be

appropriate to present the tarkibband not in the

appendix, but within the main body of the divan. The

studies carried out by Yo. Iskhakov, R. Orzibekov, A.

Qayumov, F. Nabiev in Uzbek classic literature on

Navoi’s sokinoma are valuable as preliminary works.

Doctor of Philology M. Asadov’s observations on

Navoi’s sokinoma are significant in terms of broad

coverage of the scope of sokinoma topic, in-depth

research of form and process, analysis of images, and

study of ideological and artistic features from a poetic

point of view. According to the requirements of the

genre, the tarkibband of Navoi is in the context of a

marsiya. In this, he expresses that the death of his

kind teacher, Sayyid Hasan, caused him deep

suffering. Since the poem is built on the basis of real

human feelings, the somewhat traditional imagery

and expressions in it cannot reduce its impact. Navoi

sums up his thoughts in the beyt at the end of each

verse in the tarkibband. By means of the last beyts in

the verses, a logical consistency is created in the

general content of the tarkibband. It is evident that the

tarkibband requires high artistry and special talent

from the poet. In the process of studying Navoi’s

tarkibband dedicated to Shah Gharib Mirzo, we

witnessed that the poet had a special love for Shah

Gharib Mirzo, and it was not for nothing that Babur

evaluated his work and said that he was “taabi khub”

- talented. The work is an example of a beautiful

creation that fully meets the requirements of the

tarkibband from the point of view of the genre. In the

next editions of Navoi’s works, it is appropriate to

give the tarkibband not in the appendix, but in the

divan, in the main places.

Thus, in the works of Alisher Navoi, the tarkibband

and sokinoma gained attention as genres

demonstrating the poet’s skill in crafting complex

structures, and it served as an example for the creative

personalities of the following period exemplar for the

creative minds of subsequent periods.

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