Philological sciences / 8. Native language and literature

R.Z. Gulieva, E.M. Shirinova

Ganja branch of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences,

Institute of Humanitarian researches

ABOUT HERITAGE OF MIRZA SHAFI VAZEH

Some of  the original poetry of  Mirza Shafi was found later. Here include: a gazal, a mukhammas, a qita, 3 beyts in Azerbijani, 3 gazals and a letter in Persian.

Some sources refer this poem to M.V.Vidadi incorrectly. S.Mumtaz investigaed the first verses of  Vazeh’s heritage (1884-1941).

To give more information about Vazeh’s heritage, it is needed to find his verses in Azerbaijani and Persian. Without these poems, researchers can only express their opinions according to the translations.  M.Shafi’s ‘The Songs’ include complaining poems, poems about Zuleykha, praising of wine and wealth, poems about Tiflis, Mirza Yusif, Hafiza,nightingale, cypress tree, Yusif and Zuleykha, love poems and so on.

Though Mirza Shafi considered Hafiz his teacher, we can notice the soul of Fuzuli his creativeness, his art. That is why, M.Shafi must be considered the heir of Fuzuli in Literature. There are some satirical examples in Vazeh’s poetry. Religious figures are criticised in some of his poems. That is why they did not like Mirza Shafi. Even the imam / religious figure / of Ganja Akhund Molla Huseyn Pishnamazzadeh called him ‘ heretic’. The clericals did not like him, because Mirza Shafi often used these words in his poems: flower, tulip, wine, lover, face, sweetheart, love, amourous. But they were not able to understand that these words are representatives of Irfani Literature (Irfan: Enlighenment, Learning, Scholarship, Knowledge. Culture, Insight).

By using these words, Mirza Shafi praised and glorified spritual love rather than wordly love. For ex: the word wine ‘ MEY’ indicates (mim 40/10=4+ yā’ 10=14) 14 according to Abjad. The number of 14 is the symbol of  Muhammad Prophet, his daughter Fatimah Zahra and twelve imams. The word tulip ‘ Lale’ indicates 66 (lam2=60, alif=1, ha=5=66 ). Lale is the symbol of the word ‘ALLAH’. There are many symbols Vazeh’s literary activity. They are not unfaithfulness, but spiritual purity.

Till 1840, Mirza Shafi worked as a teacher in Tiflis gymnasium. The lessons were conducted in Azerbaijani and Persian in Caucasus. That’s why the students needed books and manuals written in these languages.

A.Bakikhanov composed ‘ Ganuni- Gudsi’ for teaching Persian. There wasn’t any manuals for learning Azerbaijani. For this reason, Mirza Shafi compiled a potpourri with the help of  Ivan Grigoriyev who was the student of Mirz Kazim bey. The dictionary of  potpourri was ready in January, 1851 and the potpourri itself  in April.

The whole form of the first variant was published in 1856 and was sent to the Ministry of  Education. Some professors made negative references.

The potpourri was divided into three parts. The first part consists of the articles translated from Persian and Arabian sources. The second part consists of patterns   from different books, such as ‘ Darbandname’, ‘Karabakhname’. There are many poems in the third part. This potpourri was the first manual written in Azerbaijani. After Vazeh, M.A.Vazirov, S.A.Shirvani, R.Afandiyev continued this tradition.

In 1964 Orientalist Hamid Mammadzadeh investigated  Mirza Shafi’s handwriting while working in the Academy of Sciences in Georgia. There were many poems. Hamid Mammadzadeh informed about this. But the investigation is not enough.

There are many articles about Vazeh. In some of these articles Vazeh is praised as  the Azerbaijani poet and thinker, but in some of them  his creativity is denied. For example: Persian scholar Isa Kehabi wrote a dissertation in Koln, 1967, called ‘ The carols of Hafiz germanized by Bodenstedt’. Isa Kehabi does not accept Vazeh as a poet. In his opinion, he was not a poet at all. His profession was only a calligraphy. But the scholar forgets that  Azerbaijanians were known by the name of  Turk and Tatar. Isa Kehabi claims that, the tatar language was not taught in Tbilisi, though the tatar  language is one of the Turkish languages, but it is not spoken in the Caucasus. At the same time, the tatar language is not considered a civilized language. For this reason, it was not important to learn this language. This idea shows that Isa Kehabi didn’t like Azerbaijanians. The 220th birthday anniversary of the prominent poet and enlightener Mirza Shafi Vazeh will be celebrated in Azerbaijan.