Abai is a great
poet
Abai Kunanbaev Biography
Kazakh writer, poet, lyricist, social philosopher. He was born on
August in Semeipalatinsk region on the slopes of chingistau
mountains, near the source of the Kaskabulak. Intitally, the poet
was given the name Ibrahim. The say that poet of that name was
preceded by a prophetic dream of his father – Kunanbaja. In a dream
he saw a great representative of the tribe tobikti – thinker and
philosopher Annette Baba, who pronounced the name of the Holy son
Ibrahim.
Abay was born in what is today
the selo of Karauyl, in Abay District, East Kazakhstan Province;
the son of Qunanbay and Uljan, Qunanbay’s second wife, they named
him Ibrahim, but because of his brightness, he soon was given the
nickname «Abay» (meaning «careful»), a name that stuck for the rest
of his life. His father’s economic status enabled the boy to attend
a Russian school in his youth, but only after he had already spent
some years studying at a madrasah under Mullah Ahmet Ryza. At his
school in Semipalatinsk, Abay encountered the writings of Mikhail
Lermontov and Alexander
Pushkin.
Abay’s main contribution to
Kazakh culture and folklore lies in his poetry, which expresses
great nationalism and grew out of Kazakh folk culture. Before him,
most Kazakh poetry was oral, echoing the nomadic habits of the
people of the Kazakh steppes. During Abay’s lifetime, however, a
number of important socio-political and socio-economic changes
occurred. Russian influence continued to grow in Kazakhstan,
resulting in greater educational possibilities as well as exposure
to a number of different philosophies, whether Russian, Western or
Asian. Abay Qunanbayuli steeped himself in the cultural and
philosophical history of these newly opened geographies. In this
sense, Abay’s creative poetry affected the philosophical thinking
of educated Kazakhs.
The leaders of the Alash Orda
movement saw him as their inspiration and spiritual predecessor.
Contemporary Kazakh images of Abay generally depict him in full
traditional dress holding a dombra (the Kazakh national
instrument). Today, Kazakhs revere Abay as one of the first folk
heroes to enter into the national consciousness of his people.
Almaty State University is named after Abay, so is one of the main
avenues in the city of Almaty. There also public schools with his
name.
Among Abay’s students was his
nephew, a historian, philosopher, and poet Shakarim Qudayberdiuli
(1858– 1931). Statues of him have been erected in many cities of
Kazakhstan, as well as in Moscow. A film on the life of Abay was
made by Kazakhfilm in 1995, titled Abai. He is also the subject of
two novels and an opera by Mukhtar Auezov, another Kazakhstani
writer. Another film describing his father’s life was made in
December 2015, titled
«Qunanbai».
Abay also translated into
Kazakh the works of Russian and European authors, mostly for the
first time. Translations made by him include poems by Mikhail
Lermontov, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Lord Byron, Ivan Krylov’s
Fables and Alexander Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin. Abay’s major work is
The Book of Words (Kazakh: ара
с здеріқ ө
, Qara sözderi ), a
philosophic treatise and collection of poems where he encourages
his fellow Kazakhs to embrace education, literacy, and good moral
character in order to escape poverty, enslavement and corruption.
In Word Twenty Five, he discusses the importance of Russian
culture, as a way for Kazakhs to be exposed to the world’s cultural
treasures.Born into this world, an infant inherits two essential
needs. The first is for meat, drink and sleep. These are the
requirements of the flesh, without which the body cannot be the
house of the soul and will not grow in height and strength. The
other is a craving for knowledge. A baby will grasp at brightly
colored objects, it will put them in its mouth, taste them and
press them against its cheek. It will start at the sound of a pipe.
Later, when a child hears the barking of a dog, the noises of
animals, the laughter or weeping of people, it gets excited and
asks about all that it sees and hears: «What’s that? What’s that
for? Why is he doing that? » This is but the natural desire of the
soul, the wish to see everything, hear everything and learn
everything. Without trying to fathom the mysteries of the universe,
visible and invisible, without seeking an explanation for
everything, one can never be what one should be — a human being.
Otherwise, the spiritual life of a person will not differ from the
existence of any other living creature. From the very beginning God
separated man from beast by breathing the soul into him. Why then,
on growing up and gaining in wisdom, do we not seek to gratify our
curiosity, which in childhood made us forget about food and sleep?
Why do we not tread in the path of those who seek knowledge?There
are more than two thousand million people living on earth now, they
say. We, Kazakhs, number more than two million. The Kazakhs are
unlike any other people in their desire for wealth and in their
quest for knowledge, in their appreciation of art, in showing their
friendliness and strength, and in boasting or enmity. We fight with
each other, we ruin each other and spy on each other before our
neighbor has time to blink. The world has cities with a population
above three million. There are people who have traveled three times
round the world. Shall we, indeed, continue to live like this,
lying in wait for one another, remaining the meanest people on
earth? Or shall we see happier days when people forget theft,
deception, backbiting and enmity, and turn their minds to knowledge
and crafts, when they learn to obtain their wealth in honest ways?
I doubt if such days will ever come. Nowadays, two hundred people
hanker after a hundred head of
livestock.
Anyone who plans on teaching
and reforming the Kazakh must possess two advantages. First of all,
he must wield great power and immense influence that would enable
him to inspire fear in adults and take away their sons to send them
to school, where they would be guided along different paths of
knowledge, with the parents shouldering the expenses. It would
suffice if girls were taught Islam so as to make at least strong in
their religion. In that case, when parents, growing feeble with
age, abandoned their regular pursuits, the younger generation would
embark on the right path. Second, he must possess enormous riches,
so as to bribe parents into sending their children to school, as we
have just said. Yet no one has sufficient power to inspire fear
amongst the people of today. And no one has enough wealth to win
over all parents. It is impossible to persuade the Kazakh, convince
him of something, unless you frighten or bribe him. The ignorance
inherited from his forefathers and imbibed with his mother’s milk
has reached his marrow and killed all humanity in him. Such people,
when they get together, can think of nothing better to do than make
strange grimaces and behave affectedly, whisper and throw out
ambiguous hints. Even if they try to think, they are incapable of
concentrating on one idea. If you talk to them, they can’t even
listen to you attentively; their eyes glance here and their
thoughts wander off. However shall we live? What will become of us?
Word Forty-One.
Writings Abai devoted many of
his works to the violence of Kazakh labour rights e. g. «Oh my
Kazakh! My poor people!». Number of works were devoted to youth:
«Our children», «Only youth — happy flower of life». And a real
treasure is his poems expressing his feelings and love to the
nature of his land: «Autumn», «Winter“ , “Fall” and etc. As a
gifted interpreter Abai gave Kazakh people to enjoy the pearls of
russian classic literature. During 15 years he translated more th a
n 50 works of russian writers like Pushkin, Lermontov, Krylov etc.
Abai’s literary legacy also includes a number of ballads dedicated
to eastern and western themes. Among these fictional pieces like
«Mas’ud» (1887) and «Alexander,
«
Kunanbaev’s works were
influenced by his belief in human reason. He was attracted to
Western Enlightenment thinking and wove criticism of Kazakh culture
into his works, most notably in his collection of poems called
Qarasozder (often translated as the Book of Words). Despite the
fact that many years have passed, several generations have changed
since Abai times, “Book of Words” is actual today as never before,
it is our reference point in life. This book includes different
topics – Kazakhstan history, love for fatherland, culture, people’s
psychology and philosophy of
life.
In his amazing Book of Words
the poet expressed his reflections over a period of years, his
searching and discoveries, anxiety and despair, sorrows and joy of
revelations, anger and humility. His Book of Words is a deeply
meaningful way to truth. The poet tirelessly reminds that humans
have the greatest value in the world, and that they should be
beautiful and harmoniously perfect. Their souls should also be
beautiful, as should their mind, body and feelings. Understanding
of the real world and the personal responsibility of everyone in
the world – this is what the great poet worked for his art and
life. Abai explains that the world is eternal, united and
harmonious. Discord, anguish, even death cannot destroy the
harmony, for they are
natural.
Nine years passed before Abay
wrote forty-five “Words-talks”, and expressed in them innermost
thoughts, aspirations, mournful complaints indifferent to the
poet’s voice contemporaries. “Life is lived – I argued, fought,
judged, having only troubles and exhausted on them, tired and
convinced in aimlessness of everything done”.
Thinker Abai for almost two centuries is
admired by different generations of people with the depth of his
thoughts and the brightness of the language. Today Abai's works
inspire Kazakhstanis to serve their Fatherland, support the desire
for education, knowledge, and the development of nations through
culture.