Абай Құнанбаевтың 175 жылдығына арналған баяндама

This year people of Kazakhstan celebrate 175 year anniversary of great thinker Abay Qunanbayev. This year in honer to a poet every where is take places different competitions online, Abay reading online written competitions and others. That is why I decided to take part in online written competition. At school we have learned his biography, poems about nature, songs and Abay’s book of words. I like the 25^th word because he invited people to give knowledge to the children in any way to teach them to earn money. And now I will write about his biography.

Abai Qunanbayev (10 August 1845 – 6 July 1904) was a Kazakh poet, composer and philosopher. He was also a cultural reformer toward European and Russian cultures on the basis of enlightened Islam. His name is also transliterated as Abay Qunanbayev  among Kazakhs he is known as Abai. Abai was born in Karauyl village in Chingiz volost of Semipalatinsk uyezd of the Russian Empire this is now in Abay District of East Kazakhstan. He was the son of Qunanbai and Uljan, his father's second wife. They named him Ibrahim, as the family was Muslim, but he soon was given the nickname "Abai" (meaning "careful"), a name that stayed with him for the rest of his life. The boy first studied at a local madrasah under Mullah Ahmet Ryza. His father was wealthy enough to send Abai to a Russian secondary school in Semipalatinsk. There he read the writings of Mikhail Lermontov and Alexander Pushkin, which were influential to his own development as a writer. Moreover, he was fond of reading eastern poetry, including Shahname and 1000 and 1 night.

The heritage he left his nation is rich in songs and poems, translations and prose. His translations of the poetry written by Russian writers and poets such as Pushkin, Lermontov, and Krylov became the national patrimony of Kazakhstan. He translated the works of Schiller, Goethe, and Byron into Kazakh language.

«Kara Sozder» [Book of Words] (prose) created by the great thinker constitute an ethnic philosophical work. This creation of his is an exploration of Kazakh national life in the second half of the 19th century. He influenced social affairs in the country where he lived. He also participated in the governing of the country and played a certain role in trying to solve complicated problems justly.

The name of Abai is known worldwide just as Shakespeare, Goethe, and Pushkin are well-known in many countries, because his great words became a spiritual patrimony of not only one nation, but of the entire humankind.

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 are also public schools with his name. The Kazakh city of Abay is named after him. 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 by Mukhtar Auezov, another Kazakhstani writer. On May 9, 2012, following two days of protests in Moscow following Vladimir Putin's inauguration as President of the Russian Federation for the third term, protesters set up camp near the monument to Abai Qunanbaiuli on the Chistoprudny Boulevard in central Moscow, close to the embassy of Kazakhstan. The statue quickly became a reference point for the protest's participants. OccupyAbai was among the top ranking hash-tags in Twitter for several day thanks to Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny who set up a meeting with his followers next to Abai Kunanbayev’s monument in Moscow that he called "a monument to some unknown Kazakh". This spurred a wave of indignation among ethnic Kazakhs who highly esteem Abai. This also brought Abai's poetry into the top 10 AppStore downloads.
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, 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.

On 9 May 2012, after two days of protests in Moscow following Vladimir Putin's inauguration as President of the Russian Federation for the third term, protesters set up camp near the monument to Abai Qunanbaiuli on the Chistoprudny Boulevard in central Moscow, close to the embassy of Kazakhstan. The statue quickly became a reference point for the protest's participants. OccupyAbai was among the top ranking hash-tags in Twitter for several days thanks to Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny who set up a meeting with his followers next to Abai Qunanbaiuly's monument in Moscow that he called "a monument to some unknown Kazakh". This spurred a wave of indignation among ethnic Kazakhs who highly esteem Abai. This also brought Abai's poetry into the top 10 AppStore downloads.

Word twenty five

It would be good if Kazakh children could get an education. To begin with, it would be enough to teach them Turkic letters. Yet such is our irreligious land that before we send our children to school, we have to acquire wealth; besides, they ought to learn the Persian and the Arabic languages. But can those who are hungry keep a clear mind, care about honor and show diligence in learning? Poverty and quarrels within tribes and families breed thievery, violence and greed. If you have livestock, your belly will be full. A craving for knowledge and a craft will come next. Then people will start thinking about getting an education and teaching their children at least something.

One should learn to read and write Russian. The Russian language is a key to spiritual riches and knowledge, the arts and many other treasures. If we wish to avoid the vices of the Russians while adopting their achievements, we should learn their language and study their scholarship and science, for it was by learning foreign tongues and assimilating world culture that the Russians have become what they are. Russian opens our eyes to the world. By studying the language and culture of other nations, a person becomes their equal and will not need to make humble requests. Enlightenment is useful for religion as well.
He who lives his life fawning and cringing will be ready to sell his mother and father; he will sell his family, his faith and conscience for the sake of a condescending pat on the back from a superior. Some fellow will bow and scrape, not caring that he shows his bare behind, and all to win an approving smile from some official. Russian learning and culture are a key to the world heritage. He who owns this key will acquire the rest without too much effort.
Some of the Kazakhs who have their children taught in Russian schools will do so just so they can use their children's literacy as a proof of their own superiority when quarrelling with their kinsfolk. This should not be your motivation. Seek to teach your children to earn their bread by honest and purposeful work, and let other people follow your example; then we shall not endure the arbitrary ways of Russian grandees, for they have no law that applies equally to all. We ought to educate ourselves, learn what other people know so as to become their equals and be a shield and a pillar for our people. As yet no outstanding individuals have appeared among the young people who have received a Russian education, but this is because their parents and kin spoil them and lead them astray. Even so, they are far better than those who have received no education at all. Yet it is a pity that all their learning goes no further than interpreting other people's words. Well-to-do folks rarely send their children to school: they would rather send the children of paupers to be chastised and humiliated by Russian teachers. But what can these unfortunate ones learn there? Quarrelling with their kinsfolk, some will exclaim, 'Rather than suffer your insults, I'd send my son off as a recruit and let my hair and beard grow!' Such people have no fear of divine punishment or sense of shame. What will the offspring of such a person achieve even if he attends school? Will he derive much benefit from it? Will he go further than others? He doesn't give a rap for learning: he goes to school, sits for a while and then he goes away. Not a sign of eagerness or diligence! His father hardly agrees to his son getting an education unless someone else foots the bill. Will such a man part with his wealth for his child's schooling? Here's a piece of advice for you: you don't have to get a wife for your son or leave him ample wealth, but you must give him a Russian education without fail, even if you have to part with all have earned. This is worth any sacrifice. If you honor God and have any shame, if you want your son to be a real man, send him to school! Don't begrudge the expense. For if he remains an unlettered scoundrel, who will benefit? Will he be a solace to you? Will he be happy himself? And will he be able to do any good for his own people?

Poems

Nature. Abai used poetry to capture the atmosphere of the aul and the steppe during different times of the year. His cycle on the seasons is particularly remarkable as it deviates from typical perceptions of nature in other national literatures, giving Abai’s poetry an unmistakably Kazakh dimension. “Autumn” (1888), for example, emphasizes darkness and not the celebration of plentiful harvesting, whereas “Winter” reflects existential danger, conveying a unique attitude toward forces of nature that defines the life of Kazakhs for many months. In Abai’s poetic world, winter appears as a person, and it is not a friendly one:

His beetling eyebrows are knit in a frown. 
When he tosses his head — dismal snow starts to fall. 
Like a crazy old camel he acts in his rage, 
Rocking and shaking our yurt’s thin wall.

The horses in vain try to shatter the ice — 
The hungry herd scarcely shuffle their feet, 
Greedy wolves — winter’s henchmen — have their fangs; 
Watch, or disaster your flocks may meet!

Unlike winter poems in other national literatures, Abai’s points to this season’s deadly consequences for people and animals alike: neither is it associated with the glittering beauty of fresh snow, nor the purity of the blue winter sky, nor the vastness of white fields or the joys of sleighing, skiing, and skating. Instead, Abai shows all the dangers that winter brings. Metaphors, such as wolves acting as “winter’s greedy henchmen,” point to an impending doom, a darkly existential dimension of this season in the Kazakh people’s perception. It seems safe to say that in his nature poetry, Abai is the authentic voice of his nation: he expresses the emotions that he, just like every Kazakh, experiences in his interactions with the forces of life. For the inner tension of these poems it is essential that the auctorial voice is not that of an outside observer. Rather, he and his people are one, his viewpoint is theirs.

Love

Nature often serves as the backdrop for love and passion:

In the silent, luminous night 
On the water the moonbeams quiver. 
In the gully beyond the aul 
Tumultuous, roars the river.

The mountains respond in a choir 
To the shepherd dogs hidden from view. 
You come in a flowery dress 
To your midnight rendezvous.

At once both bold and meek 
Full of sweet girlish grace, 
You furtively look around, 
Blushes light up your face.

Not venturing even to speak 
With a soft half-sigh, half-groan 
On tip-toe you rise and press 
Your trembling lips to my own

In this poem, written in 1888, nature provides shelter, a hideout for the lovers. Human emotions live in harmony with the movements of the trees, the moon, and the river. In this and other love poems, passion is captured as an overwhelming, tormenting, but ultimately gratifying power. The erotic candor of Abai’s love poems is remarkable in itself, demonstrating how the poet fully embraces all aspects of love, including the physical.

Black of my eye
Frame of my mind
Drink never dry
Love of my Life
Parting is winter, your absence is sorrow
I wish to stay until the morrow
Between your fair arms
when the nightingale sings, 'Terrow'
The corners of your eyes
sparkle and they glisten
when you speak your solid words
everyone will listen
Black of my eye
Frame of my mind
Drink never dry
Love of my Life

Didacticism In his didactic poems, Abai takes on the role of a teacher of life who explains to his listener, or reader, the rules of which principles they are to follow and which to avoid. The generalizations of these poems appear quite authoritative. However, the arguments expressed to the listener/reader are not normative in the conventional sense, verbalizing officially sanctioned rules for life. Rather, they are derived from what Abai himself learned in life, such as in the following poem written in 1889:

When your mind is as keen and as cold as ice, 
When hot passions burn in your petulant heart, 
Both fiery passion and patient thought 
Must be ruled by the will, lest they stray apart.

What use is the mind without passion and will? 
For a thoughtless heart even midday is dark. 
Be able to keep all three in accord. 
Let your will make your heart to your reason hark.

The poetic form gives these conclusions a crisp shape but also makes it more persuasive in its didactic purpose.

The Mission of Poetry

In his poetry, Abai often asks himself: why do I use the poetic form in the first place? Who is my target audience? And he answers with a stringently formulated credo:

Not for amusement do I write my verse, 
Nor do I stuff it full of silly words. 
It’s for the young I write, for those 
Whose hearing is acute, whose senses are alert. 
Men who have vision and are quick to give response 
Will understand the message in my verse

Abai’s poem confirms his identity as a teacher of life, an identity he has acquired through many hard lessons. Being privy to hearing or reading his poetry is the right of those who are open to those lessons, to shared experiences; those who are eager for entertainment should look elsewhere.

Philosophy

Philosophical questions are at the center of several of Abai’s poems, addressing existential aspects of our life here on Earth and thereafter. One of these poems, written in 1895, begins with a seeming paradox: Nature may be mortal, but humans are not. For a Western reader educated in a rationalistic framework, this is a paradoxical statement, as the opposite seems to be true: human beings exist in the world for a limited time, while nature in its universality will always be there. But Abai’s worldview is rigorously anthropocentric⁸. The supremacy of humanity in the universe, the fundamental respect for human potential and accomplishments turns the relationship around: Nature is mortal, humans are immortal! Abai’s radical reversal of the conventional relationship between humanity and the universe is rarely found in Western poetry; it is hard to say whether this is a demonstration of the primacy of his religious views or whether Abai speaks strictly within a poetic paradigm. Conspicuously, his anthropocentrism has found a continuation in 20th-century Kazakh poetry, for example, in Suleimenov.

Maybe nature is mortal, but man is not. 
Though there is no coming back 
When he draws his last breath. 
The separation of I and Mine 
Only the ignorant regard as death.

This world and the other can’t both be loved. 
The divine and the earthly must be divorced. 
But a man’s no believer if he in his heart 
Loves this world all too much, and the other perforce

The Nation

Among the central themes in Abai’s poetry is his nation. The Kazakhs are his people, but who are they, what are their values? Whenever Abai ponders these questions, he is a stern judge; his directness in addressing national vices, as he sees them, is both awesome and terrifying.

Oh my luckless Kazakh, my unfortunate kin, 
An unkempt moustache hides your mouth and chin. 
Blood on your right cheek, fat on your left
When will the dawn of your reason begin?

Your looks are not bad and your numbers are vast, 
Yet why do you change your favors so fast? 
You will never listen to sound advice, 
Your tongue in its rashness is unsurpassed.

Kinsmen for trifle each other hate. 
God bereft them of reason — such is their fate. 
No honor, no harmony, only dissent
No wonder cattle is scarcer of late.

The sternness and directness with which Abai chastises his nation is astonishing; it is hard to think of other poets revered by their nations who would be able to express such critical sentiments. Indeed, there is no hopeful outlook softening his message – the only way the poet can talk to his people is in uncompromising moral certitude, with a candor that is almost merciless. The fact that the Kazakh nation nonetheless loves Abai reveals a willingness to put up with harsh words as long as they are perceived as truthful.

Autobiographical Motifs When Abai speaks about himself, his will to verbalize the experiences of his life with utmost honesty outweighs any other consideration. This is particularly true of a number of Abai’s poems that sum up the results of his life struggles, drawing a balance of what he has realized over the years. Such is the poem “It pains me now.”

It pains me now to realize that I have tinkered 
With nature’s gifts and lived my life in vain. 
I thought myself one of the rarest thinkers, 
But empty is my fame… Alas, I have no aim.

Inconstancy and idleness are our greatest banes. 
We put no faith in loyalty of friends. 
Our warmth of feeling all too quickly wanes, 
We cool too soon: a trifling hurt offends.

I have no one to love now, and no friend. 
In disillusionment I turned to writing verse. 
When I was sure in heart, how without end, 
How fascinating seemed the universe!

My soul craves friendship, seeks it daily, 
My heart is aching for it, and while I 
Have never known a friend who’d not betray me, 
I sing a hymn to friendship for all time!

It is this uncompromising honesty about himself that earned Abai the right to judge his own people with unrelenting candor. Abai harbored no illusions about humankind. He describes human behavior as dominated by greed, dishonesty, contempt for others, pride, and ignorance. But he insists that these same human beings, both as individuals and as a nation, are free to make moral choices. He knows human nature; he has observed it keenly and studied it deeply. He shares his insights, hard to accept though they may be, with those who are willing to accept harsh truths. These human beings can opt for the values that Abai holds dearly: education and knowledge, respect and decency, truth and honesty, peace and love. That is the message of Abai, Kazakhstan’s greatest thinker, an inconvenient sage. Because Abai’s poetry addresses such a wide array of themes, from nature and love to life, death, and the character flaws of the nation, it seems fair to say that Abai is a poet for all seasons. His universality, sensitivity, and truthfulness explain why Abai’s poetic legacy is alive and dear to Kazakh readers today.

In conclusion I want to write that we know all the poems, songs book of words, translations were translated to into different languages all over the world. Abay’s works took special place at teenager’s upbringing. Not only teenager’s also adults, people all over the world love his great works. He invites people to morality, to be hardworking honest, educated,. His great works will be immortal heritage for our people, for our future generation Abay in our heart forever!