Classical (mumtoz) literature is the Turkic poetry, mostly in the aruz metre, and traditional prose created from the 11th to the end of the 19th century. It is a coherent tradition with its own genres (ghazal, rubai, tuyuq, doston), a system of symbols (the cypress for a slender figure, the rose for a face, the nightingale for the lover) and literary devices. Its summit is the work of Alisher Navoi, and one of his most brilliant successors is Zahiriddin Muhammad Babur. Knowing classical literature matters not only for the exam but also for understanding the roots of the Uzbek literary language. Exam questions cover the make-up of works (e.g. the poems of the «Xamsa»), dates, characters and the meaning of couplets.
§1. Roots: the period before Navoi
Navoi did not appear from nowhere: Turkic literature had already travelled a road of several centuries.
Yusuf Khas Hajib — «Qutadg‘u bilig» ("Knowledge that Brings Happiness", 1069–1070), a didactic poem on statecraft and morals; its characters are symbolic: the ruler stands for justice, the vizier for fortune, the vizier’s son for reason, the hermit for contentment.
Mahmud Kashgari — «Devonu lug‘otit turk», a dictionary of Turkic words that preserves samples of folk songs and proverbs.
Ahmad Yassawi — «Devoni hikmat»: Sufi poems (hikmats) in language ordinary people understood.
Ahmad Yugnaki — «Hibat ul-haqoyiq» ("The Gift of Truths"), a didactic work on knowledge, generosity and the ethics of speech.
Rabghuzi — «Qisasi Rabg‘uziy», stories of the prophets in mixed prose and verse.
14th–15th centuries: Lutfiy (the poem «Gul va Navro‘z» and ghazals; Navoi called him malik ul-kalom, "king of the word"), Sakkokiy, Atoiy, Durbek («Yusuf va Zulayho»).
The basic law of classical literature is tradition and innovation: a poet continues the themes and symbols of predecessors but gives them new meaning.
§2. Alisher Navoi (1441–1501)
Born on 9 February 1441 in Herat, died on 3 January 1501.
Schoolmate and friend of Sultan Husayn Bayqara; served as keeper of the seal (muhrdor) and vizier, later receiving the title "Muqarrabi hazrati sultoniy" (the sultan’s closest confidant).
Pen names: Navoiy (Turkic poems), Foniy (Persian poems).
A patron who built madrasas, hospitals and caravanserais.
Navoi’s central idea is humanism: Odamiy ersang, demagil odami, / Onikim yo‘q xalq g‘amidin g‘ami.
§3. Navoi’s works
«Xamsa» (Khamsa, "Quintet", 1483–1485) — five epic poems; the first Khamsa in Turkic (the very first Khamsa was in Persian, by Nizami Ganjavi):
«Hayrat ul-abror» ("Wonder of the Righteous") — philosophical-didactic, 20 discourses (maqolat).
«Farhod va Shirin» — Farhod (son of the Chinese khagan), Shirin (niece of the Armenian queen Mehinbonu), Xusrav (the Iranian shah), Shopur (Farhod’s friend, a painter).
«Layli va Majnun» — Qays (Majnun), Layli, Navfal, Ibn Salom.
«Sab’ai sayyor» ("Seven Planets") — Bahrom and Dilorom; seven palaces and seven stories.
«Saddi Iskandariy» ("Wall of Alexander") — the ideal ruler Iskandar and his teacher Aristotle (Arastu).
«Xazoyin ul-maoniy» ("Treasury of Thoughts") — four divans matching the four seasons of life: «G‘aroyib us-sig‘ar» (Wonders of Childhood), «Navodir ush-shabob» (Rarities of Youth), «Badoyi’ ul-vasat» (Beauties of Middle Age), «Favoyid ul-kibar» (Benefits of Old Age).
Other works: «Lison ut-tayr» ("Language of the Birds") — a Sufi poem; «Mahbub ul-qulub» ("Beloved of Hearts") — didactic prose; «Majolis un-nafois» — a tazkira (anthology) of poets; «Muhokamat ul-lug‘atayn» ("Judgement of Two Languages", 1499) — argues that Turkic is not inferior to Persian; «Mezon ul-avzon» — on aruz; «Devoni Foniy» — his Persian divan.
Worked example
Odamiy ersang, demagil odami, / Onikim yo‘q xalq g‘amidin g‘ami. — analyse the couplet.
Meaning: "If you are human, do not call human the one who does not grieve for the people’s sorrow."
Form: the two lines rhyme with each other (odami — g‘ami) — a couplet in masnaviy form.
Device: the repetition odamiy — odami (wordplay close to tajnis) strengthens the thought.
Idea: the measure of humanity is caring about the people’s suffering — the best-known expression of Navoi’s humanism.
Analysing «Farhod va Shirin»
Farhod — the ideal hero: learned and skilled (stonecutter, builder), hard-working, faithful in love, digs a canal for the people.
Xusrav — an aggressive shah; he tries to take Shirin by force and, when defeated, resorts to trickery.
Resolution — an old woman sent by Xusrav brings Farhod false news of Shirin’s death, and Farhod dies; later Shirin dies at his grave.
Idea: true love, work and knowledge make a person great; tyranny and deceit are condemned.
§4. Zahiriddin Muhammad Babur (1483–1530)
Born on 14 February 1483 in Andijan, son of Umarshaykh Mirzo; ascended the throne of Fergana at 12.
After hard struggles in Mavarannahr he went to Kabul and then to India; after the battle of Panipat (1526) he founded the Baburid (Mughal) dynasty. He died in Agra in 1530.
Works: «Boburnoma» — a historical memoir (autobiography, history, geography, nature, portraits of people), translated into many languages; a lyric divan (ghazals, rubais, tuyuqs); «Mubayyin» — a verse treatise on Islamic law; «Aruz risolasi» (treatise on aruz); «Xatti Boburiy» — a script he created.
The main motif of his lyrics is longing for the homeland and the pain of exile.
Worked example
Tole’ yo‘qi jonimg‘a balolig‘ bo‘ldi, / Har ishniki ayladim, xatolig‘ bo‘ldi. / O‘z yerni qo‘yib Hind sori yuzlandim, / Yo Rab, netayin, ne yuz qarolig‘ bo‘ldi. — identify the form and idea.
Four lines rhyming a-a-b-a (balolig‘ — xatolig‘ — qarolig‘) with the radif bo‘ldi → a rubai.
The rhyme words are not homonyms → it is not a tuyuq.
The lyrical hero is Babur himself: misfortune and the bitterness of leaving his land and turning towards India.
Idea: longing for the homeland and the grief of fate.
§5. Classical literature of the 17th–19th centuries
Boborahim Mashrab — singer of love and freedom, Sufi and rebellious ghazals; from Namangan.
Turdi Farog‘iy — social criticism, a call for unity; So‘fi Olloyor — «Sabot ul-ojizin»; Huvaydo.
The Kokand literary circle: Nodira (1792–1842), who also wrote as Komila; Uvaysiy; Amiriy (Umar Khan).
Khorezm: Munis — historian, «Firdavs ul-iqbol»; Ogahiy (1809–1874) — poet, historian and translator of many works.
In the work of late 19th-century poets new themes appear — science, a new way of life, social injustice. That is why Muqimiy and Furqat are seen as a bridge between classical and Jadid literature: the form is classical (aruz, ghazal, mukhammas), while the content is close to the new age.
§6. Genres and forms of classical poetry
Ghazal — a lyric poem usually of 5–15 couplets; the first couplet is the matla’, the last one (containing the pen name) is the maqta’; the rhyme scheme is a-a, b-a, c-a....
Rubai — a philosophical-lyrical quatrain rhyming a-a-b-a (or a-a-a-a), written in special rubai metres.
Tuyuq — a quatrain whose rhymes are homonyms (tajnis — words identical in form), found only in Turkic literature.
Masnaviy — a form in which the two lines of each couplet rhyme (a-a, b-b, c-c); dostons are written in it.
Mukhammas — stanzas of five lines; often written as a takhmis on another poet’s ghazal (three lines added to each couplet).
Qit’a, fard, musaddas, tarje’band — other forms.
Ghazal: matla’ (first couplet) → maqta’ (last couplet with the pen name). Tuyuq = rubai form + homonymic rhyme.
Worked example
A quatrain rhymes the words «yoz» (summer), «yoz» (to write) and «yoz» (to spread out). Which genre is it?
There are four lines, so it could be a rubai or a tuyuq.
The rhyming words are identical in form but different in meaning — this is tajnis.
Homonymic rhyme is the defining feature of the tuyuq.
Answer: tuyuq.
Check yourself
Which poem is second in the «Xamsa»?
Which divan of «Xazoyin ul-maoniy» belongs to old age?
Which work by Navoi proves the richness of Turkic?
To what genre does «Boburnoma» belong?
Which pen name did Navoi use for his Persian poems?
Who wrote the satire «Tanobchilar»?
Who wrote «Qutadg‘u bilig»?
What is the last couplet of a ghazal, containing the pen name, called?
Common mistakes
Getting the number or order of the «Xamsa» poems wrong (five: from «Hayrat ul-abror» to «Saddi Iskandariy»).
Attributing «Muhokamat ul-lug‘atayn» to Babur (it is Navoi’s).
Calling Navoi the author of the first Khamsa (the first was Nizami’s; Navoi’s is the first in Turkic).