Mirza Shafi Vazeh (; ; died 16 November 1852) was an Azerbaijani poet and teacher. Under the pseudonym "Vazeh", which means "expressive, clear", he wrote in both Azerbaijani and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, developing the traditions of poetry in both languages. He compiled the first

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

Azerbaijani poetry Azerbaijani literature (, ) is written in Azerbaijani language, Azerbaijani, a Turkic language, which is the official state language of the Republic of Azerbaijan, where the North Azerbaijani Variety (linguistics), variety is spoken. It is a ...

and a Tatar-Russian dictionary for the

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

gymnasium with

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

teacher Ivan Grigoriev. He wrote multiple ''

ghazals ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

'', ''

mukhammas Mukhammas (Arabic مخمس 'fivefold') refers to a type of Persian or Urdu cinquain or pentastich with Sufi connections based on a pentameter. And have five lines in each paragraph. It is one of the more popular verse forms in Tajik Badakhshan, oc ...

es,'' '' mathnawis'' and '' rubais''. His poems are mostly intimate, lyrical and satirical. The main theme of Vazeh's works is the glorification of romantic love and the joy of life, but in some of his poems, he denounces the vices of

feudal society Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring societ ...

and opposes slavery and

religious fanaticism Religious fanaticism or religious extremism is a pejorative designation used to indicate uncritical zeal or obsessive enthusiasm that is related to one's own, or one's group's, devotion to a religion – a form of human fanaticism that cou ...

. The German poet

Friedrich von Bodenstedt Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt (22 April 1819 – 19 April 1892) was a German author. Biography Bodenstedt was born in Peine in the Kingdom of Hanover. He was trained as a merchant in Braunschweig and studied in Göttingen, Munich and Berlin. R ...

, who took oriental language lessons from Vazeh, published translations of Vazeh's poems in his book ''A Thousand and One Days in the East'' in 1850. Bodenstedt's book, titled ''Songs of Mirza Shafi'', was published in 1851.

Life

Birth date

Mirza Shafi Sadykh oglu was born at the turn of the 18th–19th centuries in

Ganja ''Ganja'' (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for cannabis flower, specifically marijuana or hashish. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi (, IPA: �aːɲd͡ʒa� ...

. The exact date of his birth is disputed. Soviet-era encyclopedias such as the ''

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

'', the ''

Concise Literary Encyclopedia The ''Concise Literary Encyclopedia'' () was a Soviet encyclopedia of literature published in nine volumes between 1962 and 1978. The main 8 volumes were published in 1962–1975, the additional 9th volume in 1978. In the encyclopaedia more than 1 ...

'' and the '' Philosophical Encyclopedia'' state that Mirza Shafi was born in 1796, but a number of authors write that he was born in 1794. According to

Willem Floor Willem Marius Floor (born 1942) is a Dutch historian, writer, and Iranologist. He was born in 1942 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. After finishing high school, he attended the University of Utrecht where he studied economics, non-Western sociology, a ...

and Hasan Javadi in ''The Heavenly Rose-garden: A History of Shirvan & Daghestan, by Abbas Qoli Aqa Bakikhanov'', Vazeh was born in 1792. According to the orientalist

Adolf Berge Adolf Pyetrovich Berzhe (also spelled Bergé; rus, Адо́льф Петро́вич Берже́, p=ɐdəlʲf pʲɪtrəvʲɪd͡ʑ bʲɪrˈʐɛ; – ) was an Imperial Russian bureaucrat and an Orientalist historian, with principal interests ...

, he saw Mirza Shafi Vazeh, whom he described as "a modest, about 60-year-old Tatar" in the streets of

in 1851. This would suggest the poet was born before 1800. Archival documents contain completely different information. In the "Official List of Service for 1845" () it is written that Mirza Shafi is 40 years old. This would mean Vazeh was born in 1805. At the same time, in the "Official List of Service for 1852" (), it is written that he is 45 years old, indicating that he was born in 1807. According to orientalist Ivan Yenikolopov, the most trustworthy source is the "Official List of Service for 1845" which was approved by Mirza Shafi's commander-in-chief, A.K. Monastyrski.

Early life

Mirza Shafi's father was Sadykh Kerbalayi, more commonly known as Usta Sadykh, who served as an architect for

Javad Khan Javad Khan (); 1748 – 1804) was a member of Ziyadoghlu Qajar, a clan of the Qajars (tribe), Qajar tribe, as well as the sixth and the last Khan (title), khan of the Ganja Khanate from 1786 to 1804 before it was lost to Russian Empire, Russia. ...

, the last khan of the Ganja Khanate. The poet's elder brother, Abdul-Ali, became an architect like his father. Mirza Shafi was born in the years of the

Russian conquest of the Caucasus The Russian conquest of the Caucasus mainly occurred between 1800 and 1864. The Russian Empire sought to control the region between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. South of the mountains was the territory that is modern Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georg ...

. In 1804, Russian forces besieged and eventually captured Mirza Shafi's hometown, Ganja. After its fall, General

Pavel Tsitsianov Prince Pavel Dmitriyevich Tsitsianov (; –) was an Imperial Russian general of Georgian noble origin who played a prominent role in the Russian conquest of the South Caucasus. He served as the Russian Commander-in-chief in the Caucasus from 18 ...

renamed Ganja ''Elisabethpol'' (in honour of Russian empress Elizabeth Alexeievna) and integrated the khanate's territory as part of the

Georgia Governorate The Georgian Governorate (; ka, საქართველოს გუბერნია) was one of the '' guberniyas'' of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. Its capital was Tiflis (Tbilisi). It was divided into uyezds of Gor ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. Mirza Shafi's family was seriously affected by these events as his father lost his income. Orientalist Adolf Berge, citing

Mirza Fatali Akhundov Mirza Fatali Akhundov, also known as Mirza Fatali Akhundzade, or Mirza Fath-Ali Akhundzadeh (12 July 1812 – 9 March 1878), was a celebrated Iranian Azerbaijanis, Iranian Azerbaijani His father's death date is unknown, though literary critic Aliadjar Seidzade argues he died in early 1805. Mirza Shafi's father's bankruptcy is confirmed by a letter sent from a poet by the name of Shakir to poet

Gasim bey Zakir Gasim bey Ali bey oglu, better known by his pen name ''Zakir'' (; died 1857) was an Azerbaijani people, Azerbaijani poet of the 19th century and one of the founders of the critical realism and satirical genre in Azerbaijani literature. He is consi ...

, in which Sadykh from Ganja (Mirza Shafi's father), along with a certain Haji-Qurban, are mentioned as being rich men, who became completely impoverished. According to historian

Mikhail Semevsky Mikhail Ivanovich Semevsky (Russian: Михаил Иванович Семевский; 1837–92) was a Russian Imperial amateur historian who focused on the era of palace revolutions, and the history of the 18th century Russia. Of noble birth, ...

, Mirza Shafi was "a kind, simple man who was Tatar by origin, and Persian by upbringing".

Education

Shafi's interest in books and science was evident from an early age. Because of this, his father sent him to the

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

at the Shah Abbas Mosque in Ganja. His father wanted him to become a

mullah Mullah () is an honorific title for Islam, Muslim clergy and mosque Imam, leaders. The term is widely used in Iran and Afghanistan and is also used for a person who has higher education in Islamic theology and Sharia, sharia law. The title h ...

. Shafi's interests and abilities grew at the madrasa, where he learned Persian and

Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and was taught

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

. Adolf Berge wrote in an article published in the journal ''Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft'': Shafi did not want to become a mullah but wanted to learn literature and different languages instead. As his father was alive, Shafi did not want to go against his wishes. He continued his education in the madrasa until his father's death. At the time of his father's death, while Shafi was still studying in the madrasa, Haji Abdullah returned from

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

to Ganja. According to Adolf Berje, Haji Abdullah was "of remarkable spiritual qualities and high morality". He played a significant role in shaping Shafi's personality. According to Adolf Berge, Haji Abdullah was born in Ganja and went to Tabriz to engage in trade. In

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, he visited holy places and made a pilgrimage to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

. Later, he lived in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

for some time where he met a

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...

named Seid Sattar, who taught him about

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

. After returning to Ganja, Haji Abdullah argued constantly with the local mullahs and ''

akhoond Akhund () is a Persian title or surname for Islamic scholars, common in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Azerbaijan. Other names for similar Muslim Scholar include Sheikh and Mullah. The Standard Chinese word for Imam ...

s'' (Muslim clerics) of the Shah Abbas mosque, trying to prove the inconsistency and absurdity of religious prejudices and superstitions. Because of this, he made enemies of most of the local clergy. Haji Abdullah enlightened Shafi. Seeing the change in Shafi's mindset, the madrasa's mullahs refused to continue teaching him. After this, Shafi was forced to leave the madrasa and from this point, according to Berge, the development of Shafi's complete contempt for the clergy began. In his arguments with the mullahs, Shafi supported Haji Abdullah, who, according to Aliadjar Seizade, adopted him.

Teaching in Tiflis

In the 1830s to the 1840s, Mirza Shafi earned money working as a servant for wealthy people. In Elisabethpol, he also taught oriental languages and calligraphy. Shafi moved to Tiflis in 1840, where he became a teacher. There he established close ties with other prominent figures like

Khachatur Abovian Khachatur Abovian (; disappeared ) was an Armenian polymath, educator, scientist, philosopher, writer, poet and an advocate of modernization.Panossian, p. 143. He mysteriously vanished in 1848 and was eventually presumed dead. Reputed as the fat ...

Abbasgulu Bakikhanov Abbasgulu agha Bakikhanov () (, – January 1847), Abbas Qoli Bakikhanov, or Abbas-Qoli ibn Mirza Mohammad (Taghi) Khan Badkubi was an Azerbaijani writer, historian, journalist, linguist, poet and philosopher. He was son of the third khan of Baku ...

and

Mirza Fatali Akhundov Mirza Fatali Akhundov, also known as Mirza Fatali Akhundzade, or Mirza Fath-Ali Akhundzadeh (12 July 1812 – 9 March 1878), was a celebrated Iranian Azerbaijanis, Iranian Azerbaijani who was also his student. He moved back to Elisabethpol in 1846 and continued to work as a teacher and write poetry until 1850 when he moved back to Tiflis. He began working in the Tiflis Gymnasium and taught the Persian and Azerbaijani languages.

Vazeh and Bodenstedt

In 1844, the German writer and orientalist

, who showed a great interest in the life of the Caucasus and wished to take lessons in oriental languages, came to Tiflis. Soon after his arrival there he met Shafi, who taught him the Azerbaijani and Persian languages. Bodenstedt left Tiflis in 1848, taking with him a notebook of poems by Mirza Shafi entitled ''The Key of Wisdom''. In 1850, he published a voluminous book called ''A Thousand and One Days in the East'', part of which included works by Shafi. He compiled another book called ''Songs of Mirza-Shafi'' which consisted of his translations of Shafi's poems. Twenty years after Shafi's death, Bodenstedt published a book titled ''From the Heritage of Mirza Shafi'', in which he claimed that the poems were not translations from Mirza Shafi but were his own work. Nevertheless, the originals in Persian and Azerbaijani languages have survived to this day, proving the authorship of Mirza Shafi.

Death

According to the historian Mikhail Semevsky, Adolf Berge met "a modest, about 60-year-old Tatar" who was a teacher in one of the Muslim schools. It was Mirza Shafi Vazeh. When Berge looked for him the following year in order to get to know him, Shafi had died. Berge wrote in his notes that Shafi had died from

gastritis Gastritis is the inflammation of the lining of the stomach. It may occur as a short episode or may be of a long duration. There may be no symptoms but, when symptoms are present, the most common is upper abdominal pain (see dyspepsia). Othe ...

on the night of 16 November 1852. The day of Vazeh's death was marked by a note in the Acts of the Caucasian Archaeological Commission and the poet was buried in the Muslim cemetery in Tiflis (now known as the Pantheon of prominent Azerbaijanis).

Literary activity

The main theme of Shafi's works was the glorification of romantic love and the joy of life, but in some of his poems he denounced the vices of

, opposed slavery and

. He compiled the first

and a Tatar-Russian dictionary for the Tiflis gymnasium with

teacher Ivan Grigoriev. Until the 1960s, it was believed that the literary legacy of Mirza Shafi Vazeh had been passed on only in the form of translations and that the originals of his poems were lost. In the 31 January 1963 issue of ''

Literaturnaya Gazeta ''Literaturnaya Gazeta'' (, ''Literary Gazette'') is a weekly cultural and political newspaper published in Russia and the Soviet Union. It was published for two periods in the 19th century, and was revived in 1929. Overview The current newspa ...

'', it was reported that the originals of Mirza Shafi's poems in Azerbaijani and Persian had been found. Only a few of his works have survived, most were translated by Naum Grebnev and Bodenstedt from Azerbaijani and Persian and were included in the book ''Vazeh. M.-Sh. Lyrica''. Bodenstedt cited one characteristic of Shafi—his dislike of printed books. According to the poet, "real professors do not need printing". Shafi himself was an excellent calligrapher. Bodenstedt writes: In his memoirs, Mirza Fatali Akhundov wrote that Vazeh "had the art of writing in beautiful handwriting, known by the name ''nastaliq''". Bodenstedt translated and spread the works of Vazeh. In 1850, he published the book ''A Thousand and One Days in the East'' in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, where he included some of Vazeh's poems. A year later, they were published separately in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in German under the title ''Songs of Mirza Shafi''. These poems became so popular that they were reissued every year and translated into many languages. The ''Songs of Mirza Shafi'' was first translated into Russian by N. I. Eifert. In 1880, he wrote: ''The Songs of Mirza Shafi'', which have already survived up to 60 editions, is one of the most beloved works of modern poetry in Germany." They have been translated into English, French, Italian, Persian, Hungarian, Czech, Swedish, Dutch, Flemish, Danish, Spanish, Portuguese, most Slavic languages and Hebrew. The translation into Italian was done by

Giacomo Rossi Giacomo Rossi was an Italian poet, translator and librettist who settled in London early in the 18th century and wrote librettos for George Frideric Handel, between 1710 and 1729. According to Rossi '' Rinaldo'' was written by Handel in a fortn ...

. Russian poet

Mikhail Larionovitch Mikhailov Mikhail Larionovitch Mikhailov () (16 January 1829 – 15 August 1865) was a Russian author. Biography He was educated at Saint Petersburg and engaged in literary pursuits as a translator, journalist and writer of fiction. His political sympathie ...

translated Shafi's poems into Russian. Shafi's poems also came to the attention of

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

, who told

Afanasy Fet Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet ( rus, Афана́сий Афана́сьевич Фет, p=ɐfɐˈnasʲɪj ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈfʲɛt, a=Ru-Afanasiy Afanas'yevich Fyet.oga), later known as Shenshin ( rus, Шенши́н, p=ʂɨnˈʂɨn, a=Ru-Afa ...

in 1880 that they had made a deep impression him. Research into Shafi's writings is far from complete and continues in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

to this day.

Legacy

Mirza Shafi's works and personality continued to influence Azerbaijani literature after his death. He became the inspiration of the Haji Nuri character in Mirza Fatali Akhundov's play, ''Hekayat-e Molla Ebrahim Khalil kimiagar''. There are several streets, schools and parks named in his honour, such as the "Mirza Shafi" streets in Tbilisi and Baku, the No.16 middle school and the "Shafi" park in Ganja. In 2010, a memorial plaque was installed for Bodenstedt and Vazeh in Bodenstedt's hometown,

Peine Peine (; Eastphalian: ''Paane'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, capital of the district Peine. It is situated on the river Fuhse and the Mittellandkanal, approximately west of Braunschweig, northeast of Hildesheim, and east of Hanover ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Similarly, a bust was erected in Ganja in honour of Shafi. Transfer of the works of Mirza Shafi from Germany to Ganja began in 2014 and a museum dedicated to him was opened in Ganja in November 2017. File:Cümə Məscidi, İçəri Şəhər, Bakı.jpg, Mirza Shafi Street in Baku File:Mirzə Şəfi Vazeh Muzeyi.jpg, Mirza Shafi Vazeh museum in Ganja

Notes

References

External links

Biography of Mirza-Shafi Vazeh

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vazeh, Mirza Shafi Persian-language poets Year of birth uncertain 1852 deaths Writers from Ganja, Azerbaijan 19th-century Azerbaijani poets Poets from the Russian Empire Burials at Pantheon of prominent Azerbaijanis Muslims from the Russian Empire