Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

A poetry collection by the great Azerbaijani poet and thinker Nasimi has been published in Ukrainian.

The publication is a project of the Azerbaijan State Translation Centre (AzSTC) timed to the poet's 650th anniversary. The executive secretary of the project is Marina Goncharuk.

The book "I Have Set Myself on the Road of Truth" was published by Kyiv-based “Samit -Kniqa” publishing house.

The publication includes about 200 of the poet’s ghazals, tuyugs (a form of verse that the Turks brought to Divan poetry) and rubais, accompanied by commentaries on phrases difficult to understand.

Dmitro Chistyak, a notable Ukrainian poet and translator, is the author of the preface "Behind the Real Names".

The book presents previously prepared translations of the Azerbaijani poet Nasimi, on which Pavel Movchan, Nikolai Miroshnichenko, Stanislav Telnyuk worked.

New translations were prepared by the poet, translator, international secretary of the European Academy of Sciences, Arts and Literature Dmitry Chistyak.

When working on translations, the authors used interlinear translations from the Old Turkic language, which were prepared by a philologist, Ph.D. in pedagogical sciences, a leading specialist in literary translation of the State Pedagogical Center Pyust Akhundova.

The poetry collection was illustrated by talented artists Inna Sautina and Bogdan Rodyuk-Chekan.

In the near future, a presentation of the book is planned in Kyiv and other cities of the country.

Seyyid Imadeddin Nasimi was a great Azerbaijani poet and eminent figure in the poetry and philosophical thought of the Orient. He was the founder of the school of philosophical poetry in the Azerbaijani language.

The poet created myriads of works in Azerbaijani, Persian and Arabic. The poet wrote about 300 poems, including ghazals, gasidas ("lyrics"), and rubais (quatrains). Nasimi’s Turkic Divan is considered his most important work, which contains 250-300 ghazals and more than 150 rubais.

His poetry is rooted in the social, political and cultural development of the countries of the Near and Middle East, and especially of his homeland, Azerbaijan.

After his death, Nasimi's works continued to exercise a great influence on many Turkic language poets such as Fuzuli (1483–1556), Khatai (1487–1524).

In connection with the 650th anniversary of the great Azerbaijani poet, President Ilham Aliyev declared 2019 the Year of Nasimi. Numerous scientific institutions, cultural centers, institutions and organizations are holding a series of events dedicated to the poet.

The Nasimi Festival of Poetry, Arts, and Spirituality was held for the second time from September 28 to October 1, 2019 in the country. The festival was organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation with the support of the Ministry of Culture.

World-famous scholars and poets, philosophers, artists, music, dance and theater groups took part in the festival.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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