Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

Nizami Ganjavi's poem "Leyli and Majnun" has been presented at the Kyiv Book Art Fest.

"Leyli and Majnun" is a tragic love story, in which the male character Majnun (literally meaning "crazy" in Arabic) goes mad because he cannot be with his beloved Leyli.

The book was released at the initiative of the Azerbaijan State Translation Center (AzSTC).

In his speech, Ukraine’s notable writer and translator, Honored Art Worker Oleksiy Kononenko praised the State Translation Center's contribution to the further development of Ukrainian-Azerbaijani literary ties.

"With the release of this epic love poem in Ukrainian, AzSTC has managed to implement in Ukraine a valuable project aimed at promoting Nizami's enduring heritage and conveying a deep study in this regard. Bearing in mind the historical necessity of works by the greatest poet, whose 880th anniversary is celebrated this year, these very poems re-opened up to the world literature, highlighting human moral values, thus enriching and purifying the spiritual world of humanity as a whole," he said.

AzSTC representative Marina Goncharuk provided insight into the edition, adding that the book includes excerpts from the monograph "Nizami and His Contemporaries" by famous Ukrainian Turkologist Agafangel Krymsky, which provides a comprehensive and deep analysis of the book whose copies have been disseminated among the country’s central libraries.

The book fair, along with "Leyli and Majnun", also hosted a presentation of other books in Ukrainian published by AzSTC, including "The World Dissolves like a Dream" by Leyla Aliyeva, "An Anthology of Modern Azerbaijan Literature", Imadaddin Nasimi's "I Have Set Myself on the Road of Truth", Salam Sarvan's "The World Is So Shallow to Drown in It".

Nizami Ganjavi's poem has also been presented within Ukraine’s International Book Space Festival.

Marina Goncharuk spoke about the development of the Ukrainian-Azerbaijani literary process, the contribution of the State Translation Center. She informed the participants about Nizami Ganjavi's work in ​​Ukrainian translations and research by Ukrainian scientists.

Marina Goncharuk emphasized that "Leyli and Majnun" is the only poem that was completely translated into Ukrainian with excerpts from the fundamental monograph of the famous Turkic scholar Agatangel Krymsky "Nizami and his contemporaries".

Chairman of the Congress of Azerbaijanis of Dnepropetrovsk Najaf Ahmadov stressed the importance of the event, which contributes to the development of cultural interaction between Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

He noted that the year 2021 has been declared in Azerbaijan as the Year of Nizami Ganjavi to mark the poet's 880th anniversary. Numerous large-scale projects are being implemented in Azerbaijan as part of the celebration.

The guests of the festival were presented with books by Nizami, as well as other publications of the State Translation Center.

The young talents from Diaspora's Sunday school performed excerpts from Nizami's works in Azerbaijani and Ukrainian languages. The presentation aroused great public interest.

Nizami Ganjavi started his creative activity with lyrical poems- gasidas, gazals and rubais. He dedicated his whole life to lyrical poems, and different philosophical problems.

The works of Azerbaijani poet and thinker have been translated into many languages. The rare manuscript copies of his works are kept and preserved in world-famous libraries, museums and literary foundations in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Baku, Tashkent, Tabriz, Tehran, Cairo, Istanbul, Delhi, London, Paris and others.

In Khamsa (Quintet), the poet revealed the living pages of history. The attack of the Russians on Barda city, a fairy tale of the Russian Princess, the beautiful Shirin amazons, battles, described in various poems of Nizami - all this is historically and geographically related to medieval Azerbaijan and the Caucasus.

The description of a man's inner world, his feelings, and thoughts along with the dynamic development of the main hero's characters underlies the basic aim and content of Nizami's literary school.

Nizami Ganjavi passed away in 1209 in his native city of Ganja. A grandiose tomb was raised over his grave.

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