The Turkish Language in Iran

IV: Which Turkish? al-`Irfan, vol. 8, no. 4, January 1923, pp.290-93.

It is clear that every language whose speakers are spread through diverse regions and distant reaches, and is conversed in by various peoples and comes into contact with numerous other languages and is spoken by settled people and nomads, city-dwellers and villagers, will separate into different dialects, just as did Arabic and Persian, for example. Naturally, Iranian Turkish, or Azerbaijani, The authors of the Russian Caucasus adopted the name “Azerbaijani Turkish” or Chaqtai for both the dialect which is spoken by the people of the Caucasus and the Azerbaijanis since there was not, up to the end of the past century (the thirteenth century AH) a great difference between them. But in this article, we only call Azerbaijani the Turkish which is spoken by the Turks of Iran.--AK
is not the same Turkish which is spoken in Turkestan, the cradle of Turkish, nor the same as that which is spoken in the Ottoman Empire, nor is it the same as that which is spoken in the Caucasus or by the Circasians The Circasians actually speak Kabardian, a North Caucasian language, related to Abkhazian, and is a non-Turkic language.
or by other Russian Muslims. It is distinct from each of these dialects, the speakers of which cannot easily communicate with each other in some cases. It might not be very far from the mark to use the distance between the residences of these peoples who speak Turkish as the scale to compare the difference between the different dialects: the Caucasian lands connect Azerbaijan with Ottoman territory and Turkestan and Astrakhan and Daghestan and Qazan, etc., and so Caucasian Turkish is closer than its sister languages to Azerbaijani Turkish, and forms a link between it and the Turkish of the other countries mentioned above. It is worth noting that Turkish, as it developed in its branches and subdivisions, never reached the level of diversity of Persian in its branches and subdivisions despite the fact that Turkish is more widespread in more far-flung regions and is spoken by various peoples and has encountered foreign languages. The explanation for this is to be found by comparing the two languages as they exist with Iran. Turkish as it exists in Iran is not a written language, and despite the fact that it has spread to every region, from East to West and from North to South, it was untouched by distortion or alteration which would lead to distinct dialects in any region, and if we compare the Turkish of Tabriz with that of Shiraz, we would see that it has the same intonation and quality of pronunciation of words so that the speaker of one would astound the speaker of the other and make him smile and would have no difficulty in understanding what the other was saying, while Persian has divided into about fifteen different dialects, including Mazandarani, Taleshi, Gilani (Gilaki), Sede’i, Samnani, Kashani, Lurish, Kurdish, Sejestani, etc., each of which differs from classical Persian so that none of its speakers can understand it, and vice versa. Despite the fact that Semnan is not far from Tehran (at most four parasangs), the difference between the language of its people, known as Semnani, a dialect of Persian, and classical Persian is no less than the difference between French and Italian. Similarly, Mazandarani, which is doubtless a branch of Persian, is difficult for me, although I have learned Persian in my youth and have lived among its speakers from infancy to youth and have studied in Tehran for a not brief period. While I am writing these lines, I am listening to what is being said outdoors. When they sing some Iranian New Years songs in Mazandarani, the sound of it thrills me, but I understand only a little of what the words mean, despite the fact that I have spent three months in Mazandaran and have lived among its people day and night and have memorized all the words I have heard and their meaning.--AK
But if we were to consider Azerbaijani Turkish a language in its own right, it has all that a language needs to be a refined language, despite the fact that it is not a literary language; indeed, it has in itself all the criteria and qualities which would distinguish itself over many refined languages, and it is proper to discuss this and put one’s mind to it, but we will not ramble on about this, but mention a few of these criteria:

1. An abundance of tenses and forms. Thus, the past tense in this language has fourteen modes. I say fourteen modes and not fourteen forms [sighe] like in Arabic, while the Arabic and Persian languages use no more than four or five forms of the past (like dhahab, qad dhahab, kan dhahab [=he went, he had gone, he was going]). So in Turkish we say, for example, gidajaqmish which, were we to try to translate it into Arabic, we would have to say, kan `azm `ala-dh-dhahab [=he was intending to go] which, as you see, is a lengthy composite phrase. It is similar with Persian. As for the fourteen forms of the past, they are: 1) gitdi, 2) gidub, 3) giderdi, 4) giderdi [sic], 5) gitmishdi, 6) gidejaqidi, 7) gididi, 8) gitsidi, 9) gidirmish, 10) gidirmish [sic], 11) gitmish imish, 12) gidijaqimish, 13) gitimish, 14) gitimish [sic].--AK
   The Arabic imperfect, which occupies a place in most languages between the present and the future, each has four forms: one, the present, one the post-present or the near future The imperfect, if we study it closely, has three forms:
   1. The present, as in “My father invites you.”
   2. The post-present, as in “I will sit for a little and then we will leave.” (This is not the same as the future, in which the letter sin or the particle sawf is added to the present. This is what we call the future, for which Turkish uses the suffix <>jaq, as in gidijaq (sayadhahab [=will go]).
   3. The continuous, as in, “Fishes live in water,” or, “The crocodile is moving his lower jaw.” In Turkish, each sense has its own form, gider and gider [sic]. As for the continuous, it, too, has two forms: the present continuous, which is actually happening, in the first sense (“Ben madraseye gitiram,” “I am going to school.”) and the present continuous, which has not yet happened but will, in the second sense (“Sabahdan madraseye giteram,” “I am going to school tomorrow.”) or, in the future tense, “Sabahden madrase[ye] gidajakam [gidajaqam],” “I am going to school tomorrow.” As for our optative and conditional, they are “gitme” and “gitde.” [sic; he meant gide and gitse, respectively.]--AK
   and the two forms, the conditional and the optative, along with the future, which is expressed in Arabic by adding the sin or sawf to the imperfect form.

2. Fixing the nouns and constructions and their capability to express every similar meaning. The author finds hundreds of meanings which cannot be translated into most other languages. In Persian, for example, one expresses the meanings ofharwal, `ada, and rakadh To walk quickly, to dash, to gallop; in Arabic, the meanings are not significantly different.
   by one word, david[=to run]. But in Turkish, each of them has its own separate word. The examples of this are beyond reckoning.

3. Its possession of plain and simple rules free of irregularities and a passive and conative, which does not exist in most languages. Thus, in Persian and in English, one says “Zaid and `Amr beat each other,” instead of “Zeid beat `Amr,” and “Zeid became beaten,” instead of “Zeid was beaten.” This is an irregularity which is the rule in Persian and is not removed. But in Turkish, we add something to the verb and it becomes the conative and if one adds olma, it becomes the passive, and if one adds dir it becomes the transitive: verdi=struck, vurushdi=struck one another, vuruldu=was struck, vurdu[r]du=caused him to strike. Kasravi uses an Arabic circumlocution; the fourth Arabic conjugation would have done the job.
4. Regularity of its grammatical laws. Its exceptions and irregularities are rare, contrary to Persian and most European languages, which have many irregular verbs and exceptions from their rules, and contrary to Arabic, which has many weak verbs.
5. The existence of a special sign for the infinitive, makh, distinguishing it from the noun and the other forms, contrary to Arabic.
6. The existence of a means of emphasis, achieved by adding b or m to the first letter; qapqara=pitch black. This is the rule of emphasis with colors. In Arabic, one emphasizes colors by using specially appropriate words: al-aswad al-halik, al-ahmar al-qani, al-asfar al-faqi`, al-akhdhar an-nadhir. In Persian, one expresses emphasis by repetition (siyah siyah). In Turkish, one expresses emphasis as we have said: qap qara, qap qermezi, yam yashil, sap sari, kum kuy, aqap aq.--AK
7. The existence of words made by alterations in the first letter, having the effect of generalizing them; ketab metab=the book and whatever is like it. If one were to say to a servant, “O biri otaqdan ketabi gettur,” “Go bring the book from the other room,” and in that room there were, in addition to the book, magazines and papers and maps, and the servant only brought the book, one may add the generalizer and say, “...ketab metabi gittur,” and he will bring that book and all that is like it, including the magazines and papers and maps. The generalizer has two other expressions; First, one alters the word by adding r after the first letter of the word, e.g. zarzabel [for zarbel=garbage] for garbage or whatever is like it; the second is expressed by repeating the word after altering its first vowel, e.g., deri dari=skin and anything like it. These two expressions are generally accepted usage as opposed to the first, which is use as a standard.--AK
   al-`Irfan, vol. 8, no. 5, February 1923.

   V: Books and the Press al-`Irfan, vol. 8, no. 5, February 1923, pp. 364-69. 21 The reading and writing of Turkish among Azerbaijanis has spread and become more popular than ever in recent years and the people’s enthusiasm and receptivity has been increasing every day. The cause is the arrival of magazines from the Caucasus and their plentiful pressruns and their spread among the people. For the discredit reading Turkish has fallen into is due to nothing but the meager quantity of books in that language. Some of these magazines are famous among the Azerbaijanis and have many readers, especially those like the famous magazine Molla Nasr od-Din, etc.--AK [When Kasravi traveled to Tiflis in the aftermath of World War I, he met members of the circle around this satirical weekly and found himself in complete agreement with them. (Zendeganiye Man (publisher, place, date), pp. 73-74.)]

   Turkish in Iran is a spoken and not, as we have indicated above, a literary language. We do not know what became of it during the time of Hulagu Khan and his Turkish descendants–was it the language of the Court and of writing under his rule or not? But from what we see and hear in recent times, it has been despised and reviled as the language used by foreigners, and this contempt and dislike of it persisted even until the days of the kings who arose from those who spoke it, the Safavids and the Qajars. Indeed, the Safavid age was the worst for Turkish, since it was then that the fires of war between the Iranians and the Ottoman Turks were aflame. This conflict persisted from the time of Shah Esma`il, the first of the Safavids, down to the days of Shah Sultan Hosein, the last of them, and one can see from expressions used by the Iranians of that day their opposition to the Ottomans as their conflict involved even the language they spoke. The fate of poor Turkish in this age was no better than the fate of a beautiful young lady who married someone whose family was in a blood feud with her family and take out their anger and loathing for her families crimes on her and seeing in humiliating her a way of slaking the thirst in their hearts. As if that were not enough, few even among her children wrote in Turkish since they were not used to writing in anything but Persian. Indeed, most of them are not able to read it well either, and consider it easier to write in Persian. The reading and writing of Turkish among Azerbaijanis has spread and become more popular than ever in recent years and the people’s enthusiasm and receptivity has been increasing every day. The cause is the arrival of magazines from the Caucasus and their plentiful pressruns and their spread among the people. For the discredit reading Turkish has fallen into is due to nothing but the meager quantity of books in that language. Some of these magazines are famous among the Azerbaijanis and have many readers, especially those like the famous magazine Molla Nasr od-Din, etc.--AK [When Kasravi traveled to Tbilisi in the aftermath of World War I, he met members of the circle around this satirical weekly and found himself in complete agreement with them. (Zendeganiye Man (publisher, place, date), pp. 73-74.)]
   During the 1905 Constitutionalist revolution, over thirty magazines were founded and published in Tabriz and the other cities of Azerbaijan, but only three of them were written in Turkish, and none of them came out except for a few issues, no more than you could count on your fingers. In addition, consider the scholars and poets who have arisen in the last centuries. The famous poets from Azerbaijan and Khamse were renown for their eloquence and the excellence of their verses Among these poets were the lofty, excellent, eloquent Mirza Mohammad Taqi Hojjatoleslam, a Sheikhi cleric from Tabriz and author of the Alafiyat ol-`Arabiya ot-Turkiya, famous for its satires the contemporary motesharre` clergy in Tabriz. His wit vexed its targets and disturbed the peace and brought things to the point of riot , and the government intervened and banned al-Alafiya from publication and being read and gathered all copies of it. I would have liked to quote some of its verses, but I only remember some snatches of it from here and there.--AK [This author lived from 1248-1312 [1831-95, approx.] and wrote under the pen name of Nayyer. He was a descendent of Mullah Mohammad Mamaqani, a leader of the Sheikhis. (Mohammad `Ali Tarbiat, Daneshmandan-e Azarbayjan (Tehran, Matba`eye Majles, 1324 [1945]), hereafter, DA. One author writes of its being filled with obscure references to current events, something which few living readers have mastered. (Mehdi Mojtahedi, Rejal-e Azarbayjan dar `Asr-e Mashrutiat (Tehran, Naqsh-e Jahan, 1327 [1959]), p 54)
   and only a few of them were written in Turkish. We wish here to present something of the history of the three magazines and their poets. Here are the magazines: Much material has been published since then on the press in Iranian Azerbaijan.

   1. Shekar. Its editor was Mirza Manaf Sabetzade. Properly, Mohammad `Abdol-Manafzade. (“Shekar” in DA, p. 411.)
      It was published during the beginning of the revolution and closed down after a few issues came out. The editor then traveled to the Caucasus and became famous among its poets and published some of his poems in Kavkaz. He returned in 1337 (?–AK) [1918-19] to Tehran as a Majlis representative of the people of `Ashkabad. There he stayed for a few months, whereupon he returned to the Caucasus, where he resides still.
   2. Molla `Amu. It was published in Devechi, a borough of Tabriz, by one person in 1325 [1907]. The people of that borough had allied themselves with the Shah (the now-deposed Mohammad `Ali ) after having been his fiercest enemy. The hatred and rivalry between them and the population of the rest of the boroughs, which supported the liberal factions and the Constitution. This hatred and rivalry reached the point where civil war broke out in Tabriz. It continued for days. Not a few famous people from both sides were killed. The flames were cooled with the government’s intervention and the restoration of security in Zil-Hejja 1325 AH [December 1907], but before three months, the volcano of a second war, more severe than the first, exploded and the bazaars and the alleys and the squares were seized with fighting. The storage depots and shops were looted and set ablaze. The fighting lasted over three months, and some five thousand were killed on both sides, and most houses and mansions were demolished by the cannons which were fired by both sides: every day, over a thousand shells were fired in battle. This war ended with the liberals’ victory and the expulsion from the city of the fighters of Devechi and the Shah’s troops, who had been sent to aid them. The leader of the liberals during these events was the famous intrepid hero, Sattar Khan. Then the city was blockaded on all sides upon the Shah’s orders and cut off from food for nine full months. This, too, ended with the entry of Russia and the dispatch of its troops to Azerbaijan. What happened then is recorded in the books covering these events. Haj Mohammad Baqer, a Tabriz merchant, recorded these events up to a point in a book and got it printed. [Balvaye Tabriz] Mr. Edward Browne, the famous British Orientalist mentioned some of these events in his book, The Persian Revolution.--AK
      Molla Amu rebuked the liberals and blamed them for every evil and injustice. Molla `Amu is discussed at length in Kasravi’s Tarikh-e Mashruteye Iran (Amir Kabir, Tehran, 1975), pp. 636-38, where an article from it is provided.
   3. Sohbat. This was published by Mirza Sayyed Hosein Khan, the editor of `Adalat. It was closed down after it published a few issues because of an article in some of its issues [sic] in which he advocated women’s liberation and the lifting of their veils. The article in question has been reprinted in Molla Nasr od-Din, and has been translated into Persian by the translator of the present work.
      Its editor was exiled after he was declared an infidel and an apostate from the Faith. Two other magazines were published in Turkish in Tabriz: Azarbayjan and Molla Nasr od-Din. We neglected to mention them because the first was founded under the auspices of the Ottomans while they were sending their armies to Tabriz and occupying it. They installed Majd os-Saltane, a notorious advocate of separation from Iran and unity with the Ottomans and a leading exponent of Turkish in Azerbaijan, as governor when they were there, from 1334 to 1337 AH [1915-18]. The manager of this paper and its editor were two brothers, Iranian citizens but born and raised in Trabezon, an Ottoman city, and had graduated from the French school there. They did not publish more than six issues of the magazine, and it closed with the evacuation of the Ottomans from Azerbaijan. As for Molla Nasr od-Din, it was more prominent than the torch above a banner for its reform, its satire, its criticism, and its cartoons. It was founded in Tbilisi and continued publication for eight years, after which it closed, I believe, during the beginning of the World War. It resumed publication during the beginning of the Bolshevik Revolution and then it closed down again. It did not resume publication until its editor, Mirza Jalil, an Iranian who lived in the Caucasus, migrated to Azerbaijan and settled in Tabriz. He gathered readers around him and requested that it resume publication. His request was accepted and Molla Nasr od-Din began to be published in Tabriz, this happening last year, in 1339 AH [1921]. But it did not continue publication, but closed after having come out eight times, after which Mirza Jalil returned to the Caucasus. This magazine is mentioned in the French publication, Revue du Monde Mussulman, [cite ] which considered it excellent.--AK [Kasravi is wrong about Azarbayjan, confusing the Constitutionalist period magazine with Azarabadegan. See his Tarikh-e Mashruteye Iran, pp. 271-72 on the Azarbayjan of the Constitutionalist period and his Zendeganiye Man, p. 87 for his account of Azarabadegan. Evan Siegel’s An Iranian Poet’s Duel over Iranian Constitutionalism, to be published, corrects some of Kasravi’s lingering misconceptions over the former and supplies some background to his account. The best monograph on Azarbayjan is Raoul Motika’s Die Zeitung Azarbaygan (Tabris, 1907): Inhalt, Umfeld, Hintergrund (Munchen, 1992).

   As for the poets, we mention the one who has authored a printed divan or book in Turkish and some biographical facts. Perhaps we will gather some information about them and present a detailed biography of them and introduce them to the readers of al-`Irfan with samples of their translated poetry after we return from our trip and we have the opportunity to study or seek out information from their [sic; in the dual] sources, with the help of God and His might. A few years after this article was published, the newly-established Soviet Azerbaijani government published Fereydun bey Kocherli’s Azarbayjan Adabiati (Elm, Baku, 1978), II:382-87 ( hereafter refered to as AA), which documents the history of Azerbaijani literature. Ten years later came Tarbiat’s DA, which included more material on Iranian Azerbaijan and listed dozens of authors who published in Azeri Turkish. Another source which should be mentioned is Hadiqat os-Sho`ara, which seems to include much information on Azeri Turkish literature and is a major source for Tarbiat; we have been unable to locate it.

   1. Dakhil. Correcting Dakhal in the original to Dakhil in DA and AA, which provides many samples of his eulogies for Imam Hosein. He was a contemporary of Kocherli’s (op. cit., II:382), the latter having lived between 1863 and 1920.
      His name was Mullah Hosein and he was from Maraghe and a follower of the late graced Sheikh Ahmad Ahsa’i. The founder of what was to become Sheikhism.
      It is clear from his poetry that he was informed about ancient philosophy and Sufi terminology. I believe I heard some of his verses when I was living in Najaf or Kerbala for a while to study Arabic. As for his poetry, it was written in a number of volumes and printed more than once. Most of them, if not all, were marsiyes recalling the tribulations suffered by the Twelve Imams, especially the third of them, Hosein b. `Ali. He wrote, I believe, over thirty thousand verses while staying in Kerbala, according to my reckoning. Each subject had a separate chapter. Nothing exceeds them in verbosity, no one has built such a shrine on a grain. It relates bizarre events and tales not mentioned in any other book or found in the imagination of any story teller. Thus, when Sultan Qays, King of India, left to hunt on `Ashura, The ninth, i.e., of the month of Moharram, the day of Imam Hosein’s martyrdom.
      and chased a gazelle. He pursued it and became separated from his army. A lion was in front of him and blocked his way and compelled him to appeal to the Shi`ite Imam. He called out his name and he heard him, and came to save him. He was covered with wounds dripping with blood. Pearl’s Shine.
      the daughter of one of the tribes which was chief of the Arabs, went to save the prisoners and chiefs of the martyrs of Kerbala from the clutches of Yazid’s armies, the women fighting along with the former just like heroes, etc. Substantially the same story is reported Ivar Lassy, The Muharram Mysteries among the Azerbeijani Turks of the Caucasus (Helsingfors, 1916), pp . .
      Perhaps this helped greatly in popularizing his verses among the people and aided in their reception among their readers and made them pleasant to those who listened to them. In any case, one who saw these verses recognized that he was eloquent and skilled in the arts of speech, and had adopted a new way and had brought to his poetry novel content and ideas which were not banal. Most of his verses were sweetened by the sweetness of beautifying originality. He mixed historical events with superstitions and forged hadiths, just like his brothers, Homer the Greek and Ferdawsi the Iranian.
   2. Mullah Mohammad Baqer Khalkhali. We do no know anything about him except that he wrote a book calledTha`labia which related the story of Tha`lab in the land of Isfahan who unable to support himself and was forced to abandon his home and go abroad. Imitating Kalila wa Dimna, A collection of stories much like Aesop’s fables.
      he related the story of Tha`lab and his adventures, his mother and his wife, the chicken he stole on his journey and then escaped from him, the wolf he met and his getting it trapped, etc. He would take every opportunity to find a moral to the story or an edifying lesson or proverb which would benefit the reader. He emphasized strongly the need for effort and toil and denounced idleness. He launched an attack on polygamy. He did all this in a simple and popular fashion. This book was printed more than once. Kocherli specifically cites the difficulty of obtaining samples of this poet’s works as an illustration of the problem of studying Iranian Azerbaijani poetry. (AA I:69.) Tarbiat reports that he lived to 1310 AH [1892-93] and that his book was a “masnavi” (DA, p. 62.)
   3. La`li. Mirza `Ali Khan Shams ol-Hokema (1845-1907). (AA, II:218-19)
      He was originally from Nakhichevan but, after studying in the Russian schools, migrated to Iran, where he settled in Tabriz. His parents were from Yerevan. He himself was originally from Tabriz, where he studied traditional Iranian medicine. (loc. cit.)
      There, he met with success among the elite; they adored him and admired his learning, his literacy, and his wit. But he became a Frankifier and went about dressed like a European, and he did not restrain his liberty of expression from uttering things in a way which conflicted with the beliefs of the common people and ridiculing things which they held dear. He mocked whom he pleased, including the powerful and the influential. He suffered torment at the hands of the common people and the powerful and ultimately tired of his residence in Iran and decided it was best to return to the Caucasus. He migrated to Tbilisi and decided to settle there, where he stayed until he died some sixteen years ago. He put many well-known stories and witticisms into circulation. For example, he related the following about himself: I saw one day a villager driving ahead of him a tired donkey who was staggering this way and that. I cocked my ear towards them and said, “I see your donkey is very tired.” He said, “No sir, he’s not tired, he’s a poet and is thinking to compose verses.” I then looked and saw the donkey’s belt had come undone and was hanging down. I said, “His belt has come undone, uncle.” He replied, “No problem sir, the Frankifiers never tighten their belts.” I realized that that fellow recognized who I was.--AK
      As for his divan, it has gone through more than one printing and contains all forms of poetry, eulogies, ghazals, satire, ribaldry, and buffoonery. His best poems are his satires, and the people have memorized some of his satires and repeat them and use them in their mockery. One of them is a qaside satirizing the villagers and disparaging their customs. These satires drew down on him the villagers’ ire and the poet stood up to them and answered with a qasida, and both qasidas are famous.
   4. Shokuhi. Haji Mehdi Tabrizi A’inesaz (Mirror-maker). Died 1314 AH [1896-97]. (“Shokuhi” in DA, p. 199.)
      His real name was Haj Mehdi and he was originally from Tabriz but, out of poverty, was compelled in his youth to travel. He roamed all over Azerbaijan and ultimately reached Maraghe and lay down his bindle stiff and became a merchant and a man of means. His business prospered and his situation improved and his station never declined there until his death, after which his descendants resided there. As for his poetry, he wrote few eulogies and ghazals and many buffoonerys and satires and mockeries. He composed his biography, relating the travels of his youth and the difficulties he encountered therein, then the hardships he endured in Maraghe at the hands of his jealous rivals, etc., all of this in popular terms mixed with satire and witticisms. His divan was printed and is famous and some of his other writings were also printed, including his Debate between Wisdom and Love. He has written many books in which are gathered witticisms, and they have been printed with his divan.
   5. Sarraf. His name was Haj Reza and was from a wealthy family in Tabriz which was engaged in money-changing. He died in recent years. He was known for his eloquence in composing ghazals; his famous ghazals passed from mouth to mouth and were chanted and recited by the people. His divan was printed. He also wrote ghazals in Persian. Sarraf’s brother was a clergyman of Tabriz famous for his eloquence,named Mirza Ja`far, a student of the late Sheikh Hadi Tehrani, who lived in Najaf, where he died. His divan was published first in 1344 AH [1925-26], after his death in 1325 AH [1907]. (“Haji Reza Saraf” in DA, p. 230.) He was a disciple of Sayyed `Abdol-`Azim Shirvani, the famous Muslim modernist. Although not as perfect as Fozuli, since they were written in a common style, his verse was more popular. His divan included 2500 verses, mostly in Turkish, albeit very Persianized. He wrote love poems as well as popular marsiyes. (“Haj Reza Saraf” in Mehdi Mojtahedi, Rejal-e Azarbayjan dar `Asr-e Mashrutiat (Naqsh-e Jahan, Tehran (?), 1948), pp 108-110.)
   6. Raji, Haji Mirza Abol-Hasan Tabrizi (1247-93 AH [1830-76]) (“Raji” in DA, p. 155).
      Sayyed Abol-Qasem, a Sufi poet born in Qarajedagh, d. 1262 [1846]. Followed Hafez in style. His divan was printed in Tabriz and is well-known. (“Nabati” in DA, pp. 370-71.) He was born during the brief reign of Mohammad Shah. His eloquence was said to stun the people with astonishment. He was known for his extreme asceticism and his piety and his purity. His children went on to become famous preachers and eulogizers of the Imams. (“Seyid Abulqasim Nabati” in AA, I:470-93.)
      Mohammad Amin Tabrizi. His divan was repeatedly reprinted and was well-known. (“Delsuz” in DA, p. 151.)
      I do not remember their names or anything about their lives except that they had divans printed. Raji was from a famous family in Tabriz and made the pilgrimage to God’s House, the Haram, towards the end of his life; while he was returning, his ship sank and he died along with the other passengers.

      As for the clergy, I do not know if any of them wrote scholarly or religious books in Azerbaijani Turkish except for a treatise, Be `Aqa’ed-e Shi`e, attributed to Mullah Ahmad Ardebili, known as Moqaddas, but I have never seen mention in the biographies of the clergy mention of this book among Moqaddas’ writings, and the truth of the matter is unclear. Mullah Ahmad died in 993 AH [ ], and he was famous for issuing a fatwa declaring wine to be pure. As for the above-mentioned treatise, Haj Sheikh Mohammad, a cleric from Tabriz, translated it into Arabic and Sheikh Esma`il translated it into Persian, and the two translations were published in book form. The Persian translation is better than the Arabic one, although Sheikh Esma`il was a firm follower of his in scholarship and literature.--AK [According to Tarbiat’s source, he died in 997 [ ]; he produces a list of his works. (“Ahmad b. Mohammad Ardibili” in DA, pp. 31-32.)]

      In addition, there is a large body of books of stories, religious traditions, and marsiyes composed in Azerbaijani Turkish and printed, but it is not worth mentioning most of them except in passing.

      So we conclude what we wanted to say at this point, but we must make one comment before we finish: Azerbaijani Turkish is lacking in sufficient books and magazines, and this is the reason her children are not accustomed to reading Turkish and prefer to read in Persian. The books and magazines from the Caucasus are a remedy for this lack and fill this void, and many of these, in all manner and class, have been imported in recent years, and there is not a library in Tabriz which does not have a large quantity of books from the Caucasus; indeed, in the year 1334 [1916], a library belonging to a Caucasian was devoted to these publications, and there was neither a Persian nor an Arabic book to be found among them. As we have said, Caucasian Turkish is not very different from Azerbaijani Turkish, and it is not difficult for the people here to read the former. The reading of Turkish has advanced these past years and is still on the rise every day, and perhaps this is the dawning of a literary renaissance of the Turks of Iran which will put an end to the time of poor Turkish’s humiliation and degradation and the drawing close of the days when her sons will give her proper recognition and refrain from being ungrateful to her and not giving her what she is due.

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