South Azerbaijan

APA presents the article “Habib Sahir, the father of free poetry” by Mahammad Rahmanifar within the framework of the “Discover South Azerbaijan” project.

You can read the previous article of the project here.

Getting to know a region does not end with knowing the cities located in that region or the history of those cities. It is the people who have settled in that geography who take a region out of the scope of natural geography lessons and attribute concepts such as civilization, culture, and homeland to it. Therefore, we do not stop at introducing only the cities of South Azerbaijan within the framework of the “Discover South Azerbaijan” project. Readers who have read the previous articles published within the framework of this project know that, in addition to introducing the cities of South Azerbaijan, we have also shared our knowledge about the history, culture, and literature of that region with our valuable readers.

There have been people in every nation who have left their mark on history. It is possible to see such people in South Azerbaijan. We have introduced some of them to this day. Of course, we consider introducing these people as a historical debt to the services they have rendered to our nation. On the other hand, remembering and introducing these people actually means introducing the history, culture, and literature of our nation. After this brief introduction, in this article, we will present one of the most famous poets of South Azerbaijan who played an influential role in the evolution of contemporary Azerbaijani poetry.

(Habib Sahir, who presented himself as “the poet of the lament of captive lands”)

Habib Sahir, or Mir Habib Ghavami, worked as an Azerbaijani poet, writer, translator, and literary researcher. In Iran, he was one of the first to write free verse both in Persian and in Azerbaijani Turkic. According to some literary scholars, Habib Sahir wrote and created free verse in Persian several years before Nima Yushij, who is known in Persian literature as “the father of free verse.” In any case, today no one doubts that free verse in Azerbaijani Turkic in South Azerbaijan begins with Habib Sahir. Moreover, what made Habib Sahir an important and beloved figure for South Azerbaijanis was not only his poetic style but also the content and essence of his works. That is, in Sahir’s poems, along with innovation, we also see the contemporary history of South Azerbaijan and the fate of the South Azerbaijani Turks.

Life

Mir Habib Ghavami was born in 1903 in the Sirkhab neighborhood of Tabriz. He first learned to read and write in a mullah’s school. Later, he received primary education at the “Madares-e Mo‘tamada” and “Roshdiyeh” schools. After completing his primary studies, he entered the “Madrase-ye Mobarake-ye Mohammadieh” lycée, where he was a classmate of Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar. Unfortunately, there is no reliable information about the details of the friendship between these two great poets of modern Azerbaijan. We only know that both showed interest in French literature during those years, and both translated the poems of Charles Baudelaire. Did this shared interest and shared profession bring these two classmates closer to one another? If so, why is there no evidence of their connection and closeness in later years? In my opinion, this issue should be the focus of professional literary scholars.

During the years Sahir studied at the lycée, his French language and literature teacher was Mirza Taghi Khan Rafat Tabrizi. Through the influence of Mirza Taghi Khan—who, alongside being a professional literary figure and modernist, was also known as a politician—Habib Sahir developed an interest in Western literature. He became familiar with the Turkish publications “Rasmli Ay” and “Servet-i Fünun.” Since he liked the works of Turkish poet Celal Sahir, he chose the name “Sahir” as his pen name. Together with his classmates, they published the newspapers “Anjoman-e Rafat” and “Adab.” Mirza Taghi Khan Rafat was the editor-in-chief of an innovative newspaper called “Tajaddod,” and he had a very close and strong cooperation with Sheikh Mohammad Khiyabani. After the Khiyabani movement was defeated, Mirza Taghi Khan Rafat also died, and afterwards, the publication of the two newspapers was halted.

After completing his education, Sahir worked as a teacher for a period of time. In 1925, when Reza Shah, with the support of Britain, ascended to the throne in Iran, the rule of the Turkish-Qajar dynasty came to an end. Reza Shah’s dictatorship and oppression significantly narrowed the space for many, especially those working in arts and culture. Although briefly, Sahir considered leaving Iran.

In 1927, he went to Türkiye and worked for two years as a teacher of Persian language and literature at the “Iranilar” school, established for Iranians living in Türkiye. In 1929, he was admitted to the Faculty of History and Geography at Istanbul University. As mentioned earlier, thanks to his teachers like Mirza Taghi Khan Rafat, Sahir had already become familiar with contemporary Turkish and French poetry. In Istanbul, his knowledge of these subjects deepened.

During his studies, he translated new poems by the French poet Charles Baudelaire (including “The Enemy”), Lamartine’s famous work The Lake, Sa’di’s Gulistan, and ghazals by Hafez Shirazi from Persian into Azerbaijani Turkish. He defended his diploma thesis on “The Natural Geography of Iranian Azerbaijan.” Sahir’s love for Azerbaijan is evident from the topic he chose for his university research.

After graduating from the university in 1933, he left Istanbul and returned to Tabriz. By assignment of the Department of Education, he began working as a geography teacher at a school in Tabriz. In 1936, by decision of the Tabriz Department of Education, his textbook “Geographyayi Khamseh” was published in Zanjan and awarded a prize. Later, he was sent to Zanjan to continue working as a teacher. It should be noted that the Zanjan province was called “the Khamseh province” during some historical periods. There are different views on this naming, but it is most likely that this name was given due to the settlement of five tribes of the Afshars (Avshars) in this region.

In 1941, Iran was occupied by the Allies, and Reza Shah—who had ascended the throne with Britain’s support 16 years earlier—was expelled from Iran and exiled by that same Britain. Thus, his dictatorship and authoritarian rule came to an end. During Reza Shah’s rule, Southern Azerbaijan had been subjected to the most severe political, economic, and cultural pressures. After Reza Shah, it began to make progress. Publications in the Turkish language emerged. During this period, like many Azerbaijani poets, Habib Sahir’s poems, translations, and articles began to be published in newspapers and journals such as “Azerbaijan,” “Vatan yolunda,” “Shafah,” “Azad millat,” and “Yeni Sharg.” During the years he lived in Tabriz, his books written in Persian—“Shaqa’eq”—and those written in Azerbaijani Turkic—“Kolgalar,” “Geca afsanasi,” and “Sechilmish sheirlar”—were published. After the establishment of the Azerbaijan National Government in 1945–1946, he also wrote the “Mother Tongue” textbook for schoolchildren and contributed to the press under the pen name “Aydin.”

The work Habib Sahir carried out during the period of the Azerbaijan National Government (1945–1946) and the support he gave to this government have not been sufficiently researched. His name also does not appear in studies conducted on the National Government. Yet, without a doubt, Habib Sahir wholeheartedly supported this government. The theme of the Azerbaijan National Government always appears in Sahir’s poems, and from his poems, it is clear that he sincerely loved this government.

After the fall of the Azerbaijan National Government, Sahir continued his teaching career. Under secret pen names such as “Aydın,” “Ulker,” and “Agh,” he continued writing poems and stories in the mother tongue. After this activity was exposed, a sentence was issued against him, and he was exiled to Ardabil. But the enemies of Azerbaijan did not know that for lovers of Azerbaijan, there is no difference between Tabriz and Ardabil. They thought they had exiled Sahir far from his native city, but they did not know that in Sahir’s eyes, Ardabil was also Azerbaijan, and he could do in Ardabil everything he had done in Tabriz. And he did! As a result, he was also removed from Ardabil, and this time exiled to another Azerbaijani city—Qazvin. However, the Shah’s regime was again mistaken. Since there was no change in Sahir’s activities there either, he was exiled to the city of Sari in Mazandaran. Thus, in the end, the Iranian regime decided to remove him entirely from the Azerbaijani region. In this city, located on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, Sahir contracted malaria and was subsequently sent back to Qazvin. After living 13 years in Qazvin, Sahir moved to Tehran.

Poetic World

Sahir was the first poet to write free verse in Southern Azerbaijani Turkic and even in Persian. His knowledge of French and his reading—and even translating—of poetry written in French played a role in this. In addition, Sahir knew Anatolian Turkish very well and read the works of Turkish poets. In both the style and the content of Sahir’s poetry, and even in the vocabulary he used, it is possible to see the traces and influence of Turkish poetry. His books “Lirik sheirler,” “Seher ishiqlanır,” “Sonmeyen ishiqlar,” “Daghiniq xatireler,” and “Kovshan” are considered brilliant examples of Southern Azerbaijani poetry.

The Azerbaijan National Government was established in the autumn season. One year later, in another autumn, it again collapsed. Sahir, who always kept Azerbaijan alive in his poems, who rejoiced with Azerbaijan’s joy and sorrowed with its sorrow, described these two autumns as follows:

Autumn season

The golden sun is aflame

the leaves of the trees

have been dyed in a thousand colors...

Each leaf has its own color

the color of love

the color of longing

dim, dusty

the color of exile...

when the autumn wind blows

the leaves fall.

fading leaves

piling up

heap by heap

the roads are far, the lakes deep

the breeze blows cool and gentle

the mountains are ours, the gardens ours

walking upon the leaves

your footprints will not remain...

many autumns have come and gone

many caravans have passed and departed

in one autumn

we were left orphaned

in one autumn

we fell in love

at last

with the dreamlike air

we grew wings

in one autumn

the radiant golden sun rose

in one autumn

a cloud came and choked the sun

as we understood the autumns

time chased us

time came, time passed

We became separated from our homeland

We longed

for the cool, gentle springs

for the flower-filled rooms

time passed, we withered

like trees left without water

we lost our freshness

I do not know—was it exile?

or fate?