Tariq Saeedi
‘Songs from the Steppes of Central Asia’ is a collection of some of the poems of Magtymguly Pyragy.
Dr. Youssef Azemoun translated the poems into the English language and the eminent British poet and author Brian Aldiss versified them.
One of the poems in this collection is ‘Dawn is the Time.’ This is a very famous poem and it is also part of the collection published in Pakistan by Shahmerdan Qulmuradi in the Urdu language.
Here is the opening stanza of the poem:
Friends, be receptive when new days are born!
– When dervish convent doors let in the morn
– When blessings flood them with the pristine light
Of dawn – and Truth sounds clear its hunting horn.
Like most of the poetry of Magtymguly, this stanza relates to the reader in a kaleidoscopic way. — It will mean something different for a young person in the early years of schooling. It will spur the same person when they are pursuing their professional career, and it will give new directions in their years of retirement.
Its message also changes hues for the Turkmen people as a nation — It was a call to unity and reflection during the times of Magtymguly. It urged the people to embrace grit and grace collectively at the time of the independence of Turkmenistan. Today, it forbids them to rest on the laurels and urges them to continue to move to new horizons.
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This is the last part of the series and we would like to expand a bit on the concept of the holistic approach before closing it.
When we say that everything is connected with everything else, we do not mean to convey that the things are rigidly welded to each other. — There is the flexibility in this connection and that is what opens the way for infinite possibilities.
Let us take the example of alphabets. There are 26 alphabets in the English language or 28 alphabets in the Arabic language. They are all different from each other yet they are all part of the whole.
All of the creative work, all of the literature, all of the poetry and prose, all of the fact and fiction, everything we write and speak, all of it is the result of the hard work of those 26 or 28 alphabets.
When separated, they are just meaningless sounds. When combined creatively, they are words, sentences, and entire masterpieces.
To look further into this analogy: The poet or author does not discriminate among the alphabets. They use all of them, some more, some less, to form the words and sentences to convey the idea. In doing so, they follow the holistic approach. They recognize that it is not possible to discard or isolate some of the alphabets and still be able to create a masterpiece.
This is just one of the ways to explain the holistic approach of the government of Turkmenistan in all of its policies.
To understand it contextually, we need to remember that the Turkmen people have historically been called Turkmen, the Diplomat. — The Indian and Persian empires communicated with each other through the Turkmen diplomats. Two of the brothers of Magtymguly disappeared while on a diplomatic assignment on behalf of Ahmed Shah Durrani, the founder of the modern Afghanistan.
When looking at the foreign policy of Turkmenistan through the holistic perspective, we automatically understand the decision of Turkmenistan to declare itself a permanently neutral country, a position endorsed multiple times by the world community.
The Permanent Neutrality of Turkmenistan is the living organism that thrives in the ecosystem of the holistic approach. One such example is the UN Centre for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia, which continues to successfully prevent any conflict situation from flaring up in the region.
Under the holistic approach, Turkmenistan treats the economic diplomacy, transport diplomacy, energy diplomacy, ecological diplomacy, water diplomacy, science and medicine diplomacy, and culture and sports diplomacy as parts of the whole. This creates additional overlap areas in relations with the friendly countries, regions, and organizations.
The international conference organized by the foreign office of Turkmenistan on 18 February 2024 under the theme “The concept of the world of Magtymguly Fragi and diplomacy of neutral Turkmenistan” shed considerable light on the message of Magtymguly and the foreign policy of Turkmenistan.
The opening of the Magtymguly monument complex and park a few weeks ago was another solid example of the holistic approach preached by Magtymguly and followed by the government of Turkmenistan. The statues of the great thinkers from several countries at the park are the proof that Turkmenistan matches its words with its deeds.
This year is the 300th anniversary of Magtymguly Pyragy and we are just half-way through the year. Surely, there would be lot more insightful material of lasting value during the events taking place throughout the rest of this year.
In the end, it is important to underline that we are just a chapter. The entire book is still ahead of us. /// nCa, 27 June 2024 [CONCLUDED]