American Journal Of Philological Sciences
76
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue01 2025
PAGE NO.
76-77
10.37547/ajps/Volume05Issue01-19
Publications of Alisher Navoi’s Khamsa: The Timeless
Legacy of a Literary Giant
Shokirova Hilola Shokir qizi
Doctoral candidate at the State, Literature Museum named after Alisher Navoi, Uzbekistan
Received:
26 October 2024;
Accepted:
28 December 2024;
Published:
30 January 2025
Abstract:
This article discusses the early manuscript copies and editions of Alisher Navoi’s “Khamsa” epics.
Additionally, it provides information on the published and unpublished editions to date. Some printed editions
are also discussed.
Keywords:
“khamsa”, copy, prose statem
ent, edition, printed edition, scientific critical text.
Introduction:
Alisher Navoi’s works, even in his time,
were copied in numerous manuscripts and widely
spread to near and distant regions. In this regard, it is
worth quoting historian Khandamir’s thoughts about
the poet: “The clarity and lightness, adorned with
astonishing meanings, the richness of words and
simplicity, and the absence of any pretense made these
artistic verses and perfectly adorned poems famous in
such a short time that rulers from around the world
sent eloquent ambassadors to the capital of Herat,
aski
ng for these masterpieces of art” .
Even before Navoi finished writing the work, the
prominent calligrapher (scribe) of Herat, Abdujamil,
began copying the manuscript. Working in close
collaboration with the poet, he completed the
manuscript, which became a beautiful example of 15th-
century calligraphy and one of the closest manuscripts
to the poet’s autograph . Afterward, other master
scribes, such as Sultanali Mashhadi , continued copying
these works , significantly contributing to the spread of
“Khamsa”
across different regions. Thus, until the
second half of the 19th century, Navoi’s great work was
disseminated in various cities and countries through
single handwritten manuscript copies produced by
patient and tireless scribes.
At the end of the 19th century, with the emergence of
lithographic printing in Central Asia, this work was first
printed in the city of Khiva . It was subsequently
published twice in Tashkent .
The development of scientific textual criticism in
Uzbekistan is closely related to the publication of works
by the great Uzbek poet and thinker Alisher Navoi. The
preparation for publishing Navoi's works began in
1938, linked to the celebration of the poet’s 500th
birthday. During the years of World War II, Uzbek
specialists, in collaboration with leading Russian
scholars, began compiling a scientific-critical text of
Navoi's works. As a result, the “Khamsa” epics were
prepared for publication for the first time in 1939-1940
by researchers from the Institute of Language and
Literature. These editions were somewhat abridged,
annotated, and published in the Latin alphabet
alongside prose summaries. G'afur G'ulom, Solih
Mutallibov,
G'ulom
Karimov,
Amin
Umariy,
Husaynzoda, and To'xtasin Jalolov played significant
roles in this effort. Except for the Hayrat ul-abror, the
Khamsa epics were re-published in 1948 in connection
with the celebration of the poet’s 500th anniversary,
this time without prose summaries, and in the Cyrillic
alphabet. However, this edition was still abridged and
lacked sufficient scholarly commentary.
In 1944, Solih Mutallibov defended his candidate’s
dissertation on the topic “Critical Text of Hayrat ul
-
abror” and prepared the first scientific
-critical edition
of the initial epic of the Khamsa, but was unable to
publish it at the time.
In 1945, G'ulom Karimov defended his candidate’s
dissertation on the topic “Research on the Critical Text
of Layli and Majnun” and prepared the scientific
-critical
edition of the epic, but it too remained unpublished.
After World War II, Porso Shamsiyev began preparing
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
77
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
the critical texts of all five epics in the Khamsa for
publication. He published the scientific-critical editions
of Sab‘ai Sayyor in 1956, Farhod va Shirin in 1963, and
Hayrat ul-abror in 1970. He also completed the
scientific-critical texts of Layli va Majnun and Saddi
Iskandariy, but did not manage to publish them. Due to
his extensive textual research on the epics, Shamsiyev
was able to publish the complete text of the Khamsa in
1959-1960. The 1960 edition, printed in the new
alphabet, was well-received by readers(navoiy xamsasi
nashrlari).
In this critical text, as before, the manuscript by
Abdujamil (A), the manuscript by Sultanali Mashhadi
(C), and a manuscript referred to as M (from the 16th-
century collection) were used as the primary sources.
In addition to the ACM manuscripts, the fourth and fifth
manuscripts, designated as L1 and L26, were used to
prepare the critical text of Farhod va Shirin. These
manuscripts were compared with the primary
manuscript, and differences were recorded in the
scientific apparatus(navoiy xamsasi nashrlari). The sixth
manuscript used in this edition is the Khamsa
manuscript from the Oriental section of the Scientific
Library of Kazan State University, named after V.I.
Lenin.
In 1958, To'xtasin Jalolov prepared the edition of Layli
va Majnun based on a prose translation by Amin
Umariy and Husaynzoda. In the preface, Jalolov noted:
“For the Navoi texts, the 1949 second volume
published by the State Publishing House of Uzbekistan
was used as the basis, and the missing verses were
restored. At the same time, chapters unrelated to the
plot were omitted” .
One of our leading textual scholars, Abduqodir
Hayitmetov, also made significant contributions to
preparing Navoi's works for publication. He prepared a
prose version of Hayrat ul-abror, which was published
twice between 1974 and 1989.
In 1976, Vahob Rahmonov published a prose version of
Layli va Majnun in collaboration with others. Notably,
Rahmonov also prepared the scientific-critical texts of
all five epics in the Khamsa and Lison ut-tayr, which
were published twice between 2006 and 2009.
In addition to these editions, the Khamsa epics have
also been published in various multi-volume collections
of Alisher Navoi’s works, including the 15
-volume
collection published in 1965, the 20-volume collection
from 1987, and the 10-volume collection from
2011(navoiy xamsasi nashrlari).
In the 1965 15-
volume edition of Navoi’s works, Porso
Shamsiyev prepared the Khamsa epics for publication.
In the 1987 20-volume Complete Works of Alisher
Navoi, the Khamsa epics were prepared by Abduqodir
Hayitmetov and Ibrohim Haqqulov, based on the
scientific-critical texts edited by Porso Shamsiyev. The
2011 10-volume Complete Works of Alisher Navoi was
prepared by Hamid Sulaymon and Sayfiddin
Rafiddinov(navoiy xamsasi nashrlari).
CONCLUSION
Navoi’s works were disseminated through manuscript
copying during his lifetime. From the 19th century, they
began to be published, initially in lithographic form, and
later, by the mid-20th century, in prose and poetic
forms. To this day, Navoi’s works remain relevant and
continue to be published.
REFERENCES
Khandamir. Makorimul-akhlaq. Tashkent, 1967.
Alisher Navoi. Khamsa. Manuscripts Fund of the
Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences
of Uzbekistan, inventory no. 5018.
Alisher Navoi. Layli va Majnun. Prepared for publication
by To’xtasin Jalolov with prose translations by Amin
Umariy and Husaynzoda. Tashkent, 1958.
Alisher Navoi. Works. 15-volume collection. Tashkent,
1965.
Alisher Navoi. Complete Works. 20-volume collection.
“Fan,” Tashkent, 1987.
Alisher Navoi. Complete Works. 10-volume collection.
“Gafur Gulom,” Tashkent, 2011.
