necto Donatello. As-Safi Octalogy

necto Donatello. As-Safi Octalogy: the newly-found colossus of Russian-language poetry

(short essay with a general overview of the first 180 thousand lines of the Five Parts)


Jam, they say, had such a song in honor:
“Pour the bowl! Even Jamshid will not live forever”
Hafez


We will try to consider Octalogy without leaving the space of As-Safi and proceeding from the terms and images adopted as the basis in this work.

Prologue

Positioning itself as “an essay in verses from the Eight Parts of philosophical and didactic content”, Octalogy established a semantic standard, which is not very clear due to the incompleteness of the work. Having declared the priority of the “open scales of the poetic octagon,” As-Safi is stepping up the race for Manas, in fact, bypassing Mahabharata and already past the bar of the colossi of poetic antiquity in the person of the Iliad-Odyssey of Homer, the Indian Ramayana and Shah-Nama Firdowsi. This is impressive. Whatever one may say, more than 180 thousand poetic lines for a modern work written in just 4 years do not allow to bypass the silence of Octalogy.

Octalogy structure

The structure of the work is rather complicated. The “atom” of Octalogy is Bayt, which, as applied to As-Safi, can consist of 2, 3, 4, or 5 lines. Thus, the concept of “bayt” in the composition is very conditional in relation to its root meaning, adopted in Arabic poetry. The number of Bayts-Abyat cannot exceed 124,000, and, presumably, the narrative will be interrupted without explanation — as soon as it reaches this value.

40 Books of Octalogy hosted in Najeebs

It is assumed that As-Safi will consist of 40 Books, which are located in Najeeb — actually the volumes of the Octalogy. The fact is that the concept of «Volume» is also used in the work to number the subsections of the Parts. So, Fiqh has Three Volumes, Sod — Ten. This confusion arose, according to the author’s version, because initially the poetic composition was planned at the level of 7,000 lines.

Writing history

The case began with the story of a small nation living in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range. To popularize the topic in the world, the Russian language was chosen as a carrier of information. Later there appeared gazelles and rubyes, hundred-pyramids — the result was tetralogy. Thus, Autad was positioned as a completed work and consisted of 4 Books. The lyric gazelles of the Two Imams were written (5th and 6th Books). The situation is confused. But this work was already considered completed. Later, work began on the Four Sultans (Books 7-11), and everything was aggravated to the limit. As a result, a solution was found — the work was called As-Safi. Nevertheless, the calculation for the 4th Part of the Octalogy did not appear immediately: Fiqh (Books 12-19) was planned to be completed and was much shorter than the current one. Like a supernova, Sod appeared — the Fifth Part in Ten Volumes. He expanded Fiqh, technically translating the work into an area of 300,000 lines. At the moment, work on the 11th Najeeb (5th Volume of Sod), which has reached about 180 thousand lines and pierced the 2nd ceiling of the Fifth Veda (Mahabharata), is completed. The next Two Najeebs will bring Octalogy to the level of 230 thousand lines, leaving behind the 3rd ceiling of the classics of Hindustan (220 thousand) and directing As-Safi to Manas …

Iliad-Odyssey — Ramayana — Shah-nama — Mahabharata — Manas

Step by step, Al-Safi is moving towards his goal, having already left behind the masterpieces of Homer (29 thousand lines), Ramayana (48 thousand), Shah-nama (120 thousand), the 1st and 2nd ceilings of the Fifth Veda (150 and 180 thousand). These guidelines are needed for motivation or something else — it’s hard to imagine. Although to Manas (396 thousand — half a million or more) is still far away.

Cross-numbering accepted in As-Safi

There are several of them. The first is in Bayts-Abyat. Despite the fact that after the first 30 thousand lines the rest of the story goes with the “Onegin” stanza (for the most part, a 3 stressed syllables trochaic) and reaches about 199 thousand lines, As-Safi clearly numbers the general order in Bayts. Starting from the 2nd Part, the numbering of parts of the Octalogy is introduced using Arabic letters (aliph, ba, ta, tha, etc.) Thus, Autad is positioned as the quintessence of the entire work, when the remaining Parts in expanded form narrate about certain theses of the 1st Part. For «Onegin» stanzas, a division into 28 Legions is introduced, which will include the first 10,000 Stans — as As-Safi calls the poetic size of 14 lines. Apparently, the Legions will end in the 11th Najeeb mentioned above, although the use of this type of poetic step will not stop there, taking its total score beyond 14 thousand stanzas. Also, the original uses pass-through pagination — in electronic form, the 14th font size of Sylfaen, bringing the total score to 7 thousand in the 11th Najeeb. There are other examples of end-to-end numbering that the reader may notice when familiarizing themselves with the work. Note that this, to some extent, helps to systematize huge volumes, which are not so easy to get used to.

Two ways to calculate Bayts-Abyat: by numbering and spelling

The first Three Parts (Najeebs 1-3, Books 1-11) were written in order. Then the 1st Volume of the 5th Part was written (Najeeb 7, Book 20). He was followed by Najeebs 4, 9, 10, 5, 8, and 6 of Fiqh and Sod. Thus, it is obvious that the number of lines of the first Ten Najeebs will be different, depending on the method of counting. An obvious allusion with the Quran also suggests itself, in which the arrangement of the Ayats and Suras does not correspond to the sequence of their sending. This allows some theologians to make comments on the Holy Book of Muslims not by numbering the chapters, but by the order of their sending by God.

The final Three Parts of the Octalogy

Following the Parts of Autad, Two Imams, Four Sultans, Fiqh and Sod, it is planned to write Apology, Function and Induction — thus bringing the total score of the Octalogy sections to Eight.

Changing the declared tasks of the Octalogy during the writing of the work

Initially, it seemed that the main task of the composition would be to highlight the characteristics of the struggle between the Spirit and the Ego. For this, an auxiliary way was chosen to describe the temporality of being in a changing world, which is the main accomplice of the nafs (self, ego). Later, the composition was transferred, as the author claims, already into the poetic space, abstracting it from the connection with knowledge as such in any of its manifestations. Along with this, there is a possible desire to define the plot of Octalogy as a narrative about the History of the World from the moment of its creation by God. This was peculiar to ancient authors in a local form (Mahabharata and the history of Hindustan) or on a more global scale (Al-Bidaya wa n-Nihaya of Arab historian and theologian Ibn Kathir).

The paradox of the Spanish classic Lope de Vega

The total heritage of the Spaniard, presumably, exceeds a million lines, for the most part lost, although not included in one work, as is done in As-Safi.

Dualism of Octalogy

Sometimes the narrative is fun and easy, moving from one topic to another without any particular sequence. In other places, the presentation is extremely clear, squeezed into the framework of the transmission of the meaning of the original source. The desired freshness, mentioned more than once in the work, is given, sometimes, with difficulty and not always.


Part I. Autad
(Books 1-4. Abyat 1 — 6,661)


Start of the Octalogy:

Isa, son of Maryam, said, who knew for sure,
The salam of Allah was with him and he is the Prophet and army:
“Whoever received knowledge, embodied this knowledge, taught another person –
That lucky one in Heaven will be called the Great”.

Tired of? Or is it surprising? Probably not. The subconscious promise of the spirit to perfection and the initiation of the maximum number of living beings to this perfection. Well — a noble task.

So, Autad. It consists of 4 Books, includes about 24 thousand lines. The 1st Book of the 1st Part “Visit” begins the story with the thesis on the creation of the world, the speech smoothly translates into the history of the Alans and Aces-Bulgars, the direct ancestors of the Karachais, as the “Assia” of the scientist Arsen Kubanov speaks about this. This book is taken as the basis for the historical interpretation of the ethnogenesis of this people. Not recognizing the generally accepted theory of the Iranian-speaking Alans and Aces-Bulgars, which are also proclaimed by one people, Autad supports the opinion of the historian. Citing interesting examples of etymology, hitherto little known to the scientific world, attempts are also being made to unify the expanses from Scandinavia to the Yenisei — the area of distribution of aces. The history of the Karachais smoothly reaches the 20th century, which describes their participation in the Great Patriotic War and outstanding services in this field of warrior heroes. The 2nd Book of the 1st Part “Sultan” immerses us in the mysterious world of gazelles and rubyes. In the first dimension, Hafez reigned, according to the author of Octalogy. In the second world, Khayyam is better known.

The whole “Diwan of Shakkur al-Haddadi” includes 121 gazelles with very interesting analogies from the past and intriguing decisions for the future. So, the Arrow-Strela gazelle has 100 bayts, which is not typical for this poetic size, where the usual order implies an interval in the range of 5-13 bayts. The second part of this Book — «Tents» — is more diverse in terms of subjects for discussion. Here a reserve is made, apparently, under the First Volume of Sod, where the biography of the Prophet of Muslims will be examined not only from the angle of the Spiritual Battle with the ego, but in more detail. An attempt is also being made, using 5 examples of commanders of the past, to determine the milestones of the struggle against the self — nafs. The 3rd Book “Ahram” (Pyramids) is an interesting systematization of the author’s poetic claims in the form of hundred-pyramids, where a hundred quatrains are defined as a limit. There are only 18 of them, not all of them have a finished look and, apparently, this was done on purpose. Themes are very diverse — this is Ali’s chain mail, and Caesar, and the Trojan horse, and thoughts about life, about the frailty of being, about the failure of spiritual claims in God to the Creator Himself. The 4th Book “Spring” presents more puzzles than answers. For the City of Love, the crown of the narrative, was deliberately overlooked for an unclear reason. The available lines are, rather, a free presentation on various topics.


Part II. Two Imams
(Books 5 and 6. Abyat 8,001 — 10,000)


Love lyrics, so familiar to the reader, frankly, not the most powerful place of Octalogy. Perhaps to fill this vacuum, Two Imams appeared. In fact, the mystical gazelles of Hafez about love for the Creator, which are popularly perceived as love between a man and a woman, are taken here as a basis. Illumination from the world of Eternity, characteristic of the great poet of Persia, is not available here. Therefore, in order to brighten up the grayness of the narrative, the author resorts to a very interesting way: usually one bayt or a line from the works of the Master is taken as a starter of gazelles written in the Caucasus. Although the great poets of the past turned to the Hafez gazelles from a different angle. But here weakness is not reproached. Moreover, it is recognized. The 5th Book of the Octalogy, with which Two Imams begin, is called “Sakrademi” — The Most Beautiful Girl of the World. This is a familiar image for oriental poetry, which means the Eternal God. The 6th Book «Values» is in no way connected with the love lyrics of the Book of the previous one and implies consideration of a wider range of issues. But here, there were some surprises: Haydarova Strela («The Arrow og Haydar») gazelle consists of 500 bayts, divided into 5 parts. It uses the same words as a rhyme in a certain order, with the exception of the first hundred. How justified the search for new forms by the author is not very clear. Maybe somewhere more or less successful it is able to revive the outline of the description. At the same time, the reader does not know that this narrative will have a continuation: already in the Second Volume of Sod an unexpected move awaits us with “Found Sakrademi”.


Part III. Four Sultans
(Books 7-11. Abyat 10 001 — 16,000. Stanzas 1 — 1,630)


The 3rd Part, which appeared quite unexpectedly, is called Four Sultans. It consists of 24 thousand lines and is divided into 5 Books. In the 7th Book, Stan suddenly appears — this is the “Onegin” stanza in 14 lines. But unlike the usual syllable of the classic of Russian poetry, it is used, overwhelmingly, only 3 stressed syllables trochaic. The author for some time tries to adapt to a new poetic size, which he does not hide. At the same time, the 8th Book begins a basic exposition of spiritual ideas and values, which eventually acquire new colors in the cosmogonic plot about the creation of the world. In the meantime, general indications of this are given, general boundaries of the plan are given. The 9th Book «Desert» is very peculiar — this is a free presentation of a verse without a special subject of discussion. Thoughts visiting fragmentarily intertwine into an interesting perception of reality in Space and Time. It creates a lasting impression that the author is trying to cut off all the unnecessary contingent of readers who are bored with the course of events in this place of the directory. At the same time, the goals pursued, apparently, are achieved in the 10th Book — here the cosmogonic plot, so beloved by readers, begins to gain momentum. Already in the 11th Book, in bold strokes, the foundations of the beliefs of people who recognize the Creator’s Oneness are given.


Part IV. Fiqh
(3 Volumes. Books 12-19. Abyat 16,001 — 28,495. Stanzas 1,631 — 5,200)


There are a great many books with the history of the world. Description methods also vary. Someone begins this with Kayumars and mubads of Iran, someone goes by describing the great kings of all time. But even in antiquity, the basic method was known, adopted as the basis for all Abrahamic religions that profess monotheism — through a chain of Prophets of Allah until the Day of Judgment. Fiqh went this way, starting with Adam and reaching the description of the Prophet Muhammad in the plane of his miracles and mores. Without further ado, the 4th Part of the Octalogy is based on ancient sources and famous authors in their interpretations of the scriptures sent by God to people. 50 thousand lines were enough to briefly familiarize an unprepared reader with this, to continue the process further already in Sod.


Part V. Sod
(10 Volumes. Books 20-29. Abyat 28,496 — 77,600. Stanzas 5,201 — 13,635)


What will the first 70 thousand lines of Sod be about? The meaning of the poem, as you know, the poet has inside. We read the opening words to these volumes.

Volume One. «Sod is the Decathlon. In modern terms, this is a meeting of masters for superiority in the absolute championship of athletes. Where all the components, striving to achieve only one goal and implying the necessary level in many disciplines, should be honed. The biography of the Prophet of Muslims is a kind of decathlon of the Spirit, where the final result, consisting of many aspects of the general mosaic, is taken into account. The different directions and the most important highways gathered together should create a single universal plan for achieving the main goal — the creation of the Perfect Man, capable of achieving maximum success-happiness anywhere in Space-Time and possessing all the necessary knowledge, wisdom and ability for this. Such was the Prophet Muhammad at one time».

Volume Two. «So, she is the Pearl Beauty. And, if God has the Attribute of Al-Qahhar, He allowed her to be called such a beautiful name.Wonderful. There was no doubt about the irresistibility of the Most Beautiful Girl of the World — Sakrademi. And thank God. It amazes, for it is magnificent and laid-back, with the look of a playful doe, knowing all the military tricks of enchantment. Naturally, the East would not have been such without the sacred filling of the outer natural shells, which fulfill their difficult task very, very successfully. But the beauty of nature created by the Creator has the right to external and internal meaning, which Shah-Hafez himself has always been strong … The gazelle genre, so beautiful and brought to perfection by Hafez, continues to attract and invite residents of the entire sublunary world in the East and West …»

Volume Three. «Thirty years after the Prophet, the Rashidun Caliphate was on earth, as the Messenger of Allah himself spoke about this. Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman and ‘Ali did more than they could so that over time, the people of the world in Spanish Seville, Dagestan Derbent, Samarkand beyond the Amu Darya, Multan on the Indus at the foot of the Himalayas, faraway Indonesia and in the depths of the heart of Africa could read one Quran and live in one value system. A quartet of great ascetics and hermits in God, for whom worldly life was worth less than ashes in the wind, and death seemed easier than drinking a glass of water, continued the mission of the Prophet Muhammad. The previously unknown new geopolitical dominant crushed the darkness of unbelief and polytheism, leaving people with the right to choose the Light of Faith. Indeed, Allah never called anyone to His Paradise by force…»

Volume Four. «Imam Shamil … You won’t say anything. He is Awliya-Saint from highest hierarchy of the Naqshbandi Tariqat, which received three permissions on the Way, including from Sheikh Isma’il al-Kurdumeri himself, the direct successor of Khalid-shah. The man who fought for a Quarter of a Century with a power that dared Napoleon in a year and destroyed the German Reich in four years. Highlander of the Caucasus, whose popularity does not fade, increasing year by year throughout the world. Warlord, respect for which has been tested for centuries not only in Muslim countries. The elder, who caused exorbitant respect, both among the Romanovs and the Ottoman dynasty. A servant of God, who, by personal instruction of the Prophet Muhammad, was buried a hundred meters from him at the Ashabs’ cemetery in Medina after 12 centuries…»

Volume Five. «The Heir to the Prophet always becomes the most successful in reading the Sira — the Prophet Life. The Prophets did not inherit dinars and dirhams, but Knowledge. There are two kinds of knowledge — explicit (bodies) and hidden (hearts). Those who grasp only the first are in the rank of Zauil-arham in the science of inheritance — Mir;th. Those who know only the second enter into the rights of Zauil-furud. Whereas he who owns both branches of a single whole becomes a direct heir in the rank of his own son by blood. Such a figurative comparison was made by the great scientists of the past. It is to such a Pole [attraction for all souls seeking God of their time or the whole era], or Qutb, the life of the Prophet Muhammad becomes most understandable from the standpoint of fulfilling the duties entrusted in due time by Allah to His Beloved in relation to all living things …»

necto Donatello
May 3, 2019

P.S.

[for the culture committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation]

Reference

The Russian authorities and personally President Putin, who is in favor of preventing the escalation of Russophobic sentiments and impairing the status of the Russian language, may be interested in supporting the As-Safi Octalogy to strengthen the geopolitical component of the Russian state in the world.
Why?
As-Safi Octalogy by Russian poet and journalist Shukur Shabatovich Tebuev is de facto the largest poetic work in the world written by one person, crossing the line of 186 thousand lines. Behind were the Iliad-Odyssey of Homer (29 thousand), Ramayana (48 thousand), Shah-nama Firdowsi (120 thousand) and Mahabharata (180 thousand), which some scholars consider the fruit of the activity of the Indian monk Vyasa. Ahead is only the Kyrgyz epos Manas, which could be written over the centuries by various authors (396 thousand). When covering issues of the struggle between the spirit and the ego, as well as the history of the world right up to its supposed end, in the context of the history of the Prophets of all “Abrahamic religions,” the Octalogy cannot be a political order of the Russian establishment. Moreover, the history of the World War II was touched only in the penultimate 7th Part “Function”. The real story, when the fate of the world was decided at Stalingrad and Kursk, and not in Normandy.

necto Donatello, analytical columnist

November 21, 2019