Unrivaled master of the word Aliaga Vahid turns 131 years old

Today marks the 131st anniversary of the birth of Azerbaijani Soviet ghazal poet, master of meykhana, and Honored Art Worker of the Azerbaijan SSR, Aliaga Vahid.

Aliaga Mahammadgulu oglu Iskandarov (Aliaga Vahid) was born on February 17, 1895, in the Baku settlement of Masazir. He received his initial education at a madrasah, but without completing it, he joined the literary circle "Majmayush-shuara," where he became acquainted with poets Muniri, Azer Imamalieyev, and other popular Baku poets of that time. Under the influence of their work, he wrote his first lyrical poems.

In his satirical poems, Vahid criticized the shortcomings of society, superstitions and prejudices, tyranny and injustice. These works were included in his first collection of poems Tamahın nəticəsi ("The Result of Greed").

Vahid, who welcomed the establishment of Soviet power in Azerbaijan, actively engaged in revolutionary propaganda and wrote numerous poems glorifying the new life ("Soldiers and Workers and Comrades," "What is School," "Rise, My Angel," and others). Vahid collaborated with the newspaper "Kommunist" and the satirical magazine "Molla Nasreddin." In his poetry collections "Couplets" (1924) and "Mollakhana" (1938), he sharply ridiculed opponents of innovation.

His works "Battle Ghazals" (1943) and "Ghazals" (1944), written during the Great Patriotic War, are imbued with love for the Motherland, hatred for the enemy, and faith in victory.

A consistent successor of Fuzuli's literary style, Vahid is a prominent representative of the ghazal genre in modern Azerbaijani literature. His ghazals are distinguished by their simplicity, harmony of poetic language, and occupy an important place in the repertoire of singers.

He also translated ghazals by Nizami, Fuzuli, Khagani, and other classics into Azerbaijani. He composed extensively in the folk poetic genre "meykhana."

The lyrics of the popular tesnif Vətən yaxşıdır, performed by Khudayar Yusifzade, who became a martyr during the 44-day Patriotic War, also belong to Aliaga Vahid.

Aliaga Vahid was a non-drinker. However, he had to pretend to be a drunkard, fearing Bolshevik repression. Once, a list of "enemies of the people" was handed to Mir Jafar Bagirov, then the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, which included Vahid's name. M.Bagirov crossed it out, saying that a hopeless drunkard would cause no harm.

For some time, Vahid lived in cramped conditions. He even wrote a poem about this and sent it to M.Bagirov. The latter summoned the poet and then ordered that Vahid be provided with a two-room apartment.

A.Vahid passed away on October 1, 1965, in Baku.

A monument to the great master of words was erected in the Philharmonic Garden, which was later moved to Icherisheher.

By decision of the Cabinet of Ministers dated May 7, 2019, Aliaga Vahid was included in the list of authors whose works are recognized as state property.