Muhemmet Éli (Memtili) Toxtaji (1901-1937), better known as Memtili Ependi or Tewpiq, is a singular figure in the history of Xinjiang. He came from a family of prominent businessmen and activists for modern education and was educated exclusively in the modernist schools that were founded around Artush and Tijen, near Kashgar, beginning in the 1870s. He wandered in exile through the Soviet Union, where it is unclear how he spent his time, and washed up on the shores of Turkey, where he eventually trained as a teacher.
Here are two of his poems. The translations are unrhyming but otherwise accurate. Where I have felt the need to make stylistic choices, I have done so.
From Alip Tékin, Ibrahim. Memtili Ependi Shéirliri [The Poems of Memtili Ependi]. Ürümchi: Shinjang Xelq Neshriyati, 1998, p. 1:
| “Soldier” | چېرىك |
|---|---|
| Catastrophe has come to Kashgar, | قەشقەرگە ۋابا تەگدى، |
| The stream has run dry. | قالدى سۇسىز ئېرىق. |
| Darkness is become a canopy, | زۇلمەت يېپىنچا بولدى، |
| And faces saffron yellow[1]. | چىرايلار زەپىرەڭ سېرىق. |
| One cannot freely walk about, | كەڭتاشا ماڭغىلى بولماس، |
| Everywhere there are fierce soldiers. | ھەر جايدا يىرتقۇچ چىرىك. |
| Hunger and hardship have covered the land, | ئاچ-زارلىق قاپلىدى ئەلنى، |
| With not a grain of millet to be eaten. | يىگۈدەك قالمىدى تېرىق. |
| Tax and levy are become heavy, | باج-ئالۋان ئېغىر بولدى، |
| Suffocated every puff of breath. | بوغۇلدى نەپەسلەر-تىنىق. |
| Backs are become scars, | دۈمبىلەر يېغىر بولدى، |
| Did you see this, tewpiq[2]? | كۆردۈڭمۇ بۇنى تەۋپىق؟ |
| God’s mercy comes, | خۇدانىڭ رەھمىتى كېلەر، |
| Faces are become warm… | چىرايلار بولدى ئىللىق… |
| May 1920 | ماي، 1920 |
[1]^ The color yellow is a common Uyghur metaphor for devastation and sadness.
[2]^ Tewpiq (تەۋپىق) comes from the Arabic tawfīq, a Muslim theological term referring to God’s grace or guidance. In Uyghur, it is often rendered as the “correct road” toghra yol. Memtili took this as his pseudonym, apparently from an early age.
Memtili composed this poem at the age of about 19, around the time of the departure of his teacher and mentor, the Ottoman educator and Pan-Turkist Ahmed Kemal.
From the same source, pp. 13-14:
| “Are there?” | بارمىكەن |
|---|---|
| Countrymen, relatives, when separated from your homeland, | ۋەتەنداشلار، قېرىنداشلار، ئەل ۋەتەندىن ئايرىلىپ، |
| Just when you had learned to fly, the wings broke and twisted. | ئەمدىلا بولغان ئۇچۇرما سۇندى قاناتلار قايرىلىپ. |
| What kinds of days have come to the homeland? Everywhere is suffering. | نېمە كۈن بولدى ۋەتەنگە؟ ھەممە يەردە دەرد-ئەلەم، |
| My Senem[3], my princess beauty, is become a serving girl, a slave. | خانىش كەبى ئاي جامالىم قۇل-دېدەك بولدى سەنەم. |
| I wandered away as a poor meshrep[4], far afield in a wayfarer’s inn, | مەن پېقىر مەشرەپ كەبى يۈردۈم يىراقتا دەڭدە مەن، |
| Oh, piteous Ghérib[5] and poor homeland, I am in distress for you. | ئېھ، غېرىب مىسكىن ۋەتەن، مەن سېنىڭ دەردىڭدە مەن. |
| On the shores of the Black Sea, of your fate I heard, | قارا دېڭىز ساھىلىدا قىسمىتىڭنى ئاڭلىدىم، |
| Filling up my heart with learning, like a fire I burned. | دىلنى پەندە تولدۇرۇپ ئوت كەبى لاۋۇلدىدىم. |
| My steps have reached the homeland, marching to such a distant goal, | قەدىمىم يەتتى ۋەتەنگە، شۇنچە يىراق مەنزىل بېسىپ، |
| My responsibility to speak fixed upon that country. | سۆزلىمەك بۇرچۇم مېنىڭ ئەل ئالدىدا كەسكىن كېسىپ. |
| Are there allies, are there volunteers? | بارمىكەن ئاركاداشلار، بارمىكەن پىدائىيلەر؟ |
| I have girded my waist in knowledge, may ideals come true! | باغلىدىم بەلنى بىلىمدە، ئاشسۇن ئەمەلگە غايىلەر! |
| Let us gather, let us join together, hey, swift horses of the homeland, | توپلىنايلى، جۆر بولايلى، ئەي ۋەتەن دۇلدۇللىرى، |
| Girls and boys who roll up their sleeves, who hold up the sky! | يەڭنى تۈرگەن، كۆكنى تىرىگەن قىزلىرى، ئوغۇللىرى. |
| 1933 | 1933 |
[3]^ Memtili references here both the figure of Senem, who is a tragic lover and one of the title characters of the opera “Ghérib-Senem,” and the formal music and dance form called senem.
[4]^ Thus, the speaker, to his Senem/senem, is just an improvised meshrep dance, but also represents, perhaps, the social power of the meshrep gathering.
[5]^ Ghérib is the tragic lover of Senem.
Memtili most likely wrote this poem in Istanbul, where he had arrived some years before. During his work and education there, he joined a group of young Turkestani exiles, some of whom returned with him to Kashgar in 1934 in hopes of building a new Turkic state. The poem suggests that he, as the speaker, has just learned about the uprising that led to the formation of the Turkic Islamic Republic of East Turkestan (1933-1934).
Comments 17
I’m really drawn in by the beauty of the English and Arabic side-by-side. The symmetry is gorgeous.
Nice work on translating, too. Poetry is never easy.
Posted 07 Apr 2010 at 8:28 am ¶Pah! Tewpiq gets credit for the excellent translation, but while you’re admiring the symmetry of the presentation, let me tell you accommodating the right-to-left Uyghur characters in the freaking table was a pain in the neck. I felt like an idiot when I learned there’s actually a CSS attribute called “direction” to which you can assign the value of “rtl,” right to left.
Posted 07 Apr 2010 at 8:36 am ¶CSS? Attribute? Though the horse of understanding might gallop ten thousand versts, it would still never reach the borders of your plains of knowledge.
Seriously, I couldn’t get the tables to work to save my life. Limitless thanks to Porfiriy! And thank you, Josh, for the encouragement!
Posted 07 Apr 2010 at 8:49 am ¶I studied the Uighur alphabet briefly during my last visit to Urumqi. I found it a bit disappointing, somehow not as fluid as I — a lover of Japanese calligraphy — would like it.
But seeing it on the screen here, it looks quite lovely.
Keep up the good work!
Posted 07 Apr 2010 at 12:11 pm ¶There is a book titled “Memetili Ependi” by Yalqun Ruzi, in which you can find detailed information about him.
Posted 07 Apr 2010 at 12:33 pm ¶Bruce,
I completely agree. Someone I know with an eye for calligraphy described it as an Arabo-Persian script with a Cyrillic aesthetic, all evenly-spaced and chunky. You might have a look at the Arabic calligraphy being produced in Japan today, it’s really quite neat. (See the latest issue of Saudi Aramco World.)
Mr. Jeck,
Nice to see you here! Yes, it’s a great book for anyone interested in Xinjiang in the early 20th century. Why, do you think, does it spend about 50-80 pages talking about Ataturk?
Posted 07 Apr 2010 at 6:26 pm ¶Thanks for this beautiful translation (and presentation)…quite fascinating…and a lot easier than trying to do it myself! Just one very minor point in the poem Memtili refers to the seven lands (يەتتى ۋەتەن) which should be Yetti Weten/Sheher in Uyghur Latin script not Alte Sheher (the usual 6 cities) as it appears in the footnote. I wonder which is the 7th city?
Posted 07 Apr 2010 at 9:55 pm ¶@ Tewpiq: The ideology of the Uyghur people of early 20th century can’t be explained well without linking it to the drastic changes happened in neighboring countries/related nations, like Russia, China and Turkey. Ata Turk’s contribution and reform in Turkey are still in controversy among Islamic fundamentalist. I guess Mr. Yalqun Ruzi tried to interpret it from the perspective of Uyghur Nationalist. Note that he tried to re-evaluate almost every historical figure of Uyghurs of that time from his perspective, which is quite contradictory to prevailing interpretations, like he praises a lot Ilihan Tore, Aysa beg, Mes’ud Sebri, Muhammed Imin Bughra but raises negative concerns on Ehmatjan Kasim and Is’haqbeg etc.
Posted 07 Apr 2010 at 10:58 pm ¶Great job on tھe translation. I really got into reading these.
I love the double entendre in the last stanza of the second poem.
يەڭنى تۈرگەن، كۆكنى تىرىگەن
Reading between the lines, couldn’t this be interpreted as “standing in victory, upholding the blue (flag)”?
If you consider يەڭ to be a cognate of يەڭمەك , meaning to ‘win, defeat, overcome’ and consider that the color of the first ETR flag was also blue, it makes sense (he is writing in 1933).
I am not positive about that cognate, but it seems many Uyghur words can be broken down as such. As a writer with an obvious political bent, this couldn’t have been lost on Tewpiq.
Posted 08 Apr 2010 at 3:36 am ¶I meant Tewpiq, the Uyghur poet and not Tewpiq, the Uyghur translator.
Posted 08 Apr 2010 at 3:39 am ¶@ d/b: Oh, good point on Yetti Sheher… I mistranslated that in my note. Under Yaq’ub Beg, the Six Cities became, in some interpretations, the Seven Cities. If you read the Tarikh-i Aminiya, which describes the Muslim revolts of the 1860s, the reign of Yaq’ub Beg, and the Qing reconquest, the author (Sayrami) describes the “Seven Cities”: Kashgar, Yarkand, Khotan, Aqsu, Uch Turpan, Kucha, and… hum. No seventh. I think the follow-up, the Tarikh-i Hamidi, includes Turpan, but I’m not sure…
Posted 08 Apr 2010 at 9:57 am ¶Tewpiq: I sent you en email regarding to a possible mistake occurred in the translation, don’t know if you had a chance to take a look at it. I think there is some error with the first line.
The original saying is “Qashqerge wapa tegdi”. Here you translated the word” wapa” as “loyalty”, which is technically right, but it is wrong in the meaning. I also noticed that this word should be “waba” instead of “wapa”. You got a typo in the text which brought in the error in translation. “Wapa” means “loyalty” while “waba” means ” plaque”, or kind of disastrous disease. Then the original meaning should be ” Kashgar got a plaque” or something like that. Please check it out at Yulgun online dictionary.
About the seven cities. I believe that the stanza” qedimim yetti wetenge” doesn’t refer to the seven cities at all. It means “my steps reached to the homeland”. It seems you translated “yetti” as “seven”, but it should be translated as ” reach”. The word “Yette” then means seven, but it is not there.
Posted 08 Apr 2010 at 11:01 am ¶When offering my explanation of the final line of “Barmiken” to my Uyghur teacher, I got a bit of a scolding. As she doesn’t agree, I retract it….
Posted 08 Apr 2010 at 12:27 pm ¶I guess I’m too used to looking for hidden meanings in all fiction and poetry by Uyghur authors.
@ Mr. Jeck — Oo, ouch. Good catch. I’ve gotten used to reaching Chaghatay, which writes seven as يتي. I’ll correct it. Thank you!
Posted 08 Apr 2010 at 7:56 pm ¶@ Tewpiq:
Posted 10 Apr 2010 at 6:08 am ¶“ghérib” in “Ah-ghérib miskin weten …” does not necessarily indicate “the lover of Senem”; It is used more commonly to describe poor, pitiable, or wretched condition, which is the correct meaning of the word here.
Nice to see these here.
How about reading peqir mäshräp käbi as a reference to Shah Mashrab (17th C trickster/poet)? I’m sure Mämtili Äpändi was aware of his works. Likening oneself to a mäshräp gathering doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Posted 13 Apr 2010 at 2:15 pm ¶Thanks for the great poetry. It sounds very good in English. To translate poetry is the most difficult thing in the world. The truth is in poetry and I am very happy to read it. Please keep up.
Posted 13 Apr 2010 at 7:52 pm ¶Post a Comment