Mirza Ali-Akbar Tahirzada (Azerbaijani: میرزا علی اکبر صابر: 30 May 1862 – 12 July 1911), commonly known by his pseudonym Sabir (صابر), was a satirist and poet in the Russian Empire, who played a leading role in development of Azerbaijani literature. A native of the city of Shamakhi, he grew up in a religious, middle-class household that opposed modern education. During his adolescence, he became a pupil of the distinguished poet Seyid Azim Shirvani, who established a modern institution where various subjects were taught. With Seyid Azim Shirvani's support, Sabir began translating Persian poetry and writing his own Azerbaijani poetry. Although his father initially wanted him to work in the family grocery store, he eventually accepted Sabir's literary ambitions after the latter's strong opposition, including a failed attempt to flee to Mashhad. While still only known within Shamakhi, Sabir's first published poem appeared in the Tbilisi newspaper Sharq-e Rus in 1903. By 1909, he was writing for the satirical magazine Molla Nasraddin. His works covered a wide range of topics, including political satire and social commentary, often criticizing corrupt officials and religious hypocrisy. Sabir's innovative use of Azerbaijani set his poetry apart from traditional forms. He spent his last years in Baku, where he died in 1911.
Biography Sabir's birth name was Mirza Ali-Akbar Tahirzada. He was born on 30 May 1862 in the city of Shamakhi, then ruled by the Russian Empire. At the time, it was the largest city in the Shirvan region. Like the majority of Muslims in the South Caucasus, Sabir's native tongue was Turkic and he was an adherent of Shia Islam. He grew up in a religious, middle-class household where they did not seem to want to give him a modern education. During the start of his adolescence, he became a pupil of the distinguished poet Seyid Azim Shirvani, who had established a modern institution where Arabic, Persian, Azerbaijani Turkic, Russian and other topics were taught. Sabir started translating Persian poetry and writing Azerbaijani poetry with the support of Seyid Azim Shirvani. Sabir's father wanted him to work in the family's grocery store, thinking that the few years he had spent in school would be enough. However, he eventually allowed Sabir to continue his literary research, due to the latter's strong opposition, including an attempt to flee to Mashhad by a caravan. Sabir established close relationships with Shirvan's literary figures, and inspired by Persian poets, especially Nizami Ganjavi, he composed numerous ghazals in their style. In 1885, he travelled to several cities in Iran and Central Asia, thus expanding his intellectual knowledge and later inspired to write about the locals there. Following his return home, he married and became the father of eight daughters and one son. Due to his large family, Sabir was forced to work a lot. He made soap for fifteen years, during which time he would joke "I make soap to wash away the external dirt of my countrymen." He attempted to establish a school in the European tradition, but failed. He also received numerous anonymous and hostile letters as a result of his criticism of conservatism. It was reportedly the journalist Hasem Beik Vezirov who sent him some of these letters. In the journal Sada, Sabir replied to him: "I am a poet, the mirror of my age/ in me everyone sees his own face/ As it happened yesterday, ‘a person’ looked at me /Seeing none other than himself in the mirror."
While still only known within Shamakhi, Sabir's first published poem appeared in the Tbilisi newspaper Sharq-e Rus in 1903. In 1909, he became a writer of Molla Nasraddin satirical magazine, which was also based in Tbilisi. During a time where classical Persian poetry was favored by the elite and writers, Molla Nasraddin used the everyday language of the Turks of the South Caucasus, a practice which was also taking place in other satirical journals. With an extensive readership spanning the Volga region, Siberia, Anatolia, Iran, and South and Central Asia, Molla Nasraddin had the largest audience of all the Muslim publications of the Russian Revolution of 1905. This was largely due to the abundance of political cartoons that were even understandable to the uneducated. Sabir used many pseudonyms, but was commonly known as Sabir ("patient") and Hophop ("hoopoe"). Sabir and the editor of Molla Nasraddin, Jalil Mammadguluzadeh, were well-known proponents of using Turkic in literature. Sabir also published for numerous other journals, including Hayat, Fuyuzat, Rahbar, Dabestan, Olfat, Ershad, Haqiqat, Yeni Haqiqat and Ma'lumat. Due to his work, Sabir faced widespread opposition both within and beyond Shirvan. Both he and Molla Nasreddin were labeled as heretical by some of the mullahs in Tabriz. Due to the escalation of the opposition against him, he dedicated a poem to the inhabitants of Shirvan, in which he defended his beliefs:
I am a Shi'ite, but not in the ways you desireI am a Sunni, but not like the examples you like. I am a Sufi, but not like the ones you describe. I am a lover of truth, O people of Shirvan. Due to the opposition, Sabir moved to Baku, a more modern and international city, where he worked as a teacher in 1910. Nearly all of his short satirical pieces, known as Taziyanaler ("The Whips") were written there. He later had a liver condition, which led to a brief return in Shamakhi for treatment, while his poems were being published by Molla Naṣreddin and Gunesh. He died on 12 July 1911 in Baku.
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