Mahmud Kashgari Philosopher Date of Birth: 01.01.1029 Country: Kazakhstan

1. Biography of Mahmud Kashgari
2. The Turkic Lexicon and Other Works
3. "Strive for virtue, and having acquired it, do not be proud."

Biography of Mahmud Kashgari

Mahmud Kashgari, a philosopher and writer, was born in 1029 and died in 1101. Born into the upper circles of the Karakhanid nobility, and perhaps a direct representative of the dynasty itself, Kashgari visited almost all areas inhabited by Turkic people due to various reasons and political persecution. It was in Baghdad, which belonged to the Seljuk Turks at that time, that Kashgari conceived the idea of a book that would provide an explanation of many aspects of Turkic life, its mentality, customs, geography of settlement, and most importantly, language. The famous book "Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk" by Mahmud Kashgari is a Turkic encyclopedia in the truest sense of the word. It contains an extensive collection and summary of historical, cultural, ethnographic, and linguistic materials. Kashgari's "Dīwān" is a monument of Turkic culture, capturing the ethical values and norms of behavior, as well as the unique worldview of Turkic peoples in the 11th century, assimilating all the ancestral heritage that came before. The book not only reflects the ancient Zoroastrian-Shamanistic worldview but also incorporates elements of the new ideology of Islam and its branch, Sufism. As a contemporary of Yusuf Balasaguni, who had a profound influence on him, especially in his views on the role and essence of language, Kashgari introduced the comparative and historical approach to the study of languages, laying the foundations of what is now known as Turkology. Kashgari's predecessor was the native of Farab, Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm al-Fārābī (Jauchari), whose work "Dīwān al-Adab fī Bayān Lughāt al-'Arab" ("Collection of Literary Works in the Arabic Language") was referenced by both Biruni and Kashgari. The Turkic names of medicinal substances in Biruni's and Kashgari's works are the same. Alongside his excellent Arabic philological education, Mahmud's extensive knowledge encompassed all areas of medieval Muslim science.

The Turkic Lexicon and Other Works

Mahmud Kashgari's most notable work, "The Turkic Lexicon," dedicated to Caliph al-Muqtadi, was compiled between 1072 and 1074. In this book, he presented the main genres of Turkic folklore, including ritual and lyrical songs, fragments of heroic epics, historical legends, and tales (such as the campaign of Alexander the Great in the territory of the Turko-Chigils). It also includes over 400 proverbs, sayings, and oral expressions. The following excerpts from the book provide some insight into Kashgari's views:

"The days of time hurry, exhaust the strength of man, and deprive the world of its inhabitants... Such is the custom of time, and besides, here it is an equal destiny for all. If the world aims and releases an arrow, the mountain peaks are divided."

"My son, I leave you with instructions in virtue. Upon finding a good man, follow him."

"The nights and days of the world pass like wanderers. They deprive anyone who crosses their paths of strength."

"Man's possessions and wealth are his enemies. After accumulating wealth, think of it as a never-ending stream of water, like a boulder that rolls its possessor down. All men have deteriorated because of possessions. Seeing wealth, they throw themselves at it like a griffon attacking its prey. They hold onto their possessions, locked away, not using them themselves, crying out of their own miserliness, they collect and hoard gold. Because of wealth, forgetting God, their children, and relatives, they truly strangle themselves."

"Strive for virtue, and having acquired it, do not be proud."

Kashgari's "Dīwān" ("Lexicon") is the only monument of early Turkic dialectology that provides a glimpse into the phonetic and morphological phenomena and the specificity of dialectal forms. It also contains texts of oral and poetic creations of Turkic tribes and peoples from Central Asia, East Turkestan, Volga region, and the Urals. Mahmud Kashgari's work, written with the application of scientific methods of Arabic philology, remains exceptionally valuable to linguists, folklore researchers, and literary scholars even today.