Abay Qunanbaiuly (Абай Құнанбайұлы) was a Kazakh poet, composer, and moralist of the 19th century. He shaped Kazakh culture as a social activist, musician, and the most beloved poet in Kazakhstan. He is considered the founding father of modern Kazakh literature and remains the most famous Kazakh poet. Even Louis Aragon, the renowned French poet, wrote about Abay.

Many scientists in the world studying Kazakhstan, admiring Abai’s deep poetry respectfully compare his image with “an eagle flying over the Kazakh meadows”, “a horse galloping across the Kazakh meadows” according to Astana Times.

He was a Jadid, and followed in the footsteps of Ismail Gaspirali and the journalists of Terjuman.

But Abay was more than a poet—he was a scholar, a philosopher, and a composer. Born under the name Ibrahim, Abay composed a significant number of poems, many of which were intended to be sung. He is also the author of Words of Edification, a collection of moralistic essays that had a profound influence on the Kazakh people.

A great scholar, Abay first studied Arabic, Persian, and Turkic literature. According to Hakim (2020), he educated himself by reading the works of intellectuals revered across Eastern societies for centuries, such as Fuzuli, Biruni, Navoi, Firdawsi, and Hafiz. He also encouraged Kazakh society to pursue education, notably by translating Russian works into Kazakh, including those of Pushkin, Lermontov, Krylov, and Mickiewicz. “As a pioneer intellectual determined to enlighten his people and awaken the isolated nomadic society of Kazakhs, he began to look beyond the boundaries of the steppe society,” writes Hakim (2020).

He encouraged the Kazakh people to educate themselves, that’s why he said
“A strong man may defeat one hundred enemies. But a learned man—one thousand.”
—Abay

Eventually, Abay became a poet of global renown. That is why Hakim (2020) writes: “Abay Qunanbaiuly never lived outside the borders of the Central Asian geography, yet his thoughts traveled much further, to the heart of the famous Russian intellectuals and their works that took their roots from Europe, the land of enlightenment and progress.”

His poems addressed themes such as religion, humanism, emotion, nomadic life, and patriotism. This is precisely why he holds a central place in Kazakh culture and language. “Great Kazakh poet and intellectual Abay Kunanbay is one of the most prominent figures in the Kazakh land in the last two centuries,” notes Hakim (2020).

He always encouraged Kazakhs to be honest and correct, and every Kazakh and Kazakhstanis knows this poem:

Slander, lies, boastfulness,
Laziness, and wasteful spending —
These are your five enemies, if you know.
Aspiration, hard work, deep thought,
Contentment, and compassion —
These are five noble virtues, if you accept them.

If you witness evil, feel disgust,
Let your heart grow cold and restrain yourself.
If you witness goodness, take it as a lesson,
And gather it in your thoughts.

Abay is considered one of the founding fathers of the Kazakh nation. Numerous monuments are dedicated to him, and his writings form the foundation of Kazakh culture. The city of Abay was named in his honor. In 2006, a statue was erected for him on the Boulevard des Étangs-Purs in Moscow.

His name has been given to a university and a boulevard in the city of Almaty. In 1995, UNESCO declared it the “Year of Abay” worldwide. The International Organization of Turkic Culture (TÜRKSOY) declared 2020, the 175th anniversary of Abay Kunanbayev’s birth, as the “Year of Abay Kunanbayev.” In 2021, a square in Zeytinburnu, a district in Istanbul with a large Kazakh-Turkish population, was named Abay Kunanbayuly Square.

Cengiz Aytmatov described Abay as “a sublime figure on the Eurasian scale” (Kibar, 2014: 11), comparing him to Goethe and Tolstoy.

In summary, Abay was a humanist and an intellectual who supported ideas parallel to the Renaissance, praising the human being as the most capable and perfect creation of God. Recognized as the founder of Kazakh literature, Abay Kunanbay opened a new era in Kazakh literary history and introduced innovations to the literary field. He brought these innovations not only to literature but also to social life. For this reason, he remains a role model for contemporary Kazakh intellectuals. His works are still considered classics of Kazakh literature today.

This poet was a great artist who described nature in a spectacular way, and I leave you with a few verses from a poem by Abai:

The earth has waited all winter for its beloved sun,
and united with it and slaked its passion:
This is the result of that everlasting passion:
all is in blossom, radiant as the fire-bird.
No one dares to stare straight at the sun,
but they love it and are warmed by its soulful heat.
And I myself saw the sun going into
its gold and purple tent in the evening.