Abdurahmon Jomiy

Abdurahmon Jomiy

(1414-1492)
The literature rose to a new stage during the period of Temurids in Movarounnahr and Khurasan. Abdurahmon Jomiy's creative work was of great im­portance here.

Jomiy was born on November 7, 1414 in the city of Jom and therefore he chose himself the pseudonym "Jomiy". He spent most of his life in Herat and became a great scien­tist. He began to learn Arabic, poetry and the history of literature early in his childhood. Jomiy finished his study in Samarkand at Ulugbek's madrasah. The founder of the Uzbek literature Alisher Navoi was his best friend and Jomiy created a lot of works with his advice. Abdurahmon Jomiy wrote about 60 works. They are "Yusuf and Zulayho", "Layli and Majnun", "Salamon and Absal", "Sibhat ul-Abror" (The Praise of Believers), "Tuhfat ul-Ahror" (The Gift of the Noble People). With Navoi's advice he wrote 3 divans (col­lection of poems) and named them "Fotihat ush-shabob" (The Beginning of a Childhood), "Vositat ul-ikod" (The Pearl in the Middle), "Khotimat ul-hayot" (The End of Life).

There are also such booklets among his works as "Lujjat ul-Asror" (The Sea of Mystery), "Risolai musikiy" (The Book about Music), "Risolai muammo" (The Book on Prob­lems). Besides he wrote comments on scientific works of most linguists. Abdurahmon Jomiy was able to build two madrasahs in Herat and a mosque in Jom. He left us great heritage and in 1492 died from illness in Herat.

Comprehension Questions

1. When did Jomiy live?

2. Why did he choose himself the pseudonym "Jomiy"?

3. How many divans did he write and how he named them?

4. What other great contributions did he do during his life?

Discussion Questions

1. Why do you think the literature rised in Temurid's period?

2. Did Jomiy write any works for developing the Uzbek lan­guage?