Alisher Navoi’s hamd poetics is examined as a structure, philosophy, and art within the religious and Sufi traditions, and in the classical literature of the Turkic and Persian circles. While it is widely attested for Navoi’s hamd poetry, there still remains a very large gap in its comparative analysis with the global poetic traditions in terms of Qur’anic intertextuality, linguistic and semiotic structures and in terms of its epistemological importance in Sufi discourse. This study undertakes a systematic literary analysis and hermeneutic approach to reveal Navoi’s creative play with poetry as a means of transcending the spiritual and community ties, as well as intertextuality and thematic motifs that emphasize the intellectual journey of the author in his exploration of unity of faith and human mortality. The research show that Navoi’s placing of hamd within poetical structure was a tremendous contribution to the development of mystical literature. Furthermore, his inclusion of tasavvuf (fana, suluk and ma’rifat) into his poetry was both a contribution to devotional ways and concepts and to philosophical debating of the age of Timurid. The result indicates that Navoi’s poetic innovations stands apart from traditional religious expressions, with his work serving as a groundbreaking example of simultaneously merging theology, poetics and mysticism. Such implications for future comparative research in Islamic literary traditions, interdisciplinary studies in historical and theological linguistics, and applications of spiritual philosophy to literary and ethical discourse are drawn out of these insights.
Alisher Navoi, hamd poetry, Islamic poetics, Qur’anic intertextuality, Sufi philosophy, Persian-Turkic literature, mystical literature, literary analysis, theological linguistics.