Holy Quran translation of the Boguslav d. A book about the Koran, its origin and mythology (143 pages)

Of particular note is the translation of the orientalist and connoisseur of many oriental languages ​​D.N. Boguslavsky. This translation by the time of creation (1871) was the very first Russian translation of the Qur'an directly from Arabic, and not a secondary translation from European languages. Also an important feature was the first attempt to make independent comments by Boguslavsky, and not to use ready-made comments of English and French translations. Despite the fact that the translation was made back in the 19th century, and was distinguished by a high artistic language, the translation was not widely used, therefore it was not published. And the first edition of the book saw only in 1995.

G.S. Sablukov "Koran, the legislative book of the Mohammedan dogma"

Sablukov owns one of the best scientific translations of the Koran, the legislative book of the Mohammedan dogma, in his translation the Koran was published in printed form for the first time. In 1879, the second part of Gordy Sablukov's work was published - "Supplement to the Translation of the Koran" (commentary to the texts), and two treatises: "Information about the Koran - the legislative book of the Mohammedan dogma" (Kazan, 1884) and "Comparison of the Mohammedan teaching about the names of God with Christian teaching about them" (1873). According to the Quran scholars, the expressiveness and beauty of the language is an absolute advantage of translation. At the same time, there are semantic inaccuracies, verbal archaisms, as well as the application to the Koran of Russian and Slavic biblical phraseology, which is not characteristic of it. The translation was republished in Russia in 1896, 1907, 1990, and in 1991 even two editions. As well as a reprint edition in Egypt in 1993 1986, 1989, 1990 - 9 editions, 1991 - 2 editions, 1998

I.Yu. Krachkovsky "Koran"

In the 1920s, for 8 years, the Koran was translated into Russian by Academician I.Yu. Krachkovsky (published posthumously in 1963) Ignatiy Yulianovich did not manage to complete the work in the intended volume, although he began researching translations back in 1921, when he was giving a course of lectures on the Koran at the Faculty of Oriental Languages ​​of the Leningrad State University. The first lectures on the Koran were read by Krachkovsky back in 1915-1916. In 1934, he gave a description of the manuscript of the Russian translation of the Koran, which was subsequently identified as Postnikov's original translation. It was then that Krachkovsky had the idea to make a full translation of this monument. And already in 1919, the translation of the Koran was already listed in the prospectus of the Gorky publishing house "World Literature". Krachkovsky's translation was more of a literary criticism and was designed for Arabic scholars and Quran scholars. When translating the Koran, the main goal that I.Yu. Krachkovsky set was to understand the meaning of the Koranic legend as a literary monument of the 7th century and its influence on the life and life of the Arabs, than to make an understandable translation for reading by ordinary Muslim believers. And that is why Krachkovsky's translation has repeatedly been criticized by the Muslim community for the ambiguous interpretation of many places and the unsuitability of this translation for familiarization with the Muslim dogma. Nevertheless, this translation and comments to it are considered academic in Russia and, due to its high scientific significance, were repeatedly reprinted in 1986, 1989, in 1990 - 9 editions, in 1991 - 2 editions, 1998, 2004.

The well-known Russian orientalist-Arabist E.A. Rezvan commented on the translation of I.Yu. Krachkovsky:

by the nature of the approach to the text and philological accuracy, the work of I.Yu. Krachkovsky surpasses not only Russian, but also many European translations

Rezvan E.A., Koran and its world. -- St. Petersburg: Petersburg Oriental Studies. 2001. - S. 443.

T. A. Shumovsky "Quran"

The first scientific poetic translation of the Koran was carried out by a student of Krachkovsky - T.A. Shumovsky (first edition - St. Petersburg, 1995). In the Muslim environment, the translation was welcomed and approved by the Muslim clergy, and in particular by Talgat Tadjuddin. The main advantage of Shumovsky's translation is an attempt to convey the beauty of the Arabic language and the rhythm of the narrative not in prose, but in verse, as well as in strict adherence to the original. In the texts, an attempt is made to abandon the use of Arabicisms in proper names (God instead of the Arabic Allah, Abraham instead of the Arabic Ibrahim) for a better understanding of the Russian-speaking reader. At the same time, scientists reproach the translator with an attempt to convey a literary monument that was originally prosaic and devoid of rhymes in verse and asks why no one tries to do the same in the general order with the texts of the Torah and the Gospel, as well as attempts to adjust rhyme to the detriment of meaning and a tendency to poetize instead of clearly conveying the artistic component of the text.

V.M. Porokhov "Koran"

The second of the currently existing poetic translations of the Koran into Russian was carried out by Valeria Porokhova. The main feature of Porokhova's translation is that she is the first translator who professed Islam and made an attempt to convey the meaning of the Qur'anic legend through her religious experience. The translation was produced in collaboration with prominent Muslim theologians and received many favorable reviews from the Muslim clergy and theologians, including from such an authoritative academy in the Muslim world as the Egyptian Al-Azhar. At the same time, this translation caused a lot of criticism from scientists, both for insufficient knowledge of the Arabic language, poor knowledge of the style of the Russian language and tongue-tied speech in the transfer of rhymes, as well as semantic errors in compiling a commentary on the text of the Koran. There is also a strong idealization of Islam through the use of images and concepts characteristic of the Orthodox Christian culture of Russia, which leads to the Christianization of Islam and the erosion of its cultural and historical features. This is due to the birth and upbringing of Porokhova in a non-Islamic environment and the late conversion to Islam. Muslims themselves recognize errors and shortcomings in translation.

M.-N.O. Osmanov "Koran"

In 1995, a translation of the orientalist, Ph.D. M.-N.O. Osmanov. This translation combines an attempt to accurately convey the meaning and the availability of understanding the language. Unlike other scientific translations, Osmanov makes extensive use of tafsirs in the comments, and also inserts words and expressions for better coherence of the text and narrates in one verb tense, unlike the original, where the connection of times is often broken. From a scientific point of view, Osmanov's translation is generally recognized as successful. But at the same time, scientists note an insufficient desire to convey the artistic and sacred features of the text, although this desire takes place. So Doctor of Philology, Professor of the Department of Arabic Philology of the Oriental Faculty of St. Petersburg State University A.A. Dolinina notes the following.

A good, sound, academic translation belongs to Nuri Osmanov. The Quran in his translation went through several editions. Nuri Osmanov used many tafsirs. I note that Krachkovsky gives the text when there were no tafsirs yet. Nuri Osmanov wanted the translation to be as clear as possible to a modern Muslim, a person who does not know Arabic. He made a good Russian translation, annotated, inserting those words and expressions that are not in the text of the Qur'an, but which are implied. The text is quite coherent. At the same time, Nuri Osmanov did not at all try to convey the artistic side of the Koran.

The second edition came out in 1999.

Scientists also note that Osmanov's translation, due to his departure from strict adherence to the letter and the replacement of words with semantic inserts from tafsirs, cannot be classified as documentary and literal.

E.R. Kuliev "Koran"

In 2002, a translation of the meanings of Elmir Kuliev was published. This translation differs from other modern translations in that Kuliev does not have the necessary professional education, and is not a venerable Arabist and orientalist, as well as a theologian. Nevertheless, the discussion of the translation was carried out jointly with well-known Saudi Quran scholars and under the guidance of Ali Nasser Fakihi, head of the department of the Complex for the Publishing of the Koran in Saudi Arabia. The translation was approved by both scholars and the Muslim clergy. Secular scholars note both the advantages of the translation, expressed in an attempt to make an exact correspondence of the Arabic text to the Russian, and the shortcomings manifested in the replacement of the original words and speech turns with their own synonyms and phrases, which turned the translation into a paraphrase.

B.Ya. Shidfar "Al-Quran - translations and tafsir"

In 2003, Betsy Shidfar's translation was published under the title Al-Quran - Translations and Tafsir. The peculiarity of Shidfar's translation was a successful attempt to convey the style of the text of the Koran - its artistic content, its rhythm, its rhyme. A.A. Dolinina considers this translation very good for getting to know Islam

It is known that the majority of Muslims in Russia belong either to the peoples of the Volga region or to the peoples of the Caucasus. The author of the first published Russian translation of the Koran from Arabic, Gordy Semyonovich Sablukov, is mentally closer to the peoples of the Volga region, since he was a native of this region and spent most of his life there.

The very first translator of the Koran from Arabic into Russian Dmitry Nikolaevich Boguslavsky, of course, is closer to the peoples of the Caucasus, since he was on friendly terms with the spiritual leader of the Dagestan peoples, Imam Shamil: “After Shamil moved to Russia and was interned in Kaluga, Boguslavsky was appointed in 1859 the first bailiff to him due to his good command of Arabic speech. In the Arabic memoirs of the people who surrounded Shamil, as well as in the letters of the latter, touching details were preserved that indicate how close friendship united the bailiff with his supervised, and how well Boguslavsky knew not only the language, but also all the conventions of the everyday life of the highlanders - Muslims".

With the publication of Boguslavsky's translation in Russia in 1995, it was hardly possible to say that Russian or Russian-speaking Muslims of the Caucasus had "their own" translation of the Koran, since it was published in only 100 numbered copies, which were sold at a high price and were not available to the general population (at present, in online stores, the cost of one copy reaches 300,000 rubles). This edition was prepared for about five years and was published under a double imprint: the Publishing Company "Eastern Literature" of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) and the Center "Petersburg Oriental Studies" (St. Petersburg). The book was printed on a special Finnish paper and appeared in a hand-bound calfskin, embossed with gold and silver, in the same case. In 1996, at the first competition "Petersburg Book", the publishing group of the first Quran translated by Boguslavsky was awarded an honorary diploma "For a unique edition". Unfortunately, along with this luxurious gift option in Russia, there was no mass edition of Boguslavsky's translation at an affordable price for ordinary people.

Such a publication was carried out in Turkey, namely in Istanbul, by the book publisher Shaban Kurt (“ÇağriYayinlary” publishing house). As part of the program of publishing the Koran in various languages ​​in 2001, he published the first edition of the translation of the Boguslav "pocket" format, which has been reprinted five times to date: in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2012 and 2013. The price of one copy in the Istanbul Hagia Sophia Museum is only 14 Turkish liras (approximately 230 rubles). Unfortunately, the circulation of these publications is unknown.

Istanbul Edition 2013

The publication of the translation of Boguslavsky is carried out by Shaban Kurt along with the publications of the best translations of the Koran into other languages. According to the publisher, Boguslavsky's translation was chosen for the Russian edition of the Quran, because "it is a direct translation from the Arabic original and contains a summary of all existing ones (at the time of work on the translation. - P.G.) tafseers ".

The most important feature of the Turkish edition, in our opinion, is the following: “The copy of the Quran, which was taken by D. Boguslavsky as the basis for the translation, the number and numbering of verses (verses) in some suras does not correspond to the Quran, which is allowed today for publication throughout the Islamic world. In order for this discrepancy not to lead to confusion, and for the text of the translation to fully reflect the Qur'an, the numbering of the verses and their number in eleven suras (No. 7, 8, 9, 26, 27, 45, 47, 71, 74, 78, 101) put in order in accordance with generally accepted norms.

It is also remarkable that the Turkish edition is provided with an Index of Proper Names and an Index of Ethnic Names, which makes the scientific study of the Qur'an convenient.

The text of the translation is rendered in modern orthography, preserving the transcription adopted in the 19th century.

In August 1937, academician Krachkovsky, who had access to the manuscript of the translation, having analyzed the work in question, wrote, “that Boguslavsky’s translation cannot be called impeccable, but it would be erroneous to conclude from this that it is worse than any translation that existed in his time within the tasks assigned to them. Its main goal - to give an idea of ​​​​the understanding of the Qur'an in Muslim circles of later eras - it achieves completely. Later, around the mid-1940s, Krachkovsky, assessing Boguslavsky's translation, noted that it was "a work that gives this general the full right to a place in the history of our Arabic studies" .

Thus, in the case of the publication of the Koran in the translation of Boguslavsky, one Turkish book publisher did more for Russian Oriental studies in general and Russian Koranic studies in particular than the two named Russian specialized publishing houses combined, and back in 2001 it could be said that Russian Muslims Caucasus appeared "their" Koran.

Researcher

Russian Institute for Strategic Studies

It is known that the majority of Muslims in Russia belong either to the peoples of the Volga region or to the peoples of the Caucasus. The author of the first published Russian translation of the Koran from Arabic, Gordy Semyonovich Sablukov, is mentally closer to the peoples of the Volga region, since he was a native of this region and spent most of his life there.

The very first translator of the Koran from Arabic into Russian Dmitry Nikolaevich Boguslavsky, of course, is closer to the peoples of the Caucasus, since he was on friendly terms with the spiritual leader of the Dagestan peoples, Imam Shamil: “After Shamil moved to Russia and was interned in Kaluga, Boguslavsky was appointed in 1859 the first bailiff to him due to his good command of Arabic speech. In the Arabic memoirs of the people who surrounded Shamil, as well as in the letters of the latter, touching details were preserved that indicate how close friendship united the bailiff with his supervised, and how well Boguslavsky knew not only the language, but also all the conventions of the everyday life of the highlanders - Muslims".

With the publication of Boguslavsky's translation in Russia in 1995, it was hardly possible to say that Russian or Russian-speaking Muslims of the Caucasus had "their own" translation of the Koran, since it was published in only 100 numbered copies, which were sold at a high price and were not available to the general population (at present, in online stores, the cost of one copy reaches 300,000 rubles). This edition was prepared for about five years and was published under a double imprint: the Publishing Company "Eastern Literature" of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) and the Center "Petersburg Oriental Studies" (St. Petersburg). The book was printed on a special Finnish paper and appeared in a hand-bound calfskin, embossed with gold and silver, in the same case. In 1996, at the first competition "Petersburg Book", the publishing group of the first Quran translated by Boguslavsky was awarded an honorary diploma "For a unique edition". Unfortunately, along with this luxurious gift option in Russia, there was no mass edition of Boguslavsky's translation at an affordable price for ordinary people.

Such a publication was carried out in Turkey, namely in Istanbul, by the book publisher Shaban Kurt (publishing house “;a;riYayinlary”). As part of the program of publishing the Koran in various languages ​​in 2001, he published the first edition of the translation of the Boguslav "pocket" format, which has been reprinted five times to date: in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2012 and 2013. The price of one copy in the Istanbul Hagia Sophia Museum is only 14 Turkish liras (approximately 230 rubles). Unfortunately, the circulation of these publications is unknown.

The publication of the translation of Boguslavsky is carried out by Shaban Kurt along with the publications of the best translations of the Koran into other languages. According to the publisher, Boguslavsky's translation was chosen for the Russian-language edition of the Koran, since "it is a direct translation from the Arabic original and contains a summary of all existing (at the time of work on the translation. - P.G.) tafsir" .

The most important feature of the Turkish edition, in our opinion, is the following: “The copy of the Quran, which was taken by D. Boguslavsky as the basis for the translation, the number and numbering of verses (verses) in some suras does not correspond to the Quran, which is allowed today for publication throughout the Islamic world. In order for this discrepancy not to lead to confusion, and for the text of the translation to fully reflect the Qur'an, the numbering of the verses and their number in eleven suras (No. 7, 8, 9, 26, 27, 45, 47, 71, 74, 78, 101) put in order in accordance with generally accepted norms.

It is also remarkable that the Turkish edition is provided with an Index of Proper Names and an Index of Ethnic Names, which makes the scientific study of the Qur'an convenient.

The text of the translation is rendered in modern orthography, preserving the transcription adopted in the 19th century.

In August 1937, academician Krachkovsky, who had access to the manuscript of the translation, having analyzed the work in question, wrote, “that Boguslavsky’s translation cannot be called impeccable, but it would be erroneous to conclude from this that it is worse than any translation that existed in his time within the tasks assigned to them. Its main goal - to give an idea of ​​​​the understanding of the Qur'an in Muslim circles of later eras - it achieves completely. Later, around the mid-1940s, Krachkovsky, assessing Boguslavsky's translation, noted that it was "a work that gives this general the full right to a place in the history of our Arabic studies" .

Thus, in the case of the publication of the Koran in the translation of Boguslavsky, one Turkish book publisher did more for Russian Oriental studies in general and Russian Koranic studies in particular than the two named Russian specialized publishing houses combined, and back in 2001 it could be said that Russian Muslims Caucasus appeared "their" Koran.

Notes

Translation published 1878.
Sablukov, Gordy Semyonovich (1804–1880) - Russian orientalist. He graduated from the Orenburg Theological Seminary (1826), the Moscow Theological Academy (1830). He taught at the Kazan Theological Academy. Author of works on archeology, history, numismatics and ethnography of the peoples of the Volga region and the Polovtsy, the history of the Golden Horde, translation of the Koran from Arabic.
Krachkovsky I.Yu. Essays on the history of Russian Arabic studies. - In the book: Academician I.Yu. Krachkovsky. Selected writings. - T. V. M.-L., 1958, p. 127–129.
Translation completed in 1871.
Boguslavsky, Dmitry Nikolaevich (1826–1893) - Russian military orientalist, lieutenant general (1878). He graduated from the Artillery School (1846), was a volunteer at the Faculty of Oriental Languages ​​of St. Petersburg University. In 1847–1861 served in the Russian army, in 1862-1870. - in the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (translator of the Russian mission in Constantinople), since 1870 - in the Military Ministry. Cavalier of Russian orders: St. Anne 3rd class. (1854), St. Stanislaus 1st class. (1870), St. Anne 1st class. (1873), St. Vladimir 2nd class. (1876), White Eagle (1883). Foreign awards: Persian Order of the Lion and the Sun, 2nd class. with a star (1863), Turkish order of Medzhidie 2nd class. (1867), commander's insignia of the Spanish Order of Isabella (1867), snuff boxes with diamonds from the Turkish Sultan (1868; 1871).
Krachkovsky I.Yu. Essays on the history of Russian Arabic studies, p. 96.
See: Kaziev Sh. Imam Shamil. - M., 2001, p. 291.
Tafsir is an interpretation of the Quran. (Note P.G.).
Koran. - Istanbul, 2013, p. IX.
Ibid, p. x.
Krachkovsky, Ignatius Yulianovich (1883–1951) - Russian orientalist (Arabic, Koranic, Ethiopian studies), historian of science. One of the founders of the school of Soviet Arabic studies. He graduated from the Faculty of Oriental Languages ​​of St. Petersburg University (1905). Since 1910 - assistant professor at St. Petersburg University, since 1918 - professor at Petrograd University, since 1921 - academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Author ca. 500 works.
Krachkovsky I. Translation of the Koran by D.N. Boguslavsky. - In the book: Soviet Oriental Studies. - Issue. III. M.-L., 1945, p. 300.
Krachkovsky I.Yu. Over Arabic manuscripts. - In the book: Academician I.Yu. Krachkovsky. Selected writings. - T. I. M.-L., 1955, p. 121.

Ignatius Krachkovsky,
academician

Bailiff under Shamil in Kaluga

The history of our Arabic studies is poorly known to specialists and is completely unknown in wide circles or abroad, but meanwhile it contains many interesting moments and features that sometimes give it great originality and originality, not repeated in the West. It must be borne in mind, however, that our scientific Arabic studies are two centuries younger than Western ones, and many aspects of it have been discovered in the most recent times, often quite by accident.

Until now, we know very little about Arabists from the military environment, and there certainly were such people, and it is impossible to enroll them all indiscriminately in the group of practical translators. Of course, our Motherland has always felt little direct connection with the Arab countries; she did not put forward writers and politicians of the type Lawrence or Filby, but the connection with the peoples who absorbed Arab culture was strong: often they turned out to be our neighbors, sometimes they were part of our state. Central Asia helped "Captain Tumansky" become a major Orientalist, for whom this rank has been preserved in various circles in our country and in the East, although he died a general. Interest in the teachings of the Babids gradually developed him into a serious Arabist who could publish the main "most sacred book" of the successors of the Bab, compiled in Arabic. His name is forever enshrined in science by the famous "anonymous Tumansky" - the Persian manuscript he discovered, which vividly reflected the flourishing of Arabic geographical science in the 9th-10th centuries.

Manuscripts hide many secrets...

The history of our Arabic studies has not yet fully illuminated the picture, the background of which was the Arabic language in the North Caucasus. Here, for several centuries, it was the only literary language not only of science, but also of business relations. A peculiar tradition developed here, which brought forward local canonists, historians and poets; a whole living literature arose in a dead language, which, however, sounded like a living means of intertribal communication. This original and, in its own way, majestic painting was nowhere seriously discussed by the Arabists of the 19th century; probably, for me it would have remained hidden if the manuscripts had not made me think about it.

At the end of the 1920s, I accidentally acquired from an unknown person a handwritten translation of the Koran with notes, which belonged, as it was said on the blue folder, “Mr. D. N. Boguslavsky. This last name didn't tell me anything at the time. I didn’t even immediately guess that in the letters “g.-l.” lies the rank of lieutenant general, it was so hard to imagine that this complex and serious work belongs to a military man by profession. The entire manuscript gave the impression of a white autograph of the translator. It was written on sheets of good large format paper; the preface was dated 1871 and mentioned the author's stay in Istanbul. A cursory glance and various random references in connection with my study of the Koran quickly convinced me that the translation was made from the original and denounces a thorough Arabist. Who he was, I did not think about it, busy at that time with other works. The second accident unexpectedly revealed this to me and immediately drew me into the circle of new scientific interests.

At the beginning of the 20th century, on Petrozavodskaya Street of the Petrogradskaya Storona, not far from Geslerovsky Prospekt, there was a rather gloomy-looking, not very large three-story stone house. Nothing special from the outside, he did not stand out and had, so to speak, no architecture. The neighbors knew that only the owner himself and his family lived in the house. None of them, and few in St. Petersburg, suspected that, apart from a few living rooms, the whole house was filled with the rarest collections and represented a large original museum. Knowledgeable people said that the owner, in addition to his own, now fairly upset state, spent on him two more huge inheritances that he inherited. It would be difficult to define in one word the nature of this museum, which vividly reflected the tastes, broad interests, but at the same time, the great systematic nature of the collector. A Russian historian by his official profession, he was both a great connoisseur of Byzantine culture and an absolutely exceptional specialist in the auxiliary historical disciplines. This wide scope, subtle knowledge, great experience of the collector, who saw through all the antiquarians of the world, was well reflected in the collection. And it was not for nothing that later, when the museum was transferred to the Academy of Sciences, it was with such difficulty that a distinct name was found for it: first the “Museum of Palaeography”, then the “Institute of Books, Documents and Letters”, in the end it was scattered between various academic and non-academic collections. Only the personality of the founder himself, unique in all its originality and breadth, gave it real unity.

Both Easterners and Westerners, no matter what specialty they seem to belong to, found material for themselves in the original museum without a sign on Petrozavodskaya Street. What only uniques were not here! Babylonian archaic tablets and papal bulls, Arabic tombstones of the first centuries of Islam and Byzantine letters, acts of the Italian Cremona and Arabic papyri from Egypt ... Not only did the Arabist's eyes run wide, but the hospitable host knew how to lure with his treasures, sometimes of the most unexpected nature.

At the beginning of the First World War, I became very interested in analyzing the part of the archive of the famous Italian traveler of the early 17th century, Pietro delle Valle, that turned out to be here: it contained Arabic letters from the relatives of his wife, a native of Mesopotamia, the most curious monuments of Arabic epistolary literature of that time, important for the history of Arabic dialectology, and for a biography of one of the humanists, pioneers of Italian orientalism. To process them, some references were needed in the Italian archives; receiving
they were hampered by the periodic interruption of relations with Italy, and to this day these materials remain unpublished. Fortunately, in other cases such difficulties did not arise. The South Arabian amulet from this collection and the copper Maghribin tablet also saw the light, a major edition of Arabic tombstones was published, and the study of Arabic papyri was put on solid ground.

But many still unknown treasures even for an Arabist contain collections that were once united from all over the world in a house on Petrozavodskaya Street.

Once, already in 1932, while looking through the inventory of the Institute of Books, Documents and Letters, I noticed Shamil's autograph mentioned there. It turned out to be a letter actually signed by Shamil himself, perhaps even entirely written by him, of course, in Arabic, during the last years of his stay in Russia, shortly before his trip to Arabia. The addressee was named "General Prince Boguslavsky", and I immediately remembered the translator of the Koran. Undoubtedly, it was one and the same person: the Caucasian inhabitants considered the title of “prince” to belong to all major military and civil ranks. I felt that there was no escaping fate and that I had to work on finding out the person with whom the manuscripts confronted me for the second time.

It turned out to be easy; once Ariadne's thread fell into her hands, everything went on somehow by itself, and the "animals" ran to the "catcher" in a flock. Explanations began to emerge from both sides: from the Arabic and from the Russian. In the collections of the Asian Museum, there was an autograph of Shamil's son-in-law's memoirs about their stay in Russia; the author spoke very warmly about “Colonel Boguslavsky”, who, as a speaker of Arabic, was assigned to them in St. Petersburg and during the first time of their stay in Kaluga. Russian documents confirmed that he was the first bailiff under Shamil, and then he was replaced by Runovsky and Przhetslavsky. In literature, the latter were well known, since they appeared in the press with their memoirs and articles about Shamil, mainly during his life in Russia. In contrast to them, Boguslavsky wrote almost nothing, probably having some special reasons for this. This is to be regretted, since all Arabic materials related to Shamil always speak in the best of colors about the first bailiff.

Probably, his conciseness was the reason that so little information about him was preserved in print. According to his oriental education, he was somehow connected with St. Petersburg University. Subsequently, the dean of the Faculty of Oriental Languages, A.K. Kazembek, famous at that time, in one of his notes on Oriental studies, pointed to D.N. Boguslavsky as an example of what not even a student, but an auditor can achieve in conditions of university teaching. When this note was written, the latter was already at our embassy in Constantinople. A new accident that emerged suggested that his interests at that time went far beyond the functions of an ordinary military attache. In one of the Leningrad libraries, an interesting copy of a book with poems by the Arab émigré journalist Rizkallah Hassun, Krylov's translator, has been preserved. It was presented by the author to Boguslavsky with a dedication in very touching verses with some hints of the help rendered. It is quite possible that Boguslavsky facilitated his escape from Turkey to Russia.

In Constantinople, Boguslavsky also prepared a translation of the Koran, which fell into my hands, a work that gives this general the full right to a place in the history of our Arabic studies. For the entire XIX and XX centuries, this is only the second case of the translation of the Koran into Russian from the original. Judging by its appearance, it was intended for printing, and if it remained unpublished, it was probably because just at that time in the 70s a translation of G. S. Sablukov, who had once been Chernyshevsky's teacher in Saratov, appeared in Kazan. Sablukov was, one might say, a professional who devoted several decades to his work, but it is characteristic that at the end of the 90s, when Boguslavsky's widow already submitted his transfer to the Academy of Sciences, V. R. Rosen in his review, which was found in the archive , noted that it is not inferior to Sablukovsky in its merits. Such an assessment by an Arabist of the first magnitude means a lot, and if we weigh all the conditions of our cultural development in the middle of the 19th century, we will probably have to admit that it was perhaps more difficult for a general to rise to such a scientific height than for a professor at the Theological Academy.

I don’t know if Boguslavsky found in the next generation any student or successor from those who knew him and could directly imbue his interests, but for me acquaintance with his figure imperceptibly and gradually opened up a picture of Arabic literature in the Caucasus that was completely unknown before. As often happens, only at the first concentration of thought on a new plot of material was no longer necessary to specifically look for; he himself went into the hands, and involuntarily had to wonder how before he could not be noticed. Shamil's letter to Boguslavsky led to a number of similar monuments of original business and epistolary literature. The slightly satisfactory translations of random interpreters led to gradually revealed originals, where sometimes at first the specificity of the forms of Arabic paleography worked out here, up to nowhere else found explanatory signs, baffled. The variety of documents was often enlivened by such curiosities as Shamil's order on a beech leaf discovered in the Rostov Museum. In the collections of the Asian Museum, an autograph of memories of life in Russia by Shamil's son-in-law surfaced for a long time, once again showing how careful one should be with the translations of even the bailiff Runovsky, who were considered an authoritative historical source. In the legacy of one of the professors of the Faculty of Oriental Languages, a censored copy of Shamil's history was found, compiled by one of his closest secretaries, brought in the latest editions to the first years of the 20th century.

Mastery of the Arabic literary language speaks of the great vitality of this tradition even later. Even in the 1920s, two Caucasians sent to complete their education at the Leningrad Institute of Oriental Languages ​​knew only two languages ​​- their native language and Arabic. They spoke absolutely freely in Arabic on various topics of world politics and modern life, and one of them easily wrote poetry according to all the rules of the old Arabic canons. And in the 30s, when a collection of poems by Arab poets of recent times from the North Caucasus was sent to me, out of surprise at first I suspected a hoax: I was so struck by the confident mastery of all the techniques and genres of classical Arabic poetry. There was no hoax: a powerful stream of a long tradition brought to our days the Arabic literary language, which died in living speech in its homeland; here he lived a full life, not only in writing, but also in conversation. Its role was finally played out only when the local national languages, after the Great October Socialist Revolution, finally received their own written language.

Materials flowed to me, the picture expanded, the origins of this tradition were gradually revealed, sometimes taking us far beyond the borders of Turkey, not only to Syria or Egypt, but even to Arabia and Yemen. With great excitement I read the story of an 18th-century Yemeni who, in his homeland in Sanaa, heard some Dagestan visitor who spoke such brilliant Arabic that "even the trembling went." Now, when recalling the natural Arab, I understood the first impression made on me by the monuments of local Arabic literature in the Caucasus or by an Arabic conversation with Caucasians who happened to be in Leningrad.

A new world was looming before me, a peculiar line of development was opening up, as it were, a side branch of Arabic literature, parallels to which it would be difficult to find. Her monuments, much more diverse than it seemed from afar at first glance, were of interest not only for local history, but also for Arabic studies, for. general history of Arabic literature. They were at hand, and one should be surprised that university Arabic studies did not say a word about them for the entire 19th century. Our science is still very young and did not have time to cover all areas, but, perhaps, it did not pay attention to the Caucasus under the influence of a mental mood that is frequent in science: what is close is not interesting. Close to her were only Arab practitioners from the military; the figure of the first bailiff under Shamil stands out among them and enters the history of scientific Arabic studies. Over time, when the chapter on Arabic literature in the Caucasus takes its rightful place in the general history of Arabic literature, we must not forget that the first impetus for acquaintance with it in our generation was given by manuscripts associated with the name of General Boguslavsky.