Ashik Basti:My Saz1Wails for My Beloved

This article introducesthe mainfeatures of the art of Azerbaijani ashik(aşıq)andalsopresentsthe life and a selection of the poetry of Ashik Basti (1836-1936), an outstanding female ashikof Azerbaijan during the nineteenthcentury. The art ofashik is a genre of Turkic folklore common to Central Asia and especially in Azerbaijan. It takes the form of the oral performanceof mostly love narratives and sometimes epicstories accompanied mainly by the saz, a slender-necked lute,alongside other musical instruments. The Azerbaijani ashik,who combines the skills of a singer, dancer, storyteller, poet, word-master and actor,has been the key carrier of the ancient musicaltraditions of Azerbaijan throughouthistory.Ashik Basti’s “Basti and Khanchoban”, an epic literary-musical composition known as the dastan, is presentedfor the first time here in English translation. The phonic beauty ofAshik Basti’s poems is sadly lost in translation but the close literal renditions reveal the resounding cry of the pain of tragic love.