Music video to Tüzalə’s Xavərim (My / Dear Xavər) was originally a poem titled “Şairin Sevgilisinə” (“To The Poet’s Dearest”) written by great Azerbaijani poet Səməd Vurğun to his wife Xavər xanım. Səməd Vurğun was born in Qazax, Azerbaijan in 1906 and wrote prolifically throughout his career which earned him the highly coveted title of “The Poet of Public” during the Soviet era. Səməd Vurğun is a widely popular poet in Azerbaijan even today, renowned for his long stanzas, clever word play, intricate rhymes and period epics, my personal favourite among them being “Vagif”, dedicated to Molla Panah Vagif (which served under the King of Kajars) who was one of the brightest minds that was lobbying for liberation of Azerbaijan from the tyranny of the Kajar Empire.
In this particular poem, Vurğun talks about his first encounter with Xavər xanım which ultimately results, in Vurğun’s own words, in love at first sight. He romantically pens:
Sеvgilim! Xavərim! son bahar çağı Uçub tökülürdü ömrümün bağı... Həyata küsmüşdüm sözümün sağı, Üzümə ilk dəfə gülən sən oldun, Şairin qədrini bilən sən oldun.
p.s: in the recording in the opening with Vurğun’s widow Xavər xanım, she recounts how she stopped all the clocks in their home on May 27, 1956, a little over half past 7 o’clock. “It was a Sunday”, she says, “when everything stopped forever still in our home”.
