On 9 February, Uzbekistan celebrates an important anniversary: the birth of Alisher Navoi, regarded as the greatest Uzbek writer of all time and one of the founding figures of modern Uzbekistan.

At the ceremony held in Tashkent on 9 February, attended by senior state officials, the first complete Italian translation of Navoi’s masterpiece The Language of Birds was presented. Published by Sandro Teti Editore, it includes a foreword by Marco Di Branco, a scholar of Arabic and Byzantine studies.

Lisan al-Tayr, the work’s original title, is one of the great mystical poems of Sufism. Drawing inspiration from Attar’s masterpiece Mantiq al-Tayr (The Conference of the Birds), Navoi transforms the fable into a powerful spiritual journey: an allegory in which each bird embodies human fears, desires and resistance in the face of divine truth. Through seven valleys, the poem explores absolute love, the renunciation of the superfluous and self-knowledge as a path towards enlightenment. Writing in Chagatai, or Old Uzbek, a poetic language of rare beauty, Navoi interweaves philosophy, symbolism and faith in a timeless work.

In his speech, publisher Sandro Teti emphasised the importance of this publication for cultural and diplomatic relations between the two countries. He was awarded the Alisher Navoi Medal, an important Uzbek honour bestowed on people who distinguish themselves in culture, art and science.