THE DIVINE AND SECULAR INTERPRETATION OF LOVE IN THE WORKS OF ALISHER NAVOI

ISSN:2828-6235 Impact factor:13.77 International Journal of Literature and Language Studies(IJLLS) THE DIVINE AND SECULAR INTERPRETATION OF LOVE IN THE WORKS OF ALISHER NAVOI Azimbayeva Soniya Marat kizi Student of Urgench Ranch University https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20346584 Abstract: This article analyzes the divine and secular interpretation of love in the works of Alisher Navoi, one of the greatest representatives of classical Eastern literature and the founder of the Uzbek literary language. Love occupies a central place in Navoi’s literary heritage and appears as a complex artistic, philosophical, moral, and spiritual concept. In his poems and epics, love is not limited to a simple emotional relationship between a lover and a beloved. It is presented as a force that reveals the inner world of a human being, educates the soul, strengthens moral qualities, and leads a person toward spiritual perfection. The article examines two main dimensions of love in Navoi’s works: secular love and divine love. Secular love is interpreted as a reflection of human emotions, beauty, loyalty, longing, suffering, and devotion. Through this form of love, Navoi describes the emotional experiences of human life and shows the moral values connected with sincerity, patience, and faithfulness. Divine love, on the other hand, is analyzed as a spiritual path that expresses the soul’s desire to reach truth, divine beauty, and closeness to God. In this sense, the image of the beloved often receives a symbolic meaning, while the suffering of the lover represents spiritual purification and moral growth. Special attention is given to the influence of Sufi ideas on Navoi’s interpretation of love. The article shows that the poet skillfully combines earthly feelings with spiritual meanings and presents love as a bridge between the human heart and divine truth. The symbolic images of the lover, the beloved, separation, beauty, suffering, and devotion serve to express both worldly emotions and mystical ideas. As a result, love in Navoi’s works becomes not only an aesthetic theme but also an important means of moral education and philosophical reflection. The relevance of this article lies in the fact that studying the divine and secular interpretation of love in Alisher Navoi’s works helps to understand the depth of his worldview, the humanistic essence of his poetry, and the spiritual richness of classical Uzbek literature. The article concludes that secular and divine love in Navoi’s literary heritage are closely interconnected and complete each other. Worldly love reveals the beauty and complexity of human feelings, while divine love gives these feelings higher spiritual meaning. Therefore, Navoi’s concept of love remains significant for understanding human nature, moral perfection, and the relationship between earthly life and spiritual truth. Keywords: Alisher Navoi, article, love, divine love, secular love, Sufism, classical Eastern literature, spiritual perfection, moral values, lover, beloved, Uzbek literature. Introduction Alisher Navoi is one of the greatest representatives of classical Eastern literature and the founder of the Uzbek literary language [1]. His works occupy a special place not only in Uzbek literature but also in the spiritual and cultural heritage of the entire Turkic world [2]. One of the central themes in Navoi’s literary legacy is love. In his poetry and prose, love is interpreted as a complex and multidimensional concept. It appears both as a human feeling connected with earthly life and as a spiritual path leading the soul toward divine truth [3]. In the works of Alisher Navoi, love is not limited to the relationship between a lover and a beloved. It also reflects moral perfection, spiritual purification, devotion, patience, sacrifice, and the search for truth [4]. Therefore, the concept of love in Navoi’s creativity can be studied from two main perspectives: secular love and divine love. Secular love refers to human emotions, beauty, affection, and Volume 5,issue 5,2026 May Page 21 Online Academic Journal Journal website:https://jiujournal.org/index.php/ijlls ISSN:2828-6235 Impact factor:13.77 International Journal of Literature and Language Studies(IJLLS) personal suffering, while divine love expresses the desire of the human soul to reach Allah, achieve spiritual maturity, and understand the essence of existence [3]. Navoi’s lyrical poetry, especially his ghazals, often presents the image of the lover who suffers because of separation from the beloved. At first glance, this love may seem to be an ordinary human feeling. However, in many cases, the beloved symbolizes divine beauty, and the lover’s suffering represents the soul’s longing for spiritual union with God. This symbolic interpretation is closely connected with Sufi ideas, which had a strong influence on classical Eastern literature [4]. At the same time, Navoi also pays great attention to worldly love. He describes the beauty of human emotions, loyalty, sincerity, and the pain of separation. Through secular love, the poet reveals the inner world of a person, their emotional experiences, and moral values. In this sense, worldly love becomes a means of understanding human nature and social life [5]. The relevance of this topic lies in the fact that the study of divine and secular love in Alisher Navoi’s works helps to understand the philosophical, moral, and aesthetic foundations of his literary heritage. It also allows readers to see how the poet combined human feelings with spiritual ideas. Navoi’s interpretation of love shows that true love leads a person to kindness, purity, wisdom, and moral perfection [2]. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the divine and secular interpretations of love in the works of Alisher Navoi. The thesis aims to reveal how the poet presents love as both a human emotion and a spiritual value. It also examines the role of love in expressing the ideas of beauty, devotion, suffering, spiritual growth, and moral perfection in Navoi’s literary works [1]. Materials and Methods This thesis is based on a literary-theoretical analysis of the divine and secular interpretation of love in the works of Alisher Navoi. The main material of the study consists of Navoi’s lyrical and epic works, especially his ghazals, poetic images, and philosophical ideas related to love, beauty, devotion, suffering, and spiritual perfection. In particular, attention is paid to the ways in which the poet presents love as both an earthly human feeling and a divine spiritual experience [1]. The methodological basis of the research includes comparative, analytical, and interpretive methods. The comparative method helps to distinguish the features of secular and divine love in Navoi’s works. The analytical method is used to examine poetic images such as the lover, the beloved, separation, suffering, beauty, and spiritual longing. The interpretive method allows the symbolic meaning of love to be exp (...truncated)