Oripov’s “Qo‘riqxona”

The poem “Qo‘riqxona” (“The Nature Reserve”) begins with a description of a reserve: rare plants and animals are protected, the surroundings are fenced, and we defend them from roaming hunters with fines and even jail. Then the poet moves to the main thought: many things in the world are rare, and good feelings too can become rare; so they too must be protected like a “reserve”. The poet calls for guarding: a pure heart, fairness, goodness, loyalty, modesty, faith, conscience. Most of them are compared to rare or vanishing creatures (the crowned crane, the bear, the Snowman and so on). The textbook stresses that the poet’s aim is not to report about a reserve but to speak of human values. Special attention is given to the stanza on faith: according to the textbook, faith includes all human virtues, and guarding faith means guarding this world and the next. Evil views and evil people erode society; justice is needed for a calm life. At the end the world and human hearts are likened to a “Reserve” harmed by evil. The textbook compares the poem to a warning about protecting the world and the human heart from evil.