To‘ra Sulaymon and his poems

To‘ra Sulaymon was born on 15 February 1934 in the village of Aldashmon in Bakhmal district, Jizzakh region. In his childhood his father was unfairly labelled a “kulak” (mushtumzo‘r), the family’s worries fell on his mother; in 1939 his father returned and moved the family to Syrdarya. He studied at the village school, then worked as a teacher, and studied by correspondence at Tashkent State University in 1958–1964. Later he taught Uzbek language and literature in Guliston district, worked in newspapers, and in 1972–1981 served in the Syrdarya branch of the Writers’ Union. His first poems were published from 1958 and “Istar ko‘ngil” (1962) was his first book; then came the narrative poem “Qorasoch” and books such as “Jahongashta”, “Sirdaryo qo‘shiqlari”, “Iltijo”, “Gulshan”, “Xarsang” and “Yovqochdi”. Many of his poems became songs; in 1999 he received the title “People’s Poet of Uzbekistan” and died in 2005 at the age of 71.