The concept of "The End of the World" in Suleiman Bakirgani's treatise "Akhir zaman Kitabi" ("The Book about the End of the World") interpreted by E.A. Malov

The treatise “Akhir zaman Kitabi” (“The Book about the End of the World”) by Sulayman Baqirghani (1091–1186) is a significant work of 12^th century Sufi literature. Sulayman Baqirghani, also known as Hakim-Ata, was a prominent Turkic Sufi sheikh and a disciple of Ahmad Yasawi (1093–1166), the founder of the Yasawiyyah tariqah. His works had a significant influence on the development of Turkic religious literature. Suleyman Bakyrgani's ideas were reflected in the works of subsequent generations of poets and thinkers, such as Sh. Zaki (1822–1865), A. Kargaly (1782–1833), and M. Kutush-Kypsaki (1763–1849). The first edition of "Akhir zaman kitabi" was published in 1846. It was then republished in the Chagatai dialect of the Turkic language in 1860, 1897, 1900, 1901, 1906, and 1908. The translation of this treatise into Russian was completed by Archpriest Evfimy Aleksandrovich Malov (1835-1918) in 1897, which became an important contribution to the development of Islamic studies. E.A. Malov was a professional missionary, professor at the Kazan Theological Academy in the department of anti-Islamic subjects, one of the prominent representatives of the “Kazan school of Oriental studies," and archpriest of the Epiphany Church in Kazan. His translation of the treatise “Akhir zaman kitabi” has an unambiguous missionary character and is therefore overloaded with commentary and explanations in favor of the Orthodox point of view, which cannot but affect the accuracy of the transmission of the original content. E.A. Malov emphasizes the eschatological aspects of the treatise, critically highlighting the differences between Islamic and Christian understandings of the end of the world. Despite its missionary focus, E.A. Malov's translation has become an important source for the study of Islamic eschatology and Sufi literature in the Russian-language context. It has contributed to introducing a wider audience to Muslim understandings of the end of the world, albeit in an interpretation geared toward a Christian audience.

1. Baqirghan kitabi [The book of Baqirghan]. Kazan: Tipo-lit. Heirs of M.A. Chirkova; 1907. 80 p. (In Tatar)

2. Malov E.A. Akhır zaman kitabı: Muhammedanskoe uchenie o konchine mira [Akhır zaman kitabı: The Muhammadan doctrine of the Demise of the World]. Kazan: tipo-lit. of the University; 1897. 96 p. (In Russian)

3. Matveev S.M. Mukhammadanskiy rasskaz o Sv. Deve Marii [The Muhammadan story of the Holy Virgin Mary]. Izvestiya Obshchestva arkheologii, istorii i etnografii pri Imperatorskom Kazanskom universitete [Proceedings of the Society of Archeology, History and Ethnography at the Imperial Kazan University]. Vol. XIII. No. 1. Kazan, 1896, pp. 19–34 (In Russian)

4. Sayfullına, G. Sulayman Baḳirghani in the Culture of the Volga Tatars: The Phenomenon of the “Baḳirghan kitabi”. Musicologist. 2022;6(2):124–141.

5. Salakhov M.R., Tokpaeva D.F. Evfimiy Alexandrovich Malov: islamoved i missioner [Evfimiy Aleksandrovich Malov: an Islamic scholar and a missionary]. Kazan: Publishing House "Yaz"; 2016. 100 p. (In Russian)

6. Shatunova T.M. Germenevtica. Uchebnoe posobie [Hermeneutics. The textbook]. Kazan: Kazan University Press; 2020. 132 p. (In Russian)

7. Maksimova S.N. Prėpodavanije drevnikh jazykov v gimnazii XIX – nachala XX veka [Teaching of ancient languages in the gymnasium of the XIX and early XX century]. [Electronic source]. Available at: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Istorija_Tserkvi/prepodavanie-drevnih-jazykov-v-gimnazii-19-nachala-20-veka/ (Accessed: 09.06.2025). (In Russian)

8. Matochkina A. I., Stetskevich M. S. Stanovlenie rossiyskogo islamovedeniya: mezhdu konfessionalizmom i nauchnoy obyektivnostyu (vtoraya polovina XIX - nachalo XX v.) [The Formation of Russian Islamic Studies: between Confessionalism and Scientific objectivity (the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries)]. Gosudarstvo, religiya, tserkov' v Rossii i za rubezhom [The state, religion, and the Church in Russia and abroad]. 2018;1(36):82–106. (In Russian)

9. Mify narodov mira [Myths of the peoples of the world]. Tokarev S.A. (ed.). Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia; 1991. Vol. 1. 672 p. (In Russian)

10. Malov E. A. O tainstvennoj knige Gilliun: [Protiv muhammedan i evreev] [About the mysterious book of Gilliyoun: [Against Mohammedans and Jews]]. Kazan: Imperial University Typolithography; 1893. 48 p. (In Russian)

11. Zabolotny E.A. Nestorianstvo [Nestorianism]. Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediya [The Orthodox Encyclopedia]. Vol. XLIX: Nepein – Nicodim. Moscow, 2018, pp. 110-127. (In Russian)

12. Monofizitstvo [Monophysitism]. Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediya [The Orthodox Encyclopedia]. Vol. XLVI: Mikhail Psell — Mopsuestia. Moscow, 2017, pp. 679–696. (In Russian)

13. Lebedev A. P. Vselenskiye sobory IV i V veka: Obzor ikh dogmaticheskoy deyatelnosti… [The Ecumenical Councils of the IV and V centuries: An overview of their dogmatic activity...]. Moscow: L.F. Snegireva Printing house; 1879. 284 p. (In Russian)

14. Gonsales-Husto. Istoriya hristianstva T. I Ot osnovaniya Tserkvi do epohi Reformatsii [The History of Christianity. Vol. I. From the founding of the Church to the Reformation era]. [Electronic source]. Available at: https://royallib.com/book/gonsales_husto/istoriya_hristianstva_Tom_I_ot_ osnovaniya_tserkvi_do_epohi_reformatsii.html. (Accessed: 09.06.2025). (In Russian)

15. Matʹe M. E. Problema izucheniya Knigi Mertvykh [The problem of studying the Book of the Dead]. Izbrannye trudy po mifologii i ideologii Drevnego Egipta [Selected works on the mythology and ideology of ancient Egypt]. Moscow: Vostochnaya literature Press; 1996. pp. 98–105. (In Russian)