Thus, to read and to learn is to appreciate Allah Amighty 

My Dear Türkmen Nation!

You are the meaning of my life and source of my strength. I wish you a healthy and long life. Our Türkmen ancestors were courageous people and they began to educate their children before they came to life. The Türkmen child reached maturity and bravery, and then has a national education and worldview. For that reason, bodily health, intellectual stability, and integrity, and good manners were the special characteristics of the Türkmen.

Today’s Türkmens, you will be seen as scientists if you keep reading. If you lose your learning, then you will become illiterates. Every citizen of Türkmenistan should have a knowledge of science. This would be the result of brave souls, poetic perceptions, sensitive heart, and spiritual richness. To read and to learn is to have a deeper knowledge of life. When one reads, new ideas and anxieties emerge in the mind. Thus, to read and to learn is to appreciate Allah Amighty. Intellectuals and scientists have special place in my world and I show them great respect.

 Oguz Han ordered us to obey learned people
Oguz Han ordered us to obey our brothers even they are older by one day. By saying, “If there are no elders, there are learned people”, he ordered us to obey our learned people if there are no experienced old people among us.

(99.)

 The education of the Atabegs 

The education of the sons of commanders and important personalities had been aimed at teaching them science and morality in order to prepare them for public service since the era of Oguz Han. Those learned and experienced people who educated children in this way then were called Atalik, Ataliklar, and Atabegs.

The Atabegs started the education of the sons of Soltans at a very early age. Atabegs were carefully chosen from among the soldiers.

The children of the Soltans were taught foreign languages, military knowledge and command. The Soltans educated in this way could speak the languages of other nations, understand world literature, and utilise the technology of war.

This education must have been the secret of how Seljuk Soltans with a smaller number of troops defeated great armies of many soldiers.

From the start of the era of Oguz Han until the Middle Ages, the countries where the Oguz people lived were the centres of science, wisdom, and education. Many students from China and the Byzantine Empire were sent here in order to learn science, the art of war and related knowledge. 

(117-118.)

Sometimes I become extremely downcast, thinking, “If the savage army of Genghis Han had not annihilated the Oguz inhabiting the regions of Köneürgenç Maru-şahu-jahan (Merw), Şährislam, Abywerd, Amul, Zem, Dehistan, and their prosperous towns with great populations; if the libraries with thousands of books, the “homes of science” had not been destroyed and burnt, then now, Türkmenistan would be one of the most prominent and strongest states in the world in its politics, its economy, its civilization and science.

(151.)

 The main objective of our state is to educate excellent people 
The main objective of our state is to educate excellent people who will be praised in world literatures, who have good spirits, who are generous, brave and bold, and who set great goals. Every member of our nation should be comfortable. But they should first be knowledgeable, consistent and have a progressive view of the world.

(299.)

 Show the difference between knowledge and ignorance; 

Dear mothers and fathers, I ask of you to do the following:

Show the difference between the proper and improper; permissible, lawful, and forbidden, unlawful;

Show the difference between the truth and falsehood;

Show the difference between the good and the bad;

Show the difference between honourable labour and work driven by greed;

Show the difference between knowledge and ignorance;

Show the difference between benevolence and malevolence; good and evil;

Don’t do this through words. If you have understood the difference for yourself, in this case you will have provided proper guidance for your children. Benevolence means sacrificing your own interests, and malevolence is the disregarding of others’ interests. The damage caused by malevolence and the benefit that benevolence generates are not immediately obvious.

(330-332.)

 Read! Learn! Produce! 
My dear son, my beloved daughter! Read! Learn! Produce! It is essential that you be knowledgeable and skilful so that the homeland can survive powerfully and independently, and so that our people remain prosperous and heroic as ever.

(338.)

 KNOWLEDGE IS THE LIGHT OF HAPPINESS

The most beneficial knowledge is the one that works to the benefit of society.

One should doubt the authenticity of the kind of knowledge that has no social use. Every single deed of man should yield a result. For this is what makes social life possible.

The scientist should work to help improve society in material and spiritual respects. If the scientist forgets this task, then the knowledge he possesses is meaningless, useless and of no value.

Knowledge is not the sum of pieces of information which serve no purpose for anyone. False knowledge is the collection of such pieces of information that have no use for anyone, just like the wealth accumulated by a mean man.

The real scientist holds real knowledge. That knowledge should first of all be of use to society. This also amounts to saying that it should serve the holder of it too.

The kind of knowledge disliked by society is vain.

The scientist elevates knowledge, and society elevates the scientist.

A society cannot live without proper knowledge, just as a man cannot survive without his mind. The most vital means of survival granted by Allah to man is the mind. Therefore, mind precedes all other material aspects of the man, such as the hands, legs, working tools and hand-power. Centuries-long accumulation leads to proper knowledge. That knowledge is a privilege for man.

It is of that proper knowledge that a man is made.

The mind is the source of proper knowledge, and wisdom is its seed.

The soul compensates for the bodily losses of man. It elevates him and proper knowledge is a sign of spiritual completeness and activity.

Allah Almighty bestowed upon man the mind, which He did not in the case of other beings. The human mind becomes more mature with the aid of proper knowledge and gains access to more than it initially finds. Man has no wings, but he can fly above the birds, thanks to his possession of proper knowledge. He can’t move so fast, but proper knowledge allows him to reach the greatest of speeds. Man does not have a predator’s claws, but he can accede to the greatest strength, thanks to proper knowledge.

The mind and proper knowledge bring man closer to Allah.

Possession of proper knowledge allows man to look into the far distance.

Proper knowledge is a means to save oneself from the flood of life that would otherwise have a devastating impact.

Only proper knowledge can provide an answer to the question of how to live and what to do to live. The kind of

knowledge that fails to provide answers to this question is in fact an illusory attempt, totally in vain.

Man should know himself; this is what renders him superior.

Man is indebted in that he should know.

Knowing means thinking about the world, finding a proper place for oneself in the world and proving oneself.

The time of the sword is over. But even the sword itself is a product of the mind and proper knowledge.

When I say the time of the sword is over, I mean that the mind and proper knowledge that was once utilized to produce the sword should now be directed to producing and inventing new useful things.

(344-345.)

 There are three steps to knowing: 

Education;

Science;

Proper Knowledge.

Science is a treasure created by mankind. Education is the key to that treasure. It is a door that provides access to the world of science through literacy.

Science teaches man about the treasures and perceptions of those that came before him. Man selects from among these and leaves aside the ones that are of no use to him. He takes those pieces he needs and internalizes them.

(346.)