the name of my father. A sudden and terrible earthquake destroyed our home and separated me from my brothers, who were like my eyes, and my mother, who was my guide in life. Just as Görogly came into the light of this world from the grave, I also came to this world from the ruins.*

When I see my father’s contemporaries, I remember my father and live the feeling of captivity; when I see the contemporaries of my mother, I remember my mother and live the feeling of orphanhood. I have lived the meaning of the saying, “Captive without father and orphan without mother,” and known Allah, the Supreme, as my sole protector.

When I learnt to read and write, I realized that my homeland was a captive and an orphan like me. I have lived in the bright world of the Creator along with my sorrows stemming from this reality throughout my life. Eventually, I began to search for the souls of my ancestors through the pages of books as a captive searches for the homeland or as an orphan searches for his close relatives.

Thus, when I was just a small child, I learnt who the Türkmen is and what the homeland is. I have consoled myself with the epigram, which is firstly recorded in my heart and then in my diary, “The one who bears the sufferings of the world earlier can understand the realities of the world earlier.” In the course of time, I have realized that those injuries which were done to my heart have been removed.

I understood the nature of human beings earlier. On the one side, there was the man who was pleasant and cheerful. I considered this man good and was pleased with his words. On