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Excerpt from the article of national ideology classic Hasan bey Zardabi
published in January 1906

Look what our ashughs sing about at weddings, look at those who listen to them. The listeners fall into a state when even if someone “cuts off the flesh of nouveau riche Turk"¹, at that moment, no one will notice it². And as soon as the wedding ends and the ashughs go to their homes, for another 5-10 days, children will sing parts from the ashughs' songs in the streets and cover³ each other's mistakes and sins.

The reason is that our poets who make verses have little to do with science and education. They have low consciousness, their eyes are closed and our troubles do not seem topical to them and are not suffered by them.
For instance, it is known that in Baku, no night passes without assaults on people, beatings, robberies and even murders, on the streets of the city.

Do these things have an influence on our people in some way? No indeed. If they did, we would not be in this position. The same goes for our poets. They do not learn lessons from such vile actions and do not write edifying verses.Verses about dreams is the greatest means and tool for awakening our brothers from sleep.

But our neighbors, Armenians, do a big job by means of such verses. At this very time, in the streets of their towns and villages, blind ashughs go from house to house with a tar⁴ in their hands and holding the hand of a child. Do you at least know what they sing about? They sing about the history of Armenia, glorious and sorrowful days of their people, they sing about the tyranny and sorrow given to them by the Ottoman state, and recite other edifying verses. So, when the time of nationwide activity comes, all Armenians rise like one and make common cause.

Is it a sin that we are not like that?
(Hayat-January 8, 1906, pages 244-245).

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