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Ritual Without Soul

Word 16 · Pretense Instead of Truth

The Kazakh does not worry whether his prayers please God or not. He does what other people do: he gets up and falls face to the ground in supplication. He treats God as though He were a merchant who has come to collect a debt:

“That’s all I have, take it if You will, but if You will not — don’t ask me to get livestock out of nowhere!” The Kazakh will not take trouble to learn and purify his faith: “Well, that’s all I know, I can’t get any wiser at my age. It’s enough that people cannot reproach me for not praying. And if my speech is uncouth, that doesn’t matter in the least.”

But is his tongue made differently from other people’s, I wonder?

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Explanation

Word 16 · Pretense Instead of Truth

Main idea

Abai mocks the Kazakh who does not care whether his prayers please God and simply does what others do. He treats God like a merchant come to collect a debt, and will not trouble to learn.

In plain words

  • “He does what other people do”: he gets up and falls face to the ground.
  • He treats God “as though He were a merchant who has come to collect a debt”: “That’s all I have, take it if You will”.
  • He will not learn: “I can’t get any wiser at my age.”
  • He shrugs off his poor speech, yet Abai asks: “But is his tongue made differently from other people’s, I wonder?”

Difficult words

Supplication
humble prayer.
Uncouth
rough, clumsy.
Reproach
to blame.

Something to reflect on

Do we do many things only because everyone else does, without understanding them?

An editorial note, not Abai’s words. Prepared with the help of AI.

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