Legends of Outstanding Saints of Kazakhstan.

«Fleeing from the Russians, he left the free places.
Whoever saw this - learned; whoever heard - laughed.
The Russian became a lion, you turned into a fox,
Throw out the bad thoughts from your memory!

You will not be smart, who saw meat with lard.
Can a shallow lake compare with a deep sea?
Only a crazy woman starts a quarrel with her husband!
Throw out the bad thoughts from your memory!

A water snake does not curl up with a boa constrictor,
A simple ram does not butt with an argali,
A motley crow does not fight with a hawk.
Throw out the bad thoughts from your memory!»

Appeal of Muhammad-Safa to Adayevtsy in 1870, "Collection of information about  Caucasian mountaineers". Legends of Adayevtsy about saints of Hanafi sect, who lived and died in Mangyshlak". Proposed stories are written from words of Kafar Karadzhigitov, Bik-Bulat Yesekenov and mullah Khodja-Berdy. Issue VII. Tiflis. 1873.

Traditional Material Culture of Kazakhs.

Khoja Akhmet Yassaui, as we mentioned above, had 14,000 murids. Once, to test their loyalty to him, he tied a tube filled with water to his underwear, took a stick and went to the mosque. When the prayer began, Khozha Akhmet, praying in front of everyone, squeezed the tube - the water that was in it flowed out, the murids said:
- "Our mentor is urinating, his purity has been violated. "You should not pray with him," and one by one they left the mosque.
Only two murids continued to pray: Hakim ata and Shopan ata. When they finished praying and left the mosque, the murids met them and asked why they prayed for a man who had become unclean? They told them about the intestine with water tied up by Khoja Akhmet only to test his students.
Having learned about this, all the murids repented of their actions and again came to Khoja Akhmet to listen to his instructions and teachings. Shortly before his death, Khoja Akhmet, having prayed in the mosque and sitting in it, threw his asa tayak out the window. Asa tayak flew away.
Then he turned to his murids and said,
- "Whoever brings me my asa tayak, I will read Surah Fatiha to him." All the murids rushed out of the mosque to find the asa tayak, only Shopan ata stood up, reached the doors of the mosque, but immediately returned and sat down. Khoja Akhmet turned to him and asked:
- "Why are you sitting?"
- "I would go if you immediately passed me the Fatiha, the asa tayak is very far from here, to the west, he is in Mangistau, on the shore of a large sea," answered Shopan ata. At this time, the murids who did not find the asa tayak returned to the mosque. Khoja Akhmet, turning to them, said:
- "Of such a large number of students, I have only one worthy one and a friend." Then Shopan ata read the fatiha and allowed him to go to Mangistau, to find his asa tayak, saying goodbye to him forever. Shopan ata set out on a journey, walked for several months, and finally arrived in Mangistau, where, by God's command, he found the place where the asa tayak had fallen, and saw that it had already turned into a tall tree, and under the tree sat a respectable-looking man who seemed to be awaiting the arrival of Shopan ata.
They soon became acquainted. Shopan ata married his daughter and stayed there forever. Soon, throughout Mangistau, word spread of Shopan ata's arrival, his wisdom and learning, people began to come to him to listen to his teachings, and ten thousand people became his murids.
Shopan ata had three children: sons Yesen (Ehsan) ata and Shahrikh ata and daughter Tergin bibi. Shopan ata performed many miracles during his life and after death, it is impossible to list them all. He is buried near the place where he found the asa tayak Khoja Akhmet.

Authority:
"Collection of information about Caucasian highlanders". Legends of Adaevites about saints of  Hanafi sect who lived and died in Mangyshlak". Proposed stories are written from words of Kafar Karadzhigitov, Bik-Bulat Yesekenov and Mullah Khodja-Berdy. Issue VII. Tiflis. 1873.

Photos by:
Alexander Petrov.