The Ruhnama (The Book of the Soul) is a book written by Saparmurat Niyazov, the President of Turkmenistan from 1990 to 2006, combining spiritual/moral guidance, autobiography, and history. The text includes many stories and poems, including those by Sufi poet Magtymguly Pyragy. It was intended to serve as the "spiritual guidance of the nation" and the basis of the nation's arts and literature, by creating a positive image of the Turkmen people, a heroic interpretation of its history, the review of Turkmen customs and the definition of "moral, family, social and religious norms for modern Turkmens". This would be accomplished by the book being the "centre" of the Turkmen universe.