EXAMPLES OF ISHARI TAFSIR IN RUMI’S MATHNAWI

Abstract

Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi (d. 672/1273) isa great scholar, poet and sufi of the thirteenth-century. Mevlana is the most well-known Islamic character then Hazreti Muhammed. He wanted to reach God by excitement and love beyond knowledge, contemplation and art. According to him, the love is the safest way to understand correctly of Qur'an He has written his book getting guidance the Qur’an and Sunnah. Next to Diwan al-Kabir, Mathnawi is his most important work that includes his scholarly views. The first and most important source of Mathnawi is the Qur'an. In terms of content and method, Mevlana in this work; used usually isara tafsir method. Because Mevlana is a sufi and Mathnawi is a mystical work. Because of a secret signs, sufis are usually interpret the verse of Koran out of the visible meanings. In terms of storytelling and making misal, method of Mathnawi is similar to the Qur'an. Rumi, in Mathnawi associates wise words related to psychology astronomy, medicine, philosophy, sociology and psychology with Qur'an. Written in a didactic style, with this work, Mawlana aims to guide human beings in their journey to perfection by focusing on the three basic elements of religion: belief, practice, and morality. In doing so, he substantiates his views with verses and hadiths. Although there are tafasir of dirayat and riwayat in Mathnawi, the type of tafsir coming to the fore essentially is the ishari tafsir. Because of this, it is said that Mathnawi is also a poetical ishari tafsir work. Therefore, in this study, we will try to examine some examples of ishari tafsir that exist in Mathnawi. world. He produced five works, three of which are in short prose, Majalis al-Sab’a, Fihi Ma Fih, Maktubat, and the two are in long poetry forms, Diwan al-KabirandMathnawi. Mathnawi, often labelled as the Qur’an in Persian, is Rumi’s most important work that includes his scholarly views. Written in a didactic lyrical style, with this work, Rumi aims to guide human beings in their journey to perfection by focusing on the three basic elements of religion: belief, practice, and morality. In doing so, he substantiates his views with several verses and hadiths. Although there are tafasir of dirayat and riwayat in Mathnawi, the type of tafsir coming to the fore essentially is the isharitafsir. Because of this, it is said that Mathnawiis also a poetical isharitafsir work. Therefore, in this study, we will try to examine some examples of isharitafsir that is found in Mathnawi. It can be said that Mathnawiis the fruit of a profound faith and devotion to the Qur’an and can be accepted as a poetical tafsir of the Qur’an. Nonetheless it singles out from other tafsirs by its sole guidance of human beings in their endeavour to finding out the existential meanings and arriving at them while staying away from the unnecessary theoretical arguments that do not lead to wisdom. As a result, it never wavers around etymological, fiqhi, theological, historical and literary tafsir methods. Rumi did not interpret the Qur’an from cover to cover sura by sura and verse by verse, rather he followed the path of the Holy Prophet and his Companions, by focusing on wisdom and utmost moral values through the methods of counselling and commendation and commented on the verses that directly dealt with his intended subjects. Within that framework in his interpretation of the verses, he on the one hand employed a simple, unsophisticated but at the same time striking style and on the other built a profound intellectual depth for the highly educated minds and souls. That way, the work was made to be able to talk to all kinds of minds that exist in a society and attracted a great deal of attention throughout the ages. Thus, it is no surprise that in recent times Mathnawi remained as the top selling lists in the United States for months. Looked at from one perspective, it is possible to claim that Rumi presents a set of values education in Mathnawi. Because the gist of Rumi’s tafsir is to foster good moral values such as the love of God, decency, consent, resignation, patience, humility and asceticism while warning on bad habits such as lust, arrogance and the love of the world. This axis prevented the work from lapsing into a complex and pompous literary pattern. The literary style he utilizes in the interpretation of the verses brings the reader into the meaning by making him/her part of it and offers the chance of integration with that reality. With this experience of integration, the reader in a way feels as the verses have been rerevealed or become alive in one’s life. Again, the constructive capacity of the language that is applied descends the abstract truths as tangible within the limits of language by turning them into visible, concrete, alive and actual realities.

Özet

Mevlânâ Celâleddîn-i Rûmî (ö. 672/1273) on üçüncü yüzyılda yaşamış büyük âlim, şair ve sufidir. O, Kur'an'ı ve sünneti bir yaşam düsturu haline getirmiştir. Bunu yaparken de Allah ve peygamber aşkını ön plana çıkarmıştır. Onun kaleme aldığı bütün eserlerinde özellikle de Mesnevî'de bu aşkın izlerini görmek mümkündür. Mesnevî onun ilmî görüşlerini içeren en önemli eserlerinden biridir. Mevlânâ didaktik bir üslupla kaleme aldığı bu eserle, dinin üç temel umdesi olan inanç, amel ve ahlakı merkeze alarak kemal yolculuğunda insana rehberlik etmeyi amaçlar. Bunu gerçekleştirirken, ortaya koyduğu görüşlerini ayet ve hadislerle temellendirir. Öyle ki, astronomi, tıp, felsefe, sosyoloji ve psikoloji gibi pek çok ilmin ışığında söylediği hikmetli sözlerin bile bir yönüyle ayet ve hadislerle ilişkilendirildiğini görmek mümkündür. Mevlana, Mesnevî'de ayetlerin yer yer zahiri manasından da bahsetmekle birlikte çoğu zaman bu manayı, ilgili tefsirlere havale ederek ayetlerin işârî yönleri üzerine odaklanır. O, ayetleri açıklarken, onlarla verilmek istenen ders ve hikmetleri etkili bir şekilde vurgular. Mesnevî'de Kur'an tarihi, sebeb-i nüzûl, ayetler ve sureler arası tenasüp gibi ulûmu'lKur'an'a ilişkin hususlar da göze çarpmaktadır. Eserde rivayet ve dirayet tefsiri örnekleri bulunmakla birlikte asıl ön plana çıkan tefsir yaklaşımı işârî niteliklidir. Bu bakımdan Mesnevî'nin manzum bir işârî tefsir olduğu da söylenir. İşte biz bu çalışmamızda Mesnevî'de yer alan işârî tefsir örneklerinin bir kısmını ele almaya çalışacağız