SEHMÎ AND HIS TRANSLATION OF FORTY HADITH IN POETRY

Abstract

Our knowledge of past authors mostly stem from the availability of their works. Many books that are recorded to have been written are missing today. It is possible that some of them are lost due to natural reasons like fire or floods. Many books are also lost because of intentional destruction of mankind, i.e. in wars and etc. However, there are great many books that are not at hand today due to mis-cataloging, i.e. either mis-naming the works or attributing them to wrong persons. There is another case that challenges us to know a certain person properly, and this stems from conflicting information on an author provided in the past sources. Like many, these problems exist for Sehmî (d. 1645), an Ottoman poet, as well. This study aims to shed light on Sehmî and his works by both reexamining the sources on him and his own studies. The first point that is going to be debated is his real name. He is recorded by two names, one Ahmed, and the other is Mehmed. There is only one manuscript of his Dîvân (collection of poems) we know today. It is in Suleymaniye library, (Hüsrev Pasha section with registry number 538) in Istanbul. Apart from his poems, this manuscript has also some texts in prose and poetry that have not been studied before. These texts will be examined as well. This manuscript has some non-textual records on its interior cover, which will help us understand its relationship to the poet. Through studying these records, our knowledge about the poet himself will also be deepened. Another contribution to his works is the publication of his ManzûmTercüme-i Hadîs-i Erba‘în, (Translation of Forty Hadith in Poetry) in Ottoman Turkish alphabet in Istanbul in 1901. This title will be examined in depth to decipher its characteristics. Translation of this book into today's Turkish alphabet is going to be presented here as well. The last point will be on the works that he is reported to have been written. Up to this study, one book, namely, Câmı Gîtî-nümâ, that is attributed to him was not located and examined. This title will also be studied here. Results Ottoman period sources about Sehmî are divided into two on his real name: one being Ahmed and the other, Mehmed. Shaykhî, (1989: 171), Safâyî (2005: 270), and Müstakimzâde (1998: 263a) name him as Ahmed without giving no information about his family. Belig's stance toward this issue is confusing. He mentions of him in one of his works, Nuhbe (1999: 217) as Ahmed, in his another work, Güldeste (1998: 476), he records his name as Mehmed. This duality is observed in some later sources as well. While Tuman (2001: C. 1, s. 458) prefers Ahmed, Mehmed Fahreddin in his Gülzâr-ı İrfân, (1998: 386), and Bursalı Mehmed Tahir in his Osmanlı Müellifleri, (1344/1925: C. 2, s. 229) gives his name as Mehmed. Safvet (Güzel 2012: 325) records him only with his penname, without mentioning any real name. Although Sehmî does not mention his real name in Dîvân, he records his name as Mehmed in the Dîbâce (the foreword) of Manzûm Tercüme-i Hadîs-i Erba‘în, which follows Dîvân. Printed version of the Manzûm Tercüme-i Hadîs-i Erba‘în also bears the same name. Moreover, it gives his father's name as Mehmed on its cover page as well. This registry clears up this confusion on his name. The manuscript includes only Sehmî's works. It has some nontextual records on its interior cover. There is a note on the birth of a boy located on the right side of the top of the page, and there is a date which is 1061/1651.1 This date is only 6 years after the death of the poet. Belig (1998: 476) mentions that the poet had many works of calligraphy. This manuscript is written in a very nice style in ta'lik. Since it has only Sehmî's works and has a note very close to his death, it is highly possible that this manuscript was penned by the poet himself, in other words, it is Sehmî's autograph. This point was not taken into consideration by the works on him. The first chapter (folios: 1-39) has his Dîvân (collection of poems).2 In the second chapter of the manuscript (folios: 39-52) there are 10 different letters in prose, all of which carry his signature. It is very rare to see an author uses a signature in classical Ottoman texts. Instead they use seals, if at all. They were written with an artistic Turkish which is not easy to understand by an ordinary person. There are 2 poems in the chapter, which were not included in his Dîvân and should be added to his poetry collection. Also, the Manzûm Tercüme-i Hadîs-i Erba‘în makes the third chapter (folios: 53-58). There are very many similar works, translations in the poetry of Prophet Muhammad's traditions into Turkish for instance, however, there are very few works that include the text of the tradition itself in the translation, thus making them a part of the poems, which is not easy in creating a poem. Sehmî's work is among these peculiar ones. The manuscript ends in a short mesnevi (poem made up of rhymed couplets), titled as Mesnevi der Beyân-ı Tafdîl-i Merdân-ı Asl, and it has only 54 couplets (folios: 59-61). This work was not named before. His works in the second and the fourth chapter of the manuscripts were not mentioned in sources that were given earlier.Belig (1998: 476) is the only person of the Ottoman early period who provides some sources on him and claims that Sehmi has a work with the title of Câm-ı Gîtî-nümâ (glass bowl reflects the universe). Up to this study, no source recorded the location of a copy of this work. There are 2 copies of this book in Turkish libraries, one is in Kastamonu library with the register number of 398, the other is in Manisa library with the register number of 2926. This is a very short work about 15 pages in Persian, and it is on Islamic cosmology and philosophy. It bears the name of a famous theologian, Muhammad Gazali (d. 450/1058) on the first page of the 8th folio of the Manisa library copyConclusions Sehmî has only been investigated through his Dîvân up to this study. By this research, firs

Özet

Klasik Türk edebiyatı şair ve yazarlarını tanıma ve değerlendirme çalışmalarında onların eserlerinin ulaşılabilir durumda olması hayati önem taşımaktadır. Diğer bir ifade ile onları eserlerini görebildiğimiz kadarıyla tanıyabiliyoruz. Kaynaklarda ismi geçen birçok eser bugün için ulaşılamamış durumdadır. Bunların bir kısmının tabii felaket ve yangın gibi olaylar sonucu kaybolmuş olması muhtemeldir. Bununla beraber bugüne gelmediği düşünülen bazı eserlere kütüphanelerde yanlış kataloglama dolayısıyla ulaşılamaması da sık karşılaşılan bir durumdur. Bu çalışmada Sehmî, gerek kendi eserleri gerekse ile ilgili kaynaklar değerlendirilerek daha yakından tanıtılmaya çalışılmaktadır. Öncelikle, şairin asıl ismi ile ilgili kaynaklardaki farklı rivayetler değerlendirilip hangisinin doğru olduğu tespit edilmeye çalışılacaktır. Çalışmada ayrıca Sehmî'nin edebi kişiliğinin öne çıkan özellikleri de ele alınacaktır. Bu çerçevede onun bugüne kadar üzerinde durulmayan bir özelliğine, hat sanatına ilgisine de dikkat çekilecektir. Burada Dîvan'ının bilinen tek yazma nüshasının bulunduğu yazmadaki ona ait diğer eserler de incelenmektedir. Bunlar, Manzûm Hadîs-i Erba'în Tercümesi ve Münşeât'dır. Manzûm Hadîs-i Erba'în Tercümesi, onu diğer 40 hadis tercümelerinden ayrıştıran ve örneği çok az olan önemli bir özellik taşımaktadır. Bu onun tercüme ettiği hadislerin Arapça metinlerini tercümeye dahil etmiş olmasıdır. Bu uygulama, alınan hadislerin şiirin vezniyle uyumlu olması sorununu ortaya çıkarmaktadır. Sehmî'nin Dîvan'ını takip eden yapraklarda (39b-52a) 10 mensur metin ve 1 kaside ve 1 tarih manzumesi bulunmaktadır. Bunların her ikisi de Şeyhülislam Yahya için yazılmıştır ve Dîvan'da yer almamaktadır. Böylece Sehmî'nin Dîvan'ına eklenmesi gereken 2 şiiri daha tespit edilmiş olmaktadır. Burada yazma nüshanın sonundaki kısa mesneviye de değinilecektir. Ayrıca Sehmî'nin yazdığı kaydedilmekle beraber bugüne kadar tespit edilememiş bulunan Câm-ı Gîtî-nümâ isimli eserinin tespit ettiğimiz 2 nüshası ve eserin muhtevası üzerinde de durulacaktır