AN EXAMINATION TO FIND OUT COMMON ELEMENTS OF THOUGHT IN TURKISH SUFI POETRY BY TAKING THE DIWANS OF YUNUS EMRE AND SHAYKH MEHMED CHALABI AS BASIS

YUNUS EMRE VE EĞİRDİR'Lİ ŞEYH MEHMED ÇELEBİ DÎVÂNLARI ÖRNEKLİĞİNDE TASAVVUFİ TÜRK ŞİİRİNDE ORTAK DÜŞÜNCE YAPILARININ TESPİTİ DENEMESİ

Abstract

Literary traditions are constituted by rules peculiar to them. Classical Turkish poetry is not exempt from that trait. In this tradition, many metaphors and elements of poetic thougt were presented mostly by Persian classical literary tradition, which were called as "ortak malzeme" (common elements of thought in poetry), and poets were expected to use them. Although this was helpful for them on the one hand, it was also restrictive on the other. Poets were expected to create new poetic thoughts based on those pre-ordained elements. Along side of the classical Turkish poetry, there has been another tradition of poetry, namely Turkish of sufi poetry. Though they were totally apart in terms of subject matter of the beloved, they had many in common, especially in describing "love" itself. Therefore, it is worth to investigate what they had in common. These two traditions of poetry were influencing one another, and there were many who had poetic works in both traditons. To be able to find out what they shared, metaphors and elements of poetic thought of sufi poetry need to disclosed first. In that investigation, there are certain questions to look for answers as well; like, have there been common elements of thought and metaphors in sufi poetry; were they changing from one poet to another. Searching these subjects will help reveal the potentials of expression of Turkish language as well. The aim of this paper is to try to investigate to find answers to those questions through poems of two significant sufi poets; one Yunus Emre (d. 1320/1), and the other Shaykh Mehmed Chalabi (d. 1494). The latter expresses great respect and fondness in his poems for the previous. In doing so, I'll not only look into the content of their poems, but also forms of them, which is necessary to see and compare the full pictures of these two traditions Literary traditions are constituted by rules peculiar to them. Classical Turkish poetry is not exempt from that trait. In this tradition, many metaphors and elements of poetic thougt were presented mostly by Persian classical literary tradition, like expressions about beloved's eyes, hair, lips etc., and poets were expected to use them. Although this was helpful for them on the one hand, it was also restrictive on the other. Poets were expected to create new poetic thoughts based on those pre-ordained elements. Along side of the classical Turkish poetry, there has been another tradition of poetry, namely tradition of sufi poetry. Though they were totally apart in terms of subject matter of the beloved, they had many in common, especially in describing "love" itself. Therefore, it is worth to investigate what they had in common. To be able to find out what they shared, metaphors and elements of poetic thought of sufi poetry need to disclosed first. In that investigation, there are certain questions to look for answers as well; like, have there been common elements of thought and metaphors in sufi poetry, and if there, were they binding the poets to follow them? The aim of this paper is to try to investigate to find answers to those questions through poems of two significant sufi poets; one Yunus Emre (d. 1320/1), and the other Shaykh Mehmed Chalabi (d. 1494). The latter expresses great respect and fondness in his poems for the previous. This shows that Shaykh Mehmed Chalabi read the poems of Yunus Emre, therefore we can be on safe ground to seek common elements of thought among them, and make conclusions on the outcome. Results M. Fuat Köprülü (d. 1966) started a very productive period of studies on Yunus Emre by his very significant work Türk Edebiyatında İlk Mutasavvıflar (First Sufi Poets in Turkish Poetry) (1919). Alhough since then a great number of studies had been undertaken on him, there has been very little discovered on him due to lack of sources. Only one document discovered by Adnan Erzi shed a definitive light on his life, that is the registration of the time of his life span and the date of his death. According to that documend he lived 82 years (by lunar calender), and he passed away in 720 (AH) / 1320/1 (AC). This information allows us to conclude that his birth was around 1240/1. Through those studies, Yunus Emre was accepted as the founder of the Turkish sufi poetry in the Western Turkic world. Today we are still at doubts about whereabouts of his grave; moreover, we are not sure about which of those poems that carry the pen-name "Yunus" actually belong to him since many used the same pen-name after him since there has not been discovered a manuscript of poems left by him yet. Untill recently, there has been very little known about Shaykh Mehmed Chalabi as well. After the discovery of his manaqib (legendary biography) about at turn of this century, we learned that his grandfather Shaykh al-Islam Bardai (d. before 1430) migrated to Anatolia by the invitation of Hizir Beg (d. 1430), governor of Hamid İli, when he met him in Makka during the hajj. Shaykh Mehmed Chalabi left only one work, divan (collection of poems), and there is no conflict regarding the owner of those poems in that book. In the investigation, I found that Yunus Emre and Shaykh Mehmed Chalabi have many aspects in common in their poetry. They can be classified in two headings; one in form, and the other in content. In terms of similarities in form, they have great number of quatrains that can be turned into two couples, and they use the same meter (4 mustaf'ilun) in those quatrains. The common point in content is more striking that those in form. They have many poems that are similar in style and rhetoric. In terms of style, they have many statements as outcomes of so-called meczub (carried away by a mystical experience), and some of them may be considered unreal in line with Islamic thought. Another similarity in rhetoric, they mention in many poems that they have miraculous travels on earth and in universe. Probably more significant then those mentioned is that they have many expressio

Özet

Edebi gelenekler kendilerine özgü kurallara sahiptirler. Klasik Türk şiiri de bu yapıdadır. Bu gelenekte şairlerin Fars şiirinden alınan ve "ortak malzeme" olarak nitelenen teşbih, istiare vb. düşünce yapıları çerçevesinde özgün düşünce ve hayaller içeren eserler vermeleri beklenmekteydi. Şüphesiz ki bu ortak malzeme şairler için yardımcı olduğu kadar sınırlayıcıydı da. Klasik Türk şiir geleneği yanında tekke şiiri veya tasavvufi halk şiiri gibi isimlerle nitelenen bir başka Türk şiir geleneği daha varlığını sürdürmekteydi. Tarihi süreç içinde bu iki gelenek şüphesiz ki birbirlerini etkilemekteydi. Her iki geleneğin özelliklerini taşıyan eserler veren sanatçılar bulunuyordu ve her iki gelenekte müşterek olan, başta aşk anlayışı olmak üzere, birçok unsur bulunmaktaydı. Klasik Türk şiiri geleneği ile birçok müşterek niteliğe sahip bulunan Türk tekke şiiri geleneğinde diğerinde olduğu gibi "ortak malzeme" olarak nitelenebilecek düşünce yapıları ve birimlerinin mevcut olup olmadığı konusu açıklığa kavuşturulmayı bekleyen konulardandır. Klasik Türk şiiri geleneğinde olduğu gibi, bu gelenekte de "ortak malzeme" olarak nitelenebilecek düşünce birimleri tespit edildikten sonra bunların şairden şaire ne gibi şekillere girdikleri konusunu ele alan çalışmalar bu edebi gelenek kadar Türkçenin dil potansiyelini tespit etmede önemli katkı sağlayacaktır. Bu çalışmalar aynı zamanda diğer bir Türk şiir geleneği, klasik Türk edebiyatı ile tekke şiiri geleneğinin benzeşen ve ayrışan yönlerinin tespitine de zemin hazırlayacaktır. edilecektir. Bu her iki geleneğin şekil açısından taşıdığı özellikleri karşılaştırma açısından gereklidir