Summary View

Country

Turkey

City

Istanbul

Institution

Bayezıt Devlet Kütüphanesi

Shelfmark

7899

Contents

Work 2: Manẓūmeler (Kemâl Ümmî, -1475)

LOC subject headings

Sufism

Turkish poetry

Author

Kemâl Ümmî, -1475

Ümmī Kemāl

كمال امى

Show other names

Kemāl Ümmī

Kemâl Ümmî, -1475 (authorised)

Ümmî, Kemâl, -1475 (variant)

Biographical notes

Turkish mystic poet and Ḫalvetī shaykh, who is the only Anatolian Safavid poet with an extant dīvān prior to the politicization and Shî’itization of the order. His real name is İsmā‘il, سماعیل His pen figures as" Kemāl Ümmī" in all historical sources but is used as both " Kemāl Ümmī" and " Ümmī Kemāl" in his Dīvān (دیوان), tough the first form hagiography. Biographical sources state that Kemāl Ümmī was born and raised in Karaman (Turkey), in the town of Lārende. The Sālnāme of Bolu (Turkey), however, mentions that he was from Bukhara (Uzbekistan). The place of origin of Khurāsān (Iran) which appears in his hagiography composed by a certain Dervīş ‘Aḥmed can be a generic place name indicating his dervish circle and temperament. According to his hagiography, the poet lived in Bolu (Turkey) for a long time and established a lodge in a rural area in the vicinity of the city. He had three sons. His son Sinān was a sober, educated man who criticized his father for being "ümmī". His son Cemāl was an ecstatic who was unjustly executed by the sultan of the period. Oral tradition in Bolu (Turkey) also states that he had a sister named Şehribān, together with whom he had moved from Khurāsān (Iran) to the village of Çal in the area of Dörtdīvān, Bolu. According to information in the Bolu Şer‘iyye Sicilleri, Kemāl Ümmī was married, had children and his lineage continued in Tekke Köyü, Dörtdīvān, Bolu and more recently in Gerede, Bolu. In a fermān sūreti dated1117 AH [1705 CE] , written to the qāḍīs of Bolu (Turkey) and Dörtdīvān, Bolu, it is mentioned that some previleges had been granted to his descendants since the time of Sulṭān Süleymān. Kemāl Ümmī's choice of pen name indicates that he did not have an official education. His Dīvān (دیوان) includes a mers̱iye for his master Şeyḫ Ḥamīdüddīn Aḳsarāyī or with his better known name Somuncu Baba (d. 1412), who was also the master of Ḥacı Bayrām Velī (d.1430). It also includes a mers̱iye and a medḥiye for Şeyḫ ‘Alī Erdebīlī (d. 1429), the grandson of Ṣafiyyü’d-dīn Erdebīlī (d.1334). The connection between Kemāl Ümmī and Şeyḫ ‘Alī Erdebīlī (d. 1429) is thus established through his master Ḥamīdüddīn Aḳsarāyī , who visited Şeyḫ ‘Alī Erdebīlī (d. 1429) and stayed with him for some time. Parts of Kemāl Ümmī's Dīvān suggests that he may also have done the same. We learn from Kemāl Ümmī's mers̱iye that he became the disciple of Muẓafferü’d-dīn Lārendī, one of his master's ḫalīfes, after the death of his master. Among the people in Kemāl Ümmī's circle were Ḥacı Bayrām Velī (d.1430), presented by his hagiography as his close friend, and his two disciples Aḳçavaḳlı Ṣarı Müderris and Yaġlucalı ‘Alī Kevkeb Ḳutbu’d-dīn. According to his hagiography, the followers of Kemāl Ümmī were called “Kemāllü”. He did not consider himself a master and did not leave any successors. His hagiography presents him as the inventor of ẕikr from the throat, also called ḳoyun ẕikri or bıçḳı ẕikri. Reference is also made to Kemāl Ümmī in Vilāyetnāme-i Sulṭān Şücā‘ü’d-dīn (ولایتنامۀ سلطان شوجاع الدین) , where along with Seyyid Nesīmī and Ḳayġusuz Abdāl he travels to Seyitġāzī to see Sulṭān Şücā‘. His disrespect towards Sulṭān Şücā‘'s leads to Sulṭān Şücā‘'s prophecy that he will be hanged. This account is taken up by some of the biographical sources where it is stated that he was executed. Kemāl Ümmī's date of death appears as 880 AH [1475 CE] in Ottoman sources. His grave is situated in the village named Işıklar (with the old name of Tekke in the area of Sazak 39 km. southeast of Bolu (Turkey). He also has various maḳām in places such as Karaman (Turkey), Manisa (Turkey), Niğde (Turkey).

Title

Manẓūmeler

منظومه لر

Notes

Catalogue shows that the manuscript also includes Risāle fī Ḥaḳḳı’l-Ḳısās(رسالةفي حق القساس) by Aḥmed Baġçecizāde Ḳayserili(احمدبغچه جي زاده قيصريلي) and Tārīḥ-i Ehl-i Sünnet İçin On İki Ḫaṣlet(تارخ اهل سنّة اجون اون ايكي خصلة) by Feyzī. However the folio numbers for the three entries overlap, suggesting that one or more of the folio numbers are erroneous.

Main language of text

Turkish

Foliation

8-146

Bibliography

Editions

Balbaba, Sefa. "Kemal Ümmî Divanı: Tenkitli Metin-İndeks." Master's Thesis, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi, 2009.

Sarıçiçek, Ramazan. "Kemâl Ümmî: Hayatı, Sanatı ve Dîvânı, İnceleme-Metin." Dissertation, Malatya: İnönü Üniversitesi, 1998.

Yavuzer, Hayati. Kemâl Ümmî Dîvânı (İnceleme-Metin). Bolu: Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi Bolu Halk Kültürünü Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezi, 2008.

Studies

Aktan, Bilal. "Kemal Ümmî Dîvânî’nın Makâlât adlı yazması ve dil özellikleri." Selçuk Üniversitesi Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi. 20 2006: 99-111.

Hickman, William. "On Manuscripts of the Dīvān of Ümmī Kemāl." Journal of Turkish Studies: Türklük Bilgisi Araştırmaları. 3 1979: 197-207.

Hickman, William. "Ümmi Kemāl in Anatolian Tradition." Turcica. , no. 24 1982: 155-167.

Hickman, William. "Who was Ümmi Kemal?" Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Dergisi. , no. 4-5 1976-1977: 57-82.

Hickman, William. "On Editing Ottoman Turkish Tekke Poetry." The Journal of the American Oriental Society. forthcoming.

Yanpınar, Ahmet. "Kemal Ümmi Divanı’nda Münâcât ve Tevhidlerdeki Ayetlerin Tespiti." Istanbul: Marmara Üniversitesi, 1993.

Ünver, İsmail. "Kemâl Ümmî Dîvânı ve Türkçe Sözler Dizini." Bachelor's Thesis, 1968: Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Tarih Coğrafya Fakültesi, , [n.d.].

Ünver, İsmail. "Kemâl Ümmî." TDVİA. 25 2002.

Ünver, İsmail. "Kemâl-i Ümmî." Bolu: Bolu Kalkınma ve Tanıtma Vakfı Yayınları, 1987: 21-28.

Physical Description

Number of folios

n.a. ff.

History

Date of copy

20th. century