Turkish mystic poet of the second half of the 13th century [1200-1299 CE] and the first quarter of
the 14th
century [1300-1399 CE] , who was extremely influential in the dissemination of Sufi
teachings in Anatolia and the
formation of tekke poetry, in addition to his leading role in the use of ‘arūḍ
meter in Old Anatolian Turkish. Information on Yūnus's life is scarce and relies heavily on the references in his
poems as well as legendary tales. His dates of birth and death have been subject
to various debates, which were largely concluded by a record published by Adnan
Erzi ( (Erzi_1950, pp. 85-89). Taken from a mecmū‘a
at Beyazıt Library (Beyazıt Library 7912,
, 38v). This record indicates that Yūnus lived for 82 years and died
in 720 AH [1320-1321 CE] This
puts his date of birth in the year of 638 AH [1240-1241 CE]. According to the general opinion,
Yūnus was born in an area nearby
the Sakarya river and lived in the
Ṭapduḳ
Emre convent located at Emrem
Sultan near Nallıhan. He donated his land in
Sarıköy to the convent. In some of
his poems Yūnus Emre mentions that he lived
to an old age. Certain of his poems indicate that Yūnus had children. In a document
dated 924 AH [1518 CE] in Konya Registers No. 871 of the Ottoman Archives,
reference is made to Yūnus's son
İsmā‘īl
and to the fact that Yūnus Emre
bought a land named Ammā Yerce from Karamanoğlu
İbrahim Bey. Tough his references to being ümmī in his poems led
popular legend to consider him as illiterate, it is now well accepted that
Yūnus was fairly educated.
Gölpınarlı ( (Golpinarli_1961, pp. 100-101)) draws close
parallels between some of his poems and those of Saʻdī and Mevlānā Celāleddīn Rūmī,
concluding that Yūnus knew enough Persian to do
translations. The precise nature of his education is not known. References in his
poems indicate that Yūnus was a
disciple of Ṭapduḳ Emre , who was in turn the disciple of Ṣarı
Ṣaltuḳ. In addition to these two masters, Yūnus mentions Mevlānā Celāleddīn Rūmī in his
poems, for whom he has great veneration. He is critical of the dervish Geyikli Baba (14th
cent.). The lack of references to Ḥacı Bekṭāş
Velī indicate that, contrary to the passages in Bektashi sources,
Yūnus Emre was not directly
related to Ḥacı Bekṭāş. We know from his
poem that Yūnus Emre travelled extensively.
The places mentioned in his poems include Kayseri, Sivas, Maraş, “upper lands” (Azerbaijan), Damascus, Shiraz, Baghdad, Tabriz and Nakhchivan. References in his poems suggest that he
did not go on pilgrimage. There are graves attributed to Yūnus in various places in Anatolia as well as in Azerbaijan. Scholars agree on the
authenticity of the grave in Sarıköy,
near Sivrihisar. This grave was
moved in 1946 [1946 CE] in the building of the
railway between Ankara and Eskişehir and was subsequently
transferred to its own newly built musoleum in 1970 [1970 CE]. Faruk K. Timurtaş was the first scholar to indicate
that Yūnus Emre and ‘Āşıḳ Yūnus were two separate
poets. ( (Timurtaş, Faruk, ed. Yunus Emre Dîvânı. Ankara: Başbakanlık Basımevi, 1986., pp. 19)). The poet ‘Āşıḳ Yūnus lived in Bursa and died in the beginning of the
15th century [1400-1499 CE].
The fact that Yūnus Emre used adjectives such as
“ ‘āşıḳ, miskīn, dervīş” to refer to himself resulted in the mixing of the poems
attributed to the two poets. This is visible in a majority of the manuscripts.
According to a mecmū‘a published by Şinasi Tekin, the dīvān was composed in 707. The Gölpınarlı edition consists of 100 poems, whereas
Tatci edition includes a total of 417. The difference results from varying
approaches to the difficulty which lies in the differentiation between the poems of
Yūnus Emre, ‘Āşıḳ Yūnus and other poets who
wrote with the same pen-name and imitated the style of Yūnus. No studies have been
conducted on the mecmū‘a which partially include his poems. The most common themes in the
poetry of Yūnus are mystic love and the
oneness of being. His poems are characterized by his lyrical and simple use of Old
Anatolian Turkish.
Composed in the year of 707,
this work in the form of a mathnawī consists of 600 couplets in the Tatcı edition
and 562 couplets in the Gölpınarlı edition. A didactic work lacking the lyrical
quality and mystical content of Yūnus Emre’
poems, it is considered by some scholars to be misattributed, on the basis of its
content, language and vocabulary. Show more
In a golden frame. Very neatly written. Fixed orthography.
According to a mecmū‘a published by Şinasi Tekin, the dīvān was composed in 707. The Gölpınarlı edition consists of 100 poems, whereas
Tatci edition includes a total of 417. The difference results from varying
approaches to the difficulty which lies in the differentiation between the poems of
Yūnus Emre, ‘Āşıḳ Yūnus and other poets who
wrote with the same pen-name and imitated the style of Yūnus. No studies have been
conducted on the mecmū‘a which partially include his poems. The most common themes in the
poetry of Yūnus are mystic love and the
oneness of being. His poems are characterized by his lyrical and simple use of Old
Anatolian Turkish.
According to a mecmū‘a published by Şinasi Tekin, the dīvān was composed in 707. The Gölpınarlı edition consists of 100 poems, whereas
Tatci edition includes a total of 417. The difference results from varying
approaches to the difficulty which lies in the differentiation between the poems of
Yūnus Emre, ‘Āşıḳ Yūnus and other poets who
wrote with the same pen-name and imitated the style of Yūnus. No studies have been
conducted on the mecmū‘a which partially include his poems. The most common themes
in the poetry of Yūnus are mystic love and the
oneness of being. His poems are characterized by his lyrical and simple use of Old
Anatolian Turkish.
Table of contents on 2v-3r.The poems of
Yūnus Emre do not figure in the
table of contents, possibly because they are in the margins (the handwriting of the
main body and the margin belongs to the same copyist). The poems of Yūnus Emre are preceded in the
margins by those of Ḳayġusuz
Abdal.
According to a mecmū‘a published by Şinasi Tekin, the dīvān was composed in 707. The Gölpınarlı edition consists of 100 poems, whereas
Tatci edition includes a total of 417. The difference results from varying
approaches to the difficulty which lies in the differentiation between the poems of
Yūnus Emre, ‘Āşıḳ Yūnus and other poets who
wrote with the same pen-name and imitated the style of Yūnus. No studies have been
conducted on the mecmū‘a which partially include his poems. The most common themes
in the poetry of Yūnus are mystic love and the
oneness of being. His poems are characterized by his lyrical and simple use of Old
Anatolian Turkish.
