Turkish Mystic Poetry and Mawlana Jalal-ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

 

Mysticism found a means of expression in medieval Turkish literature through a unique poetic form. Mystic poets practiced poetry but not so much as a vehicle of creativity for expressing their ideas, thoughts and emotions, but rather they used it as an outlet for their religious passion. Sufism is characterized by the concept of a union of the human being with the creator, God, through the power of love. The union is thought to be of the will and it is held that suffering, as well as love, was a necessary condition of the union.

Two great philosophers, Abu Nasr Al Farabi (872-950) and Ibne Sina (980-1037) gave impetus to the Sufi movement in the 9th century. With the growth of Turkish power, Seljuk, and later Ottoman, in the Islamic world, the mystic movement became firmly established, and the takayas, or mystic circles, flourished in every corner of Anatolia.

To break away from selfishness, and to see one's own Godly attributes, the Sufis believed humanity needed one thing, love, but love in its universal sense. The purifying emotion of love will lead us to understand our godly attributes. They also insisted that every man had a God in him, thus enabling him to love all mankind and show complete understanding. Discrimination was unknown them: Whosoever do not look 72 nations with the same eyes/Is a rebel to Truth, be he a teacher of people.

Mystique poetry has no separate or distinct literary forms, and borrowed freely from either folk poetry or Divan. The symbolism, allegories and images are fairly elaborate, however, and though the imagery was sometimes adopted by the classic poets, they were unique to mystique poetry. It is impossible to understand a mystic poem without the key to the poetic terminology. The "Friend" or the "Fair One", that the poet so eagerly calls, and asks to throw off "the Veil" that conceals her perfect beauty from his comprehension, is none other than God. The "lover" is mankind, "Wine" is divine love, and "the Cup Bearer" is the spiritual instructor of celestial love.

Mystic poetry had far more influence on the Divan and folk groups than the later pair had upon each other. Yunus Emre, the mystic, who wrote in the folk form, influenced folk poetry for centuries and his influence is still felt in modern Turkish poetry. On the other hand, the Maulana Rumi and the Shaikh Ghalib Dede, two great Mystic poets, created their masterpieces in the Divan form. They not only left their imprint on classic poetry, but hey inspired many future works that used their creations as models.

Mawl?n? Jal?l-ad-D?n Muhammad R?m? was born on September 30, 1207 in Balkh (in present-day Afghanistan), then a city of Greater Khorasan and died on December 17, 1273 in Konya, Seljuk Empire (in present-day Turkey). His birthplace and native language/local dialect indicates a Persian heritage. He lived most of his life in, and produced his works under the Seljuk Empire. He came to Konya, then capital of the Western Turks or Seljuks when he was still a child. His father was Baha' ud-Din Walad, a theologian, jurist and a mystic from Balkh, who was also known during his lifetime as "Sultan of the Scholars". His mother was Mu'mina Kh?t?n. His father carefully looked after his son's education, and the boy grew up to be a scholar. After a period of brilliant teaching, he suddenly renounced his position in the Konya University. "Besides knowledge of the mind, there is greater knowledge of the heart that only emotion and feeling can lead to." he said.

     Almost a contemporary of Thomas Aquinas, Maulana lived to his philosophy, and though from a rich family, refused wealth and existed frugally. His son, Sultan Valid, himself a poet and remarkable organizer, continued the work of his father in forming a school that became known as the Mawlavi, or Order of Dervishes.

Apart from his master piece, the Mathnavi, a paired rhyme epic of 25,700 verses compiled in six tones, his other writings which included his second masterpiece, called Divan-i Sems or Divan-i- Kebir, has more than 20,000 verses, some in Ghazal and some in Rubai form, is smaller in size but no less important from a Mystical and literary point of view.  It is a collection of beautiful verses in which Mawlana's exalts poetry, music and Mysticism has been embedded. It is a closer expression of his Unity with the divine and universal Love. His Majaalis -i-Saba contains seven of his sermons. Other works of Mawlana are Letters that were later translated into Turkish, English and other languages are called Fihi Ma-Fih, Mecalis-i Seba and Mektubat.

Basically his ideas are the same as the mystique philosophy already outlined, and which Maulana helped to form. One of the tenets of his philosophic system was a belief in evolution. The universe is in a continuous state of struggle, he taught, and is eternally undergoing a creative process, and consistently becoming better, more beautiful and more true. His conception of the world is causative, and, despite his mysticism, has many aspects of reality. Mawlana was not only a great poet and philosopher but first and foremost he was a mystic, a spiritually touched man. His mind and heart had reached for heights and depths of the spiritual world. In his vision there were two universes which coincided in Man.

While bitterly attacked by an enemy who compare the poet with the vilest and lowest, he answered gently, "I am with them too." The Turkish liberal attitude towards women has been faithfully reflected in the writings of the Mawlana. He severely criticized the fanatics who would veil and hide their womenfolk. "The love that depends on colors and shapes of this world is by no means a true love; it finally ends up in disgrace"

Such was his universal appeal and personal magnetism that he attracted people from every walk of life and had countless followers, including kings and princes. Well aware of his influence, he nevertheless exercised it with discretion, as the following verses show: I am the Mystic with simple soul, My church is Man's heart everywhere./My classroom is the whole world,/I am not a sectarian

Maulana was a great artist, who felt deeply, being dissatisfied with purely poetic self expression also sought other means, incorporating poetry, music, and balletic type of dance. The music was created chiefly by a special flute ( the ney), small tympany (two-tenths the regular size), and a choir, whilst the dances are performed by white robed dervishes, crowned with long white head-dresses. These " whirling Dervishes" , with raised arms, would revolve around their own pivot and throughout the room, inducing a trance -like effecting themselves, and thus hoping to achieve communion with God. Rumi believed passionately in the use of music, poetry and dancing as a path for reaching God. For Rumi, music helped devotees to focus their whole being on the divine, and to do this so intensely that the soul was both destroyed and resurrected. It was from these ideas that the practice of Whirling Dervishes developed into a ritual form. He founded the order of the Mevlevi, the "whirling" dervishes, and created the "Sema", their "turning", sacred dance. In the Mevlevi tradition, Sema represents a mystical journey of spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfect." In this journey the seeker symbolically turns towards the truth, grows through love, abandons the ego, finds the truth, and arrives at the "Perfect". The seeker then returns from this spiritual journey with greater maturity, so as to love and to be of service to the whole of creation without discrimination against beliefs, races, classes and nations.


Dr Muhammad Abdul Mazid,
former Secretary to the GoB and
former Chairman NBR