TURKISH TRANSLATIONS OF THE MESNEVI

1. The first Turkish translation of the Mesnevi in verse was writ­ten by Muini Chelebi under the title Mesnevi-i Muradi. Muini Chelebi translated most of the Mesnevi tales in verse and dedicated his work to Sultan Murad II (1438). The original manuscript of this work is preserved in the Orhan Gazi Library in Bursa.

   Dede Omer Rusen (d. 1478) of Aydin is said to have a Mesnevi translation entitled Neyname.

2. The Mesnevi was translated into Turkish by Mevlevi Nahifi Suleyman Efendi, an eighteenth century poet. This translation was printed in Egypt by Bulaq Publishing House in 1851. In l967, Prof. Amil Celebioglu rewrote this translation in mod­em language and published it with its original text. Nahifi also translated the fabricated seventh book of the Mesnevi which unfortunately is included in the Bulaq edition.

3. Bursali Tahir Bey, a historian of Turkish literature, writes that Abdullah Salahi (d. 1782), a prominent Ushshaqi shaykh, translated the Mesnevi. Kutikci Suleyman Hayri Bey (d. 1891) attempted to translate the Mesnevi in verse but could only finish some portion of the first book. This incomplete and unsuccessful translation was printed in Istanbul in 1890.
   
   
4. Yenisehirli Avni Bey (d. 1892) translated the Mesnevi in verse up to the fourth book.
   
   
5. Feyzullah Sacid Ulku translated the first book of the Mesnevi into Turkish in verse. This translation was published in 1945.
   
   
6. Valad Chelebi, a descendant of Rumi, translated the six books of the Mesnevi into Turkish in prose. This translation was published in 1942 by the Turkish Ministry of Education as the first of a series of Eastern-Islamic classics.
   
   
7. Dr.   Abdullah Oztemiz Hacitahiroglu translated the Mesnevi into Turkish with its original meter. In the first volume of this translation, published in 1972, there are 2,108 couplets.
   
   
8. Feyzi Halici, a contemporary poet, has started translat­ing the Mesnevi with its original meter. His translation has been published in two small volumes including 1,001 couplets.

Divan-i Kabir

Divan-i Kabir (the great collection of poems) is the name of the book that contains Rumi's poems. Divan-i Kabir contains Rumi's poems in several different styles of Eastern Islamic poetry (e.g., odes, eulogies, quatrains, etc). Although most of the poems are in Persian, there are also Arabic and Turkish poems. Divan-i Kabir also is called Kulliyat-i Shams-i Tabrizi, or Divan-i Shams because unlike other poets who mention their nicknames in the last complot of each poem they compose, Rumi used Shams' name. In none of his poems did he use his name, "Mevlana" or "Jalal al-Din Rumi." In some of his poems he used the names of Salah al-Din Zarqubi or Husam al-Din Chelebi. The odes with these two names number around one hundred. Rumi occasion­ally used nicknames, such as khamoosh (silent) or khamoosh kon (be silent). Rumi used Shams's name in his poems because they were friends of the heart. Those who do not know this think that these poems were composed by Shams. However, we have no historical record of Shams having written any poetry.

However, in an edition of Divan-i Kabir printed in India in 1885 under the title Kulliyat-i Shams-i Tabrizi, there are many poems that are not Rumi's. These poems were composed mainly by Shams-i Tabasi and Shams-i Mashriqi, who used similar nicknames to Shams. Likewise, in some editions of Divan-i Kabir printed in Iran, there are poems that are not Rumi's. For exam­ple, in Divan-i Shams al-Haqaiq, which is a selection from Rumi's poems by Baza Kuli Khan, there are many poems that are not Rumi's. These poems do not conform to Rumi's faith, personal­ity, and ideals. Those poems which deify Ali, for example, con­fuse the readers. Some of the readers who know little about Rumi are misled to believe that Rumi was Shi'ite. Unfortunately, this selection of Rumi's poems, Divan-i Shams al-Haqaiq, which contains the most beautiful of Rumi's poems translated by. Midhat Bahari Beytur without removing the poems that are not Rumi's. This translation was published by the Turkish Ministry of Education in three volumes.

The most reliable edition of Divan-i Kabir has been pre­pared and published by Prof. Furuzanfar of Tehran University who studied the oldest ten manuscripts of the Divan. In this edi­tion, there are no poems that arc not Rumi's but there may be a few poems by Rumi which have been left out. Nevertheless, this edition of the Divan is the best and the most elegant of the Divans printed in India or Iran. This edition, which was print­ed in 1957, displays differences between manuscripts and con­tains short explanations. It has been typeset carefully as a large size book, apt for its name. May the publisher's soul be blessed. Abdulbaki Golpmarh translated into Turkish Divan-i Kabir's oldest manuscript preserved in Konya in the Mevlana Museum. This translation has been published twice.

The exact number of poems and the number of couplets in the poems of Divan-i Kabir are not known for certain since there are variations in different editions and manuscripts. The oldest manuscript in Konya contains 2,073 odes and 21,366 couplets. The exact number may be found by comparing all the different editions and manuscripts. In addition, there are thousands of Rumi's quatrains, the exact number unknown. Beginning in Konya's libraries in 1964, I collected all the quatrains that were attributed to Rumi. I searched manuscripts and leaflets in libraries in Istanbul. I scanned the Divans printed in Iran, Afghanistan, and India and compared the quatrains in them with those that I had collected. Thus, Rubailer Divam (Collection of Quatrains) was born. The Turkish Ministry of Culture published Rubailer Divani in two volumes that contain the originals and the transla­tion of the quatrains as well as explanatory notes.

The poems in Divan-i Kabir are lyrical poems. They are prod­ucts of love and excitement. Friends and disciples wrote down these holy, Gnostic poems that Rumi sometimes composed in a state of ecstasy. Just as with the Mesnevi Rumi recited these poems as they came to his heart without taking a pen in his hand. He would recite them sometimes while whirling and oth­er times during a walk through the gardens of Meram in Konya.

In these poems, which were composed without forethought or a conscious concern for meter and rhyme, there is an effect of burning in the heart, ecstasy, and love. There are inspirations and messages from the beyond. In some editions of the Divan, especially in some of the published ones, there are poems that are not the product of Rumi's ardent nature, love, and excite­ment. Those who are familiar with Rumi's style and feeling rec­ognize these poems instantly. They enrapture the reader and grant him indescribable joys and ecstasy. In those poems Rumi exists. In those poems we find Rumi's love. In most of this great saint's poems, the reader feels the pain of separation, tears, aching hearts, longing for the Beloved, laments, and pleas, as well as joyful, hopeful, and grateful prayers. Some poems have a meter appropriate to their theme. You feel that the leaves are falling in autumn, the trees are shaking, and the seasons are com­ing to an end. A sensitive person can understand what Rumi means through the harmony and spiritual atmosphere of the poems even if he does not know Persian. These poems some­times make the reader shed tears. Sometimes they enrapture, and sometimes they take one to the other world.

In the Foreword to Prof. Furuzanfar's edition of Divan-i Kabir, Rumi presents his poems to the lovers of God with the following lines:

These poems are spiritual secrets (subtle meanings). For those who have given their hearts to God, they are Noah's ark. They are holy breaths, pleasant breezes for the spirit, and inspi­rations from the Lord, They open up the eye of the heart during dawn. They are inspirations from God, Who is pure from all imperfections and deficiencies. They are unique signs, surprising phrases. They are lights from the sea of the Unity of God. They are large pearls from the sea of the Unseen. This Divan is the Divan of Lovers of God. It is the spring of spiritual joy and the light of hearts.

It is true words accepted by lovers of God and Gnostics and the key of the people of Presence (peace). They are the places of free people in the unseen world. It is the heart of the hearts of people who have a heart. It is the flower of the garden of heart. The words in this Divan are the rivers that bring blessings and spiritual joys to assemblies of true servants of God. They are accounts mentioning the saints. They are alchemy of bliss for mature people. They are a sermon for the people of strong faith. They are ornaments for those who love God and abstain from evil. These words are God's sword against the hypocrites.

They arc an elixir for great and good people. They are a gift for the traveler of the path of God. They arc the language of the birds of jabarut.19 They are the praises of angels in the unseen world.

Fihi Ma Fih

This book is composed of Rumi's speeches on different subjects. Rumi himself did not prepare or write these discourses. They were written down by his son Sultan Valad or some other disci­ple of Rumi and put together as a book. Some of the discourses are addressed to Muin al-Din Pervane. Some portions of it are a commentary on thcMesnwi. There are also references to Shams-i Tabrizi, Burhan al-Din Tirmidhi, and Salah al-Din Zarqubi. Fihi Ma Fih was first translated into Turkish by Ahmed Avni Konuk, but this translation was not published and now is preserved in the Konya Mevlana Museum. Later, it again was translated by Meliha Ulker and published in the Turkish Ministry of Education's series on Islamic classics in 1954.

Majalis-i Sab'a

As the name implies, this books contains seven sermons given in seven different assemblies. As Aflaki relates, after Shams-i Tabrizi, Rumi gave sermons at the request of notables, especial­ly Salah al-Din Zarqubi. Seven of these sermons are collected in this book. This work was translated into Turkish by Hulusi Efendi and was published by Feridun Nafiz Uzluk with its master copy in 1937. Another translation of this book by Adbulbaki Golpmarh was published in Konya.

Maktubat

This book is composed of letters that Rumi sent to state offi­cials. Like all of his other books, Rumi did not write these let­ters himself. He dictated them. This book, which contains 147 letters, was published in Persian by Feridun Nafiz Uzluk in Istanbul in 1937. These letters were translated into Turkish by Abdulbaki Golpmarh.

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