A Study on Quotations of Name Compositions from The Quran in The Example of The Mesîhî Divân

Abstract

With the Turks embracing Islam in the ninth century, the Arabic alphabet, which was the basic script of Islamic civilization, became the written language of the Turks. The Arabic alphabet, which is the alphabet of the Holy Quran, was shaped by the influence of Arabic and Persian languages ​​with the acceptance of Islam and was significantly reflected in Turkish works of the Islamic period. Classical Turkish literature, which covers the twelfth to nineteenth centuries, has a rich literary heritage shaped by the poems written by poets throughout the centuries. The Messiah, who is discussed in the study, is a poet who lived in the fifteenth century, during the reign of Bayezid II, which is considered as the development period of Classical Turkish literature. Although there is no clear date of birth in the sources, it is known that the poet was born in Pristina, came to Istanbul for a madrasah education and practiced calligraphy, and was the divan clerk of Ali Pasha, the grand vizier of the period. It is stated in the sources that Mesihi fell out of favor with Ali Pasha due to his indulgence in worldly pleasures and that he died in Bosnia after living a difficult, unprosperous life and having difficulty making ends meet. Mesihi used idioms and proverbs in his poems, observing the simple Turkish language. The themes that the poet, who mostly adopted a lyrical style in his poems, generally dealt with are identical to the themes of Divan poetry, namely lover-beloved, lover-beloved-rival. Although a particularly rhyming style of expression is striking in the poet's poems, it is seen that Mesihi's fondness for alcohol, entertainment and gatherings directly shed light on his lifestyle. In the Divan, where the Rindane expressions are included, Sufi discourses also appear. In the century in which Mesîhî lived, literary activities rich in terms of Divan poetry were noticeable. Although Mesîhî was not a poet who came to the forefront compared to other poets of his time, he was able to deliver three works to the present day. The poet, who remained loyal to tradition in the line of classical Turkish literature, has a Divan, Şehr-engîz and a letter work called Gül-i Sad-Berg. Compared to other poets of the period, Mesîhî’s Divan was not considered very voluminous and rich. There are five manuscript copies of the Divan and the first edition was published in 1995. The poet’s Divan contains many quotations, analogies and reminders from the Quran. Thus, the poet expressed religious-mystical sayings from the Quran, the holy book of Islam, with Turkish, Arabic and Persian phrases. There are many references to surahs, verses and hadiths from the Quran. The aim of the study is to examine the Turkish, Persian and Arabic noun phrases quoted from the Quran in Masihî’s Divan. The noun phrases identified from Masihî’s Divan were classified according to their quotations. Masihî’s Divan was examined through a transcription study by Prof. Dr. Mine Mengi. Instead of Prof. Dr. Mine Mengi’s work, Masihî’s Divan was directly taken as basis in the study. Masihî’s Divan consists of münacaat, kaside, terkib-i bend, Şehr-Engîz der Medh-i Cüvânân-ı Edirne, ghazal, kıt’a and mufred. All verse forms in the Divan were examined in terms of noun phrases. With this study, the names and noun combinations quoted from the Quran in the Divan of the fifteenth-century poet Mesîhî have been illuminated in terms of Turkish, Persian and Arabic grammatical rules.