Abstract
In Turkish literature, in addition to the works that deal specifically with the sea and the ship, we also see that more comprehensive works dealing with different subjects devote certain parts of them to the issues related to the sea and the ship. Garîb-nâme is one of the works that addresses this subject from a sufistic/mystical point of view in one of its chapters. Completed in 1330 by Âşık Paşa, one of the 14th century Ottoman scholars, poets and sufis, Garîb-nâme is a mesnevi of more than 10,000 couplets. It is an exceptional work in terms of content and form and has a distinguished place in Turkish literature in terms of the richness of the subjects it handles. In each chapter of the book, which is organized in 10 chapters, 10 stories are told about each of the chapter numbers and the issues related to that number are addressed. The 10th story of the eighth chapter of Garib-nâme concerns eight elements necessary for a ship to sail safely. In the work, each of these elements, which are listed as “deniz/su” sea/water, “gemi (geminin gövdesi)” ship (ship's hull), “yelken” sail, “yel” wind, “lenger” anchor, “üstâd/gemici/keştîbân” master/sailor/captain, “âdemi/halk (yolcu)” mankind/people (passengers) and “metâ‘ (mal)/kâle (kumaş)” commodity/cloth, is explained in detail by returning to the beginning four times and adding new layers of meaning to the subject each time. Âşık Paşa first focuses on the apparent/overt meanings of these elements, which we find important in terms of shipping history, and then refers to the esoteric/covert/mystical equivalents of each of these elements. In his discussion, he draws on the verse “Do you not see that Allah Almighty has put at your service all the inhabitants of the earth and the ships that glide in the sea in accordance with His command..." (Quran 65:22) and uses a didactic style.
 This article consists of a total of four sections with an introduction and a conclusion. In the introduction section, a brief review has been made about the Turkish maritime history and the issues related to the sea and the ship in Turkish literature. In the first chapter of the article, its author Âşık Paşa and his work are briefly introduced in order to determine what kind of place Garîb-nâme occupies in this field. In the second section, the eight elements necessary for the ship, which is the tenth story of the eighth chapter of the work, have been tried to be explained in the sub-headings together with their apparent and mystical meanings, based on the words of Âşık Paşa. In the conclusion section, a general evaluation is made on the basis of the information obtained as a result of this study. The aim of this study is to reveal the shipping elements used in Garib-nâme in detail, thus contributing to the maritime history by drawing attention to the reflections of the elements related to the ship on literary and sufi texts as well as on our cultural life.
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