Sources of Turkish Mathanawi̇ Commentari̇es

Abstract

Mathnawi, one of the most important works of Mevlana, has attracted great attention from both the Mevlevi circles, other sects shaped by mysticism, and social layers with different intellectual structures in the society, since the date it was written. The tradition of advice has an important place in Mathnawi, where Mevlana tries to guide the individual and society to the right path based on religious arguments. Mathnawi has been translated and annotated many times since most of its couplets are covered with symbols, have a closed expression, and are written in Persian. Muinîddîn b. Mustafa tradition of annotating Mathnawi in Turkish, which started with the Mesnevî-iMurâdiyye written by himself in the 15th century, continued until the 21st century. The fact that Mathnawi has a deep layer of meaning, especially originating from Sufism, prevented it from being easily understood by the public. For this reason, some well-educated intellectuals of the period, assuming the identity of commentary, wrote Mathnawi commentaries to make Mathnawi more understandable in society. Of course, commentators have benefited from many sources for these activities due to the difficulty of the existing text. The first reference sources of commentators who grew up in a cultural world shaped by Islamic values and the perception of the mystical world were, of course, religious sources. Dictionary and grammar books, Mathnawi commentaries made by other authors, non-religious poems, history, biography, etc. different sources written in many fields enriched the commentator's world of interpretation and thus offered him a broader perspective.