Yunus Emre

Yunus Emre (Turkish pronunciation: [jūˈnus emˈɾe]) also known as Derviş Yûnus (Yûnus the Dervish) (1238–1328) (Old Anatolian Turkish: يونس امره) was a Turkish folk poet and Sufi who greatly influenced Turkish culture. He wrote in Old Anatolian Turkish. His name, Yûnus, is the Arabic equivalent to the English name Jonah. The UNESCO General Conference unanimously passed a resolution declaring 1991 the 750th anniversary of the poet's birth, International Yunus Emre Year.[3]

Yûnus Emre
يونس امره
Statue of Yûnus Emre in Karaman, Turkey
Personal
Born1238
Sarıköy near Sivrihisar,[1][2] Sultanate of Rum, now Turkey
Died1320
Yunusemre (formerly Saru), Ottoman Beylik, now Turkey
ReligionSunni Islam
EraAnatolian Beyliks
Known forSufism, Diwan in Old Anatolian Turkish
Senior posting
Period in office13th and 14th century
Influenced by

Biography
Part of a series on Islam
Sufism
Tomb of Abdul Qadir Gilani, Baghdad, Iraq
Ideas
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Shi'a

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Yunus Emre has exercised immense influence on new formed Turkish literature, which was a combination of Persian and Arabic languages from his own day until the present, because Yunus Emre is, after Ahmed Yesevi and Sultan Walad, one of the first known poets to have composed works in the spoken Old Anatolian Turkish of his own age and region rather than in only Persian or Arabic. His diction remains very close to the popular speech of the people in Central and Western Anatolia. This is also the language of a number of anonymous folk-poets, folk-songs, fairy tales, riddles (tekerlemeler), and proverbs.

Like the Oghuz Book of Dede Korkut, an older and anonymous Central Asian epic, the Persian folklore that inspired Yunus Emre in his occasional use of tekerlemeler as a poetic device had been handed down orally to him and his contemporaries. This strictly oral tradition continued for a long while.[4] Following the Mongolian invasion of Anatolia, facilitated by the Sultanate of Rûm's defeat at the 1243 Battle of Köse Dağ, Islamic mystic literature thrived in Anatolia; Yunus Emre became one of its most distinguished poets. The poetry of Yunus Emre — despite being fairly simple on the surface — evidences his skill in describing quite abstruse mystical concepts in a clear way. He remains a popular figure in a number of countries, stretching from Azerbaijan to the Balkans, with seven different and widely dispersed localities disputing the privilege of having his tomb within their boundaries. Yunus Emre's most important book is Risaletu’n Nushiyye.[5]

His poems, written in the tradition of Anatolian folk poetry, mainly concern divine love as well as human destiny:

and a poem about Prophet Muhammad, Ali, Hassan and Hussein:

Yunus Emre was the focus of Yunus Emre: Askin Yolculugu, a two-season 44-episode fictional drama based on his life, premiering in 2015 on Turkish National Television (TRT), created by Mehmet Bozdağ, and starring Gökhan Atalay as Yunus Emre. Yunus Emre has also been the focus of a film and a song; his representations in popular culture include:

  • Yunus Emre: Askin Yolculugu - A two-season 44-episode fictional drama based on the life of Yunus Emre, premiering in 2015 on Turkish National Television (TRT).
  • Yunus Emre: Aşkın Sesi - A 2014 Turkish film based on Yunus Emre's life starring Devrim Evin in the lead role.
  • Adımız Miskindir Bizim - A 1973 psychedelic folk-rock song by Mazhar ve Fuat, with lyrics belongs to Yunus Emre.
  • Yûnus Emre Divânı 1[8] - A 2021 album based on four poems: Şükür Şükür Ol Çalab'a, Hak'dan Gelen Şerbeti, Cânlar Cânını Buldum and Biz Dünyadan Gider Olduk by Yunus Emre was produced by the group An'dan İçeri, with music from Turkish composer Tuncay Korkmaz.

See also

References
  1. Güzel, Oğuz & Karatay 2002, p. 672.
  2. Ambros 2002, p. 349.
  3. Halman, Talat (2007). Rapture and Revolution. Syracusa University Press, Crescent Hill Publications. p. 316.
  4. Edouard Roditi. "Western and Eastern Themes in the Poetry of Yunus Emre", Journal of Comparative Poetics, No. 5, The Mystical Dimension in Literature (Spring, 1985), p. 27
  5. "Yunus Emre'nin Eserleri". Enkucuk.com (in Turkish). 21 January 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  6. Cevdet Kudret. Yunus Emre. Ankara: İnkılâp Kitabevi, 2003. ISBN 975-10-2006-9, p. 58
  7. Grace Martin Smith. The Poetry of Yūnus Emre, A Turkish Sufi Poet. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1993. ISBN 0-520-09781-5, p. 124
  8. "Yûnus Emre Divânı 1". spotify.co (in Turkish). 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  9. "Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey". Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  10. "E 9 - Two Hundred Turkish Lira I. Series". Retrieved 20 September 2014.

Sources
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