Abstract:

With its distinctive sources, unique style, form, and content, Old Turkish literature is the outcome of a literary tradition grounded on theological, historical, mythical, and folkloric roots, which spanned for about six centuries. To comprehend such deep-rooted literature and to grasp the profundity of meaning it conveys, it is essential to apprehend which sources it uses. Numerous aspects, especially religion and culture, which are among the most significant social values, are the ancestors of our literature. Types and personalities considered among these sources embody a critical portion of the cultural treasure poets have generated for the society they belong to from the past to their era of existence. Type and personality as the primary themes are the focal points of all the action and construction in our literature regarding a literary composition. Therefore, it is essential to identify precisely these types and personalities to comprehend a literary text in its entirety. Poets convey their views and feelings to readers by embodying types and personalities in their work. Divan poetry remarks the types such as lover, beloved, rival, Mecnûn, Leyla, sâki, and dervish that symbolize specific behaviors and manifest themselves in ordinary social interactions. The personalities classified as religious, historical, literary, artisan, mystic, and scholar, on the other hand, are shaped by people’s self-views, reflections, and styles, and thus they display erratic behaviors instead of stereotypical conduct. Şems-i Hayâlî Erzincanî, who lived in the 19th century and was recognized widely by his immediate circle, was one of the illiterate divan-khanqah poets using pseudonyms (Nome de guerre) such as “Şems-i Hayâl” (Hayâl-i Şems, Hayalî Şems-i Nakşî” in his poems. He gained a reputation as “Chickpea Father” since he earned his living by selling roasted chickpeas. As a Sufi poet, Şems-i Hayâlî’s poems comprise full of enthusiasm since they possess spiritual and mystical references posing mystical themes. His Divan, “Tuhfetü’l-uşşâk,” is his exclusively known piece of work. He utilized arûz prosody (wezni) and syllabic meter in his poems. This divan is a unique work conveying the respect, love, and dedication of a disciplined adherent who merely overloves his sheik and is very devoted to him, with a lovely and plain expression. In his poems, Şems-i Hayâlî embodied mysticism, portraying many Sufism-related types and personalities. He called attention to Hayyat Vehbî (Tailor Father), to whom he wholeheartedly devoted himself, as a personality cited in all his poems. Therefore, this study focused on identifying and assessing the types and personalities in the poems of the poet Şems-i Hayâlî Erzincanî.