Özet:

The focus of the present study is Mehmed Akif Ersoy's sense of loyalty and the disloyalty shown towards him. Akif comes foremost among poets, writers and thinkers who shape their lives based on beliefs. His loyalty reflects his personality, honesty and faith. It was a lifestyle for Akif to be loyal to his beliefs, values and friends. He is a person who simply lived for his values and principles. This study traces the reflections of his loyalty so as to get to know him better. The purpose of the present study is to identify the characteristics of this poet and his works. There appears to be an overlap between how most writers live and what they write. Mehmed Akif Ersoy is one of our writers whose life and work almost overlap. His wisdom, beliefs, knowledge, morals, righteousness, loyalty, his love for his country and nation are also apparent in his works. He is one of the rarest figures who internalise what they write and adopt the principle of living in line with what they write. Akif’s family, particularly his father, played a key role in the development of his character. His father, Tahir Efendi, taught him not only wisdom and faith but also kindness. Akif’s love for his homeland, nation, people and God florished in the environment where he lived. While Akif was gentle and compassionate towards his friends and loved ones, he was rather harsh against the enemies of his religion, country and nation. Akif was a person who always had a sense loyalty and helped others feel it, despite the ups and downs of life and the time in which he lived. Loyalty is apparent not only in all his poems and prose but also in all phases of his life. Like his life, his loyalty was deeply rooted in the Qurʾān, hadīth, ijma and faith. He was a loyal spouse, loyal friend and devoted poet. Loyalty was an indispensible part of his faith. This study addresses the understanding of faith-related loyalty in his poems and the way he lived. The introduction of the study describes the environment where Akif was brought up. The next section discusses his loyalty towards his values. His strongest loyalty was towards his country, nation and religion. He constantly worked and struggled for the sake of his country and nation throughout his life. His love for his homeland, religion and nation hardly consisted of mere words and slogans. Akif was sent on duty to Germany and Arabia by the Special Organization, established by the Ministry of War, to work for his homeland and nation. He diligently worked in these places and showed his loyalty towards his country. Thanks to his efforts, some Arab tribes were saved from being a tool used by British politics. Furthermore, Akif showed his love and loyalty towards his homeland and nation by personally participating in the National Struggle. His interest in and loyalty towards religion began during his childhood and continued up until his death. The second section discusses Akif's loyalty towards his friends. It describes his relationships with various people mentioned in his poetry, including his father Tahir Efendi, Babanzada Ahmad Naim, Ali Şevket Hodja, Hasan Basri Çantay, Hüseyin Avni Ulaş, Fatin Gökmen Hodja, Ferid Kam Bey, Neyzen Tevfik Kolaylı, Şerif Muhiddin Targan, Hasan Rıza Efendi, Hasan Tahsin, İbrahim Bey, Yozgatlı Hajī Mahmut Efendi, Hodja Mustafa Efendi, Midhat Cemal Kuntay and Sheikh Saʿdī Shīrāzī. The third section addresses the loyalty-related issues that Mehmed Akif included in his poems. It particularly focuses on the places where the word loyalty is mentioned in these poems. It was seen that his loyalty was not only towards people and spiritual values but also for material assets, such as batons and graves. Moreover, in his poems, Akif particularly associated the concepts of homeland, nation and religion with loyalty. The fourth section, the last part of the study, discusses the acts of disloyalty shown towards Akif during his lifetime. Akif suffered from various acts of disloyalty, especially after the establishment of the Second National Assembly. Various writers began to criticize him and his poetry. This section cites some examples of such acts of disloyalty and discusses Akif's attitude towards these criticisms. A major conclusion drawn from the study is that Akif was a poet who wrote and lived in loyalty in line with what he believed. His strongest loyalty was his attitude towards his values, beliefs, homeland, nation and friends. He was a figure who did not sacrifice his loyalty towards his beliefs, thoughts and friends, in exchange for worldly blessings.

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