TRANSLATE to TURKISH

Nations introducing and teaching the values of national culture in the past by supporting with contemporary items to their people can advance on the future by more certain steps.

ŞEYHİ

Şeyhi, one of the most famous poets in Anatolia, lived in the first half of the XV th century and was called the sultan of the poets. He was likely born between 1373 - 1376 during the reign of Murat I. The place of birth is Germiyan (Kütahya). There is not much information about the family of the poet whose real name is Yusuf Sinanüddin. However, it is known that he was a member of one of the respected families in Germiyan.

    Şeyhi who started his education in Kütahya was taught by the poet Ahmedi who was older than himself and well-educated, and yhe other scholars of that period. Afterwards, he went to Iran to improve his knowledge and studied medical science, Islamic mysticism im, literature and gained expertise in ophthalmology. Şeyhi got his nick-name from Hacı Bayram Veli. Hacı Bayram had an important role in Şeyhi's education.

   After having returned to his country, the poet opened a pharmacy. And he was known as doctor, Sinan. While working as a doctor, he was interested in literature, presenting his odes to Yakup II. Bey, the ruler of Germiyan.

   After GermiyanLands were given to Ottoman as a dawry in the period of Sülayman Şah, he served under Çelebi Mehmet and Murat II.

   Şeyhi's relations with Ottoman Place were because of his success in the field of medicine not because of being a poet. When Çelebi Mehmet had trouble with his eyes during the war of Karaman in 1415, Şeyhi who was brought to Ankara cured that illness of padişah in return for this, he was given Tokuzlu village and a lot of presents by Padişah. In addition to this, he worked as a private doctor for Mehmet Çelebi. In the reign of Murat II. , he wrote the mesnevi of Hüsrev ü Şirin in the honour of Sultan Murat II.

   Şeyhi spent rest of his life in Kütahya. According to the references, he died in 1431. His grave known as Erenlerbaşı is in Dumlupınar village which is 7 km. away from Kütahya. Şeyhi's grave was built by Ertuğrul Süer, the governor of Kütahya in 1961 according to the plan drawn by Prof. Oktay Aslanapa.

   Şeyhi's work are Divan (collected poems). Harname (the story of the poor donkey) and Hüsrev ü Şirin.

IT'S ABOUT HARNAME

The most liked and the most known work at Şeyhi today is Harname. This story consisting of 126 verses is among the most successful examples of humor and satirical poem in Turkish literature.

   Harname is such a remerkable and orginal work that it astonished Nef'i, the most important satirical poet in the Turkish literature.

   Şeyhi advises people to want a salary as much as the work they do and appreciate the values they have by expressing the social equality.

   Some sources say that Şeyhi wrote Harname by being influenced from siz-verse written by poet Emir Hüseyin from Herat.

   As we wentioned above, there are stories whose characters were chosen from animals in many nations literatures such as Greek and Indian literatures. These stories give lessons to people and make them think while they are amusing them. Animals which were given human qualities in Harname talk as if they were people. The story of a poor donkey which envies oxen's comfort and their horns and loses his ears at the end is told in this short story.

   Şeyhi manipulates social equality by making animals talk in his book. He criticises inequalities among clases of people intelligently. He states that people deserve comfort according to their efforts.

   The reason why Harname is written is told in two different ways in the sources. According to the first source, after he cured the illiness of the Çelebi Mehmet, a village named Tokuzlu was given to him as a gift. When Şeyhi went to this village, former dwellers, didn't let him enter the village, they beat and robbed him. Upon these incidents, Şeyhi wrote Harname in order to tell King his own case. And according to the second rumour, Sultan Murat II liked him so much that he wanted him to be a vizier. Those envying Şeyhi told the Sultan to want him to write Hamse, five-mesnevi called Hamse like Nizami's five-mesnevi as a provision. For this reason, Şeyhi wrote Hüsrev ü Şirin and presented the first 1000 lines to Murat the second. The King gave him a lot of presents because he liked them very much. While the poet was coming back to Kütahya, he was robbed by the thieves on the way home. He hardly saved his life from them. After this event, Şeyhi wrote Harname and sent it to Sultan Murat the second.

   The sources about Şeyhi say that the first hearsay may be more true than the second one.

TO BE CONTINUE ...