A ESİN.E CON 1959

EMEL ESİN

THE CONTRIBUTION OP JELALUDDÎN RUHI TO THE DEVELOPMENT OP TURKISH CULTURE

Lecture

Delivered at Columbia U n i v e r s i t y . February 13. 1959

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e Contribution o f J e l a l u d d i n Rumi to the Development of T u r k i s h C u l t u r e , Lecture

d e l i v e r e d at Columbia U n i v e r s i t y . February 13« 195c

I s h a l l attempt to define the p o s i t i o n of J e l a l u d d i n Rumi, the great mystic poet of the 13th century, w i t h i n the e v o l u t i o n a r y process of the c u l t u r a l l i f e of the Turks. I t w i l l f i r s t be necessary t o t r y to describe grosso modo the h i s t o r i c a l background from which the genius of J e l a l u d d i n Rumi emerged and the c u l t u r e of Turkey developed. I f I dwell at some l e n g t h on the p a r t of my account which deals w i t h what i s only the background of J e l a l u d d i n Rumi, i t i s because of the d i f f i c u l t y of d e s c r i b i n g J e l a l u d d i n separated from the elements of t h i s s e t t i n g .

To f i n d the cradle of Turkish c u l t u r e one must go out of the f r o n t i e r s of Turkey to the lands where the ancestors of the Turks l i v e d before m i g r a t i n g i n the 11th century to t h e i r present homeland. The ancestors of the Turks were s c a t t e r e d i n various groups i n a vast zone extending over Northern and Central Asia, from the borders of China to Eastern Europe. The Central Asian p a r t o f t h a t extensive region was c a l l e d since the 7th century Turkestan, the "land of the Turks". I t i s i n Turkestan t h a t J e l a l u d d i n Rumi was born.

Turkestan i s a country o f steppes, of h i g h mountains and wide f i v e r s along the banks of which were found the remains of the world's eldest settlements, such as Anau, said by archeologists to be 6,000 fears o l d . By discovering i n Turkestan the traces of ancient c i v i l i z a t i o n s , ircheology confirmed many legends. According to t r a d i t i o n , the countries

of Central Asia and of the Near East had been r u l e d i n fabulous times 3y a king, who d i v i d e d these lands between h i s two sons, Tur and I r , He ancestors r e s p e c t i v e l y o f the Turks and the I r a n i a n s . Tur and I r

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founded. the two neighbouring countries of Turan and I r a n . Amongst legendary heroes descending from Tur, the name of Alp-Ertonga o r , i n Persian, A f r a s i y a b , i s l i n k e d w i t h the founding of a great c i t y i n Turan Together w i t h epic heroes, Central Asia had from the most ancient times given b i r t h or been the scene of a c t i v i t i e s of s p i r i t u a l leaders. Zarathustra, the founder of the Z o r o a s t r i a n r e l i g i o n i s beli e v e d t o be

/of a n a t i v e Turkestan. The Magians, a r e l i g i o u s sect, some of whose members are s a i d to have wandered t o Bethlehem to salute the new-born C h r i s t , bad convents i n Turkestan, one of which has r e c e n t l y been excavated at a spot s t i l l c a l l e d Palace o f Magians. Buddhism i s of I n d i a n o r i g i n but i t i s i n Turkestan t h a t one o f the e a r l i e s t and g r e a t e s t Buddhist c i v i l i z a t i o n s f l o u r i s h e d i n the f i r s t c enturies a f t e r C h r i s t , as witness by the temples b u i l t a l l over the country. The Manichean r e l i g i o n which l a i d s p e c i a l s t r e s s on p a i n t i n g through the f a c t t h a t i t s founder Hani was a p a i n t e r , also prospered between the 4 t h and 13th c e n t u r i e s , f o r a p e r i o d of 900 years i n Turkestan where important works of a r t and l i t e r a t u r e were produced by the Turkish f o l l o w e r s of manicheism.

I n the 7 t h century, the youngest of r e l i g i o n s , Islam, began to spread slowly but s t e a d i l y i n Turkestan. A great I s l a m i c c u l t u r e developed on the o l d s o i l of c i v i l i z a t i o n , w i t h many achievements i n the f i e l d s o f the l e t t e r s , a r t s and sciences. Philosophers, poets, musicians, s c i e n t i s t s such as Farabi, or Avicenna or El-Kharezmi, the in v e n t o r o f Algebra, were T u r k i s t a n i s . I n the f i e l d of Isl a m i c theology, a l a s t i n g t r a d i t i o n was s t a r t e d i n Turkestan by Bukhari, one of the known Isl a m i c theologians, and M a t u r i d i whose i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of f a i t h i s s t i l l f o l l o w e d by Turks.

I n the 11th century was born i n nor t h e r n Turkestan one of the founders of Isl a m i c T urkish mysticism, the poet Ahmed Yesevi. The mystic

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of Turkestan were f o l l o w e r s of what was c a l l e d "the way of Love" i n which a mystic or " s u f i " loved God beyond a l l else and t r i e d to p u r i f y himself i n order to hasten the r e t u r n to God promised by the Koran to mankind. Kuhammed's l a s t words before dying had been "Back to the Divine Comforter". The Prophet of Islam had i n d i c a t e d two ways of communion w i t h God: constant worship and s a c r i f i c e t o God of the objects of w o r l d l y d e s i r e . These two p r a c t i c e s became i n the words of J e l a l u d d i n Rumi the wings on which the Islamic mystics t r i e d to raise themselves out o f what they c a l l e d the p r i s o n of the w o r l d of senses, i n a process of ascension through ever higher spheres of perception towards the I n e f f a b l e . God i s defined i n Islam, again using the words of J e l a l u d d i n Rumi, as beyond a l l understanding and imagination.

From the 7th to the 11th c e n t u r i e s , Islam had coexisted i n Turkestan w i t h Buddhism, Manicheism and other r e l i g i o n s . There were moments of o p p o s i t i o n due to the f a c t t h a t Islam i s monotheistic while i n the temples of some of the o l d e r r e l i g i o n s many images of d i v i n i t i e s were worshipped. However, a modus v i v e n d i was a t t a i n e d between the various r e l i g i o u s communities. But i n the 11th century, Turkestan was invaded by the Khatay, a pagan people e t h n i c a l l y r e l a t e d to the Turks who had f o r m e r l y invaded and r u l e d China and whose name Cathay had even sometimes been extended to China. The Khatay, on being' e x p e l l e d from China, overran Turkestan where they almost succeeded i n d r i v i n g out Islam. I n the 11th century the s i t u a t i o n of Moslems became so precarious i n Turkestan t h a t mass emigration o f some Moslem Turk i s h peoples ensued towards the Islamic Hear East. K i t h the peoples under t h e i r r u l e r s there was an exodus of the educated and s k i l l e d classes. The Islamic theologians and mystics of Turkestan also began to i n d i c a t e to t h e i r d i s c i p l e s the d i r e c t i o n of the West or South, sending them i n missions to the m i g r a t i n g peoples.

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I n these circumstances, some Tur k i s h peoples under a r u l e r whose name was Seljuk founded i n the 11th century an empire which stretche d over a small p a r t of Turkestan and very vast areas of the Tear East, i n c l u d i n g I r a n , Mesopotamia and the bulk o f present Turkey. A new c i v i l i z a t i o n showing i n i t s c u l t u r a l manifestations a character a f f i l i a t e d to Turkestan was thus t r a n s p l a n t e d i n the Near East. S e l j u k armies also penetrated i n A n a t o l i a , a colony of Byzantium, where they were opposed by the army of the Byzantine emperor Romanus Diogenes. Many s o l d i e r s of Byzantium had been r e c r u i t e d amongst the populations of T u rkish language of Kanicheist and C h r i s t i a n f a i t h who since the 4 t h

century, f o l l o w i n g the Huns of A t t i l a , had migrated to the Balkans and Eastern Europe. I n 1071 the b a t t l e of K a l a z g i r t i n which the armies of Byzantium and the Se l j u k b a t t l e d , was won by the Turks because the C h r i s t i a n Turks passed to the side of t h e i r Moslem k i n . The settlement of the Tur k i s h populations was thus made possible i n Eastern and Central A n a t o l i a , which t h e r e a f t e r became Turkey.

While these events were going on i n the Near East, Turkestan was being subjected to f u r t h e r invasions culminating; i n the 13th centur; w i t h the Mongol i n v a s i o n , a f t e r which a new mass emigration of Tur k i s h peoples ensued t o the Near East.

I t was i n these times i n 120/, t h a t i n the ancient c i t y of Belkh, where Zarathustra had also been born, J e l a l u d d i n came to the wo r l d , i n a f a m i l y combining the learned t r a d i t i o n of Turkestan w i t h the I s l a m i c f a i t h . When J e l a l u d d i n was a c h i l d of f o u r , h i s f a m i l y j o i n * the tracks o f the emigrants. A f t e r years of journeying probably through many vast steppes and deserts, and across mountains, th e y a r r i v e d jn Eecc Following the completion of the r i t u a l p i l g r i m a g e , they f i n a l l y took the course n o r t h again to the A n a t o l i a n c a p i t a l of the Seljuk Turks, t o Konj

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When Jelalud.din Rumi came to Konya at the age of lq., the c i v i l i z a t i o n of Turkestan had already flowered i n a new shoot i n the Near Eastern s o i l . Turkish-speaking peoples, wearing the t r a d i t i o n a l garbs of Turkestan, t u n i c s , padded and f u r r e d j a c k e t s , trousers and

g breches designed f o r r i d i n g , cone shaped headgears and p o i n t e d helmets, had s e t t l e d , here, b r i n g i n g w i t h them a s p e c i a l way o f l i v i n g and a c u l t u r a l h e r i t a g e . Their a r c h i t e c t s and a r t i s a n s had b u i l t the Seljuk monuments which we can s t i l l see i n A n a t o l i a , w i t h t h e i r c o n i c a l v a u l t s reminiscent of tents and w i t h other a r c h i t e c t u r a l p a r t s adapted from the p r e - I s l a m i c a r c h i t e c t o n i c forms of Turkestan, w i t h blue t i l e s and carvings on which are i n s c r i b e d Koranic t e x t s i n the pattrens of the seals o f the ancient Kings of Turkestan. The steppe i n which i s placed Konya, the barren mountains, the narrow v a l l e y of Meram where grow poplars and wil l o w s along the muddy waters of a r i v e r , i n short the landscape of Central A n a t o l i a must have evoked to the minds of the emigrants the aspect of Turkestan.

J e l a l u d d i n grew up i n Konya, a c q u i r i n g from h i s new country the surname of "Rumi" or "Raman" because A n a t o l i a had f o r m e r l y been a Roman colony. His education was continued under the sup e r v i s i o n of h i s learned f a t h e r and w i t h various professors. The Koran and the t r a d i t i o n s of the Prophet i n Arabic, the Turkish and Persian m y s t i c a l l i t e r a t u r e , the Greek philosophers x^ere amongst the subjects of h i s s t u d i e s . At the age of 23, he succeeded h i s f a t h e r as professor i n the college of Hudaverdigar. I t was then t h a t a chance meeting i n the s t r e e t w i t h an e r r a n t mystic i n beggarly a t t i r e changed the course o f h i s l i f e . The conversation i s said, to have s t a r t e d i n t h i s way: The beggar asked a question from the y o u t h f u l professor: "Who i s g r e a t e r , the Prophet Kuhammed or Bayezid Bistami?" Bayezid. had been a 9th century m y s t i c a l

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I s l a m i c t h i n k e r x̂ ho thought t h a t God could manifest Himself i n the shape of men. J e l a l u d d i n answered t h a t Muhammed was g r e a t e r because, although God honoured him w i t h prophecy, he never went beyond the bounds of h u m i l i t y . The beggar s a i d t o J e l a l u d d i n t h a t he had been looking f o r a man such as he and t h e r e a f t e r h e l d a discourse so remarkat t h a t J e l a l u d d i n was convinced of having met a d i v i n e messenger. Although J e l a l u d d i n has not r e l a t e d the i n t e r v i e w w i t h Shams, one may t r y t o gather from some passages of the p o e t i c a l works J e l a l u d d i n wrote t h e r e ­a f t e r , the tenor of the knowledge imparted by Sh§ms. The teaching of J e l a l u d d i n Rumi i s "the way o f Love" which the mystics o f Turkestan had f o l l o w e d since the 11th century mystic Ahmed Yesevi. The famous opening verses of J e l a l u d d i n * s great poem Kethnevi s t a r t s w i t h a parable i n which the reed f l u t e t o r n from i t s n a t i v e marshes complaining m u s i c a l l y from separation i s compared t o man separated from God. As to the s i g n i f i c a n c e J e l a l u d d i n a t t r i b u t e d to the person of Shams, one may also consult the work of J e l a l u d d i n together w i t h the Koranic a l l u s i o n s i t o f t e n contains.

There i s a passage i n the Koran i n which Loses asks Uod to caus him to meet one of His t r u e servants. Moses must journey to a land where two seas meet. A f t e r f i n d i n g the servant of God, Hoses i s allowed to f o l l o x ^ him under the c o n d i t i o n t h a t he w i l l not question the motives of c e r t a i n actions which may seem u n j u s t i n human eyes. F a i l i n g to keep h i s promise, Moses i s banished from the company of the servant of God. J e l a l u d d i n wrote a p a r a l l e l to t h i s Koranic passage i n which a c e r t a i n mystic whose name i s Dakuki also desires t o meet a d i v i n e messenger and reaches the mysteriousshores beyond the world of senses, where the tvro seas which are i n t e r p r e t e d by J e l a l u d d i n Rumi as l i f e and death meet

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Phe sun i s s e t t i n g , another symbol o f the boundaries where l i f e and death meet, according t o a t r a d i t i o n of Muhammed. Dakuki f i n d s on t h a t shore a group of holy men, who undergo a series of metamorphoses the significance o f which may be thus explained. I n Isl a m i c mysticism, the appearance of i n d i v i d u a l i d e n t i t y i s only a cloak under which i s hidden a f u n c t i o n entrusted by Providence. The holy men whom Dakuki meets become l i g h t s , then f i r e s burning w i t h d i v i n e l o v e , trees bearing s p i r i t u a l f r u i t s , before assuming human shapes. They i n v i t e Dakuki t o p a r t i c i p a t e with them i n the r i t u a l I s l a m i c prayer. As they are absorbed i n contempla­tion on the sea shore, there appears i n the sea a ship which begins t o be submerged by a sudden tempest. The c r i e s o f the inmates of the ship touch the heart of Dakuki. His thoughts wander from contemplation and he prays f o r the rescue o f the s h i p . Thus, because he commits the s i n of questioning God's w i l l , the holy community around him vanish and he i s l e f t alone.

The e r r a n t beggar Shams also vanished a short w h i l e a f t e r h i s meeting w i t h J e l a l u d d i n Rumi. He was thought t o have wandered away or been perhaos murdered by d i s c i p l e s of J e l a l u d d i n who were s a i d to grow Jealous o f t h e i r master's absorption i n the conversation o f the beggar.

A f t e r having t r a v e l l e d searching i n v a i n f o r Shams, J e l a l u d d i n came back to Konya, d o u b t f u l about the f a t e of h i s f r i e n d . He d i d not cease to hope t h a t the man he considered a d i v i n e messenger would r e t u r n . The word Shams means sun: I n a poem o f the c o m p i l a t i o n ; J e l a l u d d i n has described how i f the sun re t u r n e d to Konya on a Spring day, the e a r t h l y flowers would appear as blooms o f paradise and the b i r d s o f A n a t o l i a be converted i n t o musicians of heaven.

With t h i s sorrow, J e l a l u d d i n set himself to the foremost task

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0 f the Moslem holy men, which i s to give to those around them an example of God's j u s t i c e and g e n e r o s i t y . J e l a l u d d i n f u l f i l l e d , t h i s mission by the beauty of h i s p o e t i c a l works. These long poems, a l l dedicated t o Shams, were not w r i t t e n but spoken and noted by h i s f r i e n d s . The most important works of J e l a l u d d i n are the poem of Methnevi i n 6 volumes, the c o m p i l a t i o n of poems or Divan and T'ihi Ha E i h l , a prose work. Jelaludd

/Arabic Rumi wrote mainly i n Persian, less i n Turkish and Arabic .and Persian were the two s c h o l a r l y I s l a m i c languages which may be compared to the n a t l n and Greek of the C h r i s t i a n European c u l t u r e . T u r k ish, which l a t e r was t o develop as a c l a s s i c a l I s l a m i c language, had not yet achieved t h a t p o s i t i o n because i t was mainly spoken by the Turks of Turkestan who were not y et Islamized.

Presented i n a p o e t i c a l form of transcendent beauty the work of J e l a l u d d i n Rumi consists i n an exegesis of the Koran and of the t r a d i t i o n of iuhammed according to i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the Isl a m i c mysticism of Turkestan. I n the Hethnevi, the p h i l o s o p h i c a l content i s w i t h i n the framework of n a r r a t i o n . The n a r r a t i v e s are i n s p i r e d from the Koran, the episodes of the l i v e s of Huhammed and h i s companions, the B i b l e , the Gospels, the l i v e s o f the holy men, kings or other f i g u r e s of Turkestan. Many imaginary f a n t a s t i c characters are also presented. The personages of these n a r r a t i v e s , whatever t h e i r o r i g i n , are representee o f t e n i n images t r a d i t i o n a l i n Turkestan and t o be met i n p i c t o r i a l form

d i n p r e - I slamic Budhist or Hanicheist works of a r t of the f i r s t c enturies A.C. i n Central Asia, such as holy men r i d i n g t i g e r s , crowned c e l e s t i a l f i g u r e s holding banners i n t h e i r hands, Indians reminiscent of the Buddhist monks animals symbolic of human a t t r i b u t e s , n a t u r a l elements and p l a n t l i f e s u sceptible of a l l e g o r i c i n t e r p r e t a t i o n . The very images through which J e l a l u d d i n represents the double angelic and animal nature

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t t r i b u t e d by I s l a m i c mystics t o mankind are those symbolic composite f i g u r e s represented sometimes i n Central Asian Buddhist s c u l p t u r e .

I n a f l u i d s t y l e of beauty, where images, symbols, and the I humorous or the sublime f o l l o w each other, the imagination i s l e d from Konya t o Turkestan or the deserts of Arabia or to the a b s t r a c t world. Let me give an example: The Koran compares the ignorance o f mankind on the subject of d i v i n e purposes to a darkness where f a i t h i n God i s a guiding l i g h t . I n a passage of the Lethnevi, J e l a l u d d i n also compares l i f e to a n i g h t which i s described w i t h r e a l i s m as an o r d i n a r y n i g h t i n Konya, where candles are l i t i n every house, symbolising i n d i v i d u a l f a i t h , and dogs howl i n the countryside, representing the lower nature of man prowling i n the darkness. Night takes suddenly a f i g u r a t i v e character by being compared to an I n d i a n woman. This i s an a l l u s i o n to the Buddhist past of Turkestan. The I n d i a n woman bears a c h i l d , the moon, a symbol i n I s l a m i c mysticism of the d i v i n e l i g h t r e f l e c t e d i n a human person. Thus Muhararaed, whom the Koran c a l l s "the bearer of l i g h t " , i s introduced i n t o the poem.

J e l a l u d d i n Rumi's l i f e was spent i n a way which he describes i n the Methnevi i n a passage c a l l e d the Tale o f Water. Water i s i n the Koran a symbol of p u r i f i c a t i o n . J e l a l u d d i n l i k e n s water to holy men. Water, a f t e r having f u l f i l l e d i t s mission of cleansing o t h e r s , grows heavy w i t h p a r t i c l e s of matter and, becoming weary, prays to be brought again to i t s o r i g i n a l s tate of l i m p i d i t y . God bids water to r e t u r n t o heaven where i t becomes a cloud, promising new bounty to the parched e a r t h .

A f t e r a l i f e spent i n serving o t h e r s , J e l a l u d d i n also was c a l l e d t o r e t u r n to God at the age of 66. He died i n Konya i n 1273 and, f o l l o w i n g the course of a l l e g o r i c metamorphosis a t t r i b u t e d on t h e i r

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tombstones to Moslem holy men, he became a l i g h t from the great l i g h t of Muhammed showing, i n accordance w i t h the Koranic image, the way of God.

His i n f l u e n c e on Turkish c u l t u r e continued a f t e r h i s death through the order of Mevlevi dervishes formed by h i s d i s c i p l e s and t h e i r f o l l o w e r s . Mevlevi comes from the word "Hevlana", Our Lord, as these dervishes c a l l e d J e l a l u d d i n . The Mevlevi are an order who, amongst a l l the a t t r i b u t e s of the D i v i n i t y described i n the Koran, are sai d to have chosen the aspect of Beauty. To achieve moral beauty through bumilitx?' and patience, they s t a r t e d t h e i r i n i t i a t i o n by a three year period of service to o t h e r s . A f t e r the n o v i t i a t e , they took p a r t i n a r i t u a l dance w i t h r o t a t i n g movements sometimes compared to the course of heavenly bodies, while the reed f l u t e played e a r l y medieval Turkestan and 17th century Turkish music expressing the sorrow of separations.

Among the Mevlevi may be counted eminent Turkish poets and musicians, such as the musicians Z a k i r i , I t r i , Dede E f e n d i , the poet Sheykh Galib and many o t h e r s .

Another d e r v i s h order, the Bektashi, shares w i t h the Mevlevis the p a r t i c u l a r i t y of having r a i s e d numerous poets and musicians and also p a i n t e r s . Bektash V e l i , the founder of the Bektashi order, almost a contemporary of J e l a l u d d i n , was sent from Khorassan to lead s p i r i t u a l l y the people of A n a t o l i a by h i s i n i t i a t o r , who had been himself a f o l l o w e r of the l l t b century s a i n t of Turkestan, Ahmed Yesevi.

I n t h a t same 13th century, a wandering poet and mystic, Yunus Emre, composed the b e a u t i f u l r e l i g i o u s poems which the T u r k i s h peasants s t i l l sing to the s t r a i n s of an instrument c a l l e d QogUr.

These men, J e l a l u d d i n Rumi, Bekta§ V e l i and. Yunus Emre, t r u l y

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s p i r i t u a l r u l e r s , l e d w i t h some other of t h e i r contemporaries and successors, the thoughts, s o c i a l l i f e , educational system, i n t e l l e c t u a l and a r t i s t i c i n s p i r a t i o n s o f the- Turks along c e r t a i n d i r e c t i o n s combining the e s s e n t i a l values of Turkish and Islamic h e r i t a g e s . They thus c o n t r i b u t e d to the maintenance f o r the next 600 years of an o r i g i n a l Turkish way of t h i n k i n g and a r t i s t i c expression.

Emel Esin

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