Seb‘a-Seyyare: Rahimi’s Hasbihal About Love
Ozan KolbaşRahimi is a poet of classical Turkish literature who lived in Bursa in the sixteenth century. He was known to be a good calligrapher as well as a poet. Among the sources providing detailed information about his biography, Aşık Çelebi’s Meşa’irü’ş-Şu‘ara is the most important. His only known work today is his mathnawi Seb‘a-Seyyare, which is also mentioned by Aşık Çelebi. The only manuscript of the work is registered in the Manisa Manuscript Library, Manisa Akhisar Zeynelzade Collection, number 213/2. Rahimi fell in love with Keyvanzade Mustafa, who was famous for his beauty in Bursa, around 940 (1533-1534) and narrated this love adventure in his work Seb‘a-Seyyare, which he completed in 945 (1538-1539). Although the poet states that his work consists of a total of 1000 couplets, a total of 990 couplets are recorded in the manuscript we have. After the tawhit, munajat and naat sections, the natural and architectural beauties of Bursa are described. The seven beautiful men of the city are then mentioned in connection with the sky. Rahimi falls in love with eyvanzade Mustafa, whom he places on the seventh floor of the sky in his dream, and when he wakes up, he wanders around various gardens of Bursa to find this person. When he fails to meet his beloved, he realizes that he must move away from figurative love and turn towards the love of God. The skilful use of figures of speech gives the narrative a literary style and makes Seb‘a-Seyyare a successful mathnawi.
Seb‘a-Seyyâre: Rahîmî’nin Âşıkane Hasbihâli
Ozan KolbaşRahîmî, on altıncı yüzyılda, Bursa’da yaşamış bir klasik Türk edebiyatı şairidir. Şairliğinin yanında iyi bir hattat olduğu da bilinmektedir. Biyografisi hakkında ayrıntılı bilgiler veren kaynakların başında Âşık Çelebi’nin Meşâ‘irü’ş-Şu‘arâ adlı tezkiresi gelir. Bugün için bilinen tek eseri, Âşık Çelebi’nin de söz konusu ettiği, hasbihal türündeki Seb‘a-Seyyâre adlı mesnevisidir. Eserin şimdilik tespit edilebilen tek nüshası, Manisa Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi, Manisa Akhisar Zeynelzâde Koleksiyonu, 213/2 numarada kayıtlıdır. Rahîmî, 940 (1533-1534) yılı civarında, Bursa’da güzelliğiyle meşhur Keyvanzâde Mustafa’ya âşık olmuş ve 945 (1538-1539) yılında tamamladığı Seb‘a-Seyyâre adlı mesnevisinde bu aşk macerasını anlatmıştır. Şair, eserinin toplam 1000 beyitten oluştuğunu belirtiyorsa da elimize geçen nüshada 990 beyit kayıtlıdır. Eserde, tevhit, münacat ve naat bölümlerinin ardından Bursa’nın tabiat güzelliklerinden bahsedilir ve bazı mimari yapılarına değinilir. Sonrasında şehrin yedi erkek güzeli, gökyüzüyle bağlantılı olarak tavsif edilir. Rahîmî, rüyasında, göğün yedinci katıyla ilişkilendirdiği yerde Keyvanzâde Mustafa’yı görür ve ona âşık olur. Uyandığında onu bulabilmek için Bursa’nın bahçelerini dolaşır. Sevdiğine kavuşamayınca mecazi aşktan uzaklaşıp ilahi aşka tutulmak gerektiğini idrak eder ve eser sonlanır. Ustaca yapılan söz sanatları anlatıyı edebî bir üsluba büründürerek Seb‘a-Seyyâre’nin başarılı bir mesnevi olarak temayüz etmesini sağlar.
Rahimi is a poet of classical Turkish literature who lived in Bursa in the sixteenth century. Historical sources providing information about his biography include Aşık Çelebi’s Meşa‘irü’ş- Şu‘ara, Ahdi’s Gülşen-i Şu‘ara, Kınalızade Hasan Çelebi’s and Beyani’s Tezkiretü‘ş-Şu‘ara and Kafzade Faizi’s Zübdetü’l-Eş‘ar. Other sources that compile the information obtained from these works are Tayyarzade Ahmed Ata’s Tarih-i Ata, Şemseddin Sami’s Kamusu’l-A‘lam, Mehmed Süreyya’s Sicill-i Osmani, Abdizade Hüseyin Hüsameddin Yasar’s Amasya Tarihi, Mehmed Nail Tuman’s Tuhfe-i Naili and Osman Fevzi Olcay’s Amasya Meşahiri.
Rahimi’s real name was Abdurrahim, thus he chose the pseudonym Rahimi. His father was an Amasya named Mehemmed Çelebi, who was engaged in science, and he came to Bursa and settled there. While in Bursa, Rahimi met a person named Sheikh Abdülmümin. According to historical sources, this person was a disciple of Ali b. Meymun al-Maghribi, one of the most important figures of the Shazeliya sect. It is known that Rahimi was a good calligrapher and earned his living through calligraphy. Historical sources state that he died around 970 (1562-1563). His only known work today is his mathnawi named Seb‘a-Seyyare. The only identified manuscript copy of this work is registered in Manisa Manuscript Library, Manisa Akhisar Zeynelzade Collection, number 213/2. It is written in the the aruz meter mould fe‘ilatün mefa‘ilün fe‘ilün. Although the poet states that his work consists of 1000 couplets, a total of 990 couplets are recorded in the manuscript copy we have. The work was completed in 945 (1538-1539). Aşık Çelebi, in his work Meşa‘irü’ş-Şu‘ara, provides information about the subject of this mathnawi: Rahimi falls in love with a man named Keyvanzade Mustafa around 940 (1533-1534). This person was famous for his beauty in Bursa. Rahimi suffered many troubles because of his love. He narrated this story in his work Seb‘a-Seyyare.
The work begins with sections of tawhit, munajat and naat. In these sections, the poet praises the greatness of God and the glory of the Prophet Muhammed. Then he explains the reason for writing his work: He intended to explain what love is like. In the meantime, he read some books such as Husrev ü Şirin, Leyliyy ü Mecnun and Vamık u Azra. However, these books are inadequate because they do not deal with the love of God but human love. For this reason, he wanted to tell his own experiences. Rahimi says that his work is in the genre of “hasbihal/ sergüzeşt” because he narrates the events that happened to him in his work.
The setting of the story is Bursa. The poet mentions various natural beauties and architectural works here. He says that he spends his days alone; therefore, he wants to fall in love. He starts wandering in the gardens to find a lover for himself. However, he cannot find the lover he is looking for. In the evening, he returns home and falls asleep. He sees an old person in his dream. This person says that there are seven handsome men in the heaven of beauty. He says that if he wants to see them, they can go around the neighbourhoods that resemble the floors of the sky. Together they start to visit these places. They visit the neighbourhoods that resemble the celestial floors named Kamer (Moon), Utarid (Mercury), Zühre (Venus), Mirrih (Merih), Müşteri (Jupiter) and Zuhal (Saturn) respectively. In each place they meet a handsome man. The names of these men are Attarzade, Şeyhoğlu Ahmed, Pür-melek, Sunullah, Kasım Beg, Büryancızade Ahmed and Keyvanzade Mustafa. When Rahimi sees Keyvanzade Mustafa, he falls in love with him. He wakes up from sleep with excitement. In the morning, he wanders around the gardens of Bursa in search of this person, but he cannot find him. Time passes. On a holiday morning, he sees Keyvanzade Mustafa in a place called Pınarbaşı; but he cannot meet him. This situation raises Rahimi’s consciousness. He complains to fate for not being able to fulfil his wishes. He realizes that human love is not important, what really matters is the love of God. Seb‘a-Seyyare ends with a prayer to God. The poet wants his work to be read by everyone.
Since Seb‘a-Seyyare was written in connection with the sky, the work includes ancient astronomical knowledge and folk beliefs based on this knowledge. While Rahimi uses various figures of speech and phrases based on the description of nature, he sometimes includes some expressions on the basis of the convergence of the various celestial bodies. Some examples of these can be given as follows: Dér gören vardı burc-ı ʿAķreb’e Māh (Those who see it say that the Moon is approaching Scorpio), Ķıldı burc-ı Esed’de Mihr ķarār (The Sun, entered Leo), Ŝan ʿUšārid’dür étdi Delv’e ģulūl ([The vision of that beauty] is like the planet Mercury entering Aquarius), Gūyiyā necm-i Tìr ü burc-ı Kemān ([Me and him], we are like Mercury and Sagittarius). It is possible to understand the meaning of such discourses by knowing the reflections of astronomical events in the sky in folk beliefs. In some cases, the expressions that have found a place in classical Persian and Turkish poetry and that express meaning within the framework of allegory are included. Some examples of these can be given as follows: gül-i zerd, necm-i hüdā, zer zevraķ, raĥş-ı sipihr, raĥş-ı gerdūn, şāh-ı sipihr, çār-gūşe, heşt- behişt, ŝovuķ āh, cām-ı zerrìn, zerrìn-kedū, Pervìn, dendān, ĥurūs-ı ʿarş and so on. In addition, some games related to social life, names of clothing, architectural details, various idioms and proverbs are also noteworthy (el el üstinde oyna-, şeb-küleh, altun üs[kü]f, şemsì dülbend, sūsenì ĥilʿat, arslan aġzı, yénür ŝan-, germ ét-, arpaca, alçaġlıġ eyle-, kevkeb alışdur-, ķanda iki, saķaline gül-, géñ yaķadan, géce ġarìbüñdür, el arķasını yére ķo-, kes düş- and so on). All these can be considered as elements that increase the literary, descriptive and representational value of the text.
Seb‘a-Seyyare draws attention with its vivid descriptions of nature. Night, day, earth, sky, stars, planets, trees, leaves, fruits and all kinds of flowers are successfully personified by endowing them with human or unique characteristics. The poet has added a literary value to his work with figures of speech such as teşbih, istiare, tenasüp, teşhis, mübalağa and hüsn-i talil, and has successfully reflected human psychology to the reader.
