Love in İsmet Özel’s Poetry in the Context of the Ashiq-Mashuq-Raqib
Emrullah YakutThe existential adventure of man, shaped by the driving forces of the nafs [commanding self], reason, and love, has been largely reflected in literary texts, particularly poetry, which are also products of man’s linguistic expression. Although this expression has some superficial differences in different literary traditions, it also has some aspects in common. The love theme in classical poetry between the lover–beloved–rival [ashiq, mashuq, raqib] trio manifests itself in similar forms in İsmet Özel’s poetry. There is a transition in classical poetry between metaphorical and true love that frequently obscures the boundaries and renders the distinctions meaningless. Meanwhile, in Özel’s poetry, love is intertwined with ideological goals and sensual desires, with sharp transitions between them. In classical poetry, love is an important means of human evolution. Similarly, for İsmet Özel, love is an act that leads people to the leap of existence. İsmet Özel’s poetry draws attention with a strong emphasis on “self,” whereas in classical poetry, the lover almost destroys his own self (fenâ) and attains the beloved. However, the clues that allow this self to be understood as a beloved one elevate the issue to a more interesting level within the framework of the lover–beloved unity known in classical poetry and mysticism. This article aims to compare the concept of love and the manifestations of lover, beloved, and rival in classical poetry and İsmet Özel’s poetry, in order to identify and analyze the similarities and differences.
Âşık-Maşuk-Rakîb Bağlamında İsmet Özel Şiirinde Aşk
Emrullah YakutNefis, akıl ve aşk itici güçleri arasında şekillenen insanın varoluş macerası, yine insanın dilsel dışavurum ürünleri olan edebî metinlere ve özellikle şiire büyük ölçüde yansımıştır. Bu dışavurum, farklı edebî geleneklerde yüzeysel farklılıklara sahip olmakla birlikte ortak bazı yönleri de ihtiva etmektedir. Klasik şiirde âşık-mâşuk-rakîb üçlüsü arasında cereyan eden aşk temasının İsmet Özel şiirinde de benzer biçimlerde tezahür ettiği söylenebilir. Klasik şiirde mecâzî ve hakîkî aşk arasında çoğu zaman sınırları belirsizleştiren, ayrımları anlamsızlaştıran bir geçişkenlik vardır. Özel’in şiirinde ise ideolojik hedeflerle tensel arzuların iç içe geçtiği, bunlar arasında keskin geçişlerin yaşandığı bir aşk söz konusudur. Klasik şiirde aşk, insanın tekâmül sürecinin önemli bir vasıtasıdır. Benzer şekilde İsmet Özel için de aşk, insanı varoluş atılımına sürükleyen bir harekettir. Diğer yandan klasik şiirde âşık kendi benliğini adeta yok ederek (fenâ) maşuğa kavuşurken İsmet Özel’in şiirinde güçlü bir “Ben” vurgusu dikkat çekmektedir. Ancak bu Ben’in aynı zamanda bir maşuk olarak anlaşılmasına fırsat veren ipuçları, klasik şiirde ve tasavvuf düşüncesinde bilinen âşık-maşuk bütünlüğü çerçevesinde meseleyi daha ilginç bir boyuta taşımaktadır. Bu makale, klasik şiir ile İsmet Özel şiirindeki aşk anlayışını ve âşık, mâşuk, rakîb tezahürlerini mukayeseli bir şekilde ele almayı, benzerlikleri ve farklılıkları tespit ve tahlil etmeyi amaçlamaktadır.
The traditions of “New Literature” and “Old Literature” undoubtedly differ in terms of formal features and aesthetic understanding. In the history of literature, classifications such as “Old Literature,” “New Literature,” “Folk Literature,” and “Tekke/Sufi Literature” have emerged as a result of such formal and aesthetic differences brought about by periodic changes and cultural experiences. However, it would be unrealistic to claim that because of these differences, there are no common points between these literary traditions, or that they are channels that develop and take shape independently. It is natural for common points to exist between linguistic expressions of human existence, regardless of the conditions and periods in which they emerged. Poetry, as a genre, contains more common points of this type, as it touches on both the unchanging nature of human beings and their changing characteristics. One of the common themes that continues to exist in human life is undoubtedly love.
The theme of love in classical poetry develops around three basic elements: lover, beloved, and rival. Āshiq, mashūq, and raqīb represent the lover, beloved, and barrier between the lover and the beloved, respectively. The lover-beloved-raqīb trio can also be discussed in İsmet Özel's poetry. However, there are some similarities and differences between this trio in Özel’s poetry and those in classical poetry. The lover in classical poetry is a more passive figure who is patient with his lover’s sufferings, even seeing them as a kind of grace, and cries and wails out of the pain of love. In Özel’s poetry, āshik (the lover) appears combative, takes action and initiative, turns away from the lover when appropriate, doubts himself, and embarks on new quests. The lover of classical poetry is as far away from the concept of “I” as one can get; the claim of being in love can be taken seriously only if he gives up the “self.” Meanwhile, in Özel, there is a strong emphasis of “I” within the poet/lover. He wishes to “permeate into the roots of the wild roses” and “inject his body into the realms.” İsmet Özel specified that the mention of “I” in his poems means Turkey (Özel, 2013a, p. 161). From this perspective, it can be compared to a lover who presents his own existence and self to the existence of the nation and destroys himself in a kind of “beloved.”
The beloved in classical poetry is an idealized beauty, unattainable. It can be a metaphorical beauty of the world or Allah, a prophet, a religious leader, or a statesman. In Ismet Özel’s poetry, an unattainable nature of the beloved can be mentioned. It is difficult to discuss clear boundaries between the forms of love that arise from bodily, mental, and spiritual motives in his poetry. There are sharp and rapid transitions between the various manifestations of love. This situation is similar to the ambiguity of metaphor–truth in divan poetry, which occasionally causes the reader to hesitate. The ideal (socialism or revolution) that was beloved in earlier periods of Özel’s poetry was an ideal that promised an earthly paradise. This mental love for “the country of the mind fortified with its vigorous walls” or for the people can occasionally evolve into a sensual identity, so the utopian loved one becomes a loved one to whom sexual desire is directed.
Material and physical categories can be used to evaluate both the imagination of an earthly paradise and the love of a beauty made of flesh and blood. However, the poet’s thirst was not quenched by the material world's limited, variable, and transitory rivers. Thus, he turned to a “mute’āl” (transcendent) beloved, that is, the Creator, who was free of all kinds of deficient attributes, and the poet/lover was reborn with him. In this regard, it is worth noting that a similar understanding of love has evolved in classical poetry, from figurative love to true love.
In the broadest sense, the raqīb in classical poetry is a barrier between the lover and the beloved, and it could be a nanny, a bouncer, a guard, or a fad that does not deserve to be loved. In Özel’s poem, raqīb is the bosses, banks, arms factories, fascism, the world, ideological elements such as the police and power devices.
The incomprehensible and indescribable nature of love encountered in Özel’s poetry can be reconciled with man's existence oscillating between the lofty and the lowly, open to progress and decadence, residing in a limbo between the animal and the angel. As a result, we can discuss various manifestations, levels of understanding, and states unique to love. However, according to Özel (2013b, p. 89), love is a substance that pins human “being” to “the Existent [God],” a lever that drags it into existence. Man receives his share from the Existent through this act, which occurs from being to existence.
It is fated for the poet who rejects the vulgarity of speech and life to be “an unfit among nationalities.” Not allowing oneself to flow with life prevents one from reaping the blessings of the world’s gardens. His insistence on enveloping the “origin of life" and “his own mystery” caused him to “detach from the flavor of the sweet fruits,” causing the poet to “take a long journey.” Thus, while the meticulousness in words is monumentalized with poetry, the care and sincerity in life are crowned with love.
