Academic Studies on Yunus Emre In Iran
Zeynep ÖzelIn Iran, studies about Yunus Emre are limited; moreover, to date, there have been no academic theses centered extensively on Yunus Emre. Nonetheless, there have been articles comparing Yunus Emre with Saadi and Rumi and rarely with Hafiz. Some studies also depict him as a follower of Rumi. However, except for a few articles and translated works, we have been unable to procure any copyrighted work on Yunus Emre. We have found that the first translations of Yunus Emre’s works in Iran date back to the 1970s, and his works continue to be translated today. In recent years, Iranian researchers have translated some of the works on Yunus Emre’s life into Turkish. It is noteworthy that in certain articles, Yunus Emre’s works are discussed through the lens of comparative literature as opposed to revolving exclusively around his life. Moreover, scholarly opinions about Yunus Emre’s birthplace, sect, and year of death typically differ. This study endeavors to introduce and broadly summarize Yunus Emre’s works published in Iran. We hope that our study will facilitate the emergence of further Iranian studies centered on Yunus Emre’s works.
İran’da Yunus Emre İle İlgili Yapılan Akademik Çalışmalar
Zeynep Özelİran’da Yunus Emre ile ilgili yapılan çalışmaların oldukça sınırlı olduğunu söyleyebiliriz. Akademik olarak bakacak olursak Yunus Emre hakkında yapılmış bir teze rastlayamadık. Yunus Emre hakkında yazılan makalelerde ise Yunus Emre’nin genellikle Sa’dî ve Mevlânâ, nadiren de Hâfız ile karşılaştırıldığını görüyoruz. Yunus Emre’nin Mevlânâ’nın müridi olduğu iddiası da bulunmaktadır. İran’da birkaç makale ve çeviri eser dışında Yunus Emre ile ilgili telif bir kitaba rastlayamadık. İran’da Yunus Emre ile yapılan ilk tercümelerin 1970’li yılında başladığını, akabinde bu tercümelerin devam ettiğini görüyoruz. Son yıllarda da aşağıda belirtildiği üzere özellikle Yunus Emre’nin hayatına yönelik birkaç Türkçe eser daha Farsçaya kazandırılmıştır. Yunus Emre ile ilgili yazılan birkaç makalede ise hayatından ziyade Yunus Emre’nin eserlerinin karşılaştırmalı edebiyat kapsamında ele alındığı dikkati çekmektedir. Bazı çalışmalarda Yunus Emre’nin doğum yeri, mezhebi ve vefat yılı ile ilgili farklı görüşler dikkati çekmektedir. Biz bu çalışmamızda Yunus Emre ile ilgili İran’da yayımlanan eserleri ve Yunus Emre hakkında yazılan makaleleri tanıtıp geniş bir özet vermeye çalışacağız. Araştırmamızın İran’daki Yunus Emre çalışmalarına bir kapı aralaması dileğiyle.
In this study, we introduce Yunus Emre’s works published in Iran and discuss articles on the poet, together with a broad summarization. Evidently, the earliest translations of Yunus Emre in Iran date back to the 1970s; translations of his works have continued ever since. In recent years, Iranian researchers have translated some of the works on Yunus Emre’s life into Turkish.
In 1991, Nasîr Muhammedi wrote what emerged as one the first articles on Yunus Emre. Here, Muhammedi’s depiction of the poet is based primarily on Turkish sources. H. Muhammedzâde Sadîk, a Tehran University professor known for his studies on Turkish poets, draws a different profile of Yunus Emre in the introductory section of his work Yunus Emre Divan, written and published by him in 2011. Here, he states that contrary to popular belief, Yunus Emre was a Shiite poet born in Hoy. Iranian studies typically mention Yunus Emre when comparing his works with those of Rumi and Saadi; furthermore, some studies depict Yunus Emre as a disciple or follower of Rumi.
Iranian articles on Yunus Emre and Rumi discuss these great poets in the context of wahdat al-wujud (The Unity of Being), soul, love, divine love, and moral treatises. Talat S. Halman, Mehmed Fuad Köprülü, Kadir Golkarian, Mustafa Tatçı, and İskender Pala’s books about Yunus Emre, together with a story on the poet by Mustafa Özçelik, have been translated into Persian. In the articles written about Yunus Emre in Iran, Hicabi Kırlangıç and Ramazan Rezaei have compared Yunus Emre with Saadi. Ramazan Rezai also provides a comparison of the two poets’ perspectives on the same topics and discusses their similarities. Hicabi Kırlangıç mentions that although there are similarities in Saadi’s work Goulistan and Yunus’s literary works, both the poets possess unique writing styles. He adds that Yunus Emre’s works do not entail stories. Some articles suggest that Yunus Emre was literate enough to translate Saadi’s poetry into Turkısh:
از جان بیرون نیامده جانانست آرزوست
ر نابوریده ایمانت آزروست ز
Sen canından geçmeden cânân arzû kılursın
Bilden zünnar kesmeden îmân arzû kılursın
(Do you think you will reach your lover without giving up your life and cutting the zünnar on your waist)
A program on the works of Saadi and Yunus Emre was organized in Tehran in 2013; here, the similarities in and differences between Yunus Emre and Saadi’s works were discussed.
Furthermore, Hosseini Arian ve Leily Abbasî Montazerî has written about love and Rumi–Yunus Emre; Fatima Heidari, Hakimi Dabiran, and Manzour Soltani—who have analyzed and compared Yunus Emre with Rumi and co-authored an article—compare the two poets on subjects such as unity, existence, and love. They also state that Yunus Emre was highly influenced by Rumi. In another article, Fatima Heidari deals with the subject of the soul in the Yunus Emre and Rumi’s poems and states that Rumi played the role of a mentor to Yunus Emre:
In our opinion, even if Yunus Emre were influenced by Rumi, it would not be correct to perceive Yunus Emre as Rumi’s follower. Rumi and Yunus Emre’s works may come across as similar because all mystic poets typically share common perspectives; however, both the poets possess unique writing styles. Apart from all these academic studies, Yunus Emre Institute in Iran contributes to the promotion of Yunus Emre’s works. In addition, Yunus Emre, a Türk Production, was screened with Persian subtitles in Iran.
In this article, we hope to facilitate a clearer perception of Yunus Emre in Iran by initiating the emergence of Iranian studies centered on Yunus Emre and broadly summarizing the existing articles on the poet.
