Servicios personalizados
Inglés (pdf)
Articulo en XML
Referencias del artículo
Enviar articulo por email
Citado por SciELO 
Similares en
SciELO 
Permalink
Introductıon
The world-famous poet of the 12th century Nizami Ganjavi, as well as the 13th century Sufi poet Haji Bektash Veli, left a deep mark on the history of ideas of the peoples of the Near and Middle East with his religious meetings and poetic works, being among the leading artists of the great Turkic world. It is a well-known fact that medieval Turkic literature was the main means of expression and manifestation not only of artistic thought, but also of philosophical thought. Word artists who lived and created in these times often expressed in poetry what they could not say directly and openly, raised the voices of protest against injustice and in this way, tried to express the desire for freedom through the folk wisdom found in oral folk literature.
The local use of elements of mythological texts, as well as examples of folklore, gave the works of these wise masters a national spirit, the Sufi ideology also led them to take a leading position in the ideological basis of their artistic creativity. The world-famous coryphaeus poet of Azerbaijan, the genius Nizami Ganjavi, who conquered the whole Islamic East with his literary prestige and amazed European researchers, was the richest source of inspiration for the great Turkic poets of his time, reaching even our days. According to Shukurova (2022) Nizami Ganjavi’s work has been analyzed from multiple angles such as: the characteristics of spiritual and moral teaching (Begalinova et al., 2021), historical facts and geographical locations (Apoev, 2019, 2020; Suleymanova, 2021), phenomeno-semiotic analysis of superstition (Ahangari, 2015), among many others. It seems that everyone has something to say or investigate about Nizami's, which is valid given the greatness of this author. On the other hand Haji Bektash Veli or Haji Bektash Veli is well-known and admired for his Islamic understanding which characterizes because its rational, progressive, and humanistic nature for which has gained over time multiple followers.
Hadrat Nizami Ganjavi and Haji Bektash Veli, who are not indifferent to the most subtle aspects of life, have always been loved as valuable companions of irfan, who love people, look at people and humanity from a high angle, distinguished by their benevolent attitude and dignity. The main codes of Haji Bektash Veli's breath or Hadrat Nizami Ganjavi's poems are connected with folk wisdom. Living with the goal of friendship, brotherhood, peace and tranquility, the policy of tolerance is clearly embodied in the works of both thinkers. The main purpose of the poets, who wanted to see a perfect human image in all its essence, was to promote the ideas of friendship and brotherhood between peoples and nations.
Taking this into account the aim of this work is to explore the parallels between the two famous writers of the Turkic world to reveal the essence of these great Turk's thinkers embodying feelings of tolerance, moral and cognitive values. For this it is important to reveal the evidences of wisdom in thier works, considering the examples of the status of Haci Bektashi Veli sect for different periods as well as its relevance in modern times. That way it would be possible to shed light on the role of the world of divine love in public life by instilling in readers the moral virtues of their works by involving the works of both genius thinkers in the research. To accomplis this, comparative, hermeneutical analysis methods were used in the course of the research, and the studied artistic patterns were studied in comparison in the works of both thinkers with folk wisdom.
Development
Although Nizami Ganjavi was born in 1141 in Ganja, the oldest city of Azerbaijan, his contributions to human culture made him famous as a representative of world literature. The first work of the above verses, "The Treasury of Mysteries" is considered the beginning of a new great stage in the poet's work, and today it attracts attention as a bright page in the history of Eastern artistic thought, reflecting the social, philosophical and moral problems.
The genius Nizami Ganjavi, who had a very different attitude to literary art, considered poetry as a source of wisdom because he believed in the power of words. It is no coincidence that Nizami's breath, Nizami's ideology, which is felt in the poetry of the poets of the XIII-XV centuries, became the main line of all monotheisms and sects of that time. Ideas, teachings and moral theories branch from the poet's work are in mind, in which hundreds of imitative poems are written to, as the creative intent of writers such as Haji Bektash Veli, Sultan Valad, Yunus Emre, Ali Shir Nevayi, Sheikhi, Hamdulla Hamdi, Hatiboglu and others. Along with Bektashiism, it is impossible not to see that Nizami's work is an invaluable contribution to the concentration of values such as humanism, justice, humanity and selflessness, which are at the heart of many sects. In most of the poet's works, he calls people to realize their dignity, and we follow the same call in the work of Haji Bektash Veli. Even the poet sometimes confronts people with savages, compares the loyalty of savages with the cruelty of unjust people, and repeatedly emphasizes the peculiar laws of life, the order of the world.
For example, let's pay attention to the following verses (Arasli, 2002, p. 35):
There is an eternal rule for every creature,
They sew new clothes for their body.
The rhino eats the elephant by tearing its neck,
The ant only eats the locust's foot.
A thousand rivers flow into the sea, and it is still calm
If a flood comes to aryk, it will sway and anchor
On the other hand, Haji Bektash Veli's poetry, which is a herald of great ideas distinguish by its special ability, skill and outlook among the Turks who moved from Khorasan to Anatolia; these ideas are praised in a different style, but the purpose and content have the same meanings. As a point for this lets see the next fragment provided by Ozmen (1998, p. 50).
God ordered and I came to the world
My eyes opened, I was amazed by the words
I became perfect, read the word of truth
My straight stature bent by these asleep words.
Here, too, the poet sees the human factor in the forefront of his work, calls and applauds him to serve the purpose. It reminds the reader of the imaginary life of the soul in the spaceless world and the ways to ascend to God, to be surrounded by desires and descendants.
The inscriptions are written on our foreheads,
Anyone who is a student dreams of a teacher
There is no places left on the earth, ghazis
A clean one goes suitable one of the hundred ways (Ozmen, 1998, p. 50).
In both passages, the focus is on the law and order of the world, the order of God. Obedience to the regular laws of the world, being attached to God, approaching him not with fear, but with love was a fountain of ideas that poured into Turkic poetry after him. This perfect poet considers love even one of the main factors in the creation of the material world. As for example (Rza, 1962, p. 49):
Love is the altar of the high heavens,
What is the value of the world without love?
Be a slave to love, this is the right path
Know that love is great next to wises...
If the amber did not fall in love,
It would not attract dry straw.
Divine love, which is in the mystical thinking of the whole Middle East, is also the main idea of Haji Veli Bektash's work. The poet, like the others, sees love as a sacred secret that asks about the unseen. For example (Oskan & Bankir, 1999, p. 555):
Existence means nothing
Love creates lover
The world is in the hereafter
In the love steps
One of the main points in Haji Veli Bektash's work is that man's connection with God is conditioned by love. The poet unequivocally perceives love as a light that enters the human heart. In his view, those who do not enter the world of love will be deprived of this light and will be plunged into darkness (Oskan & Bankir, 1999).
Who did not enter this secret
Did not see himself
Did not tremble with this love
Their life is in oppression.
As we follow the work of Haji Bektashi Veli, we see that in the world of Sufis, the inner enlightenment of perfect people is realized only through love, that is, love is perceived as a virtue that illuminates the path of guidance for lovers (Ozmen, 1998, p. 50):
In the tale of divine love, being silent is the best behavior.
Oh Lord, give me a glass of wine of love,
And give a good result from the glass of happiness
My wish from you is nothing but the purpose of unwillingness.
The oneness of God, the oneness of God on earth, the majority of people, if we express it in Sufi teachings, was the main idea of medieval Sufi poetry, the melting of the whole in God. It is a dead soul without love, it is important to have love in order to resurrect it, and there are conditions for this, and the main purpose of such Sufis' poetry is to inculcate these ways. Let’s see an example in Elshad Joshan (2013, p. 218):
Let it be the clean inside the road
Sweeten every saint with tongue
Pure on your way, become slave
Be a slave with love in a wish door
Throughout his career, the great Nizami Ganjavi, with his wise advice, expressed his desire to see man on the right path, and even turned to God to show him the way. According to the poet, the human heart has its own planets, just as the moon and the stars of the sky. Without them, the heart would be like a dark dungeon. The light of the house of the heart is divine love, divine grace (Rza, 1962, p. 49):
Open the door of help, o creator
Show Nizami the right way at any time
Decorate the house of my heart with your light
Teach my tongue for your praise
For Hadrat Nizami too, according to the mystical view, love is always the light of knowledge that descends on the human heart, in other words, it is the grace of God. Man's closeness and devotion to God is also based on love. Only by the power of love can the majority be reunited with Unit. This is the main idea of the philosophy of unity (Vurgun, 1983, p. 31):
When it separates me from myself
Do not you take your ore from my soul...
This should not be far from the lamp
Let it shine like the sun, by shining
It is also known from the verses that in the thoughts of the poets who created writing in the middle ages, it is the divine equivalent that illuminates the path of those who love God and leads them to the path of guidance. A loveless heart was an empty hearth. Love is the wealth of the perfect man, the most sacred way to unite him with God. Not everyone is blessed with love, so the Sufi poets of the time, along with their noble deeds and good deeds, prayed to God day and night to be reunited with their love and to reach God. Because in their eyes, love is first and foremost a feeling of life. Love is the essence of the soul. In fact, this idea has been on the minds of materialist educators throughout history.
Even Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the French educator of 1712-1778, who put forward the principle “To live means to feel” considers love to be the healing spiritual food of the soul. Centuries ago, the great people made the main aspects of this feeling the subject of our myths, legends, tales, legends and epics, and kept them alive as a branch of our oral literature to this day. According to Sufi poets, although love is a very broad concept and manifests itself in two ways, human and divine love, the main source is divine love, and human love is only the beginning of divine love.
While physical love is mainly a feeling between the two opposite sexes, divine love is a more global expression of the pure and pure side of God. This sacred feeling is deeply and perfectly reflected in the human heart, the highest being in human history. However, it should not be overlooked that in all historical periods, belief in the mystical aspects of love, both human and divine, has been very strong, and the human race has valued love as a gift from God to man. Buta, given to lovers in epics, in fairy tales, the images of the king, who saw his future love in his dream, are a manifestation of such concepts.
Later, such plots related to the meaning of love were reflected in classical literature, and even created a magnificent wreath of poetry. Since ancient times, our wise ancestors valued love as a means of identification with beauty, saving people from many hard-to-find diseases, avoiding misfortunes and healing as a militant remedy. The purpose of the humble poets who ask for love is reflected in their poems every moment. Let's pay attention to the following verses of Haji Bektashi Veli (Ozmen, 1998, p. 50):
O God, the purpose of wishes, grant my wish.!
O God! give me my love from the holy place of absence,
I hope my job will be better in absence.
On the way to mortality, don't make me a reeve or an obligation.
Like all Sufis, the poet thinks that it is divine love that possesses all the virtues of man, and that this world is built on love. In fact, the establishment of the world on love, as mentioned above, is reflected in the philosophy of the great Nizami Ganjavi as early as the twelfth century. As we follow their work, we clearly see the parallelism of both poets' approach to the meaning of divine love. It is love that saves mankind from selfishness and deceitfulness. If we do not want to go bankrupt and kill our feelings, we must cultivate love and preserve our sacred feelings.
The Greek philosopher Socrates rightly says that before love was born, terrible forces surrounded man on all sides of the empire of need. But after the birth of this goddess, the fog of fears and anxieties disappeared and life began to smile on man's face (Goyushov, 1972, p. 137). There was even a perception among people that the more love there is in the heart, the more life force there is (Elshad Joshan, 2013, p. 220):
People of love are people of truth
It's a fact that the public knows thing as a truth
Indeed, love is a source of happiness and happiness for both the lover and the loved one. To love people is to live, love is the foundation of goodness, virtue and the light of the heart. It is as if the seeds of mercy, virtue and justice are poured into the hearts of those who love them. Man becomes wise and involuntarily avoids such terrible feelings as arrogance, envy, and cruelty. Love binds people together, polishes the feelings of friendship in the spiritual world. All these meanings are more clearly and realistically expressed in the works of Haji Bektash Veli (Ozmen, 1998, p. 50):
Our friend and I are injured, bleeded together
We remember the creator with love in every breath
Enter Erens square with unity and see
In a forty-branched candlestick, forty of us burn together
It is known that the existence of love as a sublime feeling has been reflected in the lives of ancient Greek mythical figures since the beginning of human history, and that many theorists such as Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato have analyzed it in the theory of spiritual love. In particular, S. Kramer's book “History begins with the Sumerians” tells about the ancient roots of love, which worshiped the ancient Sumerians and even the love goddess Inanna in Aratta, located in the western part of Iran, around Urmia and Lake Urmia. According to Sumerian religious writings, the shah had to marry one of Inanna's priests each year to increase the number of generations.
It is interesting that this ritual was to be performed every year on the eve of “New Day”, ie “Novruz” holiday. Folklore studies scholar Mirali Seyidov's research also mentions Inan's name and clarifies this issue (Haji, 2012, p. 86). The great power and power of love has always been reflected in all historical periods, whether in ghazals, poetry, or prose, tales, epics, legends, and myths. Classical masters of the word have repeatedly praised in their works that love is a supreme feeling that takes a person away from all negative situations.
Looking at his works, it seems that both thinkers, while emphasizing that ignorance leads man to the abyss, repeatedly explain the importance of the love of God, which enlightens and enlightens hearts, looking for the reason in loveless hearts. Almost all the Sufi poets of the Middle Ages came to the conclusion that they could reach God only through love. In general, according to Sufis, the supreme and pure love in which true lovers take refuge is, as a human quality, a measure of the level of perfection, faith and enlightenment.
If we start with the 13th century poets who are faithful to the genius Nizami Ganjavi tradition, we see this very clearly in the works of Haji Bektash Veli, Sultan Valad, Ahmad Fakih, Dehgani, Shayyad Hamza, Yunus Emre and others. As mentioned above, the poets, who repeatedly emphasize that love is not for ordinary people as a spiritual food, but only for the chosen ones, understand that this food saves man from his secret enemy, lust, greed, and worldly possessions. From the poems of both poets, we see that their greatest jihad is directed against the soul. The soul spoils the transparency of the human heart and envelops it in the fog, when God does not find himself there. That is why the human heart must be like a clear mirror in God is manifested. Such a heart can only be given to the practically righteous.
Let´s look at another fragment of the Bektashi work (Ozmen, 1998, p. 50):
Hit the neck of your nafs, this is peace,
I have declared, I have suffused the path of religion.
The poet emphasizes that the nafs puts a person in the position of a century, but also explains to him how to fight against the nafs. The poet, who shows that uneducated people are ignorant, writes that his nafs is also a sign of ignorance (Elshad Joshan, 2013, pp. 235-236):
Stand still, beware of the braves
Consume your soul
There is no prejudice inside this word, o lover
While taking it from Makalat again
A biased person has no real religion
He has no mercy, God is witness
The poet repeatedly emphasizes that selfishness, envy, malice, and arrogance are negative qualities, and speaks extensively about their harm to human beings. He even indicates that the nafs is stronger than “greed” and that it is its parent (Elshad Joshan, 2013, pp. 235-236):
This understanding is necessary for everyone
It is necessary to know the human nafs
Ibn Abbas told the legend
Read so that the your heart does not rust
According to both poets, the purpose of sects in religion should be one, that is, all religions should pursue love only for God. But here the ways of the goal can be different, which is its external side, and the main one is the inner essence (Haji, 2012):
I look at you with my mind,
Is it possible not to see your way?
Traces of differences between irfan and Sufism are also seen in the meeting of both Sufis. It is also clear from the content of his works that Haji Veli Bektash is more Sufi and Nizami Ganjavi is a poet of knowledge. It is known that knowledge has the content of penetrating the divine truths and, as a kind of psychological mystical thinking, is at the heart of Sufism. In fact, there is no Sufism without Irfan. But there can be irfan without Sufism.
Even our researchers have done enough research on our poets and philosophers, who talk about the existence of non-Sufi irfanists in the Middle Ages. Al-Farabi, who developed ancient philosophy in the East in a new direction, was known not as Ibn Sina's Sufi, but only as a Irfanist. It is well known that Irfan is the core of idealist philosophy. Philosophical poets such as Zoroaster, Plato, and Aristotle were geniuses. In particular, Irfan plays a key role in Nizami Ganjavi's work. In the works of Haji Bektas Veli, the breaths combined with the gnosis-mystical spirit attract more attention. The main feature of Haji Bektash Veli's poetry begins with this complex philosophical construction (Ozmen, 1998, p. 50):
Don't break anyone's heart
Don't get out of the word of the real erens
If you are human you will not die don't be afraid
The wolf does not eat the lover, he is not at the end
The concept of divine revelation, characteristic of medieval poets, is constantly confirmed in the phenomenon of both Nizami Ganjavi and Haji Bektash Veli. The main idea in the poetry of both poets is that the lover of truth rises to God and reaches that point. We also follow the moments when both poets became ecstatic in their work. Even according to Nizami, “the lover's companion, the munis, is sad, and the remedy for those who are intoxicated with wine is only wine” (Haji, 2012, p. 403). This is the wine through which the love of God, the divine light, is received.
O God, you are the only one with me
Do not return me empty-handed
I rub my face in your door
Replace with a crown these prostrations
One of the most notable commonalities in the work of poets was the special appeal to folklore in folk art. For example (Ozmen, 1998, p. 50):
If you want to move forward, don't get thrown in front of everyone!
Be like ointment and candle, don't be a thorn.
If you want no one to harm you,,
Don't be bad-spoken, bad-minded, and bad-tempered.!
A comparative study of written literature and oral art shows that the leaven of classical literature comes from folk literature. We clearly see this point in the poems of Haji Bektash Veli. There are enough verses in the poet's work that reflect folk wisdom about science and its virtues. Haji Bektas Veli, who did not overlook such values as “Science is the lamp of the mind” (Valiyeva, 2019, p. 16), is one of the poets who, like his contemporaries, was optimistic about life, saw the manifestation of God in all beings in nature and benefited from the motifs of folk literature. The poet, who considers those who do not know God to be ignorant, evaluates ignorant people in the same way. Haji Bektash Veli, who substantiates ignorance as a result of ignorance, also values self as the cause of ignorance (Ozmen, 1998, p. 50).
Science and wisdom are the guide, it wards off the darkness
Ignorance and heedlessness suffocate people
That blissful sun that shines in the hearts
It arises not from the East and the West, but from true faith...
Throughout history, even thinkers have explained the difference between the wise and the ignorant, and have called on them to avoid ignorance and do righteous deeds: the poet, who holds the idea of folk wisdom such as “do not eat honey with the ignorant, but carry the stone with the wise”, “The ignorant is the dead of the living” (Valiyeva, 2019, p. 16), can embody an idea in different shades and in several verses (Elshad Joshan, 2013, p. 214).
Ignorance
Whatever said, ignorants were wrong
Why shouldn't he be mistaken
That mubahis was his guide on every road.
Sufis, who regard ignorance as the cause of many evils, do not doubt that the veil of ignorance is also the main mediator of the soul. From this point of view, Haji Bektash Veli's work is more typical. The concept of ignorance is the mainstay of medieval literature. We can find this topic in all the creative works of genius Nizami (Arasli, 2002, p. 143):
Knowledgeable people see far,
The labor of the ignorant is worthless, worthless
A man whose eyes are as hungry as the earth
Must know, can eat a loaf of bread
The great poet, who had a deep faith in the human intellect and his intellect, often spoke about the virtues of science in his works, and valued hard work as a factor in determining human dignity. Nizami Ganjavi is also known as the best exponent of the feelings of honesty and purity in connection with humanist ideas in the history of eastern epic poetry. Nizami is the first of the masters to delight in the wonder of the literary word and poetically adapt it to the context of folk wisdom, creating a wreath of poetry with instructive proverbs and parables. As for example (Arasli, 2002, p. 143):
No good handling comes out of this ugly
For example, they say, fire gives birth to ashes...
Is every child born a son?
Not every flower produces honey, not every cane sugar...
Even if it hurts, know that you child
Is a piece of your own again
Is it okay to be an enemy with a child?
Can the heart be separated from its garden
The weight of Nizami's genius is that every thought of the poet carries a load of wisdom, reflects the content of advice and counsel. The point is that this secret of Nizami's work is a creative treasure of all Turkic writers who lived and created after him. There are countless imitative poems, compilations and translations of his works. The idea of his works is in the works of all Sufis. From that point of view, Haji Veli Bektash's breaths are more typical (Ozmen, 1998, p. 50):
Neither every pain you know can be said
Nor can every pearl you find be pierced.
Even prof. Dr. Mehmed Chavushoglu writes: “our literature, which was formed in Turkish literature and Islamic culture, is taught under the name of old Turkish literature, excluding the literature that we call the new Turkish literature developed under the influence of western culture, and folk literature” (Cavushoglu, 1986). In this way, it is like a tribute to the great ancient writers who to this day are a source of inspiration and admiration for writers from all latitudes.
Conclusıon
Both poets were people that from the point of view of the Irfan, loved their people; they were not indifferent to the fate of mankind, were humane , noble, tolerant, possessing high virtues. In Nizami Ganjavi's works, folk tales, instructive legends, fables, proverbs have a special leading position. The genius poet uses the rich and colorful artistic thinking of the people more in the sorrow of his worldview. On the other hand Haji Bektash Veli tries to instill folk wisdom and proverbs in his readers and disciples by synthesizing them with more Islamic values. Hadrat Nizami was more concerned with Irfan, and Bektashi was one of the masters of Sufism. The work of both poets is an invaluable example of art that tells about the spiritual world of the entire Turkic world. From that point of view, these writers took their creative yeast from folk literature and the admiration for their genius continues until today.
