KULLIYAT The Journal Of Ottoman Studies

Abstract

An important part of mesnevi, sebeb-i telif, in general terms, explains the reasons why the poet wrote his work. Many cliché reasons, such as a sudden inspiration to the poet’s heart, a voice from screamer (hatif) directing the poet, one of the great poets appointing the poet in a dream, the poet’s friends asking the poet to write a mesnevi, the poet’s desire to write complete works (hamse), the desire to write a imitation poem (nazire) for a famous mesnevi, the desire to write a work for his name to be eternal, and the poet’s desire to dedicate a work to the ruler of the period appear as reasons expressed in sebeb-i telif.
In the study, sebeb-i telif chapter of the 16th century Divan poet Bursalı Rahmi’s mesnevi entitled Şah u Geda, Yenişehir Şehrengizi and Gül-i Sad-berg are examined and various determinations and evaluations are made. Reasons such as leaving a work to ensure the eternity of his name, and the claim to write a better work than a work written before, the desire to be appreciated by presenting his work to the ruler of the period, the insistence of his friends, and the assignment of a master poet to him are the main reasons that Bursalı Rahmi expressed in sebeb-i telif chapters in mesnevi. Apart from these, determinations such as the poet’s life, poetry, poetics, where he positions himself in poetry are included, based on the data in the poet’s sebeb-i telifs.