Yunus Emre
Since we finished Alevi-Luwian-Hyperborean connection, I want to present you someone whom I think a true Hyperborean of his time and a great master. His story is similar to us actually, so we won't have a hard time to relate. I will quote passages from Turgut Durduran’s Yunus Emre and Humanism. I will make corrections and comment the text as needed. Here is a link to original article:
http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~durduran/yunus/yunus1.html
Who is Yunus Emre? Is he one of the wandering hippies of 60's with torn clothing? Or is he a romantic obsessed with love?
He is neither, but at the same time both. Yunus Emre was a thirteenth century dervish from Anatolia. He is obsessed with love, but his love is the love of a true mystic. He did wear torn clothing, a dervish robe, and wandered about in Anatolia. He was but one of the thousands of Sufi dervishes of Islam, but he played an outstanding role in Turkish culture, literature and philosophy. Some writers regard him as the most important poet in Turkish history; his poetry, language and philosophy shaped Turkish culture and still do so.
In this short overview Yunus Emre's life, and thought, we will examine his legend and then turnto humanist themes in his poetry. I hope that will lead to appreciation of his works; poetry has limitless implications!
It is true that Yunus Emre was one of the many dervishes but his knowledge was higher than most of them. Those who have the same knowledge with him were the ones who write books like Mevlana. The difference between them is that Yunus come from people and returned to the people where Mevlana created a sect. Yunus simply had nothing at the time he born and still had nothing at the time he died. He was a hero in the eyes of Turkish people. People have great respect for Mevlana but I suspect most of them did not read even a small part of Masnawi. Today in Turkey, I do not encounter anyone who does not know a verse of Yunus Emre's poems.
Whether he was a wandering dervish or a Seyh of a tekke, his tariqat (or Sufi order), his poetry, and finally his death are all mysteries, with various sources giving various different interpretations. I would take Sabahattin Eyoboglu's approach and try to understand Yunus through legends about his life in Anatolia. As a popular poet, the most important aspects of Yunus' life are not historical details, but how the common people of Anatolia viewed his life. This is revealed very beautifully in legends and poetry; some people even suggest that "Yunus" is actually a school of thought in 13th century Anatolia, not a single person.
…
His philosophy, metaphysics and humanism have been examined in various symposiums and conferences on a regular basis both in Turkey and abroad. UNESCO named Yunus Emre one of the main cultural figures of world, and dedicated 1991 as "The International Yunus Emre Year". His work has been translated into several languages, and historians consider his system of thought important for clues about thirteenth-century Anatolia.
This is one of the reasons I liked this article. Mr. Durduran does not concern himself with finding historical evidence to prove something. He just simply tells legends because as he said it is “how the common people of Anatolia viewed his life”. I am skipping some parts. If you want, you can read the whole article from the link above.
Let us now turn to the legend of Emre; after all, Yunus has told us:
I am not at this place to dwell,
I arrived here just to depart.
I am a well-stocked peddler, I sell
To all those who'll buy from my mart
Turkish culture is full of legends about or attributed to Yunus Emre. One famous story about Yunus Emre describes how he became a dervish. Young Yunus was a poor Anatolian villager, who would starve if the harvest was bad and live like a king when it was good. One day he ran out of seeds for his field; he got on his donkey and collected various wild fruits from forests in hope of exchanging them for seeds. After a long journey he stopped at Haci Bektas Tekke, the famous tekke (Sufi lodge) of the founder of the most latitudinarian sect of Bektasis of Anatolia. He entered Haci Bektas's room and asked him for seeds in exchange for his wild fruits. Haci Bektas, a grand Seyh and poet in his own right, offered Yunus a "nefes" (a breath of blessing) in return for his fruits. Yunus refused. Haci Bektas then offered ten "nefes" for each handful, but Yunus still refused. To his suprise, Yunus ended up getting as much seeds as he could carry from Haci Bektas after this incident. On his way back to his village, Yunus reflected: "This man must be a noble spirit; how could anyone else be so generous to a poor stranger?". Thus he took the seeds back to Haci Bektas to ask for a "nefes". However, Haci Bektas replied: "I cannot, because I have turned over your padlock to Taptuk Emre.".
The man referred here as Haci Bektas, as you might have guessed the Hajji Bektash that we discussed above. I repeat, I think this is a cloak, a smokescreen. If you look at Hajji Bektash's legends-we will see some of them- he is not a noble spirit, he is someone like Prophet Muhammed. Nefes, here means a poem. Each Sufi poem is called nefes in Anatolia and it also means a breath of blessing but not for poet, for those who listen to it. In the legend I know of, Yunus thought a little and said, “I can eat those seeds in a few days but a nefes is much more holy.” And he returned. Then, since the padlock is at Taptuk Emre, Yunus goes there.
Let us pause here and think about possible the symbolism of this story. Yunus begins a journey in search of "seeds" in exchange of "wild fruits". A wild fruit is the untreated, uneducated version of the corresponding domestic fruit, Yunus seeks to give away these to get seeds, which symbolize the foundations of a new life, the beginning of a transformation, a journey - in short, "the Way" described by many Sufis. His journey leads him to Haci Bektas, a Seyh and a man of great wisdom, who offers Yunus "nefes", something that many people would yearn to get but Yunus refuses. Haci Bektas is a generous person, however, - one of God's attributes, or the attributes of a perfect man in Sufism.Thus he gives Yunus many seeds, which makes Yunus reconsider the situation. Yunus understands the signs given to him by Haci Bektas through this incident, but it is too late; his "lock" has been turned over to Taptuk Emre. In Sufistic terms, this means that a spiritual guide, a Seyh or Pir, has been appointed for Yunus on his path in search of God's truth - here in search of the source of Haci Bektas' wisdom. This is the beginning of another long and arduous journey for Yunus, the first stage of "the Way", as described in the following verses:
I have a question to you,
The wisest of the Dervishes
What kind of Path do
The Seyhs order?
The answer to this
Obstacle of palace
Is the flame from the
Chimney of the House of Love
The first door is "Seriat" (Religion or Law)
Commanding exile (or journey),
Every syllable of Koran,
Telling the sins of home.
Do not think this is the Quran in the sense you are thinking. To be honest, Yunus could not read or write. He has other poems that criticize orthodox Muslims for following Quran. Here is what he thinks about Quran:
Whatever you wish for yourself
Wish for the others
This is the meaning of the four books(Torah, Psalms, Gospel, Kuran)
If there is any meaning
I have another translation of that verse that I found in internet but Mr. Durduran, as me, tries to preserve meaning so this one is more accurate. Also remember, esoteric tradition goes beyond the words so when they say Quran it does not generally mean it. Another great Alevi poet Harabi said:
Harabi, get those words from the God as blessings
We are reading it, we have the book.
referring the Alevi-Bektashi literature.
Here is something we discussed before:
I climbed upon the plum tree
To pluck grapes there;
The master of the garden asked me:
Why do you eat my walnut
According to Schimmel, Yunus here means that every deed (tree) has a special kind of fruit. "Prune, "grape" and "nut" refer respectively to the Divine Law, "$eriat", to the mystical Path, "tariqat", and the Divine Reality, "haqiqat". One eats the outer parts of the prune but not its interior, whatever is like the prune corresponds to the outward aspect of actions. The grape is eaten and many delicious examples of Turkish cuisine are made of it. Though a few remains of hypocrisy (vinegar vs. wine), fame , and other unwanted attributes exist in the grape , it is still on the Path to the Reality. The nut is completely a symbol of Reality for the interior of the nut has nothing to be thrown away and it is the remedy for many illnesses, whereas the outer part, a symbol for the Self, is totally useless, and must be discarded possibly through a lot of suffering.
Taptuk Emre in turn has his own legends; Haci Bektas arrives in Anatolia from far away places in the guise of a pigeon; however, the fanatic Mollas who heard of his arrival do not want him in Anatolia and appear as eagles attacking him and blocking his way. The bird of peace finds the skies of Anatolia filled with eagle wings; in trying to break through this barrier it is wounded and falls into village, where a peasant woman takes care of it. After this incident all the Seyhs and pious people of Anatolia and Rum show respect to Haci Bektas, except one called Emre. Haci Bektas asks Emre to come to his tekke for a conversation. When Emre arrives he asks him how he was introduced to the way of the Sufis; Emre tells him the story of a hand that came through a curtain and invited him to the Way, declaring that he would still recognize that hand. Afterwards, Haci Bektas shows his hand, and with excitement Emre shouts "Taptuk Taptuk" ( I have not been able to figure out a meaning for this word; it sounds like a common exclamation of the time) , and becomes a follower of Haci Bektas. From then on his name is Taptuk Emre. Halman mentions a slightly different story where Taptuk Emre himself is the pigeon, but the general idea is the same. This story emphasizes the link between Haci Bektas and Taptuk Emre and the relation of mystics to the peasants of Anatolia. Rebelion, or dissatisfaction with religious dogma is seen quite clearly in this story.
You can see how any wisdom in Anatolia traces back to Hajji Bektash, for hiding itself. Actually, Abdulbaki Golpinarli claims Yunus was never a student of Taptuk Emre, he does not say I am a student of Taptuk Emre, he says this:
At the door of Taptuk
We became slaves in its building
Yunus mystic, we were raw
And we matured Praise be to God
Golpinarli claims the name Taptuk in his poems refer to God, meaning worshipped.
After a long and tiring journey Yunus Emre finally finds his guide Taptuk Emre and immediately joins the congregation where he is to serve, much like a slave, for forty years carrying and cutting firewood. This, however, is not merely slavery to the tekke, but "AllahIn kulluGu"- the slavery of God. According to Yunus, this is the second door of "the Way" ;
The second one is tariqat
Trusting in slavery.
Let the guide judge
The one on the right Path
I sense someone who has no esoteric knowledge wrote that poem. Four doors are introduced to Sufis with Alevis and this verse does not fit their definition, it is not tariqat, sounds more like shariat. The verse before that praised Quran, contradicting Yunus' general understanding of it. I propose that this poem was not written by Yunus but someone who has vauge understanding of Dervish orders. Actually people wonder how many of Yunus' poems actually his, there seems to be additions and distortions in his literature but it is no surprise to us, we got used to it.
Another legend tells how Yunus was attracted by Taptuk Emre's saz (a traditional instrument of Anatolia) music, until one day he got bored and left the tekke. Wandering randomly, Yunus meets seven enlightened men, and becomes their comrade. Every night one of them prays silently for one person and a feast table appears for the group. On his turn Yunus prays , "Oh God , I am praying for the same person these enlightened ones are praying to; please do not embarrass me." and two tables instead of one appear. Shocked, the enlightened ones question Yunus about whom he prayed to, but Yunus demands that they should tell first. Their answer was: "We prayer for a dervish called Yunus who is a follower of Taptuk Emre". On hearing this, without a word Yunus leaves the group and returns to the tekke.
The legend is full of miracles indicating Yunus' saintly position in Anatolian folklore. One miracle after another leads Yunus through this journey. There is a predestinarian touch throughout the legend. This particular story could be an example of the hardships of "the Way" and how one can easily stray from it; but God led Emre back to "the way" through certain signs. The legend also emphasizes Yunus' saintly position in the eyes of Anatolian peasants; and the respect shown to him by the enlightened ones means that even Yunus himself did not realize this importance. Perhaps Yunus was still on the earlier stages of his journey and had not yet acquired a good amount of self-knowledge.
When Yunus arrives back to the tekke, he talks to Taptuk's wife (here again a woman appears as a savior). She tells him to go and lie on the door-step of Taptuk's house. Saying; "When Taptuk exits the house for his morning "abdest" (religious washing) , he will stumble upon you and as he has a poor vision, he will ask "who is this" and I will tell him "Yunus". If he answers "which Yunus" you should leave and never come back, but if he says "you mean our friend Yunus", this means he still loves you. In that case, you should bow to him and ask for his mercy". The next day Taptuk Emre answers by saying , "you mean our friend Yunus", with excitement and tears.
This story is a story of love between two men, Yunus Emre and Taptuk Emre, a common theme in Sufism. The love described here is not necessarily homosexual love, but a divine love of the guide and his student. Taptuk Emre forgives Yunus rejoins the tekke, resuming his work of carrying firewoods. One night there is a very happy banquet at the tekke, and Taptuk Emre asks the poet of the tekke to recite poetry, but somehow he is not able to utter a single word. Then Taptuk turns to Yunus, declaring, "What Haci Bektas once told you is at last a reality. Your lock is now unlocked". Yunus bursts into a stream of poetry and the congregation becomes ecstatic - the great poet Yunus is now born. Yunus mentions Taptuk in various places in his poetry. In reference to his love of Taptuk he says:
Yunus is a servant of Taptuk's face
I see Taptuk's light on every face I look
Recall what Golpinarli said, it quite fits to above verses. Seeing the light of the God on every face you look is more plausible, or so I think.
There are many more legends and anecdotes about his life. One story, almost certainly apocryphal, describes the encounter of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi and Yunus, about whom Yunus wrote
Since I saw Mevlana,
His magnificent vision is the mirror of our hearts
During this encounter (Yunus explicitly mentions attending a gathering of Mevlana in some of his poetry) Yunus criticizes Mevlana for the bulk of the Mesnevi and states that he would have expressed the same idea in the following two lines:
"I took shape in flesh and bones,
And came into sight as Yunus.
The story also mentions that Mevlana admitted that he would not have written this such a long work if he were able to make such pithy statements. One legends says that paying tribute to Yunus, Mevlana stated:
"Whenever I arrived at a new spiritual height, there I found the footsteps left by that Turkish (Turcoman) mystic, and I could never surpass him."
These legends about encounters with Mevlana, one of the greatest Sufis of all times demonstrate how important Yunus was in the eyes of the Anatolian people. The legend also hint at a conflict between the elitism of Mevlana and Yunus' status as a popular preacher. Yunus did not produce volumes of literary work like Mevlana; his literacy is even under debate.
As you can see from above legends, people love Yunus more than Mevlana. I think all of those stories did not took place. Yunus is not someone who criticize Mevlana’s work like this. Turks like this kind of jokes or legends where one side, the one they like of course, win the debate and gain respect, so I believe this is fictional.
Now this is an interesting legend:
Like many other Sufis Yunus Emre triggered a heavy reaction from Moslem dogmatists who begun to regard him as a foe. A legend describes that Molla KasIm, a traditionalist, decided to destroy all transcriptions of Yunus's poems. He sat on a river bank and starts tearing all the material he found heretical, throwing the scraps into the river, until he saw two lines:
"Yunus Emre, utter no word that is not true,
For a Molla KasIm will come to cross-examine you!”
Molla KasIm burst into tears as he understood his mistake. He saved the rest of precious the poetry - some claim two thirds of Yunus Emre's poetry was destroyed this way- for the rest of his life. How Yunus knew about Molla KasIm nobody knows; nobody is even sure whether this piece of poetry really belongs to Yunus or if it is part of the thousands of verses recited in his name centuries after. Thereafter, the legend claims, his poetry was carried around by the rivers, recited by the fish in the water, blown by the winds and recited by the angels in the air, with the remaining part recited by thousands of people.
There are hundreds of more anecdotes and stories of Yunus which have survived in the folk traditions of Anatolian peasants. They describe his adventures, his philosophy, and "the Way" he followed. Nobody knows how far on "the Way" he traveled, whether he reached the third and the fourth doors:
The third is 'marifet' (gnosis)
It expands the eye and the heart (makes them happy, relaxed)
Let's do it and we will be rewarded by God
Let's march to God!
The fourth is 'hakikat' (the absolute Truth)
Looking down on the self,
Days will be 'bayram' (religious festival)
Nights will be 'kadir' (the night when the Kuran was revealed, a celebration night)
I again claim this is not Yunus' words. He does not seek a reward from God. Here is one of his poems:
Your love has wrested me away from me,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Day and night I burn, gripped by agony,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
I find no great joy in being alive,
If I cease to exist, I would not grieve,
The only solace I have is your love,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Lovers yearn for you, but your love slays them,
At the bottom of the sea it lays them,
It has God's images - it displays them;
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Let me drink the wine of love sip by sip,
Like Mecnun, live in the hills in hardship,
Day and night, care for you holds me in its grip,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Even if, at the end, they make me die
And scatter my ashes up to the sky,
My pit would break into this outcry:
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
"Yunus Emre the Mystic" is my name,
Each passing day fans and rouses my flame,
What I desire in both worlds is the same:
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Actually, this guy did not write the whole poem. There is a verse that says:
The thing they called heaven
Has some houses and some women
If somebody wants them, give it to them
You are the one I need, you are the one I crave
Schimmel in fact points out that one can easily trace the stages and stations of "the Way" in Yunus' poetry, 'beginning with the loneliness and estrangement in this world, with confusion and uncertainty, but slowly leading to complete surrender to the Seyh ("Yunus was a falcon, perched on Taptuk's arm"). Out of this surrender emerges the firm faith in the wondrous activities of the spiritual guides in the mystical hierarchy, such as the Three, the Seven, the Forty, of the founders of the mystical orders whom he mentions sometimes in his verse (Maulana, Ahmad Rifa'i). But Yunus' final insight is condensed in the saying:
"If there is no Divine Attraction --
What, then, shall my shaykh do to me?
"
This means that the last step, the final experience of union with the Divine Beloved is an act of grace which the shaykh can only prepare, but not effect.'
My intent in this paper is not to give full account and interpretation of these stories, but rather get the reader to think about Yunus Emre's personality through these examples. The legends are open to a variety of different interpretations. Now that have met Yunus, let us examine other aspects of his poetry relevant to our main topic of humanism.
I think Schimmel starts with the assumption that all of those poems belong to Yunus Emre which is impossible. He also has no idea what threes, fives, sevens and forties mean. Those motifs are belong to Alevis, not all of the Sufis. As I stated Forties are a hyperdimensional group, it had its symbolic representations here, but there are no Forties now, not among Alevis, not among other Sufis, according to my knowledge. I again thank Mr. Durduran for following the philosophy of Yunus Emre and his efforts to make Yunus known to the west.
One constant theme in Yunus' poetry is Love, that of God for man and, therefore, of man for God. Yunus' love is the most powerful of everything, it is for the creator of the universe but it is also the creator, it is fierce and burning, consuming Yunus' mere existence. Yunus is like Mecnun, "the mad man of Love" who suffered , appear to have gone mad, and died just for the love of Leyla. Yunus wants to be as drunk, i.e. mad, as Mecnun, for his Love which wounds him terribly. For Yunus external forms of religion are not important and reward and punishment are not of concern; he only cares for God, yearns of his Love. The world is temporary and even when he dies, even when he is killed like the martyr of love Hallaj (Yunus refers to him in various other pieces of poetry), whatever is left of him will be yearning for God. Yunus can argue with God that His Love is killing people, making them suffer enormously, he seems to complain of his unjust treatment, but regardless, his love is so great that he can not help yearning for Him. He believes that he existed with God before there was existence. Of course, he is no different than God:
I was a star for a long time;
in the skies the angels were desirous [of me].
The all-compelling God commanded;
I was There then.
Before I was in this form,
when my name was not Yunus,
I was He, He was I,
I was with the one who offered this love.
Yunus is hinting at a common Sufi theme of the existence of the Saints during the primordial time. Yunus is a perfect-man himself who was with the Creator before the Creation. He shared the divine knowledge with God. This idea is revealed more clearly in the following verses:
Before the created universe came here,
Before the skies were filled with angels,
Before this realm had a foundation,
I was with the creator of the Domain.
He is not content to make this shocking statement; he calls everyone else to accept it also:
If you don't identify Man as God,
All your learning is of no use at all.
Yunus in fact refers to the idea of "vahdet'i vucut" , unity of being, which is a common theme on Sufi mysticism. He adheres to most of the common , dominant ideas of Sufism, as can clearly be seen from these pieces of poetry and his other works. What is different and most striking in Yunus is his use of the simple Turkish of his time - which could still be understood and appreciated quite easily by a modern Turkish speaker, and his outstanding humanism. It is the second aspect which primarily interests us here which certainly is not separate from his use of folk language.
Sufis wrote poems about this unity of being and one of the best poems I encounter was from an Alevi poet Harabi:
When there is no Allah and there is no world
We created it and made it known
When there is no place that deserved the Truth
We took it into our home and make it our guest
It did not have any name back then
Let alone the name, it did not have any shape
It did not have any clothes or any illustration
We shaped it and made it exactly like a human
…
For those who entered the palace of Unity
For those who can see the Truth as Hakk-el Yakin
For those who know this secret, Harabi
We convey it in the meydan of Unity
Remember, I told you Hakk-el Yakin means the secrets that hold the true meaning of existence. Meydan here has multiple meanings. It can mean Universe in Sufism or it can mean section of a Bektashi or Mevlevi lodge in which the dervishes perform the religious ceremonies. I think the former is more accurate in this particular poem.
This humanism part of the article is pretty much leading astray part. I appreciate efforts of Mr. Durduran but his wishful thinking is surfacing when he thinks all men are equal and that is what Yunus Emre tried to convey. We all know they are not and Yunus knew it also.
Humanism in general is a system of thought which dignifies man in his relation with God, nature and society. The humanist accepts man as the criterion of creation or of mere existence, but the fanatical dogma of many major religions, including Islam, preaches that man's existence on earth is much lower in significance or value in relation to that of God's. As in all mystic traditions, Sufis in Islam emerged as the dialectical antithesis to this theological interpretation and to religious formalism. As Talat Sait Halman indicates in his writings on Yunus Emre , he stood strictly against Moslem dogmatists in expressing the primary importance of human existence.
Sufism in general has a very humanistic approach to religion. Sufis, like other mystics, are trying to reach God or the ultimate Truth by following a certain path. In doing this, they disregard the dichotomy of the physical world and the divine, or better to say that they get rid of the veils separating them. This also means that as humans, they become God-like through this process which again involves human activity. God is internalized , making man not an outcast but an extension of God's reality and love.
Yunus Emre's humanism is not only a humanism of "peace and brotherhood" but also calls for social justice, charity and many other familiar ideals of today's world. For example, Yunus Emre calls for helping other people and sharing one's possessions with them:
If you have seen an unfortunate one, and given him and old piece of clothing,
Tomorrow he will meet you as if he had put on a heavenly robe.
Toil, earn, eat , and give others your wages.
Our first duty is good character and good deeds.
Hand out to others what you earn,
Do the poor people a good turn.
In the above verses Yunus offers rewards from God to people who do good for the poor and unfortunate. He calls for good character, which is obtained by helping others. Of course, the physical world, belongings, riches and jewels are anathema to mystics for they block his way from God:
I take no joy in worldly wealth, nor feel dismay at poverty.
I am content with Your love; it is You I need, You.
Yunus was a popular poet, a preacher, a man of the people. He was not elitist like the Renaissance literary humanism. He called for social justice, equality and prosperity. He spoke against the feudal rulers, landowners, officials, religious leaders or anybody else who would oppress the people of thirteenth-century Anatolia:
Kindness of the lords ran its course,
Now each one goes straddling a horse,
They eat the flesh of the paupers,
All they drink is the poor men's blood.
The lords are wild with wealth and might,
They ignore the poor people's plight;
Immersed in selfhood which is blight,
Their hearts are shorn of charity.
Yunus does not like tyrants, lords, religious leaders, and any other oppressors; he accuses them of "drinking the poor man's blood". Selfhood, wealth and power all alienate these lords from the common people and keep them away from the "exalted state of love". For Yunus the poor and the rich, the Sultan and the slave are all equals. Looking at a cemetery he says:
These men were rich as could be.
This is what they come to, see!
They reached the end and had to wear
The simple robe without the sleeves.
Back in the past, these were the lords,
At their doors they used to have guards:
Come take a look, you can't tell now
Who are the lords, who are the slaves.
Both rich and poor, the lords and the slaves, all die and lie in the cemetery wearing the burial shroud. All have now become equals and the real Sultan, God, shows his powers over them. What we do or possess during our earthly life does not make us any more "divine" than others unless we seek the true path.
As you can see, Yunus was against the ruling elites of his time and those who use people for their own personal gain. Later in the article Mr. Durduran ignores all those poems and says Yunus has an understanding of “turn the other cheek” which is not true.
As a seeker of God, Yunus tried hard to find God everywhere he could imagine;
The yearning tormented my mind:
I searched the heavens and the ground;
I looked and looked, but failed to find.
I found Him inside man at last.
To his suprise Yunus found God inside the Man. All human beings are divine beings and their equality ultimately rests in their divinity. He advises everyone to seek God within themselves:
God permeates the whole wide world,
Yet his truth is revealed to none.
You better seek Him in yourself,
You and He aren't apart - you're one.
This idea of "Vahdet-i VUcud" (Unity of Existence) mentioned before is strikingly similar to Socratic humanism which supposes that truth is immanent in human subjectivity and that the divine is imbedded in man. Yunus Emre speaks of "dignitas hominis", the dignity of humanity, instead of what both the Christian and Islamic dogma of his age was supporting, "contemptus mundi": preaching scorn for the human being, promoting the idea that the human existence is futile. Yunus Emre's humanity was like Protagoras' humanity: "Man is the measure of all things".
Yunus' also believed that he as a human being had God-like powers. He speaks of how he guides people on to the Way:
I am before, I am after -
The soul for all souls all the way.
I'm the one with a helping hand
Ready for those gone wild, astray.
He arranged the world, he created the mountains, plains, and put them in order:
I made the ground flat where it lies,
On it I had those mountains rise,
I designed the vault of the skies,
For I hold all things in my sway.
To countless lovers I have been
A guide for faith and religion.
I am sacrilege in man's hearts
Also the true faith and Islam's way.
Yunus sees himself as the most powerful. He is capable of creating religions, attracting followers. As a popular preacher, Yunus mentions Islam here as the "true faith".
I have a book about Yunus Emre and as far as I can see among hundreds of poems he mentions Islam or Islamic tradition in two or three of them. I sense this is a later addition. After we finish the article I will describe people who play games on Yunus Emre and his identity.
How can Yunus can think so highly of himself? After all, he is just a poor human being; he is a fool of Love. Apparently he recognizes the power of human beings who control the destiny of this planet that we call Earth. They are God's most valuable creation. Emre recognizes the unity of being, that we are not separate from the Divine. In the modern world, there are striking parallels to this idea. For instance the world is shrinking thanks to developments in communications and transportation and we are getting closer and closer to the most fundamental knowledge about nature through modern physics. The realization of this truth has its effects on our sense of who we are, on our relationships to others and to all aspects of life.
If Emre created all religions, he has to respect all. As a lover he sees true love in ecumenical ideas. One would think that today's world would have been much different , stripped off many of the current wars, bloodshed, and animosities, if we took his advice:
We regard no one's religion as contrary to ours.
True love is born when all faiths are united as a whole.
Emre calls humans of all faiths, all nations to come together and make peace:
Come here, let's make peace,
let's not be strangers to one another.
We have saddled the horse
and trained it, glory be to God.
This is a fundamentally Islamic idea as revealed in Quran:
Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another...
This community of yours is one single community, since I am the Sustainer of you all: remain, then, conscious of me.
Qur'an 49:13, 23:52
Yeah, and then you enslaved us at Elest meeting, you seperated us at Tower of Babel, then you saved us when comets came. Thank you!
Further clarification: There is a story in Quran where Allah gathers all the souls of humans before they had physical existence. And he says to them: Elestu bi Rabbikum, meaning “Am I not your owner?” and the crowd says Kalu Bela, meaning “Yes, you are”. After that they came to earth in physical existence for testing that promise. I suspect this is what group soul did when they encounter Lizzies.
The orthodox religious authority that Yunus dislikes so much converted these universal ideas in Islam to ideas that lead people against other religions. This is similar to what happened in other main-stream religions through the path of history. We see Yunus attacking the Orthodoxy:
If you mean to wipe off all the rust that covers the hearts,
Be sure to utter this word which is life's true summary;
The man who doesn't see the nations of worlds as one
Is a rebel even if the pious claim he's holy.
Listen to my comment on the strictures of the canon:
Orthodox faith is a ship, its sea is Reality.
No matter how impregnable are the planks of the ship,
They are bound to crack and shatter when waves rage in that sea.
Listen, my loved one, let me give you a fact beyond this:
The rebel against Truth is the saint of orthodoxy.
For Yunus orthodoxy is like a ship in the sea of Reality, which will eventually be destroyed. The sea here represents God and the ultimate Truth in which human beings are somehow floating but from which they are separated. Hence by being a ship in the sea of Reality, Orthodoxy is actually blocking our way to God. The saints of Orthodoxy are actually rebels against Truth. One should clean his heart from its rust so that God's light can shine on it, drawing it towards enlightenment, and these ships should be abandoned:
Men of God's truth are an ocean,
Lovers must plunge into that sea;
The sages too, should take a dive
To bring out the best jewelry.
As we saw in the legends concerning Emre's life, religious dogma did not particularly enjoy Yunus making such comments and he evidently suffered at the hands the Orthodox, just like his teachers - Haci Bektas and Taptuk Emre. However, Yunus has an idea of pacifism similar to the Christian idea of "Turn the other cheek to a person who is slapping your face" .
Describing a Dervish, he says:
He must be without hands when someone hits him.
He must be tongueless when cursed.
Mr. Durduran is misinterpreting what Yunus says. Yunus talks about avoiding revenge, retribution against those people because they have no idea what they are doing, they are just tools in the hand of Control System.
Yunus is a dervish, so we expect his philosophy to enforce the story above. He goes on to say that hate is his only enemy:
Mystic is what they call me.
Hate is my only enemy;
I harbor a grudge against none.
To me the whole wide world is one.
He does not hate anyone; he does not look for revenge. Everyone receive the same treatment from Yunus which is quite natural, for:
Water out of the same fountain
Cannot be both bitter and sweet.
Here water symbolizes life, the life created human beings, a common symbol in Sufism. The fountain is the God from which the water comes out; it creates the human beings. Just as water from the same fountain tastes exactly the same, humans are all equal and are good in essence. Emre does not keep this knowledge for himself; he passes it on:
See all people as equals,
See the humble as heroes.
Again, this is a result of the era Yunus lived where there were landowners and wars, blood feuds between villages. If he is equal with those Saint of Orthodoxy, that means he is also a rebel against the Truth.
Don't look on anyone as worthless, no one is worthless;
It's not nice to seek people's defects and deficiencies.
Don't look down on anyone, never break a heart;
The mystic must love all seventy-two nations.
Not only is everyone equal, but they should be treated accordingly. One should look forward to liking and loving people, not to finding their mistakes and defects. The divine knowledge is in the heart of humanity, and it is undesirable to break one's heart, whatever his religion is. A dervish is a lover of God , so he has to love humans as they are part of God. One should co-ordinate his actions towards others based on his own experience, thus Emre calls people to "behave as they would wish others to behave towards them".[/quote]
Maybe it is best for the reader of this post to read the last chapter of Wave series where Laura speaks about Love of Dervishes toward God and toward people. This would probably clarify the concepts that are misunderstood Mr. Durduran.
Yunus Emre is a treasure that is used by anybody. Legends claims he is a follower of Hajji Bektash but there is not any single indication for that. Same can be said for Taptuk Emre. He is a Sufi so Mevlevis try to take a piece of him, using his poems with religious music for their sema dances. Alevis see him as a master but do not use his songs in their ceremonies. And the most funny thing is Orthodox Islam embraces Yunus Emre as he is one of them, despite the fact he called them “Rebel against Truth”.
I never heard that particular poem from Yunus, but because of Islamic pressure in this country we hear one of his poem: "The river of those Paradise" repeatedly. I think he did not wrote it because as I said above he does not seek any reward. He said give the paradise to those who want, I want you.
They add the words La ilahe illallah[There is no God but Allah] between every verse of Yunus Emre’s poetry and claim he is Islamic. It seems those words hypnotize people to think they are Islamic. Alevis do the same in their songs called Tevhid. Actually, Alevis use it but they believe the words La mevcude illallah[There is nothing exist but Allah].
The use of Islam in this country reached the top in this country. I remember from my childhood we were thought a poem of Yunus Emre. Here is a link of that song, you might like it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKzxEA4zcao
I asked the yellow flower, do you have mother and father?
Flower said: Father Dervish, my mother and father is soil
I asked the yellow flower, do you have children, brothers and sisters?
Flower said: Father Dervish, my children, brothers and sisters are leaves
I asked the yellow flower, why is the color of your face yellow?
Flower said: Father Dervish, death is close to us.
Normally it continues and finishes like this:
I asked the yellow flower, do you know who am I?
Flower said: Father Dervish, you are Yunus, aren’t you?
When you look at above poem, it is a perfect talk between nature and man revealing some truth but what did orthodox Islam did with it?
I asked the yellow flower, why is the color of your face yellow?
Flower said: Father Dervish, I fear from Allah.
I asked the yellow flower,who is your prophet?
Flower said: Father Dervish, my prophet is Muhammed.
You know, it frustrates me because until last week, I thought this one was the original until I saw that video and made a research.
This is not the subject of this thread so lets leave it but when I tell you Yunus Emre is corrupted by orthodox Islam, I think you have a picture how that might be.
Here I want to put some of Yunus’s work:
We drank wine from the Cupbearer
At an inn higher than the sky.
Our souls are goblets in His hands,
Deep in His ecstasy we lie.
At our private place of meeting,
Where our hearts are scorched with yearning
Like moths, the sun and the moon ring
Our candle whose flames rise high.
Yunus, don't tell these words of trance
To those steeped in dark ignorance,
Can't you see how swiftly the chance
Of ignorant men's lives goes by?
I do not know where did this guy obtained those poems but they differ from the ones I know. This poem has two more verse and it finishes like that: “Do not you know the time of ignorant, will not get past for a long time?” This one is my favourite poem so I will try to translate missing verses.
Those who are burned in the fire of love
Obtain a body that is completely divine light
This fire does not resemble any other
There are not any devils in it
Those who reach ecstasy in this fire
Shout the words Enel Hak[I am Truth]
Like Mansur al-Hallaj
The lowest crazy ones
Mansur al-Hallaj was a Sufi who said Enel Hak, meaning I am Truth but also means I am God as I described before, and executed in Baghdad by the order of Abbasid Caliph. Anatolian Sufis support him because unlike other Sufis he made his knowledge available to those who need from common people and shared it openly.
I would say there is a difference between scholars, book writers and the Sufis in action, who are executed or suffered. You see this difference in Mevlana and Yunus, in Mansur and Arabi. Anatolian people side with who dies and who suffers, but they do not refuse the knowledge coming from scholars, they just do not use it since it was hard to obtain those books during those times. This is the difference between written Sufi tradition which lived in books and oral Sufi tradition which lived in people.
Burning, burning, I drift and tread.
Love spattered my body with blood.
I'm not in my senses nor mad,
Come, see what love has done to me.
Now and then like the winds I blow,
Now and then like the roads I go,
Now and then like the floods I flow,
Come, see what love has done to me.
Hold my hand, lift me from this place
Or take me into your embrace...
You made me weep, make me rejoice,
Come, see what love has done to me.
Searching, I roam from land to land,
In all tongues I ask for the Friend.
Who knows my plight where love is banned?
Come, see what love has done to me.
Lovelorn, I tread; madly I scream.
My loved one is my only dream;
I wake and plunge into deep gloom.
Come, see what love has done to me.
I'm Yunus, mystic of sorrow,
Suffering wounds from top to toe;
In the Friend's hands I writhe in woe.
Come, see what love has done to me.
If you break a true believer's heart once,
It's no prayer to God--this obeisance,
All of the world's seventy-two nations
Cannot wash the dirt off your hands and face.
There are the sages--they have come and gone.
Leaving their world behind them, they moved on.
They flapped their wings and flew to the True One,
Not like geese, but as birds of Paradise.
The true road doesn't ever run awry,
The real hero scoffs at clambering high,
The eye that can see God is the true eye,
Not the eye that stares from a lofty place.
If you followed the never-swerving road,
If you held a hero's hand as he strode,
If doing good deeds was your moral code,
You shall get a thousand to one, no less.
These are the moving facts that Yunus tells,
Where his blend of butter and honey jells,
Not salt, but jewelry is what he sells--
These goods he hands out to the populace.
Knowledge should mean a full grasp
of knowledge:
Knowledge means to know yourself,
heart and soul.
If you have failed to understand yourself,
Then all of your reading has missed its call.
What is the purpose of reading those books?
So that Man can know the All-Powerful. [If I were the translator, I would say Truth here instead of All-Powerful]
If you have read, but failed to understand,
Then your efforts are just a barren toil.
Don't boast of reading, mastering science
Or of all your prayers and obeisance.
If you don't identify Man as God,
All your learning is of no use at all.
The true meaning of the four holy books
Is found in the alphabet's first letter.
You talk about that first letter, preacher;
What is the meaning of that - could you tell?
Yunus Emre says to you, pharisee,
Make the holy pilgrimage if need be
A thousand times - but if you ask me,
The visit to a heart is best of all.
And finally, I suppose he wrote this for the ones who can appreciate his poems:
Out of this world, we're on our way:
Our greetings to those who will stay.
We send all our greetings to those
Who give us their blessings and pray.
Under Death's weight, our backs gave way;
Now our tongues have nothing to say.
We send greetings to those who've asked
About us as, near death, we lay.
Fateful Death takes our lives away:
None can escape, none goes astray.
We send greetings to those who've asked
About us as, near death, we lay.
Listen: Mystic Yunus says so.
His eyes are filled with tears of woe.
Those who don't know cannot know us;
We send greetings to those who know.
You can read more of Yunus’s poems in English here:
http://www.baktabul.com/ingilizce/27583-yunus-emre.html
It is a good source, but be aware that there are distortions in translation.
If no one has any questions or comments, I think my job in this thread is finished. If I find something related in the future, I will post.
