ESEJ O MEVLUDU VESÎLETÜ’N-NECÂT SULEJMANA ČELEBIJA
ESSAY ON SÜLEYMAN ÇELEBI’S MAWLŪD VESÎLETÜ’N-NECÂT

Summary/Abstract: Mawlūd written by Süleyman Çelebi in the Turkish language in the first half of15th century is regarded as one of the most significant works of the entire mawlūd literary genre. It was a source of inspiration for many Ottoman poets in the coming centuries who wrote verses in honour of the Messenger of Islam, Muhammad s.w.s. in Turkish as well as in other languages. All the later works are evaluated with regard to the literary-artistic value and the content of the text by comparison to Süleyman Çelebi’s Mawlūd. This article presents the content of Mawlūd of Süleyman Çelebi in a form of an essay. Sixteen poems of this Mawlūda are here devided by the author in three thematic groups: (1) poems relating of the Oneness of God te’ala, creation of the World and the Messinger’s s.w.s. nature (2) poems that speak of the Messinger’s life here on earth, and (3) poems that celebrate the being of the Messenger s.w.s. The entire text is permeated with the Messenger’s teachings and instructions to people which will lead them to the path of salvation, those that are vesîletü’n-necât. The paper demonstrates that Süleyman Çelebi here describes both natures of the Messenger s.w.s.: his inner nature (as a Messenger) and his outer nature (his human form). It also points out the elements of tasawwuf in the text of mawlūd which characterize Süleyman Çelebi as mutasawwif. Woven by love towards God and His beloved Messenger s.w.s, this Mawlūd reaches the souls and minds of the faithful. There lies the reason for its widespread popularity.

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