SIX TURKISH SUFI MASTER POETS Ahmed Yesevi, Yunus Emre, Nesimi, Alisher Navoi, Fuzuli & Niyazi Misri SELECTED POEMS: Translation and Introduction Paul Smith

SIX TURKISH SUFI MASTER POETS Ahmed Yesevi, Yunus Emre, Nesimi, Alisher Navoi, Fuzuli & Niyazi Misri SELECTED POEMS Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Ahmed Yesevi, (1093 – 1166) was a Turkish poet and Sufi Master who exerted a powerful influence on the development of mystical orders throughout the Turkish-speaking world. Yesevi is the earliest known Turkish poet who composed poetry in an early Turkish. His poems influenced many Sufi poets including ‘Attar, Rumi, Hafiz (who both knew Turkish) and Yunus Emre. His Divan-e Hikmet (Book of Wisdom), consists mainly of gazels and murabbas (foursomes), Kosmos (robi’as srung together) and munajat (prayers). Yunus Emre (d. 132o) is considered one of the most important Turkish poets having a great influence on Turkish literature from his own time until today. His poems concern divine love as well as human love of the Divine as God and the Perfect Master, Beloved, Friend and human destiny and weakness. Nesimi (1369-1417) is one of the greatest mystical poets and one of the most prominent early masters in Turkish literary history. For Nesimi at the centre of Creation there was God, who bestowed His Light on man. Through sacrifice and self-perfection, man can become one with Him. As a direct result of his beliefs he was skinned alive. Alisher Navoi (1441 – 1501) was a Sufi poet, politician, linguist, scientist, author, calligrapher, art-patron, intellectual, painter, builder. He is generally known by his pen name Navoi (‘the weeper’). He was among the key writers who revolutionized the literary use of the Turkic languages. Fuzuli (1494-1556)... (pen-name means ‘perfect’) combined successfully the praising and understanding of human and divine love and the fusing of them. In the true Sufi tradition he saw human love as a bridge to the Divine. His Divan bears witness to his genius that has not diminished. Niyazi Misri (d. 1694) It is obvious from many of his poems that at some time in his life he became a Perfect Master (Qutub) a God-realized soul. Although Niyazi wrote a good deal of prose his poetical work is confined to his Divan, which is restricted to gazels and qasidas. Included in the Introduction: Life and Times and Poetry of each Poet, On the poetic forms they used, On Sufism in Poetry, God-Realization & God-Intoxication. Selected Bibliographies of each poet. This is the largest selection of all their poems translated into English. Correct rhyme-structure has been kept and meaning of these powerful, spiritual, immortal poems. Paul Smith (b. 1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages… including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, ‘Attar, Sana’i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Lalla Ded and many others, as well as poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children’s books and screenplays. amazon.com/author/smithpa Read more