Abstract
The Oldest Copy of Vesiletü’n-Necat And Unknown Poems of Suleyman Celebi
It can be said without hesitation that Süleyman
Çelebi's mawlid named Vesîletü'n-necât is one of the
most reproduced and read Turkish works in the Ottoman
Empire. This work, which has reached the present day with
increasing popularity and influence in every century, is
considered both the prototype and the most beautiful
example of the works written in the type of mawlid in our
literature. Every library that contains Turkish
manuscripts includes more than one copy of Vesîletü'nnecât.
Unfortunately, the original copy of the work, which
was written in 812(Muslim Calendar)/1409 (Gregorian
Calendar), has not been found until today. Despite this
popularity and a large number of copies, the oldest known
manuscript of the work is dated about a hundred years after
the original copy was written. Naturally, this time
difference between the original copy and the oldest known
copies is so great that it calls the authenticity of the
Vesîletü'n-necât texts produced using these copies in
question.
Likewise, although Süleyman Çelebi is the owner of a
valuable work like Mawlid that has survived for centuries,
information about his life is also very limited today. Just
like Yunus Emre, Süleyman Çelebi, who was embraced and
respected by the Turkish nation and had a great
contribution to Turkish being a "language of religion", remained an unknown person whose work is famous. The
available information is far from shedding light on his life,
personality, and other works if any.
In this article, the oldest copy of Vesîletü'n-necât, which
was newly identified and thought to have been copied while
the author was alive, was introduced and the text of the six
poems of Süleyman Çelebi in this copy was revealed for the
first time and these poems were examined in terms of form
and content.
Keywords
Vesîletü’n-necât, Mawlid, the Poems of Süleymân Çelebi.