An unknown work of Sultan Walad: Safina-i Nohi and Majmoa-i Rohi

Abstract

Sultan Walad was the son of Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi and his material and moral heir. After Rumi, Mevlevi order was shaped and institutionalized by Sultan Walad. This mystical movement, which became widespread in Anatolia during the Seljuk period and later in all the Ottoman lands, was recognized almost in all over the world also in modern times. All the works of Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi are widely read by the people of the world. The works later revealed by Rumi’s son, Sultan Walad, are in a key conduit for us to better understand the works of Rumi. His book Maarif, written in prose, and the other works called Ibtida-nama, Rebab-nama and Intiha-nama which he wrote with “masnawi” verse form, is almost like the complement of Mawlana’s works. The poetry book (Diwan) is an important work that shows the breadth of the scientific, literary and intellectual personality of Sultan Walad. In the foundation stage of classical Turkish literature in Anatolia, although the poetry language is Persian, the first works that exemplify Turkish poetry in terms of poetry forms and types are the works of Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi and the works of his son Sultan Walad. These two poets (father and son), who gave complete and perfect works in almost all verse forms and types, can be regarded as the founders of Anatolian Turkish classical literature in terms of form and genre. To understand Mawlana Rumi and Mevlevi order the works of Sultan Walad should be well known in all aspects. To date, a lot of studies have been carried out on Rumi and Mevlevi order. However, an unknown work of Sultan Walad “Safina-i Nohi and Majmoa-i Rohi” which is written in Persian language has not been discovered until this time. This valuable work in Konya Manuscripts Library in Turkey contains imitates, replies (nazair) written by Sultan Walad in the poems of Mawlana Rumi’s Diwan-i Kabir.