YUNUS EMRE

YUNUS EMRE

                                                           “We love the created

                                                             For the Creator's sake”

“I am not here on earth for strife

Love is the mission of my life.”

Yunus Emre  (1240?–1321?) was a turkish poet and Sufi mystic.. He has exercised immense influence on Turkish literature, from his own day until the present.

Yunus Emre and the Love of Humanity

The most important concept in Yunus Emre's philosophy is the love of humanity. No other poet glorifies humanity as much in world literature. This philosophy, which the West tried to emulate under the name of humanism, can be traced back to Yunus Emre centuries ago. For this reason, we cannot consider Yunus as a typical humanist from a western perspective. Contrary to western humanists, he loves human beings as the most perfect creatures created by Allah, expressing his thoughts in the verse, "We love the creatures, due to the Creator."

Yunus' impact on Turkish culture can be seen in various ways. During the efforts to purify the Turkish language in the 1920's his poetry was a prime example of the dialect of Anatolian peasants. Several authors claim that many idioms in everyday language are actually verses from his poetry. 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. These are just some examples of Emre's impact on comtemporary Turkish society.[1][3][4][8][10]
Let us now turn to the ledend 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. [5]
Sufism (Tasavvuf) and Yunus Emre 
 Sufism is a philosophy that developed early within Islam, with the following tenets: to purify the human soul, to cleanse it from its evil inclinations, to respect the Creator and His prophets, and to follow their teachings of good conduct, tolerance, and love for the fellow-man. It can be said that it is an Islamic moral code, which in some ways deviates from Islamic Sharia law, such as its attitude toward wine, forbidden in Islam, but mentioned often, even allegorically, by Sufi poets.  Yunus Emre and Mevlana are the foremost Tasavvuf poets in Turkey, on par with Omar Khayyam of Persia.
Yunus is the Turkish equivalent of the Biblical name of Jonah, and Emre means companion. Yunus Emre lived in Anatolia in the years 1240-1320, an era of political instability, when many found refuge from persecution in the interior of Anatolia, living as organized artisans or as dervishes. In his long search for the Creator, Yunus found Him within the person, in nature, and wherever he looked.  In one of his poems, translated into Hebrew in this book, he says, “Wherever I look I see Your presence, where can I place you if not in my heart?” In another poem he says “hate and enmity are foreign to us; all people are equal in our eyes,” and in yet another: “we reject extremist ideas, as we reject falsehood, injustice, and the tyranny of rulers.”
Poems of Yunus Emre

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.

The other world lies beyond sight.
Here on earth we must live upright.
Exile is torment, pain, and blight.
No one comes back once he is gone.

Come, let us all be friends for once,
Let us make life easy on us,
Let us be lovers and loved ones,
The earth shall be left to no one.

To you, what Yunus says is clear,
Its meaning is in your heart's ear:
We should all live the good life here,
Because nobody will live on.

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 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 hundred times-but if you ask me,
The visit to a heart is best of all.

Questions

1-       Who is Yunus Emre?

A.      Turkish poet      B. Turkish artist    C. Turkish doctor

2-       Which idea is important in his poems?

A.      Animals      B. Love of humanity    C. Flowers

      3-What is sufism?

A.      Political ideas

B.       Health ideas

C.        the inner, mystical dimension of Islam