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Life through Death in Rumi’s Story of the Boatman and the Grammarian: A Thematic and Symbolic Analysis

Year 2019, Volume: 60 Issue: 2, 337 - 354, 30.11.2019
https://doi.org/10.33227/auifd.593650

Abstract

The following study
examines the story/parable of the Grammarian and the Boatman within the
Mathnavī
of Rumi. We have striven to provide an account of the allegorical aspect of the
story and the messages that Rumi attempted to convey. We demonstrated that the
primary objective of the story is to signify the Sufi concept of
maḥv
(self-effacement/annihilation) and prioritize it in the life of the Sufi
disciple. We examined and analyzed how the theme of
maḥv is presented
through an earthly experience, and explored the symbols Rumi, and the Sufis for
that matter, utilized in conveying their teachings. We have also drawn
parallels with Qur’anic verses, prophetic teachings, and the teachings of
earlier Sufi masters. The Sufi epistemological approach, the experiential
knowledge, has been the primary examination of our research, and we drew
attention to how the Sufi masters imparted knowledge to their audience. Other
poetic formulations of Rumi in various parts of
Mathnavī have been
enlisted to elucidate the author’s mindset on the theory of knowledge. Similar
attestations of other Sufi mystics have also been utilized in this survey and
the mutual objectives of other Sufis have been analyzed. We have striven to
maintain an analytical approach and provided an expository formulation of the
Sufis on the nature of epistemology. 

References

  • Aflākī, Shams al-Dīn Aḥmad. The Feats of the Knowers of God: Manāqeb al-ʿĀrefīn. Translated by John O’Kane. Leiden: Brill, 2002.
  • Anqaravī, Ismāʿīl. Şerḥ-i Mes̠nevī. Istanbul: Maṭbaʿa-i ʿĀmire, 1289 [1872].
  • Chittick, William C. The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1983.
  • Chittick, William C. The Sufi Doctrine of Rumi: Illustrated Edition. Bloomington: World Wisdom Inc., 2005.
  • Furūzānfar, Badīʿ al-Zamān. Sharḥ-i Mathnavī-yi Sharīf. Tehran: Dānishgāh-i Tahrān, 1348/1929.
  • Ghavami, Hassan. “Rumi and Alienated Man, Reflecting on the Concept of Alienation in Masnavi: A Review of Self-Alienation Concept in Masnavi,” International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies, special issue (May 2016), pp.1226-1241.
  • Nicholson, Reynold A. (Ed.). The Mathnawí of Jalálu’ddín Rúmí. Edited from the Oldest Manuscripts Available: With Critical Notes, Translation, & Commentary. London: E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Trust, 1925-1940.
  • Al-Qushayrī, Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Karīm b. Hawāzin. al-Risāla al-Qushayriyya. Ed. by ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm Maḥmūd and Maḥmūd b. al-Sharīf. Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Ḥadīthah, 1966.
  • Ritter, Hellmut. The Ocean of the Soul: Man, the World and God in the Stories of Farīd al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār. Translated by John O’Kane with editorial assistance of Bernd Radtke. Leiden: Brill, 2003.
  • Rūmī, Mavlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī. Mathnavī-yi Maʿnavī. Ākhirīn taṣḥīḥ-i R. E. Nicholson va muqābala-i mujaddad bā nuskha-i Qūnya, taṣḥīḥ-i mujaddad va tarjuma Ḥasan Lāhūtī (Latest edition of R. E. Nicholson with comparion with the Konya manuscript along with new corrections by Ḥasan Lāhūtī). Tehran: Markaz-i Puzhūhshī-yi Mīrāth-i Maktūb, 1393/1973.
  • Ṣarı ʿAbdullāh Efendī. Mes̠nevī-yi Şerīf Şerḥi. Istanbul: Maṭbaʿa-i ʿĀmire, 1288 [1871].
  • Schimmel, Annemarie. As Through a Veil: Mystical Poetry in Islam. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2001.
  • Schimmel, Annemarie. The Triumphal Sun. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993.
  • Schimmel, Annemarie. Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1975.

Mevlānā’nın Dilbilimci ve Gemici Kıssasında Hayat Veren Ölüm: Tematik ve Sembolik Bir Analiz

Year 2019, Volume: 60 Issue: 2, 337 - 354, 30.11.2019
https://doi.org/10.33227/auifd.593650

Abstract

Bu
araştırma yazısı Mevlānā Celāluddīn Rūmī’nin
Mes̱nevī’sinde geçen
“Arapça dilbilimci/Nahivci ile gemici” arasındaki hikayeyi analiz etmektedir.
Çalışmamızda Mevlānā’nın vermek istediği mesajlar ve hikayenin alegorik yönünü
açıklama gayretinde olduk. Bu bağlamda hikayenin temel hedefinin,
maḥv
(varlık iddiasında veya inancında olmamak) kavramına işaret etmek ve sufi
erlerinin de bu kavramı sufi hayatta öncelemeleri gerektiğini belirtmek
olduğunu gösterdik. Mevlānā’nın, bu kavramın önemini ve ne olduğunu sunarken
kullandığı somut dünyevi tecrübelerle sembolik atıfları analiz etmeye çalıştık.
Analizlerimiz Kur’an
ayetleri, hadisler, ve erken dönem sufilerin sözleriyle ilişkilendirilmiş ve
temellendirilmiştir. Sufiler için birinci dereceden önem arzeden “tecrübi
bilgi” üzerinde durulmuş, bu bilgi edinme türünün ne olduğu ve sufiler tarafından
nasıl kullanıldığı konusu da incelenmiştir. Bu bilgi türünün ne ve nasıl bir
bilgi türü olduğu hem
Mes̱nevī’nin diğer bölümlerinden hem de diğer
sufilerin söylemlerinden istifade edilerek zenginleştirilmiştir. Burdan
hareketle sufilerin epistemolojik yaklaşımlarına da ışık tutmaya gayret sarf
edilmiştir.

References

  • Aflākī, Shams al-Dīn Aḥmad. The Feats of the Knowers of God: Manāqeb al-ʿĀrefīn. Translated by John O’Kane. Leiden: Brill, 2002.
  • Anqaravī, Ismāʿīl. Şerḥ-i Mes̠nevī. Istanbul: Maṭbaʿa-i ʿĀmire, 1289 [1872].
  • Chittick, William C. The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1983.
  • Chittick, William C. The Sufi Doctrine of Rumi: Illustrated Edition. Bloomington: World Wisdom Inc., 2005.
  • Furūzānfar, Badīʿ al-Zamān. Sharḥ-i Mathnavī-yi Sharīf. Tehran: Dānishgāh-i Tahrān, 1348/1929.
  • Ghavami, Hassan. “Rumi and Alienated Man, Reflecting on the Concept of Alienation in Masnavi: A Review of Self-Alienation Concept in Masnavi,” International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies, special issue (May 2016), pp.1226-1241.
  • Nicholson, Reynold A. (Ed.). The Mathnawí of Jalálu’ddín Rúmí. Edited from the Oldest Manuscripts Available: With Critical Notes, Translation, & Commentary. London: E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Trust, 1925-1940.
  • Al-Qushayrī, Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Karīm b. Hawāzin. al-Risāla al-Qushayriyya. Ed. by ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm Maḥmūd and Maḥmūd b. al-Sharīf. Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Ḥadīthah, 1966.
  • Ritter, Hellmut. The Ocean of the Soul: Man, the World and God in the Stories of Farīd al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār. Translated by John O’Kane with editorial assistance of Bernd Radtke. Leiden: Brill, 2003.
  • Rūmī, Mavlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī. Mathnavī-yi Maʿnavī. Ākhirīn taṣḥīḥ-i R. E. Nicholson va muqābala-i mujaddad bā nuskha-i Qūnya, taṣḥīḥ-i mujaddad va tarjuma Ḥasan Lāhūtī (Latest edition of R. E. Nicholson with comparion with the Konya manuscript along with new corrections by Ḥasan Lāhūtī). Tehran: Markaz-i Puzhūhshī-yi Mīrāth-i Maktūb, 1393/1973.
  • Ṣarı ʿAbdullāh Efendī. Mes̠nevī-yi Şerīf Şerḥi. Istanbul: Maṭbaʿa-i ʿĀmire, 1288 [1871].
  • Schimmel, Annemarie. As Through a Veil: Mystical Poetry in Islam. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2001.
  • Schimmel, Annemarie. The Triumphal Sun. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993.
  • Schimmel, Annemarie. Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1975.
There are 14 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Religious Studies
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Halil Şimşek 0000-0002-3990-1071

Publication Date November 30, 2019
Published in Issue Year 2019 Volume: 60 Issue: 2

Cite

Chicago Şimşek, Halil. “Life through Death in Rumi’s Story of the Boatman and the Grammarian: A Thematic and Symbolic Analysis”. Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 60, no. 2 (November 2019): 337-54. https://doi.org/10.33227/auifd.593650.