Classical Turkish Literature Research Papers (original) (raw)

Ta‘likîzâde Mehmed Subhî, who was one of the important favor of the 16th century, has performed the works named imperial council clerkship and shahnama authorship. Ta‘likîzâde, known with his historian identity wrote out the works named Revâniyye, Tabrîziyye, Shahnâma, Shahnâma of Yanik Expedition, and Shahnâma of Egri Expedition which are mentioning the expeditions mainly in which he personally attended. Various studies have been performed upon the history subjected works of the author. But till today any study has been performed upon Firâset-nâme which was most probably the first work of the Ta‘likîzâde’s authorship career. The single known copy of the work has been registered in Bibliotheque Nationale, Turc. No. 1055. Ta‘likîzâde wrote out this work with the request of Murad III (sult. 1574-1595) and has presented one of its nice copy to the emperor within the first period of the sultanate -most probably- prepared in palace’s calligrapher house. This work in basic was written out as prosaic but it contains a lot of copy right or cited Arabic or Persian and less Turkish poems/poem parts.
In this study, it will be tried to introduce the subject work of Ta‘likîzâde Mehmed Subhî. In this context, first and foremost general information as to the literature genre of firâsetnâme will be provided and subsequently information regarding evidences required to make deductions and ancillary sciences as to firâset which are applied during the interpretation process of such evidences will be furnished. Furthermore, its reflections within the Eastern and Western societies and the modification thereof in the Islamic civilization will be discussed. Subsequently, a handwritten copy of the work will be introduced and information as to the content thereof will be provided and the work’s authenticity and its place in the firâsetname literature genre will be tried to be determined.

Firâset is the science of finding unseen aspects basing on various apparent clues and make deductions regarding their qualities and quantities. The works, subject of which are these methods, are called firâsetnâme as a literature genre. The first literary work in this field of science, origin of which should be as old as mankind itself, has been penned through “pseudo–Aristoteles”. Upon translation of this work, the accumulation of knowledge on this subject has been transferred to the western world and has turned into a branch of science that continues to exist in our day under the name of “physiognomy”. On the other hand, this science has also been transferred to the Arab world by virtue of translations and contributed to the emergence of the firâset science through being blended with Islamic beliefs. There are actually outstanding differences, especially including proof methods, between physiognomy and firâset due to some understandings and perceptions in the Eastern and the Western civilizations. In this context, opinions/determinations of important Islamic scholars and personal experiences are the unchanging methods in the interpretation of evidences from the beginning to the end in the firâsetnâme type of works. Meanwhile, it is observed that methods of positive sciences such as observation, experiment, sampling and production of statistical data have been utilized in the historical process in the physiognomy type of works.
In the historical process, it is seen that the purview of firâset science also has changed from society to society. For example the science of scouting (“ilmü kıyâfetü’l-eser” or “kıyâfet-i isr”), which has an important place in Arab society, has lost the significance thereof in the Turkish society due to living conditions. The contents of the works have differed inasmuch as the traditions, customs, habits, traces of previous beliefs of every society as well as requirements needed by the geography in which they live are different from each other. It can be said, by referring to the translated works and cited sources, that the firâsetnâme/kıyafetnâme (works on the science of Kıyafe meaning interpretation of personality by observing the external appearance of a person) in Turkish literature have utilized both Arabic and Persian literature works. It is seen that the sources of the works written in the 19th century and later are the French physiognomy books. This change is in line with the cultural interaction process of Turkish society.
Much as, all of them are fed from the same Islamic tradition, there are some differences in terms of form and content, starting with the naming in works penned as to the firâset /kıyafet sciences in Arabic, Persian and Turkish literatures. When the names of the said works are examined, it is observed that firâset/firâsetnâme is preferred more in the Arabic literature while kıyâfet/kıyâfetnâme is preferred more in the Persian and Turkish literatures. However, it is also seen from time to timethat the terms firâset/firâsetnâme and kıyâfet/kıyâfetnâme have been used for each other’s place. Much as the mentioned terms are used in place of each other as if they are synonyms in naming, the word firâset has been considered as an upper title in the basic sources related to the subject, in particular in Taşköprüzâde’s works, and kıyâfet with the other sciences has been accepted as a science which is the subdivision of firâset or an ancillary science of firâset. In this context, it can be said that a great majority of the works penned in Turkish literature are in the genre of kıyâfetnâme, and some of the works bearing the name of firâsetnâme also bear the features of kıyâfetnâme. The number of works which have the features of firâsetnâme is very few. When these works are examined in terms of discussing the issue, it is seen in the firâsetnâme/kıyâfetnâme genre of works that they mostly focus on the interpretation of the issue only for utilization purposes without referring to the theoretical part of the issue. Risâle-i Kıyâset-i Firâset (or İlm-i Firâset) work of Mustafa bin Bâlî, in contrast, is a “real” example of firâsetnâme in which the theory of the issue is also discussed. Another work discussing the theoretical aspects of the issue, albeit not so detailed, regular and systematic as this work, is the Firâset-name of Ta‘likîzâde Mehmed Subhî.
Ta‘likîzâde wrote his first work Firâset-name probably in 1574 Sultan Murad III came to the throne and presented his work to the Sultan. The only known copy of the work is in Bibliotheque Nationale, Turc. registered under number 1055. This work with 62 leaves was produced in nakkaşhane (painting department) of the palace and ornamented with four paintings in “Nakkaş Osman” style. Much as Firâset-name was mainly written in a prose style, poetic writings as regards the subject of the work were also included. Some of these texts were penned by Ta‘likîzâde personally in Arabic, Persian and Turkish, while others were cited from other works. The work begins with praise to Allah and his Prophet. This is followed by praises to Sultan Murad III to whom the work was attributed. The purpose of the firâset science, its target mass and necessity is focused on in the reason of publication chapter of the work. In this chapter, the author also provides information as to the purpose and process of his writing. The main text of the work is composed of muqaddimah and two chapters. Necessity, purpose, scope and methods of the firâset science have been tried to explained in the Muqaddimah (introduction) part by defining this science. Creation of existence and in particular living things has been explained primarily in the First chapter under the heading of “Tenbîh”. In addition, the characteristics of people living in various climate regions are described. The Second chapter is about the evidences for different temperaments. In this chapter, methods of making inferences about the character of a person by examining “ahlât” (four fluids which affect the human body), age, ef’âl (actions, works), hey’et and sûret (status and appearance), gender, ancestry and entitlement (lineage and existing material accumulation) as well as space, creation and limbs is explained.
There are numerous anecdotes cited in the work for different purposes. Kâyif anecdotes including Prophet Muhammad and determining the kinship between Zeyd bin Hârise and Usâme and the kâyif anecdote of the Jewish person who saw Prophet Muhammad and believed in his Prophecy are included in the work. In addition to these, there are other anecdotes from some leaders such as Alexander the Great, Nûşirevân, mother of Hajjaj the tyrant, Khalifa Me’mûn, Nizâmü’l-mülk Yavuz Sultan Selim, Damat Ibrahim Pasha as well as some scholars, such as Aristotle, Câlînûs, Imam Shafi, Imam Muhammad Sheybani, Imam Muhammad Ibn Sirin, Ibn Arabi, Al-Ghazali, Sadreddîn Konevî, Kâtibî and Kemal Paşazâde.
Ta‘likîzâde has compiled information from different sources as to firâset science while creating his work. The author has often not felt the need to specify the names of the sources he has utilized due to the understanding of the period. However from time to times he has also recorded the people or works he has utilized -in order to prove the truth of the information he has provided-.