Abstract
“Blessed” Gazelle Motif in Rumi’s Diwan
Deer is one of the most important motifs of Turkish
culture. In the pre-Islamic period, it was accepted as totem
among the Turks and was believed to be a "blessed"
animal. Over time, various myths and legends about deer
have emerged and these narratives have been passed down
from generation to generation among Turks who have a
verbal culture. Deer, which was thought to be connected
with God, was generally accepted as a benevolent animal.
Deer, which is one of the indispensable motifs of carpets,
rugs and lithographs, has gradually started to abandon its
mythological character with the acceptance of Islam by the
Turks. It is an oppressed game animal that escaped from
the hunter in the deer epics that emerged in the Anatolian
field in the 14th century, but it miraculously came to the
fore and approved Prophet Muhammad. In Ottoman
poetry, the deer is completely stripped of its mythological
features and is replaced by a smaller species, ahu, the
gazelle. With the beauty of his eyes and the scent of musk,
ahu became one of the most sought-after elements of simile
by Ottoman poets. In addition to the ahu image presented
with eyes and musk in the diwan of Rumi, one of the 13th
century sufi poets, there is also a gazelle motif bearing
traces of Central Asian Turkish culture. The relevant
couplets in the diwan were determined and the motif of
"blessed gazelle" was analyzed. The elements represented
by this image have been revealed and the mystical
meanings it points to have been tried to be explained.
Keywords
Rumi, Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi, deer, gazelle, image, motif, Turkish mythology.