Abstract
Cercis in Classical Turkish Literature and A Parable Found in A Journal: A Story of Cercis the Sage
Classical Turkish literature has been greatly nourished
by and gained a richness of meaning from historical and
philosophical sources, especially religious texts such as the
Qur’an and hadiths, positive sciences such as medicine and
astronomy, mythology and narratives of ancient cultures
such as Persian, Indian and Arab cultures. Ancient
religious texts were also used in this way, many
personalities whose religious and mythical aspects are
intertwined have been included in the works. One of the
religious and legendary heroes mentioned is Cercîs.
Cercis, about whom there is no information in the
sources of the Qur'an and reliable hadith, appears as a
righteous servant or prophet mainly in legendary texts. In
particular, the fact that he did not return from the path of
Allah despite the tortures he suffered and that he was killed
many times, but was resurrected by the grace of Allah are
the highlights of the Cercis story.
Although he was a person who was extremely suitable
for both religious-Sufi and metaphorical love content in
terms of religion or dying for his love, his name was not
given much space in classical texts because of his legendary
side. However, it can be said that it was covered by great
poets such as Yunus Emre, Aşık Pasha, Ahmadi, Zati,
Naili; in classical period texts, it was used as a symbol that
died on the path of love in both divine and metaphorical
love, but was resurrected, and even in prose, its stories
were brought to the body. In this study, the legendary personality of Cercis was
briefly mentioned and his place in classical Turkish
literature was emphasized. In addition, a story that was
found in a manuscript registered in the National Library
and told about the legendary life of Cercis was discussed in
detail, and after the text was analyzed as content, the
translation was transferred to Latin letters by writing.
Keywords
Cercîs, parable, religious and legendary texts, prose.