Abstract
Forty Hadith Written in Verse by Lutfî, A Poet of the 16th Century
Forty hadith, originally found in the Arabian literature
followed by the Persian and Turkish literature, has a
significant place amongst the religious genres. “Those who
learn by heart forty hadiths on the commandments of Islam
for my community shall be resurrected by Allah on the Day
of Judgement as scribes and scholars”, a hadith from Prophet
Muhammad, has become the starting point for writing
such kind of works. Many Turkish poets have showed great
enthusiasm in forty hadith and have written a number of
significant and influential literary works in the forms of
prose and verse or a combination of both as of the 14th century.
Many prominent authors of the Turkish literature
such as Nevayi, Fuzuli, Nev’i, Latifi, Hakani, and Nabi
have compiled forty hadiths. Some works on forty hadith in
the form of both books and articles have been written so far
and some examples of the genre have been revealed and the
literature of forty hadiths has been enriched by these new
discoveries. Forty hadith compiled by Lutfi to be covered in
this paper is also one of such works which were previously
unknown. The compilation of Lutfi, who reportedly lived
in the 16th century, consists of 40 stanzas and 59 couplets,
and it is strictly considered to be a classic work based on its
structure. In this work, a brief introduction to forty hadiths
will be provided followed by providing information on
Lutfi’s biography and then the aforesaid forty hadiths will
be introduced and the full text will be provided.
Keywords
Forty hadiths, poem, stanza, Lutfi, 16th century.