Nasimi's thought and effect in Comparative Literature in Foreign Resources
(Analyzing with Goethe's, S. Remiev’s and Dafydd ap Gwilym)

Introduction

Immadeddin Nasimi, the famous poet of Azerbaijan, known for his pseudonym Seyyid, gained a reputation for his thought and onward view in the 14th century and opened a significant breakthrough in terms of philosophy. Nasimi was a 14th century Azerbaijani or Turkmen Hurufi poet. Known mostly by his pen name of Nasimi, he composed one divan (collected poems) in Azerbaijani, one in Persian, and some verses in Arabic. Nasimi considered one of the greatest Azerbaijan and Turkish mystical poets. He lived in the late 14th and 15th centuries as one of the foremost ancient divan masters in the history of Turkish literature.

All reliable sources provide information that he was born in Baghdad in 1339, and he brutally martyred in the city of Aleppo in 1418. Immadeddin Nasimi uses names such as Nasimi, Seyyid Nasimi, Naimi, and Hosseini in many places by using various pseudonyms in his poems.

Nasimi influenced many people and artists in his period when he wrote poems in Azerbaijani Turkish, Persian, and Arabic, as well as shaping contemporary literature researchers. Even though there is little information about his Nasimi life, yet his style and poetry style, literary personality, poetry feature, bookish content, and thought direction make him alone sufficient to research and recognize him.

Nasimi, who became known with his Turkish language in his 14th century with his enthusiastic and lyrical poems, has become the focus of many foreign literature lovers and researchers of eastern literature. Careful to consideration of the content of his poems indicates that Nasimi has highly experience in terms of vocabulary. Just as it influenced the poets of the period, it also changed the poets of other periods. (Kummatova, 2016, pp. 86-88).

According to the information written in the Islamic Encyclopedia, he is considered one of the dervishes of Sheikh Shebli, and he took part in Fazlullah Hurufi, the leader of Hurufism in Iran, and later he served as his caliph. Of course, Nasimi's views died in the city of Damascus by order of El-Mueyyed Sheikh, and his body was left to create worship and fear for a week. (Azmi Bilgin, A. & others, 2015, pp. 3-5).

In order to research about Nesimi, it is necessary to find answers to important critical questions. Hence, the most important question, why does Nasimi's thoughts wind blow in today's world literature? Does Nasimi's literary personality or his intellectual view and human introduction and philosophical approach require research?.

The aim of the investigation is to analyze the philosophical, the mystical feature and the worldview aspects of Nasimi's poems in foreign sources. It examines the influence and common thinking style of other literatures on famous poets. In this context, the intellectual approaches and poems of Goethe, Dafydd ap Gwilym, Remiev are analyzed.

Methods

Articles and literary examples used the method of comparative analysis of various literary trends that dominated the mysticism symbol of the 16th till now centuries. (symbolism, mysticism, Sufism, Hurufism and divine poems). Preferred methods made it possible to think of the development of mysticism, Sufism and Hurufism, and literature at various levels, to analyze the interaction between history and literature, to isolate the primary and secondary lines in the literary process of the Hurufism operation that began in the 1430s.

The research on Nasimi, and especially on the thoughts of ideological effects, is one of the topics that need to be examined in various aspects of his works and thought in both Turkish and English, Russian, and German literature. The most appropriate way to explore the effects of personality, ideology, and literary identity is to use a matching-research methodology. Examining foreign sources and evaluating the poems of famous poets such as Goethe and other poets. Provide the basis for the correspondence between Turkish literature with German, Russian, and English literature.

Result

Considered one of the Seven Great Bard in the region's Shiite and Alevism sect, Nasimi was raised in the second half of the 14th century and accepted as one of the founding poets of Turkish Literature. There are many facts to be said about Nasimi's literary personality. Starting from the 14th century, he is among the Mathnavi poets of the next century. At the same time, great poets such as Kadi Burhaneddin and Ahmedi remained under his influence and used his thinking from his poems. Nasimi, who has a philosophical and lore view in the field of Turkish world literature, is essential in terms of both divan content and philosophy of life and is considered to be the owner of the critical content after Yunus Emre's collected poems. (Heß Reinhard, 2012, pp. 151-162).

Nasimi, who cares about Shiite, also it is said that Imam Ali reached the knowledge of the secrets in the verses of the Quran. Mohammad, the prophet of Islam, said that Imam Ali is a door of divine and holy sciences. When he gave Ali the nickname “the city of science,” he said that he was the owner of glazed and secret science, and this science was passed down from generation to generation by the most trusted people until the time of Imam Jafer Sadıq, and Fazlullah Hurufi arrived as a generation.

On the other hand, Nasimi says that the human face is the same as the manifestation of God, and the Lord’s beauties seen by mentioning the letters 28 and 32 in Arabic in his poems. Today, foreign researchers argue that it coincides with Socrates' idea of mimesis. (Gündüz & Sevimli, 2016, pp. 97-124).

In Nasimi's poems, it is straightforward to sense the emotion of enthusiasm as well as the spirit of fluttering. Nasimi's poetry, which evaluated in terms of Islamic ideological approach, is understood as the belief of evident and conscience (zahir u batin)and other names of Allah (Asma ul Husna). This approach seen in Celaleddin Muhammed Rumi, who lived at that time, and Nasimi is also known to be influenced by Rumi. The feature he follows in his poems is mostly to present itself correctly, to have the true love, to look for the right way. Even in ghazals and property, hymns and prayers always appear in the form of God.

Nasimi's poetry was not indifferent to esoteric beliefs, especially after he met Fazlullah Hurufi. The seven lines that Fazlullah found it sufficient to understand moral responsibilities and to solve divine secrets in his philosophy of life. Nasimi, believing that the mysteries of the Qur'an have resolved, is among the Hurufish dervishes, and even the most crucial issue is that he is a real Hurufi propagandist. As a result of this belief and understanding, many enthusiastic poems seen in Nasimi's second term life. (Andrews, 2014, p. 33) For example:

The sea circles boiled and overflowed. / The universe was angry as flood.
Secrets were evident. / How can the person withstand this situation?

Nasimi sees every aspect of life as a sea of lore in his poems and proves his words. In this context, it refers to the Qur'an and hadiths. Besides the Islamic Prophet, it understood that he was a Shiite because he wrote poems of Imam Ali and 12 Imams.

In the poems collected by Nasimi, there are 3 "Alif-name" (alphabet names), the main subject of the alphabet. In these Alif-names, all letters from "A" to "Z" have a numerical meaning. Sometimes the way messages are used also reversed. Another feature of Nasimi's poems is a sincere usage style. These poems are alive and always new. (Sadraddinova & Ahmadova, 2019, pp. 25-29) Although he skillfully uses the "Aruz."123 Pattern in his poem, it is understandable even in today's language and poetry understanding. Nasimi generally adopted the style of dialogue in his poems.

Nasimi is known as a poet who wrote poetry, but his poems also include Musammat(named, ycleped) and other styles of poetry. In Nasimi's poems, it suggested to enjoy life as well as to complain about the world. However, this pleasure should glorify man. In this context, when Nasimi's poems are analyzed, all the assets of life and even the human body features are considered. (Ayan, 2014, p. 72).

The most important prose work of Nesimi is “Mukaddimetu'l- Hakayık.”(Introduction to Through) In this work, Nasimi explains various religious subjects and writes in letters according to Hurufism. He wrote based on the work of Sheikh Fazlullah Hurufi's "Javidan-name." Many Nasimi researchers explain that this work has the full feature of the 14th century in terms of language and displays a translated work in style. (Ramazani, Mohammadzadeh, & Ebadi, 2013, pp. 59-67).

According to foreign researchers Nasimi

Nasimi, one of the rare artists and poets who left influential works and poems in the field of wisdom, meaningfulness, and philosophy in Turkish Literature, has been the focus of attention in today's conditions. Nasimi, in Central Asian countries, Egypt, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Pakistan, northern India, and working in Cairo Al Azhar library dissertation topic taught in Arabic. Nasimi research continues in universities, research institutes in European, Russian, and Scandinavian countries, which operate every day under the umbrella of Eastern Literature. Nasimi should be known as a Sufi poet, a prayer symbol, a master of fiqh, a guide of a sermon, and rhetoric and lore. Even Nasimi's literary personality and way of thinking play a guiding role in defining the Sufi sect regardless of the sectarian issue. He lived for about o century after Rumi but made a significant contribution to Rumi's Sufism. Nasimi put forward the "mind and creativity" style in the axis of thought as a philosophical approach.

Nasimi brought religious dynamism and philosophical thinking forward and kneaded with the art of speaking and dıscussion. In most of Nasimi's works, ideas, minds, spoken words, and philosophical issues were addressed by the method of explanation to understand the addresses. In most of Nasimi's poems, he talks about his lover's saga while talking to God. His lyrics are romantic, and literature about the art of speech used in the field of lore and mysticism usually done this way. Nasimi makes this method so skillfully that he takes his supreme ideal from "emotionality and unintentional beauty" to "spiritual beauty and rational will." In other words, it uses emotions, senses, and physical potentials in the whole human body as a means of spiritual realization and perfect people.

Although the concept of individuality and self appears in the foreground, the idea of “I” is seen as the primary source and primary dimension of emotions, thoughts, and being. In this context, Nasimi gives importance to self and individuality in the presence of man and uses sound hadiths and verses according to Islamic understanding. According to some researchers, Nasimi moves from the Sufi perspective on this subject and makes the "I" phenomenon on the "We" phenomenon. However, according to Nasimi, the beauty and presence of God manifest on the human face and tell the person who is the image of God, based on the Hurufian approach. As a matter of fact, according to Ibn al-Arabi, the Prophet Islam said, "Allah created Adam in His image."124 means. (İbn-i Arabî, 2011, pp. 48-51) Alternatively, in the other verse of the Qur'an, "I blew my soul."125 Durable reasons like this confirm this.

Nasimi uses the embodiment or reincarnation on the issue between man and God in the way of getting to know God, and his analogy takes advantage of the incentive factor (as in body form), as in all Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). The Christians were not able to see God; however, God becomes apparent in the body of Jesus. God becomes visible in the shape of Jesus. For this, the concept of trinity becomes essential in Christianity. Therefore, Christians defend the subject of God, Son, and Holy Spirit. They advocate that the Lord manifested in the body of Jesus, and they put forward Jesus as the grace of God. Although the Jews oppose this claim, this explained in many parts or verses of the Torah. The "perfect man" is described as the manifestation of God and explains that they are responsible for performing miracles in the Torah. While the sons of Israel tell their stories, they represent the terrible person as Satan and the good ones as those who bear the quality of God. Perhaps this is why the Western world literature research has received much attention in recent years, seeing a similarity with the inclusions in Christianity and Nasimi's human representation. (Alam Mehrjerdi & Shahir, 2012, pp. 5-30).

However, it is possible to understand the love between man and God in terms of Rumi but to understand and make sense of it through the Sufi liturgy. The answer Sufismgives to the question "what is man?” can only be obtained through the explanations of thinkers working in the field of mysticism. According to the human understanding of Sufi thought, "Man is nothing but trying to understand the universe, trying to conceive the secret in creation. The aim is to share divine and eternal love. It means that he wants to know God and surrender himself to his absolute will. When man realizes that this knowledge has come true, God is no exception to him. Therefore, the man does faith to God that God considered being the one the creator and owner of everything. Of all creatures, only the essence of human existence can sense the absolute beauty and goodness of God. If the task of the universe is to declare the power and the beauty of God, the mission of the man is to comprehend this power and beauty in the purest form. Thus, the man emerges as the ultimate cause of creation. He makes a bridge of cognition between the universe and God. It potentially sees itself as a mirror of God.” (Golkarian, 2018, pp. 423-430).

Goethe and Nasimi:

In the West-East divan (1819), J.W. Goethe, the most significant poet of Germany. Von Goethe presented a collection of Western and Eastern literature by presenting an eternal work. As it is known, Goethe with inspired by Mohammed Hafez Shirazi (1317-1390), a Persian poet who coincided with the Middle Ages and reflected his understanding and understanding of his poetry into his poems. Goethe, taking his artistic identity from Hafez, emphasized that wine, love, tolerance, and love of God are above all else in his poetry, and he combined himself with the Persian Sufi master. Goethe describes Hafez as a source of inspiration and explains his love for him under the name of "Zwillingsbruder" (twin sister).

Goethe was inspired not only by Hafez Shirazi but also from other poets. Among them are Ferdowsi, Anvari, Rumi, Saadi Shirazi, Mosque, and Nezami Ganjavi, especially Nasimi. Goethe knows the basics of Christianity and Greek philosophy, as well as the subject of Islamic philosophy and knowledge, along with Eastern classical literature, and did not hide his admiration as he read.

Hafez weighed on two sides of the truth, on one side, the truth and other side reality. However, in Nasimi's worldview, in addition to reflecting the thoughts of Hurufism, there are other themes, such as mystical themes, including thoughts of existential unity, Ghalandary, and Malamathy. (Azadi & Zahiri Nav, 2017, pp. 181-190).

While Goethe followed the subject of lore among Azerbaijani poets, he showed much interest in the Nasimi's world. He thought about Nasimi's word “placeless” by being influenced by the poem “I cannot fit in this world.” He saw Nasimi as a mystical form of the poetic brand of Hurufism and Nasimi, in which human and physical identity came together. In this context, Goethe realized that man has the same spiritual essence as God and wrote poems in this direction. (Marino, 2019).

The companion now rivers,
Silver lights fill the plains,
A voice rises from the springs,
The rivers of the mountain, the rivers of the plain,
Take us all in your bosom,
Bring us to your supreme Lord,
Next to the eternity Sea,
On the path of destiny,
Thousands of flags above his waving head,
Witnesses of the splendor,
By bringing his children to his Lord, It mixes with divine hope. (Goethe, 2012)

In this part of the Goethe collected poems, he metaphorically describes the word "La-mekan" (placeless), which is one of the attributes of Allah as "Eternity Sea." At the same time, he explains the depiction of nature and that it will not fit in this world with the phrase “Take us all in your bosom.”

Research on Goethe poetry and the world of Nasimi is inevitable. Due to the understanding of Goethe and Nasimi's mind, study and comparison action in the dual literature will be appropriate because it will both lead to enrichment in both writing and will have an impact on West-Eastern Classical literature. It will also reveal the nature and quantity of Western literature in parallel with the Eastern classical literature. Accordingly, any scientific study in comparative literature will inevitably shed light on the vision of the future literary world.

Nasimi and Segyt Remiev:

When looking at foreign sources, Nasimi traces can be seen even in Tatar literature. The Segyt Remiev, who is one of the essential names of Tatar literature, says that Nasimi is a critical Eastern Classical poet and Azerbaijani classical literature, especially the Imadeddin Nasimi poem, left much influence on Tatar literature.
Nasimi recounts his basic ideas, such as Godizing man by showing rebellion to the philosophy of Pantheism, which is rooted in his poems. Similarly, Segyt Remiev, who is famous in Tatar literature, remains under the influence of Nasimi and says in the view of the person who has soul and body, the world has no value and cannot fit into this world.

In the thought of Nasimi and Remiev, man becomes God, and they enter the path of personification of God. They not convinced of the sad life of the period they live in, but they also show their reactions in this way. They find the only way to get rid of the persecution and human grief in the love of God. Finally, they prefer to disappear in the form of God, and they try to explain the value of life in this way. When we compare the works of both, there are naturally essential differences, but it is evident that they have a standard and similar world view in many ways. Nasimi describes his rebellion with the following couplets:

Both worlds can fit within me, but in this world, I cannot fit.
I am the placeless essence, but into existence, I cannot fit.
The Universe is my verse; my instance is your life.
Know me by these signs; know that in signs, I cannot fit.
Through guess and doubt, no truth found
He who knows the truth knows that in guess I cannot fit
Look deeper into my form and try to understand the meaning
Being the body and the soul, in the soul, with a body, I cannot fit.
I am the secret treasure of all treasures; I am the evidence of all world,
I am the source of precious; in the depths of the sea, I cannot fit.

Nasimi clearly describes his intention and thought on the path of homo-Deus or deification in these poetry couplets. Segyt Remiev, like this, explains:

No, my heart is not accepted
Limited faith seems narrow to me.
Now that I am a Muslim
Ascension, stay narrow, narrow, belief?

Nasimi lost his life for thought and Hurufism. S. Remiev, in Tatar literature, also caused reactions with the path he started and his rebellious spirit. Because of the responses, his life filled with darkness. Remiev renewed the most beautiful traditions of Eastern Classical poetry in his Works. (Zaripova Cetin, 2016, pp. 1-10)

Although Remiev lived in a different period and years later, he continued his Nasimi path in a different social condition and set the concept of “I” to God. Rebellion motifs in his works gained a new power. Poets who took S. Remiev as an example in the following years were not few. For instance, Sh. Babic, M. Gafuri, H. Taktas, and many other poets.

S. Remiev, just like Nasimi, does not shrink people by talking about the greatness of his master in the poem “Allah.” In his Nasimi poems, he touches the glory of God and says that he is in the way of Allah and believes in him ultimately. “I found the truth in me; I was right, like my Lord, whose existence is certain and absolute."

He created. I- He, He- I:

In Seyyid İmmadeddin Nasimi's poems, both the use of images, the presentation of fantastic views, and the way of expression in the context of esoteric knowledge are becoming the attention point of today's local and foreign researchers. Especially the prominence of numbers and "ebcet."126 Figures in Nasimi poetry and also human-centered esoteric doctrine in “Enel-Hakk” code narration is very remarkable. When talking about esotericism, it is the system of in-depth knowledge and secrets about a subject, which is taught by those who are competent and subject master, by initiation. Although esotericism is not a system of religion or belief, it not regarded as a philosophical doctrine limited to intrinsic meaning or mode of communication.

Esotericism used as a Greek word to mean “in, internal,” and from the word “esoterics,” that is, “I see, I see the inner and hidden truths” corresponds to their meanings. This word derived from the word "eisotheo." In this context, people with esoteric knowledge do not reveal their truth and wisdom to everyone. They know their secrets only after an exceptional education, as a person and scientist, express their teachings in a suitable or highly understandable language for the awakening of society. Hurufism has already developed in this direction, and it is possible to see the same method of poetry and literature used by Nasimi.

Even in different mystical and religious movements that existed before Islam, it made sense to make sense of letters or numbers. The sections of the Torah, especially in Creation, Leviticus, Counting in the Desert(Bemidbar), and Repetition of the Law, which included in the Old Testament and the Bible, reconsidered as glazed and esoteric. The Christian and Jewish esotericists are known these matters as well. The number 19 among the prime numbers in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which are called the Religious religions (Abrahamic religions), is considered as the holy number. (Old Testament, 2002, pp. 157-210) The formation of a system above 19 created by the Jewish rabbi, Rabbi Judah, who lived in the 11th century. His work was published in 1978 by the University of California under the name "Studies in Jewish Mysticism." (Shihiyeva, 2008, s. 1505-1534)

Considering the Islamic sources, the phrase “Müddessir,” which is the 74th Sura of the Quran, means 19 in the 30th verse of the Sura, which means wrapped and hidden. Also, even the completion of the “Basmala” by finding the Sura of 114 is 114 times, and the number of 619, which has 114 multipliers, and the number of 619, which draws attention, is the prime number of the 114. (Nuri Öztürk, 2011, pp. 576-602)

The syncretic structure by Fazlullah Astarabadi127 (Hurufi) has turned into a mystery puzzle with the Islamic understanding polish, as a philosophical understanding. Before that, although all the great Sufis and scholars spoke of the letters, some of them understood the subject but did not explain it; because the conditions and ground were not suitable. No-one turned letters into a human-centered teaching tool before Hurufism. Therefore, Nasimi, one of the Hurufi poets who gave great importance to the notes in divan and dervish literature, has been evaluated primarily in terms of meaning and letters and numbers with the contribution of Nasimi. (Bayat, 2006, pp. 62-71)

As it is understood, Nasimi embraced the science of wisdom and secret science in the culture and belief of literature with poetry, full skill, experience, and skillfulness and tried to explain the hidden truths of the Semavian religions as his responsibility. However, when looking at the content of his poems, he drew attention to today's Western world researchers by emphasizing four essential elements with his esoteric system understanding. 1) Everything is God. 2) Everything is a letter. 3) Everything is human. 4) Everything is an element.

In this context, similar points of Western world researchers emerge. Indeed, the sentences initially written as the Divine Word of the Bible book refer to "Words and letters": (John, 2010, pp. 3-62)

In the beginning, was the Word. The word was with God. Everything existed through Him; nothing existed without it. Life was in him, and life was the light of people. The sun shines in the dark. Darkness could not defeat him.

Dafydd ap Gwilym and Nasimi:

English poet, Nigel Humphreys, is one of the people who can transfer Nasimi's thought to English literature by comparing the poems of Imaddedin Nasimi with Dafydd ap Gwilym, one of the medieval poets. In his research entitled “Dafydd ap Gwilym and Imaddedin Nasimi's poem,” by making comparisons between the two poets, by mentioning many common points in Nasimi's poems, the belief that both of them are at the center of God's creation and the concept of “self” to have the idea of human life. It expresses that it is the purpose of the divine. Though this approach is difficult to accept for some and even seems to create shirk, it emphasizes that understanding the love of God in human form as the ore of human creation can only be understood in the philosophical view of Nasimi and Dafydd.

Dafydd ap Gwilym (1315-1370), as one of the leading Welsh poets, is among the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages. He was born in Ceredigion in a noble family and continued his poetry tradition as a professional poet in his family. Many poems have attributed to him for centuries; it visible 170 of his poems have been carried to now. (Huw Meirion, 2018, pp. 72-83)

Although the main themes in his poems are about love and nature, he described as the poet of Europe in his later poetry, and he transformed his feelings and experiences into lyrics with social content with his “I” axis approach. Dafydd's poems are mainly unprecedented in-depth or complexity in Welsh or European literature. (Gwyn, 1998, pp. 227-241)

As like Nasimi, Dafydd is a mystical poet, that poets dedicated to the tradition of the world of poetry, and his poems read along with the oud instrument like poets in Turkish literature. Nature, like Nasimi, preserves the love of God and the love of reaching the truth by emphasizing individual objects, and even if the poems he says have come from the Middle Ages until today, it is still considered a meaningful and cryptic poem.

For this reason, they are accessible and liked as poems with content. In one of the poems, says: (Humphreys, The poetry of Dafydd ap Gwilym and Imaddadin Nesimi, 2013)

Take care, stay clear of ‘I am.'
I prayed, not in a loud way,
But in secret like one in dismay
And by the might of intense prayer
In Jesus’s faithful care,
I had escaped, thanks to the saints,
Furthermore, I beg the Lord for forgiveness.

When comparing the poems of Nasimi and Tatar, German and British poets, it is evident in the eyes of all that the world is not essential and the truth they are looking for not found in the world they live. In their words, instead of fostering hopes of reaching God and making life seem pointless, they describe the permanent world and living with their passwords.

For example, S. Remiev does not lose hope with these words:

Maybe the wind changes,
Furthermore, the work is a sweet time.

Moreover, in another poem, Dafydd ap Gwilym uses the same expression:

Whether the bowls fall or the cups break,
There will be a drop of water to drink,
A piece of stale bread to be found
Our way ends only with it.

Nasimi describes the essence of the word in these couplets:

We have a world other than this world
This realm is the image of the real world, and we will exist in the real world.
Existence is absolute and will always be
This is our life that has become our World

Conclusions

Nasimi believes that everything is from God and defends the thought that he will return to him. Man manifests the whole existence of God, and even man is the image, mimesis, and face of God in the world. Nasimi's wise style requires the search for communication between man and God not only in words but also in himself. It draws attention to the fact that God (Constable, 2012) is an example of God in itself.
Still, he behaves according to the Islamic and Christian understanding and says that man represents God. Because Man carries the spirit of the Lord, in other words, according to both Nasimi and Goethe and others, the honest man is the manifestation of God.

With this thought and understanding, he describes human beings' love for God, not verbally but behaviorally. Nasimi sees death as martyrdom and does not believe that everything ends with death. In his opinion, death is the beginning and birth of a new life, and with death comes the old way to the end, and the Spirit reaches God, so that man reaches his true love. All suffering and troubles tolerated in the material world are not unfortunate. Instead, this is the essence of reality. Besides sweetness, there must be bitterness. There should also be thorns next to the flower. The important thing is to use both to reach a lord. Nasimi sees Man as the like of a God and therefore reflects the scream of "Enal-Hakk" (I am truth).

This approach emphasized in the holy Psalter, The Bible, Torah, and Qur'an, especially Rumi's Mathnavi. It coincides with the way of thinking of poets who believe this. Therefore, it is possible to see Nasimi traces when looking at foreign sources.