Reflections on the poet's nature (tab') in 16th-century divans and biographical dictionaries

In this study, starting from how the concept of yaradılış (nature of the poet), which defines a poet's character, temperament, and poetic talent, was used in 16th-century şuara tezkireleri (biographical dictionaries) the way this concept was treated in the divans of five 16th-century poets has been examined. The thesis, consisting of two main chapters excluding the introduction and conclusion, focuses on the following works written in the 16th century: Heşt Behişt, Tezkiretü'ş-Şuʿarâ ve Tabsıratü'n-Nuzamâ, Meşâ'irü'ş-Şuʿarâ, Tezkiretü'ş-Şuʿarâ, Gülşen-i Şuʿarâ, Tezkiretü'ş-Şuʿarâ, and the tezkire section of Künhü'l-Ahbâr. Inspired by these works, the terms "tab', tabîat, istidâd, mizâc, nihâd, nijâd, meşreb, hilkat/hulk, haslet/hasâil, hûy/hû, tînet/tıynet, fıtrat, sirişt, cibiliyet, mâye, hamîr, şân ve pîşe" have been surveyed in the divans of Fuzûlî, Hayâlî, Muhibbî, Taşlıcalı Yahyâ, and Bâkî. This study first examines the significance of the concept of yaradılış in the tezkires, how it was treated by their authors, and how the five poets at the focus of the thesis were portrayed. Using these insights, the study then explores how the notion of yaradılış is reflected in their divans. Furthermore, it identifies the similarities and differences between the tezkires and the divans, particularly analyzing how each poet approached the concept of yaradılış within the broader context of poetics. In doing so, the study opens a discussion on the reasons behind the subtle or significant variations in how these five 16th-century poets conceptualized yaradılış.