Folklore elements in the novels written about Ahmet Yesevî

There are some figures who lived centuries ago, and even after centuries, these figures have still shaped our world of knowledge, wisdom and thought. Indeed, one of these figures is Ahmet Yesevi. His service to Islam and humanity has reached today by crossing all borders from Central Asia to Anatolia and from there to the Balkans. Born in Sayram town located near Shymkent of Turkestan, Ahmet Yesevi is called with epithets such as Pîr-i Türkistân (Father of Turkestan), Sultânü'l-Evliyâ (Sultan of Saints) and Hâce-i Türkistân (Master of Turkestan). Hodja Ahmet Yesevi and the Yesevi culture he represented have reached numerous interlocutors in Anatolia and the Balkans within the line of Bukhara, Bursa and Bosnia. Yesevi order and Ahmet Yesevi were reflected in almost all literary genres rather than being only a sufi doctrine. In this study, we attempted to analyze how folklore elements are reflected in the novels that take Ahmet Yesevi as the subject in Anatolia. In our analysis, we detected that the anecdotes (menkıbe) related to Ahmet Yesevi were mostly discussed. We found out that these anecdotes have frequently used the miracles he showed. The most important one in these anecdotes is the "date" anecdote. We have also detected how his wisdom is reflected in novels. In our study, we also discussed these miracles in detail. While some of the novelists preferred a poetic discourse, others preferred fictional narrative. In this study, the reflections of Ahmet Yesevi and the culture of Yesevi order in Turkish novel shall be emphasized.