A critical review on Müntehabât-i Mesnevî by Mehmed Şükrü

Masnavi-i Ma'navi, a masterpiece of Mevlana Calaluddin Rumi from the 13th. century, is one of the greatest works of Islamic spiritual belles lettres. This work has influenced millions of people since the time it was scripted and many exegetical studies have been made. One of the paraphrastic studies on the work is Müntehabât-ı Mesnevî. The commentator tries to paraphrase 231 couplets from the Masnavis' first volume. This thesis consists of a prologue and three parts. First, we summarize the tradition of exegeses made on the book in Turkish so far. Then, Seyyid Mehmed Şükrü, and his works are listed after brief information on his biography. Lastly, the work mentioned is transliterated into today's Turkish alphabet. Regarding the content of the author's book, some points about the Islamic mysticism and moral conduct/ahlak are made and the method is essentially didactic and informative. Throughout the book basic concepts related to the Islamic view of the creation such as image, significance, sagacious, sincerity, barratry, universe of existence, universe of the invisible world, singleness, multitude, patience, trust in God, knowledge are explained in depth with examples. Key words: Mevlana, Seyyid Mehmed Şükrü, Müntehabat-ı Mesnevi, Islamic Sufism, Commentary