Love for the ahl al-bayt in Nesîmî's Turkish Divan

Sayyid Nesîmî, a poet of classical Turkish literature from the 14th-15th century Azeri period, has made a name for himself from his time until today. Nesîmî distinguishes himself from other poets with his interest in Hurufism, founded by Fazlullah Esterabadi. Known for his Hurufism, the poet frequently explored this theme in his poems. In addition to Hurufism, Nesîmî also addressed themes such as love of God, love of the Prophet, love of the Ahl al-Bayt, love, and Sufism in his poems. When we examined the poems in Nesîmî's Turkish Divan, we saw that he drew heavily on Islamic culture, verses from the Quran, hadiths, and Sufi knowledge. If we were to group Nesîmî's poems under three main headings, they would appear as poems with Hurufism themes, poems with themes of God, the Prophet, and the Ahl al-Bayt, and poems with themes of love. In preparing this study, we sought to examine poems in Nesîmî's Turkish Divan that emphasized love for the Ahl al-Bayt. We utilized Hüseyin Ayan's work, "Nesîmî's Life, Literary Personality, Works, and a Critical Text of the Turkish Divan," as our most important source. As a result of our study, we observed that the poems in Nesîmî's Turkish Divan display a profound love and devotion for the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his Ahl al-Bayt. Key Words: Classical Turkish literature, Nesîmî, Hz. Muhammad, love of Ahl al-Bayt, Twelve Imams.