Sudi?s Şerh-i Divan-i Hafiz: Words-symbols-concepts

Sudi is an author who lived in the 16th century and wrote three annotation (şerh) about the classical sources of Persian literature. These are: Hafız-ı Şirazi Divanı, Sadi?s (Sadi of Şiraz) Bostan and Gulistan.These books are widely read not only in İran but also in Anatolian region. Şirazi?s Divan and Sadi?s Bostan and Gulistan were translated into many world languages. Their translations and commentaries into Turkish were made many times.This study examines Şerh-i Divan-ı Hafız which was prepared by Sudi of Bosnia and was valued highly by many scholars. The text is the only published one among the Hafız?s Divans. Other annotations (şerhs) have only manuscripts in the libraries.Dictionary meaning of şerh is to split, to uncover and to separate. But its meaning in Turkish literature is to give the real and metaphoric meanings of words and to explain the meaning of terms and idioms used at that time in order to make a literary work more understandable. The person who does the work of all the explanation and annotation is named annotator (şarih).Before annotation of the texts the orginal text is written. Then, the meaning of words and expressions are explained. The conjugation of the verbs and the function of the affixes are explained. Later, the general meaning of the couplet is given. In addition to these; the type of the verse, prosody (aruz), rhyme and rhetoric are partly dealt with in the annotation of the verse. Moreover, the annotator gives place to literary criticism in his work which he did to other annotations.In the annotation of the Persian works, the primary issue is to reveal the parts that need explanation. Other parts seem to be a translation prepared in detail. In this type of works, the main purpose is to teach the language itself. However, the annotators sometimes use mystic interpretations and rhetoric to make the text clear. This situation is also observed in Sudi?s work.This study consists of two parts. The introduction part covers the life of Sudi and his works and literary personality. The first section gives some explanatory information about the annotations of Hafız Divan in Turkish literature. In addition, the work of Sudi?s Şerh-i Divan-ı Hafız is investigated linguistically and semantically. Then, the criticism that the annotator made to other annotators is classified. In the second section; some words, expressions and symbols that have literary value are ordered alphabetically. For the sake of brevity, a limited number of couplet is given.