Mehmed Tevfîk: Mevlid-i Sherif (Text-textual study)

Mevlid-i Sherif, the subject of this study, is a poetical work written in late 19th century. According to information we get from Ottoman archives, Mehmed Tevfik Efendi, the author of the book, lived in the last period of Ottoman Empire and worked as a teacher in various parts of Anatolia. He wrote Mevlid-i Sherif, the only book known to have been written by him, in Kozan Secondary School, while working there as an intern teacher. In this study we aim to examine this work of Mehmed Tevfik, one of the many poets in Turkish Literature who wrote mawlids [long poetical works praising Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) sometimes giving details from parts of his life] in order to express their feelings of love and reverence for prophet Muhammed (pbuh). In the study, Mevlid-i Sherif is examined in many aspects such as rhythm, harmony and linguistic and semantic qualities, the content and resources of the work is described and the script of Mevlid-i Sherif written in transcription alphabet is presented.