Şem'î Şem'ullâh's Commentary on Gulistan (Analysis and Critical Edition)

Gülistân of the renowned Persian poet Sa'dî of Şiraz holds an important place in Classical Turkish Literature. The work, which was translated and annotated numerous times, was used as a textbook in Ottoman madrasas. Şerh-i Gülistân by Şem'î Şem'ullâh is a Turkish commentary written in the 16th century on Sa'dî's Gülistân. It is also the first commentary produced by Şemʿî, authored many Turkish commentaries on Persian classics during his lifetime. In this study, the critical edition of Şerh-i Gülistân has been prepared and examined. The introduction outlines the commentary tradition and provides a general framework for Turkish Commentary Literature. The first chapter presents information about Sa'dî, the author of the Gülistân, and Şem'î, its commentator; the second chapter analyzes the content of the work and focuses on Şem'î's commentary method. In the third chapter, a critical edition of the text has been produced on the basis of the manuscripts registered in the Manisa Manuscript Library under number 2620 and in the Süleymaniye Manuscript Library, Nuruosmaniye Collection, under number 4046. This study thoroughly examines Şem'î's Şerh-i Gülistân, which was among the most widely read and copied commentaries of its time and later periods, establishes its critical edition, and aims to determine its place within Turkish commentary literature.