Yunus Emre, (born c. 1238, Turkey—died c. 1320, Turkey), was a poet and mystic who exercised a powerful influence on Turkish literature.
Though legend obscures the facts of his life, he is known to have been a Sufi who sat for 40 years at the feet of his master, Tapduk Emre. Yunus Emre was well versed in mystical philosophy, especially that of the 13th-century poet and mystic Jalāl ad-Dīn ar-Rūmī. Like Rūmī, Yunus Emre became a leading representative of mysticism in Anatolia but on a more popular level; he was venerated as a saint after his death.
His poems, which are devoted mainly to the themes of divine love and human destiny, are characterized by deep feeling. He wrote in a straightforward, almost austere style and mainly in the traditional syllabic metre of Anatolian folk poetry. His verse had a decisive influence on later Turkish mystics and inspired the poets of the renaissance of Turkish national poetry after 1910.
He was a contemporary of Rumi (as well as of Khusrau). Rumi composed his collection of stories and songs for a well-educated urban circle of Sufis, writing primarily in the literary language of Persian. Yunus Emre, on the other hand, traveled and taught among the rural poor, singing his songs in the Turkish language of the common people.
A story is told of a meeting between the two great souls: Rumi asked Yunus Emre what he thought of his great work the Mathnawi. Yunus Emre said, "Excellent, excellent! But I would have done it differently." Surprised, Rumi asked how. Yunus replied, "I would have written, 'I came from the eternal, clothed myself in flesh, and took the name Yunus.'" That story perfectly illustrates Yunus Emre's simple, direct approach that has made him so beloved.
(Source:
Britannica, etc)
Ben yürürüm yane yane
aşk boyadi beni kane
ne âkilem ne divâne
gel gör beni aşk neyledi
I’m walking, my heart ablaze...charred I’m burning!
Love painted me blood red.
left me neither sane nor mad
come, see what Love did to me
Gâh eserim yeller gibi
gâh tozarim yollar gibi
gâh akarim seller gibi
gel gör beni aşk neyledi
Sometimes as the winds, I whirl
at times as dust on the path, I drift
sometimes as swift as a flood,
come, see what Love has done to me
Miskin Yunus biçâreyim
dost ilinden âvâreyim
baştan ayaga yâreyim
gel gör beni aşk neyledi
Destitute Yunus, mystic of sorrow,
a wanderer in the Friend's realm
wounded from head to toe.
Come, see what Love has done to me
