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originalworks.Gulşehri’sfourteenthcenturytranslationofthePersianpoet
FeridüddiniAttar’smasterpieceMantiku’tTayr(TheLanguageofBirds;an
allegoricaltalewithinataleofbirdsinsearchofmysticunion)isacaseinpoint:
thisversionissaidtooweitsexcellenceand‘originality’towhatthetranslator
contributedtotheoriginalintheformoftalesfromothersourcesandmaterialof
hisowncomposition;andthishedidwithoutdamagingtheunityofAttar’s
work,whichitselfwasapoetic‘elaboration’oftheArabicRisalatalTayr
(StoriesofBirds)byGhazzali.
TheworkofAhmediDai,translator,poet,scholarandcourttutor,provides
furtherexamples.Daiisdescribedintheliteraryhistoriesnotasatranslatorbut
asapoetandscholar,onthebasisofhistwocollectionsofpoetryinArabic
andPersian.ButofhisnineproseworksinTurkish,allweretranslationsexcept
Teressül(CopybookforWriting),aguidetoformalandinformal
correspondence,knownasthefirstbookonTurkishcomposition.Amonghis
prosetranslations,themostimportantwasthefirstTurkishversionofthehighly
reveredcommentaryontheQur’ānbyEbu’lLeysiSemerkandi,followedby
anannotatedtranslationofAyetulkursi(the256thverseofthesecondSuraof
theQur’ān),whichincludedaglossary,hagiographies,andmoralitytalesof
Dai’schoiceandcomposition.OthersweretranslationsofOneHundred
Hadithî(holysayings)oftheProphetMuhammedandTibbinebeví(The
Prophet’sMedicalAdvice),acollectionofhissayingsonhygieneanddisease.
ThelastwasaparttranslationofEbuNaimHafiziIsfahani’sKitabu’şşifafi
ahadisi’lMustafa(TheBookofRemedies),whichitselfwasbasedonthe
PersiansummaryversionbyImamAhmedb.YusufetTifasi.
AhmediDai’sdiscussionsofthestrategiesheusedarehighlyinformativeand
revealing.InhisprefacetoMiftahu’lcennet(KeytoHeaven,aguideto
virtuousIslamicliving)Daiclaimedtohave‘composed[thetext]ineight
sections’(Tekin1992:40–41;translated),i.e.gaveitadifferentformfromthat
oftheArabicoriginal.Elsewhere,intheprefacetohistranslationofFeridüddini
Attar’sTezkiretu’levliya(BiographiesoftheEvliya–Muslimsaints),hestated
thathehad‘liked[thework]somuchthat[he]couldnothelptranslating
it’(ibid.:45)althoughithadalreadybeenrenderedfromPersianintoTurkish.
Daiwasthusengagedinsomeformof‘rewriting’,anestablishedpracticewhich
hadlongbeenpopularinEasterncultures.ButDaireferstoalltheseworksas
‘translations’,includinganothertwo‘translations’heundertook,onefrom
Persian(NasiriTusi’sRisaleisifasl ,‘BookofThirtyChapters’,atreatiseon
astrologyandthecalendar),andEbuBekrbinAbdullahelVasiti’sKitabu’t
ta’birname,‘BookofInterpretations’(ofdreams),originallyinArabic.Inhis
prefaces,someofwhichwerewritteninverse,heindicatedthesourcetextsand
anyothertextsheused,explainedwhyhehadtranslatedthem,gavehisnameor
pseudonym,andgenerallynamedhispatrons,theprinceswhocommissioned
themortowhomtheywerededicated.
OfthetranslationsthatDaiproducedentirelyinverse,themostinterestingishis
rhymingArabic–Persiandictionaryin650couplets.Thisisashorterversionof
ReşidüddiniVatvat’s‘ukudu’lcevahir(StringsofJewels),whichinsome
manuscriptshadtheTurkishequivalentswrittenininterlinearform.The
dictionarywasdesignedtohelpteachDai’syoungpupil,PrinceMurat,and
servednotonlyasalexiconbutalsoasaguidetotheTurkishformsofthe
(classicalArabic–Persian)aruzmetre.Dai’smostimportantversetranslationis
Çengname(TheBookofÇengLyre,anallegoricalstoryoftheOrientallyre)
which,asheexplained,waspartlyatranslationofthePersianpoetSadi’s
mesnevi(nowlost)bythesametitle,expandedwithversesbyDaihimself.His
translationofCamasbname(TheBookofJamasb)byNasiriTusi,alsoa
Persianpoet,wasinthegenreof‘MirrorforPrinces’,moralitytaleswrittenas
counselforrulers.Fromthefourteenthcenturyonward,theincreasing
popularityof‘MirrorforPrinces’andofthenarrativemesneviforminrhyming
coupletsledtomoretranslationsinthesamegenre.
Otherwellknownexamplesfromthefourteenthandfifteenthcenturiesinclude
KulMesud’smainlyprosetranslationofKelileveDimne(KelileandDimne,
animalfablestranslatedfromtheArabicversion,itselfatranslationfromPersian,
originallywritteninSanskrit),Şeyhoğlu ’sMarzubanname(TheBookof
Marzuban–Governor,acollectionofPersiananimalfablescombinedwithtales
ofkings