Abstract
ABSTRACT Tahir al-Mevlevî (Olgun), who is the subject of this study, lived in istanbul (1294- 1370/1877-1951) as a man of letters, scholar and sufi. He lived in a period which observed the late days of Ottoman Empire and the early days of Republic and wrote poems in the style of classical school of poetry (Divan). Tahir al-Mevlevî, grovvn up in a family vvhich was connected to Ottoman Palace and Mevlevi order and graduated from schools such as Hekimbaşı Ömer Efendi Mek¬ tebi, Gülhane Askeri Rüşdiyesi (Military high school) and Menşe-i Küttâb-ı Askerî Mek¬ tebi. Next to his offical education he also special courses in Arabic, Persian, Mesnevî, Futuhât-ı Mekkiye ete., from different and famous scholars of the time, such as sheikh of Galata Mevlevî-hane Es'ad Dede Efendi, Filibeli Muhammed Rasim Efendi, Sheikh Mustafa Tunusî and Mehmed Akif Ersoy. He served as a teacher of letters rhetoirc, recitation (inşâd), Islamic history and Persian about 40 years, in different schools such as Burhan-ı Terakki, Rehnümây-ı Füyuzât Daru'ş-Şafaka, Maltepe and Kuleli Military high schools ete. He also starded his civil servent profession at Bab-ı Seraskeri (offices of the Mi- nister of War) in 1892 and retired in 1923 from Orman and Ziraat Nezareti (Minister of Forestry and Agriculture). Meantime, he interested in press and puplished different nevvspapers such as Resimli Gazete Rehber-i Vatan and Mahfil. He also established a library which is called Tahir Dede Library and made puplications en Mevleviyye Order. Tahir al-Mevlevî, as a result of his family circles and his master Esad Dede Efendi was connected to the sheikh of Yenikapı Mevlevi-hane Mehmed Celaleddin Dede Efendi, in 1312/1894 and this he became a member of Mevleviyye Order. Then he en- tered on a 1001 day novitiate and gained the title of Dede and acquired a diploma (icazet) for teaching Mesnevi. He approaches and explaines the sufi subjects from an orthodoq perspective and in a sheria-order (şeriat-tarikat) context. in this respect he can be regarded as a Sufi who his a vahdet-i vücud understanding..270-He vvrites poems both in prosody and syllabic meter. He also vvrites daily articles on different subjects of the day. in these articles he defends islam couaregeously and uses a severe language towards hes opponents. Unfortunately, many of his vvorks are unpublished and the topics he deals with can be classifed as, Islamic History, Letters and Sufism. There is also some transla- tions from Arabic and Persian into Turkish. His book Şerh-i Mesnevi can be regarded as the most impertant commentary on the vvorks and poems of famous figures of histo- ry of letters, such as Baki, Taşlıcalı Yahya Bey, Fuzuli, Nefî ete. To sum up, Tahir al-Mevlev, with his career poems and other scholarly vvorks was regarded by the circles of literatures and scholars as a great man of letters and also Sufi. He deid in 1951 and buried at Yenikapı Mevlevi-hane next to his mother's grave in İstanbul..271.
