Süleyman Nazîf – A Multi-Faceted Personality

Author(s): SYED TANVIR WASTI

Source: Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 50, No. 3 (May 2014), pp. 493-508
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24583555
Accessed: 05-01-2024 23:35 +00:00

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

Taylor & Francis, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Middle Eastern Studies

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Middle Eastern Studies, 2014 j-j R0Ut|ecjqe
Vol. 50, No. 3,493-508, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00263206.2014.886571

Süleyman Nazîf - A Multi-Faceted

Personality
SYED TANVIR WASTI

Ready wit and repartee as well as a sense of incisive humour are not qualitie
one might immediately associate with the traditional image of the Vali, the s
and sedate Ottoman governor of a large province, immaculately dressed in reding
and fez and sitting in his ornate office with silk carpets and hand-carved furnitu
handing out commands to a large retinue. Governors in the late Ottoman Em
were, by and large, very well-educated people, with a high level of compete
Arabic, Persian and French, and usually with an exceptional facility in the u
Ottoman Turkish.1 In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many illustr
writers, poets and journalists were inducted (at least for lengthy periods) int
cadres of the Ottoman foreign and civil services.2
The objective in this article is to introduce in outline the life and works of a h
ranking Ottoman Turkish civil servant who, when governor of the large provinc
Baghdad in 1914, received the following telegram from Military Headquart
'Procure and despatch to us 100,000 okes3 of sugar, 500,000 okes of flour and
okes of tea immediately.' The governor dictated the following reply to be cab
once: 'A telegram meant to be forwarded to the Emperor of China has inadverten
been directed to my office. No responsibility can be accepted in the matter.' This
the famous Süleyman Nazîf, who was poet, journalist, political activist and w
addition to his mundane civil service appointments.
Süleyman Nazîf was the son of Said Pasha, and was born in Diyarbakir4 in
Not only was the strategically located city an important cultural centre even in O
man times, but Said Pasha, his father Süleyman Nazîf (whose name was later
to the grandson) and his grandfather Ibrahim Cehdî were educated Ottoman
servants who were also writers. Said Pasha, in addition to other writings, ha
behind a small divan6 of poetry; two of his sons, Süleyman Nazîf and his br
Faik Ali,7 and a grandson, Munis Faik Ozansoy, are all recognized as major po
their time in the Turkish language. In his monumental work on Turkish poets of
last century,8 ibnü'l Emin Mahmud Kemal Inal9 devotes separate sections to C
Nazîfs grandfather Süleyman, his father Said Pasha, his brother Faik Ali a
chapter to Süleyman Nazîf himself, thus establishing beyond doubt the uniqu
tribution of this family to Turkish literature. Inal was especially fortunate in be
well-acquainted with Süleyman Nazîf and, for this chapter, asked Nazîf direct

© 2014 Taylor & Francis

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
494 S T. Wasti

personal information. Nazîfs written reply has been incorporated

book.10
As Said Pasha held a succession of important positions such as chief secretary and
also that of Mutasarrif,u Siileyman Nazîf was given a private education in Arabic,
Persian and Ottoman Turkish. He also took lessons in French from an Armenian,
whose name in English would be rendered as Alexander Gregorian.12 After the death
of Said Pasha in 1892, Siileyman Nazîf took up employment in the office of the gov
ernor of Diyarbakir. He became secretary to the local council, was put in charge of
the press and also became an editor of the paper Diyarbakir Gazetesi.13 In 1896
Siileyman Nazîf left Diyarbakir for Istanbul but, like others before him, found the
political atmosphere of the Ottoman capital confining and escaped to Paris in 1897.
He stayed eight months in Paris, joined the Young Turks, began writing articles for
the newspaper Mechveret,14 produced by Ahmed Riza,15 which opposed the policies
of Sultan Abdülhamid, and also authored two small booklets, published privately.
One was on his literary model, the poet Namik Kemal,16 and the other was called
Malûm-u ilâm (The Known Verdict, or Announcing what is Known).17
In his essay on Namik Kemal, written about ten years after that poet's death,
Siileyman Nazîf points out that his weak pen is unequal to the huge task he has
undertaken, but that his aim is just to pay his respects to his literary master. He
begins by discussing the inevitable change that came over Ottoman poetry in the
nineteenth century as both contacts and conflicts with the West widened. This situa
tion led to a spirited desire for literary reform, spearheaded initially by 'Akif Pasha18
and, a quarter of a century later, by Çinâsî,19 who carried the banner several steps
further. Some earlier Ottoman poetry, Nazîf opines, was designed to entertain the
wealthy upper classes with mild doses of inebriation and even eroticism. The time
was therefore ripe for some bright intellect combining both eloquence and powerful
nerves to update and reform the prevailing literary style. That is when Kemal
appeared on the scene. He broke the chains he saw and he tore open the curtains.
Kemal's short life was a half-century of struggle. He wished to turn the docile animal
obedience of the populace into a sense of duty, to replace helplessness and abjectness
with an awareness of human rights. From the first line he wrote to the last breath he
took, this is what drove his emotions. After tracing the ups and downs of Namik
Kemal's career, alternately praised and disgraced, with his years of posting in paid
exile, his return to the Ottoman capital only to be sent away again and again, finally
to an early death in the island of Chios,20 Nazîf quotes the couplet in which Namik
Kemal had foreseen many years earlier how his life would turn out.21 Nazîf con
cludes the essay by criticizing the Ottoman press,22 for whose freedom of expression
Namik Kemal had fought so bitterly, for meanly remaining silent after his death and
for announcing his departure from the world without the courtesy he deserved.23
By the time Siileyman Nazîf returned to Turkey, his articles had aroused political
suspicion, and he was therefore ordered by the authorities not to stay in Istanbul but
to proceed to Bursa24 to take up residence there while being given the position and
salary of the Mektupçu25 of the province.26 In the event, Siileyman Nazîf stayed in
Bursa until the proclamation of the constitution by Sultan Abdülhamid in 1908.
During those years, he continued to write both poetry and prose for the journal Ser
vet-i Fiinûn (Treasury of the Sciences)27 under the pen name Ibrahim Cehdî.28

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Süleyman Nazîf-A Multi-Faceted Personality 495

Süleyman Nazîf had begun writing poetry at a young age. In style and content, his
poetry is generally grouped under the late Ottoman school called Edebiyât-i Cedide
(New Literature).29 Although he is an important poet, and several of his poems have
stood the test of time,30 literary critics on the whole consider his forte to be prose
writing. Abdülhak Çinâsî Hisâr,31 who was both a friend and admirer of Süleyman
Nazîf, in addition to being a novelist, essayist and critic of great distinction, has
assessed Nazîf s work thus:

Süleyman Nazîf has brought to prose a broad artistic sense and an encompass
ing erudition, and there is no doubt that he is one of our greatest prose writers.
By continuously introducing hidden word play and internal rhymes within his
prose he does not rest until he creates a semi-poetic sonorous melody. He writes
poetry in prose, and his prose is more poetic than his verse might be; there is, in
the prose he writes, a power of suggestion and the influence of an eloquent
address.32

Here it must be added that, partly because of the circumstances of his own life but
primarily because the years in which he lived were fraught with many national cata
strophes, there is a deep-seated layer of pessimism as well as sorrow in almost all that
Süleyman Nazîf wrote, of which only a limited cross-section will be presented here.
Returning to Istanbul in 1908, Süleyman Nazîf resumed his writing activities by
starting a newspaper called Tasvir-i Efkâr (The Depiction of Ideas) along with Ebüz
ziya Tevfik,33 but this paper had a short life. Süleyman Nazîf was next appointed
governor to a number of important Ottoman provinces in succession: Basra (1909);
Kastamonu (1910); Trabzon (1911); Mosul (1913); and Baghdad (1914). Although
Nazîfs heart was not in administration,34 it appears that wherever he was sent as
governor he tried to improve the lot of the common people and was financially very
scrupulous. He took particular care not to waste money at a time when the empire
not only faced war, but also the threat of bigger wars. When he was governor of the
province of Basra in 1909, the mayor came to him and asked for funds for a wall to
be built surrounding the city graveyard, but Süleyman Nazîf did not consider it feasi
ble.35 A paper on the short period of eight months when Nazîf was governor of the
central Anatolian province of Kastamonu indicates that he was active in founding
schools, newspapers and libraries in the province.36 Resigning as governor of Bagh
dad in the latter part of 1915, Nazîf came back to Istanbul, wishing to make a career
in journalism. He wrote for several newspapers and journals,37 and in 1918, along
with Cenab Çahabeddin,38 he began publishing the newspaper Hâdisât (Events).
Süleyman Nazîf was patriotic in the deepest sense of the word, and the Ottoman
loss of territory and population during his lifetime grieved him immensely. Born as
he was in the upper reaches of the two rivers that gave the Ottoman region of Iraq
life and prosperity, he acutely felt the loss of the provinces where he had once been
an Ottoman Vali. His booklet Firâk-i Irak (The Separation of Iraq)39 was published
in 1918, and is a mélange of poetry and prose.40 In an exordium, he addresses his
dead mother, whose grave he has visited only twice in ten years. He feels that she will
not be offended, in fact she will be pleased, that his thoughts are more than ever
bound up with the fate of his other 'mother', namely, the motherland. He continues:

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
496 S. T. Wasti

My thoughts turned to you only after the fountain of tears in my eyes and
anguished cries of the ink of my pen had both dried.41

Nazîf concludes the address by saying:

Oh mother! Would that I had died only as your orphan ... and, only as
orphan, would that I had died forty years back, and not been like now, w
have been left both an orphan of the country and an orphan of history.42

Shortly after the end of the First World War in 1918, in which Ottoman
was on the losing side, the victorious Allied Powers began stationing their
Turkey. In various parts of the truncated Ottoman dominions a grass-roo
ment, including all sections of the community, began to mobilize against th
tion and to try and regain independence.43 On 8 February 1919, the French
Franchet d'Espérey rode into Istanbul on a white charger at the head of hi
ous troops (in imitation of the manner in which Sultan Mehmet Fatih had
towards the old city after its conquest by the Turks in 1453). What was g
Siileyman Nazîf on this day of national humiliation was that groups of the Chr
minorities in Istanbul gleefully welcomed the general and his troops with
'Vive la France!' On the very next day, the paper Hâdisât published an ar
Nazîf under the title: 'A Black Day'.44 According to Atay,45 this article in
the French general, who initially gave orders for Nazîf to be shot on the s
wiser counsel prevailed, and he was persuaded to rescind his decision. Ho
Hâdisât was closed down for over two weeks, and wheels were set in motio
ish Siileyman Nazîf, though less severely. This opportunity was provided
himself on 23 January 1920, when he delivered an address46 at a public meetin
huge crowd of men and women held in the Conference Hall of the Univer
Istanbul to honour the French author, Pierre Loti.47
In the presence of many notables, including the then heir apparent to the Ot
throne, Prince Abdiilmecid Efendi, Siileyman Nazîf gave a stirring addres
proud and articulate representative of a nation that may have been defeated bu
not been conquered. He mentioned that Pierre Loti had not been daunted
many threats to his life that he faced in Europe, but had continued to raise hi
in favour of the Turkish cause and for Turkish rights. The passage of cent
imbued Christian Europe with much anti-Turkish prejudice, and people the
continued, very likely imagined that the many dreamy hours spent by Pie
under the shady cypress trees in Eyiip or in the contemplative surroundin
courtyard of the Green Mausoleum in Bursa might have influenced and softene
aesthetic sensibilities of the author of Aziyadé, as well as his judgement, to ma
champion the rights of the Turks. On the contrary, what had attracted
Turkey, among the lofty trees, the fountains and the soft moonlight that
blessings on the gravestones that covered the last resting places of their a
was something much more gentle, proud, patient, suffering and resigned - the
of the Turks which, even when wounded or feverish, did not lose an iota of it
ness, magnanimity and generosity. Nazîf pointed out that Pierre Loti had
pleading letters and articles begging the Turks to remain neutral in the First W
War, and it was the unforgivable and precipitate behaviour of the two o

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Süleyman Nazîf - A Multi-Faceted Personality 497

powerful rulers at the time48 that had pushed Turkey without warning or ceremony
into disaster. In spite of all this, it would be utter ingratitude to deny the blood given
by a million martyrs who went to their deaths for the sake of the nation with smiles
on their lips. Europe might wish, said Nazîf, to throw the Turks out of Istanbul and
pack off the Caliphate like a bale of cotton either to some province of Anatolia or
like a museum piece to a corner of the Topkapi palace. But this would not happen;
such an attempt would only mean that the world would bé swallowed up in a confla
gration that might last for centuries. The world of Islam, with its centuries-old links
to Turkey, could hardly stand idly by and watch Turkey being treated so brutally.
Continual wars against Ottoman Turkey in the past centuries, especially in the Bal
kans, had meant that even the upkeep and development of the capital city of Istanbul
had been neglected.49 Even the British should realize that the entry of Turkey into the
First World War against the Russians was ultimately of help to them, as a more pow
erful and victorious Russia would have posed a greater danger to everybody. How
ever, according to Nazîf, in spite of all the goodwill Turkey had for Britain, its
friendly overtures during the years before the war had all been inexplicably and stub
bornly spurned.
Süleyman Nazîf was arrested on 27 March 1920 (along with several other writers)
and exiled to Malta by thq British authorities in Istanbul. Starting from March 1919,
groups of high-ranking Turks had been arrested and interned, first in Istanbul and
then deported to Malta.50 During his internment in Malta, Süleyman Nazîf also
addressed a letter to Lord Plumer, the British governor of Malta at the time. Elo
quent as the letter was, from one who had been, as he put it, 'governor in the capital
of Haroun al Rashid', it fell on deaf ears - as did other similar letters from the Malta
internees to British grandees inviting attention to their unjust detention. Among the
Turks exiled in Malta was Haci Ahmed Pasha, the father of the Committee of Union
and Progress leader Enver Pasha.51 Süleyman Nazîf stayed in Malta until the end of
October 1921, and although he was in illustrious company, he felt depressed at being
confined in a small and distant island. His mixture of prose and poetry in a small
work titled Malta Geceleri52 reflects his pain, gloom and general helplessness during
this period, when the Ottoman Empire lay defeated and dismembered with no hope
on the horizon,53 and the Turkish resistance in Anatolia was still in the process of
getting organized. However, as the Turkish forces grew stronger and their successes
more numerous, the decision was taken to reach an agreement whereby the Malta
internees would be exchanged for British prisoners of war within Turkey, and this is
what eventually transpired. Nazîf returned to Istanbul and began writing for the
paper Resimli Gazete (Illustrated News), whose proprietor was Sedat Simavî.54
When Simavî wished to cut chunks of Nazîf s text to include bigger photographs,
Nazîf said to him: 'It appears that you do not wish to publish Illustrated News, but
Newsy Illustrations!'
Much has been written about Süleyman Nazîf,55 especially by his friends and
acquaintances, many of whom were also well-known writers. The comprehensive
biography of Nazîf by Karakaç, in addition to an extensive bibliography, also
has a list of 561 articles published by Nazîf in newspapers and journals which
have not yet been collected in book form. In the most recent biography by
Gôçgûn,56 a comprehensive list of the works authored by Nazîf as well as all the
important items of bibliography related to him have been collected in an

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
498 S. T. Wasti

Appendix. Among Nazîfs most famous poems is one called the 'Tur
Hymn'.57 One of the group of poets and literati was Celâl Sahir Erozan,5
one day proclaimed: 'I would certainly not wish to be the second husban
widow', to which Süleyman Nazîf retorted: 'Why, would you prefer to b
ow's first husband?' In the same literary circle, Nazîf severely criticized a
known to them all, whereupon one of the company agreed, saying: 'Yes,
right, he is indeed low.' Carried away by his earlier outburst, Nazîf cont
'Low implies a certain small level, opposed to high. You can't call thi
low - he is a pit, a real ditch!' Regarding a faculty member at the Unive
Istanbul whom he did not like, Nazîf composed the following satirical co
'His lectures are a habit, so he must make his presentation, / This expert
ics professor of a bankrupt nation!'59
Abdiilhak Çinâsî Hisâr was a great friend of Nazîf, and a writer whose s
Turkish was highly polished, but he was also a finicky bachelor who wo
when shaking hands for fear of germs. When dining with Nazîf he calle
waiter to bring some tea, whereupon Süleyman Nazîf added: 'And don't fo
wash the water for my friend's tea before you boil it!' One day, upon arr
the office of the newspaper îleri (Forward), for which he had written a
tant article, Süleyman Nazîf was told by Celâl Nuri,60 the owner and pu
'Sir, we apologize for the fact that your article has gone out with the n
Florinali Nâzim61 as the author!' To which Nazîf replied: 'We have got off
it could have been much worse. Just imagine if my name had gone out un
article!'62
There are also several accounts of how Süleyman Nazîf overwhelmed rea
listeners with his unceasing flow of eloquence and occasionally antagonize
with his sharp tongue.63 In an essay, D. Mehmet Dogan64 mentions how du
of his enforced stay in Bursa, Nazîf and the provincial governor were at logger
and quotes from the published memoirs of the governor's wife to this effect.6
letter to Mahmud Kemal inal referred to above, Nazîf himself says that du
12-year stay in Bursa there were three governors of the province, of whom on
Mümtaz Pasha67 showed him some friendly concern. Abdullah Cevdet68 had, in
years, been a friend of Süleyman Nazîf, but they fell out badly - partly b
their differing views on religion. In an article after Nazîfs death, quoted in
Inal, Abdullah Cevdet wrote:

His anger and indignation were limitless and endless, and his friendsh
equally enthusiastic. Those he raised to the skies one day he could bring crash
down the next - such were the requirements and nature of his sharp and ser
pen. Resentment was a diet he could thrive upon.. ,69

Current information in English on the writings of Süleyman Nazîf is limited,

mention must be made of the pioneering work of Necati Alkan.70
From 1921 till his death from pneumonia in 1927,71 Süleyman Nazîf rem
Istanbul. The empire had gone, and a new, vibrant republic was in its place. All
of reforms were implemented - some of them too extreme for Nazîf, who
ment, especially to the literary culture of the past, remained unshaken. He con
to eke out a living by writing. In the words of Karaosmanoglu:72

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Süleyman Nazïf- A Multi-Faceted Personality 499

He was one of the last Ottoman warriors, using his reed pen to greater effect
than a sword of steel.73

To this statement might be added the sentence that Abdiilhak Çinâsî Hisâr quotes
Nazîf as repeating frequently: 'An army may kill a person once, whereas a pen may
continue to kill a person every day as long as the world lasts.'74
Proud and uncompromising to the last, Süleyman Nazîf died with but three nickel
coins in his pocket; alone in a shabby room with a cast-iron bedstead, and a half-con
sumed apple on a wooden table next to it. Fame and fortune both appear to have
eluded him in his last days.75
One of his literary friends, Yahya Kemal,76 was serving in Poland at the time as the
Turkish Minister Plenipotentiary, and he wrote a charming vignette on Nazîf, which
begins as follows:

It was 10 January,77 one of Warsaw's bad wintry days ... The Istanbul and
Ankara newspapers arrived at 1.30 p.m. I picked up the Milliyet,78 Towards the
end of the front page in large characters I read of the death of Süleyman Nazîf.
I literally felt a physical pain in my heart. I said to myself: When I return to
Istanbul I shall not find Süleyman Nazîf, I shall be unable to meet him and talk
to him. This loss was like a limitless ache within me.79

It also took a long time for Süleyman Nazîf s grave in the Edirnekapi cemetery to
be provided with a headstone. The poet Ahmed Hâçim,80 who was a friend of Nazîf,
wrote about this matter as follows:

Away from the world of the living, Süleyman Nazîf has joined the sphere of
those underground. That human hurricane who could compress into the main
spring of a single sentence enough power to turn a windmill, might well be lurk
ing under the ground in the form of an earthquake or waiting to burst out in the
form of a majestic plane tree whose top branches would wrestle with the thun
derbolts overhead.

Süleyman Nazîf s grave remains unpaved and without a headstone. The news is
that a committee has been set up for this purpose. This great Turkish literary
figure, who left behind a legacy of 50 or 60 piastres81 might just as well not have
his tomb buüt. Why attempt to make a mausoleum of marble over the decaying
bones of such people, who lived and died in hunger? Will a couple of stones pro
vided by public subscription result in a more beautiful or longer lasting monu
ment than the immortal tinkling of his own words of brass?82

Nine years later, the poet Mehmed 'Akif,83 who was also a great friend of
Süleyman Nazîf, was buried in one of the plots next to him in the Edirnekapi ceme
tery. Nazîf had published an analytical as well as emotional study of 'Akif s poetry
as early as 1919.84 This booklet was dedicated to Midhat Cemal Kuntay,85 who had
introduced Nazîf to 'Akif.86
Apart from the epoch-making works of Namik Kemal, Süleyman Nazîf consid
ered the literary output of Abdülhak Hâmid87 to be supremely representative of the

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
500 S. T. Wasti

best in Ottoman literature of the period. In fact, it was Siileyman Nazîf wh

responsible, in his own writings, for popularizing and attaching the title of
Azam (The Great Poet) to Hâmid. As part of his letter in response to ibnii'l
Mahmud Kemal,88 Nazîf writes:

After Namik Kemal, I got acquainted with the works of Abdiilhak Hâmid a
26 years later, with the author himself. The first work written by Hâmid whic
read was Tank,89 Later I read all he wrote, and finally I began to read and am s
studying him - this inexhaustible core. For forty years I have been his stud
and his admirer. For anyone contemporary with him or roughly of the same ag
group, it is impossible not to have been affected and also influenced by him.90

Among others, Nazîf also cites the influence on his own style of Cenab Çahab
Among foreign literary influences, he refers to Victor Hugo, Anatole Fran
Romain Rolland and the poet Sully Prudhomme.
Siileyman Nazîf s skill with the Turkish language has been accepted by the grea
writers, both of his time and later. In his chapter on Nazîf, Inal also included a p
obituary written by Abdiilhak Hâmid after Nazîf s death, which may be rendered
follows in translation:

Siileyman Nazîf, O Sage of the City,

On this unlucky man you had great pity!
Orphaned I now feel, in an ocean of tears -
How shall I survive, with my longing and fears?
Can Siileyman Nazîf ever turn to dust,
With his soul auspicious, and his body robust;
That in grave he is buried, O do not say!
For in the nation's heart, he still holds full sway;
He has not departed - this is just a lie,
He has not left his friends, neither you nor I;
Both he and his country will never succumb,
Though a handful of dark dust he may become.
Of separation, I feel the painful load,
And all the fires of that eternal abode.91

In an essay titled 'The Last Oriental',92 Ahmed Hâçim said of Siileyman Naz

From a superficial analysis of his style it appears that he was the last of our lit
ary craftsmen who believed with deep faith in the rules of classical eloquen
The power of his speech lay in the harmony of the words, the majesty of
sounds and the flashes of lightning that emerged from the contrasts in it... Th
dead dictionary would catch fire in his hands ... Siileyman Nazîf especiall
admired the letter 'A' in the alphabet, and this letter is forcefully presen
many of the words he uses. His style embodied the sounds of a deep orat
and, reading him, one imagined that he was hearing a man shouting
Siileyman Nazîf was the Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Words. N
without him, words are but an unattended rabble!93

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Süleyman Nazîf- A Multi-Faceted Personality 501

Notes

1. Kinglake's Pasfta in the opening chapter of Eothen is just a colourful caricature - as, for that matter,
are the traveller and the dragoman therein - provided in order to kick-start the narrative with a touch
of exotic humour.
2. Examples such as the major Ottoman Turkish poets Namik Kemal and Ziya Pa§a and, later, Abdiil
hàk Hâmid and Yahya Kemal, immediately spring to mind.
3. An oke (okka in Turkish) was a measure of weight equal to about 1.28 kilograms or 2.83 pounds
avoirdupois. Presumably some negligent clerk with no head for numbers must have multiplied the
amount of each item by a thousand.
4. Diyarbakir was usually called Diyâr-i Bekir in Ottoman times.
5. The year on his gravestone in the Edirnekapi graveyard in Istanbul is 1870, but several sources
(including Nazîf himself) give the year of birth as 1869.
6. A divan is a published formal collection of poetry in Turkish, Arabic, Persian or Urdu.
7. The family adopted the surname Ozansoy (literally 'of poetic descent') when the Surname Law was
passed in Turkey in 1934.
8. I.E.M.K. inal, Son Asir Türk $airleri [Turkish Poets of the Last Century], 4 vols. (Ankara: Atatürk
Kültür Merkezi Baçkanhgi, 1999). Vol.1, annotated by Miijgan Cunbur, deals with 157 poets and
covers pages 1-678; Vol.11, annotated by M. Kayahan Özgül, deals with 123 poets and covers pages
679-1224; Vol.III, annotated by Hidayet Özcan, deals with 78 poets and covers pages 1225-1715;
and Vol.IV, annotated by Ibrahim Ba$tug, deals with 113 poets and covers pages 1716-2207. The
period covered by this work is over a century, with approximate dates 1820-1930.
9. Ibnii'l Emin Mahmud Kemal inal (1870-1957), was born in Istanbul, the son of Mühürdar Mehmed
Pasha, and was raised in an aristocratic environment. His formal university education was interrupted
by illness but he continued private studies under some of the best known scholars of his time. He was a
poet, novelist, critic, historian and journalist - all in all a genuine man of letters and a traditional Istan
bul gentleman, ibnü'l Emin Mahmud Kemal inal held a series of important administrative positions
and, in 1916, was elected to the Ottoman Council of State. He also worked many years cataloguing his
torical documents in the Ottoman archives. In later years, he was the director of the Museum of Islamic
Art in Istanbul. With an excellent memory, and a penchant for systematic hard work, he produced ency
clopaedic works including the massive Osmanh Devrinde Sadrazamlar [Last Grand Viziers of the Otto
man Empire] (Parts I-V (pp.1-800), Parts VI-X (pp.801-1600) and Parts XI-XIV (pp.1601-2193),
(Istanbul: Türkiye i§ Bankasi, 2013)) and the four-volume Son Asir Türk $airleri referred to in the previ
ous note, inal remained a bachelor all his life. Süleyman Nazîf coined the following expression about
him, which gained much currency at the time: 'He resembles no one, nor does anyone resemble him.'
10. See chapter on Nazîf in inal, Son Asir Türk S airleri, Vol.III, pp.1523-48.
11. Mutasarrif was the title given in Ottoman times to the governor of a sanjak, region or small province.
12. Nazîf himself refers to him as an Armenian priest from Mardin in south-eastern Turkey.
13. With the encouragement and support of the governor of the time (Kurt ismail Hakki Pasha) the
newspaper made its first appearance on 3 Aug. 1869. In its early years, it also served partly as an Offi
cial Gazette. When it closed down on 2 Sept. 1963, it had been published for 94 years. Both Süleyman
Nazîf and his father Said Pasha were connected with the paper. Other well-known writers from
Diyarbakir (including Ziya Gökalp) also wrote for the paper over the years.
14. A journal published in Paris between the years 1895 and 1908 under the direction of Ahmed Riza
with the subtitle Organe de la Jeune Turquie. Mechveret in Turkish means Consultation.
15. Ahmed Riza (1859-1930) was born in Istanbul and educated at the Galatasaray Lycée. He went to
France for further studies and returned to Turkey, being later appointed director of education at
Bursa. However, he fled from Bursa to Paris, where he stayed for many years, publishing the paper
Mechveret and tracts against the policies of Sultan Abdülhamid. Unlike others, he refused all blan
dishments, and returned to Turkey only after the proclamation of the constitution on 24 July 1908.
He later became head of the Turkish Chamber of Deputies and also a senator but remained a man of
principle rather than a man of party.
16. This is a short essay written by Süleyman Nazîf to honour Namik Kemal (1840—88). Namik Kemal
was perhaps the most important literary figure of the nineteenth century in Ottoman Turkey. Apart
from his collection of poetry, half a dozen plays and two novels, he has a large corpus of historical

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 502 S. T. Wasti

and journalistic writings. See S.T. Wasti, An Introduction to Late Ottoman Turkish Poetry (Berkeley,
CA: Computers and Structures, Inc., 2012), pp.56-73.
This was an 18-page written response to an article by Ahmed Midhat (1844-1912), a novelist, jour
nalist and publisher who had defended a constitutional monarchy against a parliamentary system of
government. For Ahmed Midhat's views as well as his support of Sultan Abdülhamid, see A. Kirmizi,
'Authoritarianism and Constitutionalism Combined: Ahmed Midhat Efendi between the Sultan and
the Kanun-i Esasi", in C. Herzog and M. Sharif (eds.), The First Turkish Experiment in Democracy
(Würzburg: Ergon, 2010), pp.53-66.
18. Akif Pasha (1787-1845) was born in Yozgat in central Anatolia and died in Alexandria, Egypt while
on his journey back from the Hajj pilgrimage. He was a poet and writer, and also served in very high
ranking Ottoman civil service positions, becoming Reis ül Kiittâp (foreign minister) in 1832. He is
also known as Bozoklu Akif Pasha or Akif Mehmed Pasha, and rates a prominent place in most his
tories of Turkish literature. Refer to E.J.W. Gibb, A History of Ottoman Poetry, ed. E.G. Browne
(London: Luzac, 1967), Vol.IV, p.323, wherein Chapter IX begins thus:

Among the most prominent figures in the time of Sultan Mahmüd were the rival statesmen 'Akif
and Pertev Pashas, of whom the former, 'Akif Pasha, occupies a position of great importance in
the history of Ottoman literature. It was, however, in the development of Turkish prose that this
writer rendered the most signal service, evolving ... a style of writing which ... has led directly to
the up-building of the powerful and flexible literary idiom of today.

19. Ibrahim Çinâsi (1824—71) was an innovative poet, and journalist who also wrote the first one-act play
for the Turkish theatre. He is regarded as the founder of the modern school of Turkish poetry. For
more information on Çinâsî, consult Gibb, A History of Ottoman Poetry, Vol.V, pp.22-40. See also
Wasti, An Introduction to Late Ottoman Turkish Poetry, pp.26-38.
20. The Turkish name for the island of Chios is Sakiz.
21. 'Before seeing the people receive the bounty they deserve, if I die -Let the epitaph on my gravestone
be: My country grieved, and so did I !'
22. With the sole exception of the journal Mizân (Balance). This journal was founded in 1886 by
Mehmed Murad Bey (1854-1917) (also known as Mizanci Murad or Murad of the Balance). Murad
Bey fled to Paris in 1895 but was pardoned by Sultan Abdülhamid, and returned to Istanbul in 1897.
Many literary figures of the time, including Namik Kemal, were friends and colleagues of Murad Bey.
23. Almost saying, as it were, that one Kemal Bey, Mutasarrif of Sakiz, had died.
24. One of the former capitals of the Ottoman Empire (the other being Edirne, i.e. Adrianople), Bursa is
a green and pleasant city of monuments, traditionally reputed for fine silks and, these days, for big
automotive factories.
25. The post of Mektupçu (literally, one dealing with correspondence) in a province was similar to that of
the chief administrative secretary to the provincial governor or Vali. It was quite common for Sultan
Abdülhamid to arrange for such sinecures and pleasant exiles away from Istanbul for those who were
not friendly to his rule.
26. Yahya Kemal ('Süleyman Nazif in Siyasî ve Edehi Portreler [Political and Literary Portraits],
(Istanbul: Istanbul Fetih Cemiyeti, 1986), pp.22-9) mentions that Süleyman Nazîf was induced to
return to Turkey after Mizanci Murad (see note 22) had done so, and suggests that the position in
Bursa was offered to him as an inducement.
27. A popular but highbrow literary journal published for more than 50 years after 1891; it was founded
by Ahmed Ihsan Tokgoz.
28. This pen name was simply that of his great-grandfather. Earlier, Süleyman Nazîf also used the pseu
donym Abdülahrar Tahir for the booklets he wrote in Paris.
29. Another title for the Edebiyât-i Cedide school of poetry is the Servet-i Fiinûn (Treasury of the Scien
ces) school, because much of the poetry produced by this group of poets found its way into the cele
brated literary journal called Servet-i Fiinûn (see note 27 above).
30. Several poems by Süleyman Nazif have been set to Turkish classical music, of which the most popu
lar is probably the song that begins: Derdimi ummâna döktiim. âsumâna inledim (I poured my pain
into the Ocean, I moaned to the Sky), set to music in the Hicaz mode by the composer Çerif içli.
31. Abdülhak Çinâsi Hisâr (1883-1963), was born in Istanbul, had private teachers and later went to
the Galatasaray Lycée. He left for Paris in 1905 to study at the Ecole Libre des Sciences

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Süleyman Nazïf- A Multi-Faceted Personality 503

Politiques, returning to Istanbul in 1908. Apart from 12 years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
at Ankara, he spent his life in comfort in Istanbul, doing literary work and writing exquisite nov
els. Many of his important prose writings have now been collected and reprinted in three vol
umes with annotation by Necmettin Turinay. See A.Ç. Hisar, Kitaplar ve Muharrirler [Books
and Authors], 3 vols. (Istanbul: Yapi Kredi Yayinlari, 2008-9). There are numerous references to
Süleyman Nazîf in these volumes.
32. Hisar, Kitaplar ve Muharrirler, Vol.11, p. 149.
33. Ebüzziya Tevfik (1848-1913) was a prolific writer and journalist, who was also a friend of the great
poet Namik Kemal. He was responsible for the publication of many books, magazines, journals and
annuals. He was the Committee of Union and Progress deputy from Antalya after the proclamation
of the Constitution in 1908, and in 1909 also began publishing a French newspaper called Le Courrier
d'Orient.
34. 'His nature was not suited to the slippery and convoluted manner in which administrative affairs were
conducted. He was unable to conform to the complications of administrative life and finally severed
himself from it.' See K. Akyüz, Bati Tesirinde Türk Çiiri Antolojisi [An Anthology of Western Influ
enced Turkish Poetry], 10th ed. (Istanbul: inkilâp, 2007), p.388.
35. His stated reason: 'This large expense is unnecessary. Those who are outside the graveyard do not
wish to be in it, whereas those inside have no chance of leaving it.'
36. M. Eski, 'Süleyman Nazifin Kastamonu Valiligi' [The Governorship of Süleyman Nazîf in Kasta
monu], Ankara Üniversitesi Osmanli Tarihi Araçtirmalari Merkezi [OTAM] Yayim [Journal of the
Ankara University Centre for Research in Ottoman History], No.8 (1997), pp.131—8.
37. Among them were the papers Halk (People), Hakikat (Reality) and ileri (Forward).
38. Cenab Çahabeddin (1870-1934) was a friend of Süleyman Nazîf. He was born in Manastir (Bitola, in
present-day Macedonia) and his family migrated to Istanbul after his father was killed in the siege of
Plevna. He graduated from the Military F acuity of Medicine as a captain and doctor, travelled widely
and eventually became a professor at the University of Istanbul. He is well-known as a late Ottoman
poet and writer.
39. S. Nazîf, Firâk-i Irak [The Separation of Iraq] (Istanbul: Mahmud Bey Matbaasi, 1918). The text has
been transcribed into the modern Turkish Latin alphabet and annotated by Nurullah Çetin. See N.
Çetin, 'Süleyman Nazifin "Firâk-i Irak" adh Eseri' [Süleyman Nazîf s Work named the 'Separation
of Iraq'], Ankara University Tiirkoloji Dergisi, Vol.XI, No.l (1993), pp.233-56.
40. One of the items contained in the booklet is called Dicle ve Ben (The Tigris and I). This is a long
poetic lament, of which a few stanzas will be rendered in translation below.

Beneath domes that lost in thought appear,

That kiss the blue skies, now there, now here;
Shiver souls that can only just wait -
Trembling with the simoom of their fate.

For Muslims it is a tragedy,

A catastrophe both strange and sad;
While I live, and when life deserts me
I shall weep o'er the fate of Baghdad.

Baghdad, in your horizons laid waste,

You hear the sobs of our soul abased;
Within the same bosom together,
We spent ages that we remember.

Under the crushing boots of the foe,

The Caliph's town does shake and shiver;
Will you, fun-filled, continue to flow
Tel! me, Tigris, you sacred river?

Tigris, Baghdad needs a lullaby,

Baghdad is your nursling infant son!

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
504 S. T. Wasti

Ask History if you don't know why -

It is the source of your pride, hard-won.

I know, hush, what our own crimes have been;

Maybe we are more sinful than you.
Four centuries you were left unseen,
And, other complaints we shall find too!

In the desert lie thousands of men,

Who for Baghdad their young lives did give;
Would not their hot young blood suffice then,
For God to pardon us and forgive!

41. Nurullah Çetin, 'Süleyman Nazifin Firak-i Irak adh Eseri' [Siileyman Nazîfs Work na
'Separation of Iraq'], Ankara University Tiirkoloji Dergisi, Vol.11, No. 1 (1993), p.235.
42. Ibid.

43. The resistance to foreign occupation was organized and trained by Mustafa Kemal Pa
turk) and the Ottoman military officers into a formidable national fighting force over
three years. The reconstituted Turkish army fought and won its freedom, and the Repub
was established in 1923.
44. For the English translation of Nazîfs article, reference may be made to Wasti, An Introduction to
Late Ottoman Turkish Poetry, pp.266-7.
45. F.R. Atay, Çankaya (Istanbul: Pozitif Yayinlan, undated), p. 155. Çankaya is the hill in Ankara
where Kemal Atatürk settled. Today, the area houses the palace of the President of Turkey.
46. The text of Nazîfs speech, titled Hitâbe (Address) was published in the Ottoman script as a booklet
(Istanbul: Matbaa-i Ahmed ihsan ve Çiirekâsi, 1920). It has also been published as part of an article
in the modern Turkish alphabet. See M. Samsakçi, 'içgal Karanhginda bir isyan Alevi: Siileyman
Nazifin Pierre Loti Hitabe'si' [A Flame of Rebellion in the Darkness of Occupation: Siileyman
Nazîfs Pierre Loti Address], istanbul Üniversitesi Dergisi [Journal of the University of Istanbul],
Vol.XLIV, No.2011-1 (2012), pp.163-96. Only a small abstract of the speech has been given in the
present article.
47. Pierre Loti was the pen name of Julien Viaud (1850-1923), a French novelist and naval officer. Most
of his novels were set in exotic surroundings; the first, Aziyadé, published in 1879, was set in Istanbul.
Loti was sympathetic to the travails of Ottoman Turkey, and wrote the book Turquie Agonisante in
1913 on the Balkan Wars, in which Ottoman Turkey lost much territory in Europe and hundreds of
thousands of Turks were displaced. As such, after Ottoman Turkey's defeat in the First World War,
he appeared to be one of Turkey's few friends in Europe. This accounts for the fact that poets and
intellectuals had even formed a 'Pierre Loti Society' to highlight the Loti's support for justice to Tur
key. Prominent persons in the organization of this society included the writers and publishers Ahmed
ihsan and Velid Ebiizziya, and the poets Celâl Sahir and Yahya Kemal.
Later studies of Loti's work have pointed out that Loti was no less 'Orientalist' in his outlook
than other European authors, and they also deal critically with other aspects of his personality. Turk
ish readers generally admire Loti's detailed and poetic descriptions of Turkish scenes without neces
sarily subscribing to many of his judgements on Turkey and Turkish life. An excellent overview by
Inci Enginün of how Turkish authors have viewed Loti and his work is available, and may be found
at the following address: http://ekitap.kulturturizm.gov.tr/belge/l-35141/inci-engunu.html
48. Nazîfs criticism is directed at the Committee of Union and Progress triumvirate of Talât, Enver and
Cemal Pashas. Here it should be mentioned that in particular Cemal Pasha, when governor of Syria
during 1914-17, had been of help to both Siileyman Nazîf and Cenab Çahabeddin, when they had
gone to Syria to see if money could be made from the export and import of silk. See Atay, Çankaya,
p. 149. However, according to the Turkish proverb, he who falls has no friends.
49. Referring (in contrast to those in Istanbul) to the lavishly constructed and decorated public buildings
he had seen on a visit to Bombay, Nazîf mentions in his address how he, in a pan-Islamic spirit,
quoted the following couplet in Persian attributed to Sultan Yavuz Selim (Selim the Grim) to some
members of the Indian Red Crescent Mission to the Balkan Wars:

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Süleyman Nazîf- A Multi-Faceted Personality 505

Our expeditions and cavalry charges are not in vain -

The unison of hearts together they are meant to attain!

50. The final total of Ottoman Turks sent to Malta was 145. For a complete list, see B.N. Çimçir, Malta
Siirgiinleri [The Malta Deportees], 2nd ed. (Ankara: Bilgi Yaymevi, 1985). The group of deportees
included pashas, viziers and even a grand vizier (Said Halim Pasha). See also S.T. Wasti, 'Halil
Menteçe - The Quadrumvir', Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.32, No.3 (1996), pp.92-105, and S.T.
Wasti, 'Said Halim Pasha - Philosopher Prince', Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.44, No.l (2008), pp.85
104.

51. The story narrated is that Süleyman Nazîf went up to Haci Ahmed Pasha one day and said to him:
'Pasha, you ought to get married to a British woman while you are here'. When the pasha expressed
surprise, Nazîf riposted: 'Your Turkish son Enver Pasha destroyed the Ottoman Empire; maybe
your British son would destroy the British Empire!'
52. S. Nazîf, Malta Geceleri [Malta Nights] (Istanbul: Yeni Matbaa, 1924), p.30. An English rendering of
one of the best known poems in this book, written in Malta in Oct. 1920 and called 'Da'iissila'
(Homesickness) is given here.

I wept this night too, with emotion remembering you -

History's daughter, my lovely land - and my sorrows grew.
Since your horizons from my sight have disappeared from view,
This mortal dust heap of the world to darkness has turned too.
Earth and sky I do not see, I stumble and stagger by,
Broken-hearted by the earth am I, and vexed by the Sky.
Eyes, like those I once saw long ago, in a childhood dream,
From secret depths of the blue sky, to smile at me do seem.
From these beautiful surroundings which have me traumatized,
If my inner sorrows keep me detached, be not surprised.
My eyes recall the weeping, misty mountains of my land;
Amid these pretty sights, it is like torture on demand!
Why does the morning breeze blow so carelessly and so glad,
Has it not crossed over our land, so grieving and so sad?
It might have given some solace to this life of despair,
If the breeze had brought along a flowery perfume from there.
Thus are my hopes imprisoned, and forever I shall be
Just a stranger - and everything will be foreign to me.
The familiar scents from our hills blow not in the wind here,
And from the shores I love, the waves carry no news, I fear.
I am an exile here, with no desire and no strife,
Sunrise and sunset here have no relation with my life.
And when longing for my motherland makes me agonize,
I ask the clouds that float above, about those Eastern skies.

53. In his political memoirs, Rauf Orbay (1881-1964), a celebrated Ottoman naval officer who was
also among the Malta deportees and later served in high-ranking posts under the republic as well,
has mentioned how adverse and strange the effects of exile can be on human spirits. He writes
that Süleyman Nazîf, in talking to a high-ranking military officer also exiled to Malta, Yakup
Çevki Pasha (1876-1939), mentioned that rivers form the natural boundaries between countries
and suggested that with the Ottoman Empire having no future, it might be reasonable for both of
them, who came from the upper Mesopotamian basin of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, to seek
their future in Iraq. Orbay writes that the Pasha could only smile bitterly and shake his head.
Refer to R. Orbay, Siyasi Hatiralar [Political Memoirs] (Istanbul: Örgün Yayinevi, 2003),
pp.458-9.
54. A well-known name in Turkish journalism, Sedat Simavî (1896-1953) was a writer, businessman and
the founder of the daily newspaper Hürriyet (Freedom).

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
506 S1. T. Wasti

55. Two well-known and standard biographies of Süleyman Nazîf are as follows: I.A. Gövsa, Sii
Nazif (Istanbul: Suhulet Kütüphanesi, 1933); and §• Karakaç, Süleyman Nazif (Ankara: Kiil
Turizm Bakanhgi, 1988).
56. O. Goçgtin, Siileyman Nazif - Hayati, Eserleri, Edebi Kiçiligi ve Eserlerinden Açik
Sadele$tirilmi$ Seçmeler [Siileyman Nazif - His Life, Works, Literary Personality and Simp
Explanatory Extracts from his Works] (Ankara: Atatürk Kültiir Merkezi, 2010). The book
includes examples of his wit and humour, as well as a large number of brief comments fr
friends and other literary figures after his death.
57. In rough translation, the 'Turkish Hymn' is as follows:

O lovely earth! While my fathers rest in your bosom, you are mine!
For my nation's achievements, recent history gives a guideline!
You are my own place, my firmament, my world, my very heaven -
From your ailing breast has emerged a new nation with life driven.
True, wounded you were once, but even then your faith was strong always,
And stronger remained your hope, your strength, your blood and your love ablaze;
If the Crescent and Star had set, had left the Turks and had vanished,
Then moons and stars would appear to us as orphans left and banished.
You have kept alive our history with glory, and honour too;
And gratefully the past and the future hasten to respect you.
My own place, my firmament, my world, and my Paradise you are,
And from your living breast, I saw, a great nation rose like a star.

Celâl Sahir Erozan (1883-1935), was a romantic poet and writer, a teacher of literature and, la
member of the Turkish Parliament.
Hisar, Kitaplar ve Muharrirler, Vol.11, p.55. Nazif also wrote a booklet against Çerif Pasha (1865
1951) who served as Sultan Abdülhamid's ambassador to Sweden. Çerif Pasha who, at the time, was
young and handsome, had been given the nickname Beau Chérif, and this is how he was often
referred to in Europe. Nazif preferred to pronounce this as in Turkish, and therefore gave the title
Bo$ Herif (Hollow Fellow) to the booklet (published anonymously in Istanbul in 1910) in which he
denounced Çerif Pasha.
Celâl Nuri (1881-1938), was a prolific writer, journalist and politician. He was a deputy for Gelibolu
(Gallipoli) in the last Ottoman Parliament and served several times as a member in the Turkish
Grand National Assembly after the proclamation of the Republic. His own articles were published in
the important newspapers of his day, and he also financed the newspaper ileri (Forward) which
appeared between 1919 and 1924. He took the surname ileri when the law related to surnames was
passed in Turkey in 1934.
Mehmed Nâzim Özgiinay (1883-1939) was a minor poet and writer who played second fiddle to the
well-known writers of his time. He hailed from Fiorina (near Bitola in present-day Macedonia) and
was therefore referred to (before the adoption of surnames in 1934) as Florinah Nâzim.
Oner Gôçgiin, Siileyman Nazif - Hayati, Eserleri, Edebi Kiçiligi ve Eserlerinden Açiklamali
Sadeleçtirilmiij Seçmeler [Siileyman Nazîf - His Life, Works, Literary Personality and Simplified,
Explanatory Extracts from his Works] (Ankara: Ankara Kültür Merkezi, 2010), pp.83-4.
One such example deals with a young unknown Turkish writer who found that he could not keep up
with Siileyman Nazîf s weighty arguments. He left the room in a huff and sent a note to Nazîf challeng
ing him to a duel. In his reply, Nazîf wrote that the laws of Ottoman Turkey did not allow for duelling,
but added: 'Your Turkish composition in the note has two errors, and I could kill you just for that!'
D. Mehmet Dogan, 'Unutulan Eyiiplti Siileyman Nazif [The Forgotten Eyiip Resident Siileyman
Nazîf), Tarihi, Kiiltiirii ve Sanatiyla Eyiip Sultan Sempozyumu IX (Istanbul: Eyiip Belediyesi 2005),
pp.280-87. Eyiip is a large district near the Golden Horn in Istanbul and takes its name from the
tomb of Abu Ayyub, a Companion of the Prophet.
The governor of the province of Bursa referred to was Mehmet Tevfik Biren, whose memoirs have
been collected and published: F. Rezan Hürmen (ed.), Mehmet Tevfik Bey'in (Biren) II. Abdiilhamid,
Meçrutiyet ve Mütareke Dönemi Hatiralari [Recollections of the Period of Abdiilhamid II, the Consti
tution and the Armistice], 2 vols. (Istanbul: Arma Yayinlan, 1993). For the disagreements between
the governor and Siileyman Nazîf, who had differing official viewpoints, so much so that the

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Süleyman Nazîf - A Multi-Faceted Personality 507

governor addressed an application to the palace establishment for Nazîfs transfer away from Bursa;
see Vol.1, pp.374 et seq. In fairness to the governor, it must be added that he refers to and concurs
with the following sentence from Ibrahim Alâeddin's essay called 'Süleyman Nazîf: 'It would not be
unfair to introduce and recognize him as one of the most important personalities, not only of recent
times, but also of the whole history of our literature.' Information on the governor, Mehmet Tevfik
Biren, is to be found in S.T. Wasti, 'The Last Chroniclers of the Mabeyn', Middle Eastern Studies,
Vol.32, No.2 (1996), pp.1-29. In 1906, two prominent Indian Muslims on a long tour of Turkey,
Sheikh Abdul Qadir and Mushir Hosain Kidwai, also visited Bursa, where they met both the gover
nor Tevfik Bey and, separately, Nazîf (to whom they had been given a letter of introduction by
Ahmed Ihsan Tokgöz in Istanbul). See note 27 above, and also S.T. Wasti, 'Sir Abdul Qadir and his
Turkish Travelogue', Pakistan Perspectives, Vol.6, No.2 (2001), pp.143-57.
Fatma R. Hiirmen (ed.), Münevver bir Türk Hammi Ressam Naciye Nevval Hamm Efendtnin Mutla
kiyet, Me$rutiyet \e Cumhuriyet Hatiralari [The Absolute Rule, Constitutional and Repunblican
Period Memoirs of the Lady Naciye Nevval, an Intellectual Turkish painter] (Istanbul: Pinar
Yayinlan, 2004). Similarly, D. Mehmet Dogan also refers to the written arguments on aspects of reli
gious interpretation that took place between Süleyman Nazîf and iskilipli Atif Efendi.
Reçîd Mümtaz Pasha (1856-1928) served as governor in Beirut before being appointed governor of the
Hiidavendigâr province (with the capital at Bursa) for the period 1903-6. Subsequently he was appointed
mayor of Istanbul for over two years. He also served briefly as the Ottoman interior minister in 1920.
Abdullah Cevdet (1869-1932), was born in Arapgir in south-eastern Turkey. By profession a medical
doctor, he was also an Ottoman intellectual, poet, writer and radical free-thinker, who founded a jour
nal called Ictihäd (Innovative Interpretation) in Geneva in 1904. This journal was published under his
editorship intermittently until 1932. Abdullah Cevdet's controversial modernist ideas brought him into
conflict several times with the authorities as well as his friends.
inal, Son Asir Türk $airleri, Vol.III, p. 1533. See also Note 8.
N. Alkan, 'Süleyman Nazif s "Open Letter to Jesus": An Anti-Christian Polemic in the Early Turkish
Republic', Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.44, No.6 (2008), pp.851-65. This letter was meant to be a
complaint to Jesus (revered in Islam as a prophet) and a criticism of European policies towards a
defeated Turkey - which were anything but Christian in spirit. Alkan's article contains translations
both of the letter to Jesus and a 'reply' from Jesus. Alkan has also researched the book by Süleyman
Nazîf, Nasirüddin §ah ve Babiler [Nasiruddin Shah and the Babis] (Istanbul: Kanaat Kütüphanesi,
1926), 103 pp. Furthermore, an assessment of Abdullah Cevdet's world-view and his sympathy for
Bahaism may be found in the article: N. Alkan, 'The Eternal Enemy of Islam: Abdullah Cevdet and
the Baha'i Religion', Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London,
Vol.68, No.l (2005), pp.1-20.
Although different dates are given for the death of Süleyman Nazîf (including December 1926 or
1927), the date 4 Jan. 1927 is found in most reliable sources.
Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu (1889-1974) was a writer and diplomat, who also served for many
years as a member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Öner Gôçgûn, Süleyman Nazif - Hayati, Eserleri, Edebi Kitjiligi ve Eserlerinden Açiklamah
Sadeleçtirilmiç Seçmeler [Süleyman Nazîf - His Life, Works, Literary Personality and Simplified,
Explanatory Extracts from his Works] (Ankara: Ankara Kültür Merkezi, 2010), p. 153.
Hisar, Kitaplar ve Muharrirler, Vol.11, p.307.
In the same spirit as the lines written by Thomas Seward (1708-90) on the seven wealthy towns that
contended for Homer dead, Omer Ferit Kam, a friend of Süleyman Nazîf had written after Nazîf
had been buried using funds obtained from the Turkish Aeronautical Association:

While alive, so many men of talent feel

The lack of a spoonful of salt for their meal;
But when starvation brings to an end their days,
People, above their graves, a monument raise!

There are streets named after Süleyman Nazîf in both the European and Asian parts of Istanbul, in
Ankara, in Kayseri, Konya, Eskiçehir, Diyarbakir and, very likely, in several other towns and cities.
Many schools all over Turkey also carry his name.

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
508 S.T. Wasti

76. Yahya Kemal Beyatli (1884-1958) was born in Skopje (in present-day Macedonia), and
Istanbul and Paris. He is regarded as the last great poet who wrote in Ottoman Turkish
to being a writer of importance, he also served as professor, ambassador and member of
For a sample of his poetry in translation, reference may be made to Wasti, An Introdu
Ottoman Turkish Poetry, pp. 187-99.
77. As Süleyman Nazîf died on 4 Jan. 1927 (see note 71), it appears that the Turkish new
from Istanbul and Ankara at the time took six days to reach Warsaw by train.
78. Milliyet (Nationality) was then, as now, a popular daily newspaper in Turkey.
79. Y. Kemal, Siyast ve Edebi Portreler [Political and Literary Portraits], 3rd ed. (Istanbul: I
Cemiyeti, undated), pp.25-9.
80. Ahmed Haçim (1884-1933) was one of the major poets of the late Ottoman period. Bor
he came to Istanbul at a young age and studied at the Galatasaray Lycée. He is consi
Turkey's most 'impressionist' poets. For more information, see Wasti, An Introduction
man Turkish Poetry, pp. 169-85.
81. One Turkish Lira is equal to 100 piastres.
82. Ahmed Haçim, 'Süleyman Nazîf in mezari' [The grave of Süleyman Nazîf], in Ûç Eser
(Istanbul: Millî Egitim Bakanligi, 1989), pp.9 -10.
83. Mehmed 'Akif (1873-1936) wrote much gripping poetry during the second decade of
century, which fired Ottoman national opinion during and after the First World War. H
also chosen for the words of the National Anthem of the Republic of Turkey in 1921. Se
An Introduction to Late Ottoman Turkish Poetry, pp. 143-67.
84. This book was reprinted in a parallel-text edition (Ottoman Turkish and the modern
bet) with annotations by Ertugrul Düzdag. See S, Nazif, MehmedÂkif (Istanbul: iz Yayin
85. Midhat Cemal Kuntay (1885-1956). a poet and novelist, who also wrote a biograph
'Akif. He had a long legal career, finally becoming a notary public in Istanbul.
86. In a letter to his friend Mahir iz who had written to 'Akif (then in Egypt) to inform hi
death, Akif replied:

Alas, the news of Süleyman Nazîfs death reached me before your letter did, and bow
completely. As you say, the void left by him will not at all be filled easily. That gre
huge universe unto himself. How good would it have been, had he been granted anoth
to enrich the nation with knowledge, civilization and love for the country, yes, indeed
last eight or ten years, we had become affectionate friends, and begun to like
immensely...

87. Abdülhak Hamid (1851-1937), a prolific writer of poetry and plays, who had a long career as an
Ottoman diplomat and later, under the republic, became a member of the Turkish Grand National
Assembly. Refer also to Wasti, An Introduction to Late Ottoman Turkish Poetry, pp.75-93.
88. See chapter on Nazîf in inal, Son Asir Türk $ air 1er i, Vol.Ill, pp. 1523-48.
89. Tank is a fictional account by Abdülhak Hâmid of the heroic exploits of Tariq bin Ziyad, a great
Muslim general who led the Arab conquest of Spain beginning in 711 AD Gibraltar is a modified ver
sion of the Arabic name Jabal Tariq (or Mountain of Tariq).
90. According to Abdülhak Çinâsî Hisar, Süleyman Nazîf even went on a trip to India to retrace the foot
steps of Abdülhak Hâmid. Details of this trip are not available, but see Hisar, Kitaplar ve Muharrir
ler, Vol.1, p.132. Quotation from inal, Son Asir Türk Çairleri [Turkish Poets of the Last Century],
Vol.111, p. 1526.
91. Inal, Son Asir Türk Çairleri [Turkish Poets of the Last Century], Vol.III, pp. 1543-1544.
92. A. Haçim, 'Son Çarkli' [The Last Oriental], in Ûç Eser, pp.113-15.
93. Ahmed Haçim, 'Son Çarkli' [The Last Oriental] in Ûç Eser [Three Works] (Istanbul: MillîEgitim
Bakanligi, 1989), pp.114-15.

This content downloaded from 87.214.38.13 on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:24 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms