Early Mystics in Turkish Literature

Early Mystics in Turkish Literature describes the early development of Turkish literature, especially mystical folk literature, through the lives of the poets Ahmad Yasaawi in Central Asia and Yunus Emre in Anatolia during the Middle Ages.

This book is a translation of one of the most important Turkish scholarly works of the 20th century. It was the masterpiece of M.F. Koprulu, one of Turkey's leading, and most prolific, intellectuals and scholars. Using a wide variety of Arabic, and especially Turkish and Persian sources, this book sheds light on the early development of Turkish literature and attempts to show the continuity in this development between the Turkish of Central Asia and that of Anatolia. Early Mystics in Turkish Literature addresses this topic within the context of other subjects, including:
*Sufism
*Islam
*The genesis of Turkish culture in the Muslim world

This book is a major contribution to the study of Turkish literature and is essential reading for scholars of Turkish literature, Islam, Sufism and Turkish history.

This book has been translated into English by Gary Leiser and Robert Dankoff. Gary Leiser is the Director of the Travis Air Museum at Travis AFB, California. He received a doctorate in Middle Eastern history from the University of Pennsylvania in 1976. He has been engaged in a long term project of translating into English the major historical works of M.F. Koprulu.