‘We are God’s and God is Ours’: Ghazals of Yunus Emre

Yunus Emre (d. 1320) is considered one of the most important Turkish poets having a great influence on Turkish literature from his own time until today. His poems concern divine love as well as human love of the Divine as God and the Perfect Master, Beloved, Friend and human destiny and weakness. Little is known of his life other than he became a Sufi dervish Perfect Master (Qutub). A contemporary of Rumi, it is told the two great souls met: Rumi asked Yunus what he thought of his huge work, the Mesnevi. Yunus said, “Excellent! But I would have done it differently.” Surprised, Rumi asked how. Yunus replied, “I’d have written, ‘I came from the eternal, clothed myself in flesh, took the name Yunus.’” This illustrates his simple approach that has made him loved by many. Here is the largest selection of his poems translated into English mainly in the form of the ghazal that he often used. The rhyme-structure has been kept as well as the beauty and meaning of these beautiful, mystical poems.