A Dervish in Yunus Emre's Conception

Abstract

Sufism aims to perpetuate social values by inculcating high moral standards in individuals. The character education of Sufism accords great importance to moral values. Sufis adopt the ideal of living according to the Prophet's principles of excellence. They abandon negative traits, such as hypocrisy, envy, and arrogance, and build virtues, such as sincerity, patience, gratitude, and contentment. Ethical practices are precious; thus, Sufism instructs individuals to imbibe good morals and experience social virtues. Yunus Emre combined Khorasan's comprehension of reproach, ecstasy, and love with the practical and ethics-oriented Sufi understanding of Turkestan. He also emphasized the preservation of moral virtues. His poetry describes metaphysical issues such as love, human perfection, life-death, and existence-nonexistence based on divine love and morality. Yunus Emre symbolizes love and tolerance and defines the dervish as a lover of God, renunciant, and Sufi. To be a dervish is to relinquish self-love, embody humility and self-sacrifice, and not belittle or hurt anyone. A dervish is someone who acts in kindness, makes others happy with a smile, and protects humanity by recognizing that “to keep one life alive is to keep all lives alive.” Being a dervish represents a method of self-discipline; it denotes the process of constructing a new self by removing evil from the heart and replacing it with virtue. A true dervish practices daily self-reflection and thus realizes death before dying.