Abstract
ON A DRAWING OF LOTS FÂL-NÂME (ORACULAR BOOK USED IN FORTUNE-TELLING) WHICH WAS COMPOSED ON BEHALF OF THE 24 DIVÂN POETS
Falnâmes (oracular books used in fortune-telling), which have been written with many different names, such as yıldıznâme, tefe’’ülnâme, hurşîdnâme, ihtilâcnâme, kıyâfetnâme and kehânetnâme, are works written based on interpretation with the objective of knowing the future.
The fortune-telling culture of the Ottomans was also reflected in the literary tradition. The well-known works related to the subject are the Kıyâfet-nâme by Hamdullah Hamdî, the Fâl-i Reyhân-ı Cem Sultan by Cem Sultan, the Fâl-i Murgân by Zaîfî, the Râz-nâme by Kefeli Hüseyin and the Fâl-nâme-i Kur’ân-ı Azîm by Fedâyî.
This article examined a falnâme text written in verse by a definitely unknown author, which was written in the language of the divân poets with the names of Emrî, Bâkî, Cevrî, Hayretî, Hayâlî, Zerrâkî, Zâtî, Rûhî, Sürûrî, Şehrî, Sun’î, Tıflî, Zuhûrî, Ubeydî, Gınâyî, Fuzûlî, Kabûlî, Keşfî, Lâmi’î, Meşâmî, Nef’î, Visâlî, Hem-demî and Yahyâ. The work constitutes the subject of 24 fortune-telling intentions, which are written in the language of the aforementioned Divân poets listed above and according to the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. The recto (r) and verso (v) folios of every leaf of the work, include the name of two divân poets and six each quatrains that rhyme in the form of aaxa for the different subjects explained. The work was examined after a short introduction that mentions the falnâme tradition in divân poetry. The transcribed written translation of the Falnâme and the facsimile of the work with the former alphabet have been given at the end of the article.
Keywords
Divân literature, fâlnâme, fâlnâme written in verse, drawing of lots fortune-telling, fortune-telli
