Books on Ethics as Instructive Texts and an Unknown Copy of Ahmed Mürşidî Efendi’s Book on Ethics

Suggestion or admonition means advice. In literature, works which give advices on religion, communal living, occupations and management services or show the way to be a good person and be successful in life are called advice letters (pend-nâme). Advice letters are advice books. They are the rules that mark out how to be a good person in society and direct the human life in the direction of the commands and prohibitions of İslam. These rules have been formed in accordance with the İslamic commands, and to an extent they are the prohibitions to be obeyed. It is seen that such works have been written in almost every era of classical Turkish literature. Kutadgu Bilig, Atabetü’l-Hakâyık and Divan-ı Lügati’t-Türk as the first works of Islamic literature are like advice books in terms of the subjects and messages they carry. Even Göktürk inscriptions are like an advice book with its messages that represent a historical experience. Two significant works of this field are the books on ethics written by Güvahi and Ahmed Mürşidî Efendi. These works are particular source for linguistic area as they include mottos along with proverbs, idioms, anecdotes and fairy tales. The works of Ahmed Mürşidî Efendi known as poet of books on ethics have many written and printed copies. A written copy of this work was explored by one of our students. This copy which consists of 201 sheets and 7265 couplets was copied by Muhammed Nuri Efendi from Burdur. An artisan in Burdur keeps it.

There exists a suggestive style in Orkhun Inscriptions, the initial writings of Turkish literature and in Kutadgu Bilig which belongs to the later ages and is one of the first Islamic-Turkish writings, it is narrated how to be an emperor. In Divan-ı Lügat-it-Türk, Kaşgarlı Mahmut gives advice by using the proverbs, as well. Yüknekli Edib Ahmet's Atabetü'l-Hakayık is another sample which examples the situations with hadiths and the verses from Quran. The continuation of this tradition was provided with Yunus Emre's Risâletü'n-Nushiyye and Mevlana's Masnavi, combined with suggestions and advises uttered for the sake of completing the man's superior virtues. [1] 791-2

A.1. Books on Ethics as Instructive Texts
The word "pend" having the meaning of suggestion and advice in Persian bears the meaning books on ethics, suggestion leaflet or advisory booklet with the word "name" together. Aiming at leading the readers mature morally and socially and providing mature people for the society, these books on ethics are of the didactic works [2]. It is an inevitable fact that Islamic and religious works bears the feature of being instructive at first. Many issues related with lives and religions are dealt with in this work. Many issues such as possessions, parental right over the child, family, partners, halal, haram, government, faith and generosity, goodness, infidelity, slander, arrogance, pledge, belief, desire, chant in Quran, longing, smoking, mahatmas' oracle, science of cifr, alchemy, the prophet, Muhammad's passion are given place in this work. Besides its instructiveness, the work is known as "book on ethics" as it gives advice.
In classical Turkish literature, a lot of books on ethics and advisory books have been written down. Attar's books on ethics have been patterned and many good works are laid out via translation and copyright. There are 43 advisory books, some of which were republished and 110 books on ethics even in the records of the National Library. By the virtue of matter, books and papers in this field have been written in Turkish literature and again papers have been represented in academic symposiums and congress. I hold the opinion that a little information about would be better in terms of understanding, emphasising and comprehending matters.

Orkhun Inscriptions
The most significant art works of this era is written in stones, Orkhun Inscriptions. As an afterward situational assessment between Turks and Chinese, the work is the written form of Bilge Khan's advices and suggestions for his children. Significant messages are given in these writings as follows with its Turkish translation. Having the feature of being a speech as well, Orkhun Inscriptions (Göktürk inscriptions, obelisks, Bengü steles are of great importance in terms of Turkish history and culture. It advises the nation to keep its morals and values unspoilt; it is reviewed that because of the leaders and people admiration for Chinese, the state is collapsed and the nation is taken under chain. However, it is stated that they can manage to found out an independent state when they act in unity steles [4]. It is advised not to be fooled by Chinese women, silk and their good words but to be in unity. Splitting up and division has the same meaning with being easy meat. Today we live the same things even more. In the case of not having lessons from the past, it is giving information about the sake of the empires. The utterance 'Turkish people, behave yourself and come to your sense' is not for nothing. The monuments that were erected for Tonyukuk (724,726), Kültigin (732) and Bilge Khan are historical monuments of Turkish nation as well.

Instructive Texts after Islam
With the acceptance of Islam, the rules and morals of the new religion were integrated in literary works. Regarded as the initial literary works, Kutadgu Bilig, Atabetü'l Hakâyık nad Dıvan-ı Hikmet of Hodja Ahmet Yesevi are the works including religious rules and ethics.

Kutadgu Bilig
I have no doubt that Kutadgu Bilig -a significant mirror of Turkish nation and its history of thought as well-can be utilized a lot in terms of increasing new joints about the information of being Turkish [5] VIII Evaluation of this work today is of great importance. Written by Yusuf Has Hacib, this literary work is actually a book of government. Within the light of religious and moral values, the emperor, Küntoğdu, stands for the judgement, his vizier Aytoldu for fortune, the vizier's son Ögdülmüş for wisdom and the vizier's brother Odgurmuş for fate. Evaluated in a catechetical way, the sections involve the rules and forms of politeness besides the morals and rules of governing. In many parts of the work, instructive texts that is subtitled as "it is advised that…" take part in. The couplets between the numbers 6521-6645 in the work give information about the badness of time, longing for youth and self-advisory parts Written approximately 10 century ago, this art of work gives advice for the young by figuring out the themes such as disloyalty, badness of time, dishonouring for Wiseman, wisdom and so on.

Atabetü'l-Hakâyık
As understood from different titles, it is a book of ethics reprinted in narrative from of Turkish besides having been prepared for the nurture of individuals in the framework of Turkish-Islamic cultural world [7]. It is clearly that this literary work figures out similar titles as in Kutadgu Bilig. Complaint from time and youth and dishonouring for the wisdom comes forth among the titles that it figured out. Samples are given below in Turkish with their translation in parenthesis: 89. 198. benim dediğin mal başkalarının kısmetidir. (the wealth that you know yours is one's fortune)

Divan-ı Hikmet: Ahmet Yesevî
The age, which is worth to be studied in order to comprehend the national spirit and pleasure from the Turkish literature after the acceptance of Islam, is the one in which great Sufis made remarkable impressions with their works for centuries and managed to reach large masses [8]. Ahmet Yesevî and his work named as "Divan-ı Hikmet" have a significant place for our cult and literature.
The word "Hikmet" is used in the meaning of our prophet's sermons and guidance. Described in a variety of different meanings by a number of Islamic wise men, the meaning of the word takes part in the dictionaries as follows: glorious characteristics created by the combination of science and justice, the existence of competency and realities and the motto related with tradition and ethics… [9]. The relation of 'mysterious wisdom' with the tradition and ethics makes itself bear the feature of religious guidance. For this reason, it is seen that the guiding messages exists in most of the 'mysterious wisdoms'. The full texts of Divan-ı Hikmet are available in Kazan prints. It is claimed that Ahmet Yesevi uttered 4400 mysterious wisdoms. Their content involves the fundamentals of Islam, the provisions of sharia, teaching the doctrines and norms of followers' sunnah to the ones who have accepted Islam newly or haven't accepted yet [10] 36 Being so far from the opinion of owing the artistic characteristics can be taken as normal for they bear the didactic characteristics. These mysterious wisdoms are national in terms of style, but religious in terms of content. In some of them, suggestions are given on social troubles of both the environment and the era. Yesevi wrote his mysterious wisdoms in the nature of inviting and informing about both the prohibitions and orders of sharia and the rules and conventions of the sect that he founded under his name. One way of teaching the rules of religion is the mysterious wisdom (hikmet).
Some samples (with their simplified forms in Turkish): Gülvahi, which can be called as advisory book, gives place social words, proverbs and idioms mostly and figures them in the form of narrative story within the style of masnavi and aruz prosody.
Samed Alizade made a comparison upon the works related with proverbs published in Turkey and claimed that 220 of 475 proverbs that are used in Güvâhi. The book of ethics, are commonly used.
The titles of the stories that are in the style of masnavi in the book of ethics are as follows: 1. The disadvantages of not obeying to the statesmen 2. The judges' being tended on pleasure and entertainment and the harms that can come from these to their jobs. 3. The statesmen abusing and being kind not to get complaints from the uppers. 4. The judges' bribing and the public complaints. 5. As the consequence of bearing a grunge against to statesmen, harming oneself. 6. The legality of killing harmful livings in order not to damage anyone. 7. The right of everyone even the worst ones to have a value with the dignity of being a man. 8. The messengers' oppression to the people and the public complaints. 9. The harms of insatiability and greed to man. 10

Hayriye-i Nâbi (end of 17 th century)
Hayriye-i Nâbi comes forth among the instructive texts written in Anatolia. This art of work was written by Nâbi by targeting his 7 year-old son and the young in adolescence. This art of work whose writer -Nâbi-known as a poet of contemplation and philosophy in Divan literature, is one of the significant works that was written in its field. It is such a valuable art work that it had so much fame and value to be discussed and it even caused some disagreements in the council of poets such as "Nâbi's work named as Hayrabad had been praised and no art of work like it would be written any longer".
"One of the known samples in the field of didactic, mental and moral masnavi of Divan literature, Hayriyye Nâbi found itself a common reading area almost in all corners of Ottoman Empire". [12] Some couplets in original form; Kimsenin cevr ile canın sıkma Hatırın yapmağa sa'y it yıkma Hardan ol bî-hûda-gû bedterdür Anı tasdik eden andan hardur.

Sünbülzâde Vehbi Lutfiyye (Wording date 1205/1791)
It is an 1181-couplet masnavi written in advisory form. It was probably written as a birthday gift when Lütfullah got the age 24. "Thinking that father's advice would lead lifelong, Vehbi decides to write an advisory book for his son" [13] during the wording of the work, it was benefitted mostly. The work consists of 91 titles. It involves suggestions dealing with a number of issues related with social life.

Name of the book: Hazâ Kitâb-ı Mürşidî Pend-i Ahmedî Rahmetullahi Aleyh
Author: Ahmed Mürşidî Efendi [14] Sh: 1b-210a, there exists a 12-couplet poem in 1a. From the beginning, 200 sheets are unscathed but the last 10 sheets are apart from the whole text, a full copy.

Diyarbekirli Ahmed Mürşidî Efendi
Being one of the scholars in 18 th century, he is the son of Osman Ağa. Presumably, he was born in 1688/89 in the district of Yenikapı, Diyarbakır. He was orphan since his parents were dead when he was a child. After completing his education in various sciences, he took part in Sheikh Birecikli Ebubekir from Nakşıbendi fellows. Afterwards, he went to make a pilgrimage and situated settled in Ali Pınarı village -a horary away from Diyarbakır-on his return. He died in 1760/6.

Other Books of Ethics
Type of Book: Attâr, known with the name of Ebu Hamid Feridüddin Attar Muhammed b. İbrahim Nisaburi. It serves as a model for most of the works written in this form. It is in the top list of samples in advisory book type that he was named as pendname (book of ethics). In almost all bookstores, this book can be found. The initial copies can commonly be seen in copy and translation forms. It is possible to face with the various types of prints of this work in the libraries including the handwritten form of the work in Turkey. Since it includes religious and moral issues and figures these topics in poetical style, it has been read and loved mostly. In our literature, so many books were written in the name of book of ethics and advisory book. Güvâhi's advisory book, Nâbi's Hayriyye, Sünbülzâde Vehbi's Lutfiyye are among the unique masnavis. With the name of advisory book, Pendnâme comes to the title and the name of Güvâhi's work [16]. From 14 th century to 19 th century, many books on ethics were written. Some of them were listed below.

th century
In this era, no significant works apart from the one named 'Erzurumlu Mehmed Şerifî's Pend-i Gülistân-ı Şerifi' could be written. In republic period, Ali Fuat Başgil's work titled with 'Gençlerle Başbaşa' was penned for this purpose [17]

Conclusions
The art of works titled with book of ethics or advisory book have a significant place in teaching the religious rules in literal field, wide-spreading of social rules between the individuals and arranging the social life. Human being needs to learn the truth at first in order to fulfil the duty of teaching, live decently, and teach how to live so. Books of ethics duly performed their duties. These works of art have run the instructive duty in terms of teaching how to be perfect human and good person for years and the society needs these masterpieces so much today. 1