Derûnî-i Sânî, "the second Derûnî", was a poet and musician from Manisa who lived in the middle of the sixteenth century. According to the biographical anthology of poets (tezkire) of Beyânî Mustafa, he first attached himself to the household of Şehzade Mustafa (Prince Mustafa), then passed into the service of Şehzade Selim, the later Selim II, and, failing to find the favour he hoped for there, composed a reproachful muhammes (five-line stanza poem). This record links him to Şehzade Mustafa's circle, and it is the reason he is counted among the poets of Amasya. Since Şehzade Mustafa was in Manisa from 1534 to 1541 and in Amasya from 1541 to 1553, however, it is unclear in which city a poet from Manisa attached himself to the prince. Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi, describing the same poet, does not mention Şehzade Mustafa at all. This page therefore gives the poet's life and his two poetic fragments together with the grounds for his Amasya link.

His Life

Derûnî-i Sânî's name and his dates of birth and death are unknown. Both biographers say he was from Manisa; Beyânî writes "Magnisavîdür", Kınalızâde "şehr-i Magnisadandur". Both stress that in appearance and manner he had the air of a dervish and a character that set no value on the world. Kınalızâde expresses this as "Derûnî bîrûnına muvâfık", his inner self matched his outer self, playing on the pen name: derûn means "inside", bîrûn "outside". The poet's real fame lay in music. Beyânî presents him as accomplished in the theory of music (ilm-i edvâr) and as having reached the highest rank in playing the tanbur, and says that he composed graceful murabbas, that is, songs. Kınalızâde, too, writes that he was a master of musical theory without equal in his time and a master of masters on the tanbur, and that the murabbas and savts he composed were sung in every mode (makam) and became famous among the people.

The only known event in his life is his passage from one patron to another. According to Beyânî, Derûnî first attached himself to the household of Şehzade Sultan Mustafa, then came to the household of Sultan Selim Han and, failing to receive the attention he wished, composed this muhammes. Kınalızâde tells the same story much more harshly. In his account Derûnî had been admitted to Şehzade Selim's private gatherings and had enjoyed his favour. Kınalızâde here recalls the Arabic verse meaning "if you honour the noble you possess him, if you honour the base he grows insolent", and says that, owing to the baseness of his nature, the poet repaid the prince's bounty with ingratitude. When the muhammes reached the prince's ears it nearly provoked great anger, but the prince acted wisely and had him driven from his door; Kınalızâde describes this expulsion as a punishment that would make the poet taste death a thousand times a day.

Derûnî's link with Amasya rests solely on Beyânî's words, "Şehzade Sultan Mustafa âsitânına intisabı olup", he attached himself to the household of Şehzade Sultan Mustafa. Beyânî does not give the place or time of this attachment. Şehzade Mustafa went out to the sanjak of Manisa in 940 (1534) and was transferred to Amasya in 948 (1541); Şehzade Selim came to Manisa in 951 (1544) and remained there until he was transferred to Konya in 1558. These dates fit easily with a musician of Manisa attaching himself to Mustafa during his Manisa years, staying in his own city when the prince left for Amasya, and a few years later entering the service of Selim, who came to the same sanjak. On the other hand, it is not impossible that he followed Mustafa to Amasya and turned to Selim after the prince's death. Which of the two possibilities is correct cannot be determined from the sources; the first seems stronger, but this too is our inference. Derûnî-i Sânî's participation in the gatherings in Amasya is therefore not documented.

The State of the Sources and the Debate

The pen name Derûnî was used by more than one poet in the sixteenth century, which invites confusion of identity. The epithet "Sânî", second, shows that there had been a well-known Derûnî before him. This first Derûnî was a poet from İznik who, after an apprenticeship with a tailor, turned to learning, became a student (dânişmend) of Leysîzâde, and died in poverty in 950 (1544) because of his addiction to hashish and opium; the "Derûnî" article of the Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü describes him. Kınalızâde also mentions a Derûnî from Yenice-i Vardar under the heading "Derûnî-i diger", another Derûnî. The Derûnî of Manisa has nothing to do with these two poets.

In the history of Amasya, too, there is a figure bearing the same pen name. Hüseyin Hüsameddin describes Derûnî Mehmed Efendi, a descendant of the Halveti sheikh Osman Efendi, sheikh of the Osman Efendi lodge and holder of the lectureship of the Sultan Bayezid mosque; this Amasya sheikh, learned, ascetic, a preacher and a poet who sometimes composed hymns (ilahi), died around 1114 (1702). Since both his period and his home town differ, he must not be confused with Derûnî-i Sânî of Manisa. The difference between the accounts of the two biographers should also be noted: Beyânî mentions Derûnî's attachment to Mustafa and describes his disappointment at Selim's door in mild terms, while Kınalızâde never mentions Mustafa and lays all the blame on the poet.

His Poetry

No divan of Derûnî-i Sânî is known. Two poetic fragments survive in the tezkires. The first is one stanza of the muhammes he wrote at Şehzade Selim's door: the poet, who inclines to nothing since the city of his heart was ruined, addresses the one greedy for fortune and proud with the wine of heedlessness, saying "from now on take the world, I have given it to you". Beyânî calls this poem a "murabba", while the editor Aysun Sungurhan notes that it is a muhammes. The second is a nazire (response poem) to a kaside (qasida) of Âgehî; Beyânî says of it "hûb dimişdür", he spoke well, and Kınalızâde writes that this spring poem (bahariye) is in no way inferior to Âgehî's kaside. In the five couplets of the kaside that survive in the tezkires the spring garden is described as a sea voyage: the wind blows from the kıble, the sea of the garden swells, the cypress becomes a mast and the jasmines ropes. Both fragments are given on separate pages in this category with the original text, a modern rendering and commentary.

For the other poets around Prince Mustafa, see our article Prince Mustafa (Muhlisî): His Poems and the Poets of His Amasya Circle.

Chronology

940 (1534): Şehzade Mustafa went out to the sanjak of Saruhan (Manisa).

948 (1541): Şehzade Mustafa was transferred to Amasya.

951 (1544): Şehzade Selim came to Manisa; in 1558 he was transferred to Konya.

1566: Şehzade Selim came to the throne as Selim II; Derûnî's expulsion from Selim's princely gatherings predates this.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Books

Online sources