Sight and Blindness in Erzurumlu Mustafa Darir’s Works

What is it about?

Erzurumlu Mustafa Darir was a poet and writer who lived in the 14th century, when classical Turkish literature first emerged. His major and most well-known text is Siretü’n-nebi which narrates the life of the prophet. Nearly a hundred copies of this book are held in libraries worldwide. Because he was blind, he has used the poetic appellations “Darir”, “Dariri” and “Gözsüz” (trans. blind). Furthermore Darir used many images and metaphors about eye and vision. He preferred metaphorical expressions about blindness. Though he mentioned about physical eyes, he focused on the spiritual eye or eye of the heart. Also he wrote about blindness and his own blindness. But the term “blindness” very often refers to “the blindness of the heart” in his works. This article aims to classify and evaluate the ocular elements in Darir’s works.

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