Theologian, poet. His real
name was Alaeddin Gaybi. Information on his life mostly comes from epics. It is
understood that he lived in the 15th century and it is said that he took the
name of Kaygusuz when he joined the convent of the dervishes of Bektashi Sheikh
Abdal Musa in Elmalı. According to the stories, on the wishes of the dervish
sheikh, he went to Egypt and founded a chapel and taught. From there he went on
pilgrimage to Mecca and visited holy places. He visited Syria and Iraq and from
Nusaybin he returned to Elmalı to his sheikh. It is possible that at some stage
he returned to Egypt where he died.
He is known to have lived at
the time of Murad II (1421-1451) and to have followed the style of Yunus Emre
with his syllabic and prosodic poems whose sources were from theosophy and
religion. He used syllabic and prosodic meters in his poems very successfully
and they are of such simplicity that they can easily be understood even today.
Kaygusuz Abdal as one of the leaders of folk poetry used the pen name of Sarayi
when writing some of his poems. He wrote some Budalaname (Book of Domheid, prose–like works) which contain some
witty remarks that occupy a place in examples of folk prose.
WORKS:
VERSE: Divân (Divan*, mostlyzse
composed of odes and 20-30 syllabic metered poems), Gülistan (Rose Garden, a theological work), Mesnevi-i Baba Kaygusuz (Mesnevi* of Baba Kaygusuz, 3 theolocical poems), Gevhernâme (Book of Jewellery, a poem written on the prophets and
which has 63 couplets), Mimbernâme (The
Pulpit Book, a theological poem of 29 couplets). gazel
FREE VERSE: Budalanâme (Book of Domheid) Kitab-ı
Mığlete (Book of Word Arrows),
Vûcudname (Book of Existence), Dilgûşa Saraynâme (Stories of Palace which Gives
Airiness). They are all theology works). They
are written by taking the Holy Koran and the studies of Prophet Muhammed as resources, his last two works are written
as half prose and half verse.