THE SAM‘ GHAZAL AND ITS USE IN MEVLEVI SEMÂHANE (WHIRLING HALL) INSCRIPTIONS

In the architecture and decoration of mevlevîhanes (dervish lodges of the sufi Mevlevî order) it was noticed that during the 19th century, inscriptions alluding to samâ‘ (the whirling movements of sufi dervishes) began to appear in the calligraphic decoration of some of their major semâhanes (assembly whirling halls). These inscriptions were used to encircle the centralized space in the middle of the semâhane called semâ meydan, which was designated exclusively to the performance of the Mevlevî Âyîn-i Şerif (the sacred ritualistic whirling semâ ceremony of the Mevlevis). Although inscriptions in either Turkish or Persian alluding to samâ‘ were to be found in these architecturally similar 19th century semâ meydans, this study concentrates exclusively on the poetically influential use of the nine Persian couplets popularly attributed to Mawlânâ Jalaluddin Rumi, called the Samâ‘ Ghazal. The couplets of this ghazal each beginning with the question دانی سماع چه بود “Dānī samāʿ che buvad” / “Do you know what samâ‘ is?” were to be found in the calligraphic decoration surrounding the semâ meydans of some of the major mevlevîhanes of Istanbul as well as northwestern Turkey. This study first examines the meaning and origin of the Samâ‘ Ghazal, giving arguments why it could not belong to Rumi, showing that it first entered Mevlevi literature in the 17th century. It then goes on to examine the calligraphy, location and use of the nine couplets of the Samâ‘ Ghazal, in each of the semâ meydans of the Yenikapı, Kütahya, Gelibolu and Bahariye Mevlevîhânes.