Imaginations (Book)

Muhayyelât is a book written by Giritli Aziz Ali Efendi (d. 1213/1798-99). Work consists of three interconnected stories titled "Hayâl". The full title of the work is Muhayyelât-ı Ledünn-i İlâhî, composed in 1797. Its first edition was published approximately fifty-four years after the author’s death and was reprinted five times between 1852 and 1873. Muhayyelât is considered the first example of the transition from traditional to modern narrative in Turkish prose.

Content and Theme

The work comprises three interconnected stories:

1. Hayâl-i Evvel: The marriage of Kamer Can, son of the Khwarezmshah, to the daughters of the Chinese emperor, Gülruh and Ferruh, and the extraordinary adventures of their sons Asîl and Nesîl with supernatural beings.
2. Hayâl-i Sâni: The experiences of Cevad, son of the merchant Lebib, and his struggle to attain knowledge, wisdom and the ideal of the perfect human.
3. Hayâl-i Salis: The spiritual world of the Sufi Sheikh İzzettin living in Egypt and his efforts to guide the ruler Nâcî Billâh from metaphorical love to true divine love.

Narrative Features

The work employs Sufi and allegorical elements. Fairy tale motifs such as fairies, jinn, magic and charms appear in the stories place, while real locations such as Topkapı and Haydarpaşa are also included. The narration adopts a heavy and rhythmic structure in sections featuring extraordinary events, and a simple, clear structure in realistic passages.

Sources and Influences

Author was influenced by Syriac and Arabic sources such as Hulâsatü’l-Hâyâl, and while translating some stories into Turkish, added original local elements to adapt them. Although its fairy-tale and Sufi elements resemble One Thousand and One Nights, the use of real places and local details distinguishes this work from that collection.

Place in Turkish Literature

The work is regarded as one of the earliest examples of the modern story and novel concept in Turkish literature. Its influence is evident in Ahmet Mithat Efendi’s novel Çengi and Namık Kemal’s work İntibah. Muhayyelât reached a wide readership in its time and was printed five times within eleven years.

Translations and New Editions

Muhayyelât has been simplified and republished by authors such as Ahmet Kabaklı (1973), Hüseyin Alacatlı (1999), Kerim Çetinoğlu (2006), and Orhan Sakin (2016). The second story was translated into English by the British orientalist E. J. W. Gibb (1884).