Ali Behcet, who lived in the second half of the 19th century, wrote a commentary on the poem Aşk-nâme, attributed to Mevlânâ Celâleddîn-i Rûmî. Although the work’s attribution to Mevlânâ is not certain, Ali Behcet did not discuss this issue and did not mention whether the work belonged to him or not. Ali Behcet, who translated the work written in Persian into Turkish, used the classical translation method. First, he provided the original verse and then translated it into Turkish according to its meaning. Ali Behcet translated 94 verses of Aşk-nâme in his work. In this article, Ali Behcet’s work entitled Terceme-i Aşk-nâme has been transcribed and converted into the Latin alphabet, thus making it available to today’s readers. The study employed qualitative research methods, specifically text/document analysis and content analysis. Limited to Ali Behcet’s work Terceme-i Aşk-nâme, the study provided information about the commentaries and translations of Aşk-nâme in Turkish literature and touched upon the approaches regarding the work’s attribution to Mevlânâ. Ultimately, it was observed that the translator did more than just translate, concretising the abstract and mystical themes in the poem through similes, thereby making the ambiguous structure of the work understandable to the reader. Furthermore, based on this work, it was observed that the traditional understanding of commentary/translation changed and these texts became shorter. Comparing Aşk-nâme translations/commentaries written in different periods to identify changes in mindset is beneficial for the field.
Ali Behcet, translation of the book of love, commentary-translation, 19th century Ottoman literature, Mevlânâ.