When classical Turkish literature is examined, it is seen that there is a great density of poetic works, but it is also seen that the number of prose texts that are close to the aesthetic understanding of a poetic work is not small. One of these prose products, written with a very artistic sensitivity, is münşeat. Among the texts that can be roughly evaluated under two headings, the first group represents those that include theoretical information and definitions and also present letter samples, and the second group represents those that are content with presenting only letter samples. In works that provide theoretical information about letters, there are various classifications of the parts of letters. According to a classification among them, the letters are discussed under six main headings: "elkâb, ibtidâ, tahallus, request, suicide and prayer". The 29-leaf elkab treatise, recorded in Çorum Hasan Pasha Library number 19hk4584-5, which is the subject of our study, contains sample sentences that can be written in the elkab section of classical period letters. In the work, Turkish elkab phrases that can be written in accordance with the position and authority of the person to whom the letter is sent are given together with their Persian equivalents. In these examples, in addition to Persian, there are also Arabic phrases here and there. There is no information about when and by whom the work was written. However, when both the spelling characteristics, morphology and vocabulary of the Turkish phrases in the treatise are taken into consideration, it is seen that the work reflects the language and spelling characteristics of the Old Anatolian Turkish period. In this article, first the copy of the treatise is introduced, and after mentioning the content of the work, the transcribed text of the treatise is given.
Classical Turkish literature, prose, munsheat, alqab, Old Anatolian Turkish.