TRANSFORMATION OF AHSANUL-QISAS INTO AN IMMORTAL LOVE STORY

Abstract

The story given in Surat Yusuf, called the best story in the Qur'an, has become a love story in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish literature and folklore.
Among the biblical sources, only Joseph's legend, tale, and love story have been able to spread in such a wide area and among so many peoples and nations.
Although Zuleykhan's name is not mentioned in either the Holy Book or the Qur'an - the name came up later - in commentary books and folk literature, he was the subject of mutual love between Yusuf and Zuleykha. In this article, the son who was slandered, the hero who was thrown into the well, the bloody shirt, the dungeon and so on motives in the story of Yusif and Zuleykha gained new meaning. The legend, tale and saga of Yusif and Zuleykha were evaluated in terms of common themes with many myths and legends of the ancient world, especially Turkish folklore, and approached the issue from the aspect of lust, desire, human and divine love. And most importantly, Zuleykhan's breaking of idols has been studied as the conquest of divine love over the self in the gnosis sense, the attainment of spiritual perfection from physical desire.