Leaving a significant mark on the second half of the 19th century with both his works and his intellectual stance, Namık Kemal (1840-1888) set an example as a hero of ideas by dedicating his life to the cause of liberty, for which he fought for the sake of society. He did not remain solely in the realm of ideas and thought, but went as far as changing his entire life, leading an adventurous existence filled with hardships for this cause.

Constantly endeavoring to instill the cause of liberty through his writings as well, the author wrote this article, which takes the form of a political utopia, while in exile in Famagusta, finding the solution for the renewal and continuity of the state as a system in the changes to be made to the governance structure of the Ottoman Empire.

Beginning with the sentence, “This is a dream witnessed on the fourteenth night of Safar in the year 1289 (April 23, 1872),” the work is an example of a utopia told through a dream. The poet, unwilling to wake from his dream, shares his feelings and thoughts in the final sentences of his work: “I had become such a relieved lover that, as if it were possible to return to the dream through the repetition of sleep, I closed my eyes again and spent hours trying to behold once more the realm of perfection I had seen amidst the dark curtain drawn before my eyes. Naturally, I did not succeed. However, the soul-nourishing visions of that spectacle remain the greatest capital of joy in my life.”

In truth, he saw in his dream the very life he fought for and idealized for his country through his works and poetry, and he committed this dream to writing.

As for Namık Kemal’s Rüya (The Dream), according to sources, it was written in Famagusta in 1875 but was likely published much later due to its revolutionary content. The fact that all three copies we used in this study begin with the sentence, “This is a dream witnessed on the fourteenth night of Safar in the year 1289,” which states that the dream was seen on April 23, 1872, requires explanation.