Abdurrahman Kâmil, Elif-nâme: A Kaside from Elif to Ye

Abdurrahman Kâmil Efendi's elif-nâme: a kaside in which each line begins with a letter of the Arabic alphabet, setting the twenty-nine letters from elif to ye in a plea to the beloved.

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün (yalnız ilk mısra) / Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilün

(Elif) âmâl-i dünyâ riştesin ḳaṭ‘ eyledim cânâ
(Bâ) binâ-yı aşḳa ṣarf itdim ḳamusın meh-liḳâ

(Tâ) teraḳḳî eyledim ems̱âlime leyl ü nehâr
(S̱â) s̱enâlarla ḳılındım vaṣlıña yârâ sezâ

(Cîm) cenâbıñ ḫıdmetiyle kesb-i taḥṣîl eyledim
(Ḥâ) ḥużûrundan dil-ârâ nice dürlü kîmyâ

(Ḫâ) ḫıdîv-i Mıṣr-ı dille şöhretiñ buldı şuyû‘
(Dâl) dilim şehrin viṣâliñle idince sen küşâ

(Ẕâl) ẕekâvetle olursuñ vâṣıl-ı cümle fünûn
(Râ) rikâbın bûs ider Soḳrâṭ-ı ḥikmet-âşinâ

(Zâ) zekât-ı vuṣlaṭıñla bay idersiñ ‘âşıḳıñ
(Sîn) seḥerler ‘izzetiñçün eylerim niçe du‘â

(Şîn) şaḳḳ itseñ dehânı porsiş-i ḫâṭır için
(Ṣâd) ṣanurdum Üsküdârı baña virdiñ gûyiyâ

(Ḍâd) ḍa‘îf ḳılma bu cismim kûşe-i hicrânda
(Ṭâ) ṭayanılmaz belâdır ṭoġrısı bu mâcerâ

(Ẓâ) ẓarâfet ma‘deni bir dem baña raḥm eyleseñ
(‘Ayn) ‘aşḳıñdan Ḫudâya itmezem hîç iştikâ

(Ġayn) ġamzeñle bu şîrîn cânıma ḳaṣd eyleseñ
(Fâ) firâr itme cibâl-i firḳata aṣlâ şehâ

(Ḳâf) ḳarîb olmaḳ içün dergâhıña rûz [u] şebân
(Kâf) kelâmım ṣırasın ṣarf eyledim çün âsiyâ

(Lâm) levm itme ta‘aşşuḳ itdigümçün çeşmiñe
(Mîm) merâḳı tâ ezel virdi baña ol kibriyâ

(Nûn) nâmûsı bıraḳdırdı baña şevḳ-ı cemâl
(Vâv) vaṣl-ı rûy-ı âliñ eylerim her dem recâ

(Hâ) hevâdârân-ı aṣra pîşvâ olup da sen
(Lâm elif) lâ deyu i‘râż eyleme benden dilâ

(Yâ) yürekler pâresi bu Kâmili alsıñ İlâh
Cümle ‘uşşâḳa tefâḫur eylese olmaz mı yâ

In English

1. (Elif) O beloved, I have cut the thread of worldly hopes; (Bâ) O moon-faced one, I spent them all on the building of love.

2. (Tâ) Night and day I outstripped my peers; (S̱â) O beloved, through praises I was made worthy of union with you.

3. (Cîm) By serving your exalted presence, (Ḥâ) O heart-adorner, I gained from your company many kinds of alchemy (precious knowledge).

4. (Ḫâ) As khedive of the Egypt of the heart your fame spread everywhere, (Dâl) when you opened the city of my heart with union.

5. (Ẕâl) With your intelligence you attain all the sciences; (Râ) even Socrates, versed in wisdom, kisses your stirrup.

6. (Zâ) With the alms of your union you make your lover rich; (Sîn) at dawn I offer many prayers for your glory.

7. (Şîn) Were you to open your mouth to ask after my heart, (Ṣâd) I would think you had given me Üsküdar.

8. (Ḍâd) Do not waste this body of mine in the corner of separation; (Ṭâ) truly this affair is an unbearable affliction.

9. (Ẓâ) O mine of elegance, were you to pity me for a moment, (‘Ayn) I would never complain of your love to God.

10. (Ġayn) Even if you aim at this sweet soul of mine with your glance, (Fâ) O king, never flee to the mountains of separation.

11. (Ḳâf) To be near your threshold day and night, (Kâf) I spent my words turning like a millstone. The line can be read in two ways; the word "ṣıra" may be taken as "turn" or as "must" (pressed juice).

12. (Lâm) Do not blame me for falling in love with your eyes; (Mîm) that Almighty gave me this passion in pre-eternity.

13. (Nûn) Longing for beauty made me abandon reputation; (Vâv) every moment I hope for union with your exalted face.

14. (Hâ) Being the leader of the age's devotees, (Lâm elif) do not turn away from me saying "no", O stealer of hearts.

15. (Yâ) O piece of hearts, my God, may that one accept this Kâmil; then would it not be fitting for him to boast before all lovers?

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

Elif-nâme is the name given to poems in which the initial letters of the lines, couplets or stanzas, set one beneath another, form an alphabetical sequence from elif to ye. Quoting Mehmet Arslan's definition, Avni Erdemir notes that the genre is mostly religious, mystical or didactic and is written in a range of verse forms from the ghazal to the mesnevi. Kâmil Efendi's elif-nâme is a kaside of fifteen couplets. According to Erdemir the poet wrote one line for each of the twenty-nine letters of the Arabic alphabet, and the names of the letters are part of the metre: one reads "(Elif) âmâl-i dünyâ", "(Bâ) binâ-yı ‘aşḳ". Lâm-elif is counted as the twenty-ninth letter; the last line carries no letter.

The kaside is one of Kâmil's two poems in a double metre. Only the first line is in "mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün"; the remaining lines are in "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". The rhyme is carried by the sound "-â" in the second lines of the couplets: "meh-liḳâ, sezâ, kîmyâ, küşâ, âşinâ, du‘â" and so on.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The order of the letters constrains the poet, and words are often chosen to fit the letter; meaning therefore leaps from one couplet to the next. The main line is still love: the lover has given up worldly hopes and gained knowledge and wisdom in the beloved's presence, complains of separation and asks to be accepted. In the fifth couplet the beloved's intelligence reaches all the sciences, and even Socrates kisses its stirrup. In the sixth couplet the phrase "the alms of your union" joins the idea that alms increase wealth with the beloved's favour. In the seventh couplet the poet counts the beloved's asking after him a gift as great as being granted Üsküdar. No link between Kâmil Efendi's life and Üsküdar is known; the town seems to be named here as an example of a great gift, which is our reading.

The twelfth couplet says that love was given in pre-eternity; the same idea appears in Kâmil's second ghazal. In the fourteenth couplet the letter lâm-elif is turned into the Arabic word "lâ" (no); such a coincidence of letter and meaning is one of the favourite games of elif-nâmes. In the last couplet the poet names himself and says that, if accepted, he would deserve to boast before all lovers. As Erdemir notes, the elif-nâme shows that Kâmil Efendi also tried his hand at the artful genres of classical poetry.

Bibliography

Avni Erdemir, "Amasyalı Abdurrahman Kâmil (Yetkin) Efendi'nin Şairliği ve Türkçe Şiirleri", Amasya İlahiyat Dergisi, 12, June 2019, pp. 185-186 (text), p. 170 (on the elif-nâme), doi:10.18498/amailad.579964. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/amailad/article/579964
Mecdîzâde Abdurrahman Kâmil, Divançe, National Library of Turkey, Manuscripts Collection, Yz. A 8993, pp. 47-49 (author's autograph).

Online sources