Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fā‘ilātün mefā‘ilün fe‘ilün

Gafleti ko gözün aç ey gâfil
Elde iken koma reh-i talebi
Vaktine hâzır ol ki çalındı
Penç-gâh-i Muhammed-i ‘Arabî

In English

1. O heedless one, cast off heedlessness and open your eyes; while the chance is in your hands, do not abandon the path of seeking God.

2. Be ready for your hour, for the drums of the five times of Muhammad the Arab have sounded. (The image behind the couplet is most probably the nevbet, the ceremonial music played at set hours at a ruler's gate; here the call to the five daily prayers is likened to a nevbet sounded at the Prophet's gate.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a kıt‘a (fragment) of two couplets. In a kıt‘a only the second lines of the couplets rhyme: "ṭalebi / ‘Arabî". The metre is from the hafîf family of aruz (quantitative metre), "fā‘ilātün mefā‘ilün fe‘ilün"; this short and flowing measure is common in small moral and Sufi poems of admonition. The kıt‘a occurs only in Hüseyin Hüsameddin's History of Amasya, with the note "this kıt‘a too is by Âfitâbî". Hüsameddin does not say from which source he took it; it is not found in the entries on Âfitâbî in Latîfî, Âşık Çelebi, Kınalızâde or Beyânî. Its attribution therefore could not be confirmed by any other source. The text is given exactly as in the transcription of Hüsameddin's edition, which is close to modern spelling. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The kıt‘a is an admonition and opens with a direct address: "ey gâfil", O heedless one. In Sufi language heedlessness (gaflet) is a person's immersion in worldly affairs, forgetting God and death; the poet asks for an awakening from this sleep, an opening of the eyes. The use of "gaflet" and "gâfil", two words from the same root, in the same line is an example of the figure called iştikak (derivation). In the second line "reh-i ṭaleb", the path of seeking, is the spiritual road along which the Sufi walks towards God. The phrase "elde iken", while it is in your hands, recalls that the life and opportunity given to a person are limited.

The second couplet ties the admonition to a definite hour. "Penç-gâh" means the five times; what is sounded is the nevbet. In the old Turkish and Islamic states drums and shawms were played at set times at the ruler's gate as a sign of sovereignty. The poet appears to transfer this scene to the Prophet and to imagine the five daily prayers as a nevbet sounded at his gate: just as soldiers take their places when the nevbet sounds, the believer must be ready for his hour. The phrase "Muhammed-i ‘Arabî", though chosen for the rhyme, also lends the kıt‘a a certain gravity.

The plain language and admonishing tone of the kıt‘a agree with the biographers' portrait of Âfitâbî in his last years as a Sufi who preached in and around Amasya. That agreement, however, does not by itself prove the attribution of a text whose source is uncertain.

Bibliography

  • Abdizâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddin Yasar, Amasya Tarihi 6-8. Cilt, ed. Songül Keçeci Kurt - Recep Orhan Özel - Metin Hakverdioğlu, Amasya: Amasya Belediyesi, 2022, p. 21. amasya.bel.tr
  • Âşık Çelebi, Meşâ'irü'ş-şu'arâ, ed. Filiz Kılıç, Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018 (e-book), p. 143, entry on Âftâbî (his life of preaching and retreat). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr