Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Cihân hôd gelmeg ü gitmek-içündür
Ne yapsañ 'âkıbet yıkmag-ıçundur
Karâr itmez gelüp sûret olanlar
Togan gün hem gice batmag-ıçundur
Bu sûret kölgesine kalma zînhâr
Senüñle oyunı utmag-ıçundur
'Amel kim sen idersin iy karındaş
Ya tamu ola ya uçmag-ıçundur
İkisinden fârig ol Hakk'a dön kim
Yaradılmış Hak'a tapmag-ıçundur

In English

1. The world is surely for coming and going; whatever you build, in the end it is for pulling down.

2. Those who come and take on form do not stay; the rising sun too is for setting at night.

3. Take care not to linger in the shade of this form; it is there to play its game with you and win.

4. Brother, the deeds you do are either for hell or for paradise.

5. Give up both, turn to God; for the created being is made to worship God.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Second Piece

In the edition these five couplets come right after the previous verse under the heading "Velehu eydan" (and again by him), and draw a lesson from the plainness of Osman's legacy. The story of a ruler who left a robe and a few flocks of sheep is easily tied to the thought that the world is set up for coming and going.

Beyond Paradise and Hell

The refrain "-mag-ıçundur" says in each couplet what something exists for: the world for coming and going, what is built for pulling down, the rising sun for setting, the shade of form for playing with man and defeating him. In the fourth couplet the reward of deeds is tied to two possibilities: tamu or uçmak, that is hell or paradise. These two old Turkish words are a good example of the plain, colloquial Turkish of the work. The last couplet goes beyond both possibilities: be "fârig" of both, that is renounce them, and turn to God. Turning to God without hope of paradise or fear of hell is a thought known in Sufism through words attributed to Râbia el-Adeviyye. Giving space to this thought within a history book, in the middle of the founding story, recalls that the author saw himself above all as a dervish.

Bibliography

  • Âşık Paşazade, Osmanoğulları'nın Tarihi, ed. Kemal Yavuz, M. A. Yekta Saraç, Istanbul: K Kitaplığı, 2003, pp. 361-362 (transliterated text, bâb 29).