Âşıkî, Manzume 87: Hak'a tâlib cihânda az kişi var

Manzume 87 — Hak'a tâlib cihânda az kişi var

Amasya05 Editorial Board • Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk • 01 October 2026 • Updated: 14 October 2026 • 4 min reading

False Sufis mocked in six couplets, after Börklüce Mustafa plays the prophet at Karaburun, is crushed by Bayezid Paşa and Prince Murad, and the kadı's son claims power.

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Hak'a tâlib cihânda az kişi var
Sofılar kamusı hôd lût umar

Kılur namâz Vedûd dir yalvarur çok
Varur beg kapusına tîmâr umar

Başında dal u ya künbed geyüpdür
Ma'ânî söyleseñ dir kanı himâr

İlâhî saña sıgındum bu hâldan
Bu gaflet uyhusından cânum uyar

Diyesin sûfi Tañrı'yı hâzır bil
Cevâbı dir ki Tañrı şeyhe uyar

Diyesin sûfî kâfir olduñ añla
Yakîn îmân kor o küfre uyan er

In English

1. Few in the world seek God; all the Sufis hope for their own gain.

2. He prays, says "Vedûd" (the Loving), pleads much; he goes to the lord's door and hopes for a timar.

3. On his head he wears a cap shaped like a branch or a dome; if you speak of meanings he says "where is the donkey".

4. O God, I have taken refuge in You from this state; wake my soul from this sleep of heedlessness.

5. If you say, "Sufi, know that God is present," his answer is, "God follows the sheikh."

6. If you say, "Sufi, you have become an infidel, understand," (know that) certain faith leaves behind the man who follows that unbelief.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Karaburun

The son of the kadı of Simavna had been military judge in Musa's time; as the seventy-seventh chapter opens, Mehmed Çelebi has settled him at İznik on a stipend. His steward Börklüce Mustafa goes to Karaburun and practises "hypocrisies", wins over most of the land of Aydın and reaches such a rank that he has himself likened to a prophet and saint. Hearing of this, the son of the kadı of Simavna flees from İznik, goes to İsfendiyar, crosses by ship from Sinop to Wallachia and enters the forest called Ağaç Denizi; he is in league with Börklüce. Mehmed Çelebi sends his vizier Bayezid Paşa and his son Murad; there is a great battle at Karaburun and Börklüce is cut to pieces. Bayezid Paşa finds Torlak Hu Kemal at Manisa and has him hanged with one of his disciples. Meanwhile the son of the kadı of Simavna sends "wretched Sufis" from that forest into the provinces: "From now on sovereignty is mine... I am the caliph in this land." The author adds: the Sufis of this time say "we are dervishes", but they are not dervishes; they hope their sheikh will one day rise and they will become lords.

The Sufi Who Wants a Timar

The last sentences of the prose pass into verse without a break. Few seek God; most Sufis hope for their own gain. The second couplet shows this hypocrisy in a scene: he prays, names God as "Vedûd", the Loving, but goes to the lord's door and asks for a timar. The third couplet mentions the cap on his head shaped like a "branch" or a "dome"; if one speaks of meanings he mocks, "where is the donkey". The fifth couplet tells of a view that makes God dependent on the sheikh, and the sixth of the believer's separation from one who falls into unbelief. In the fourth couplet the author breaks in with a prayer: he takes refuge in God to wake his soul from this sleep of heedlessness. This piece is a satire written by a dervish against those who pass for dervishes. Bayezid Paşa, sent against Börklüce, is named in the work's chapter on viziers as the vizier who built an imaret in Amasya; there is a page on him, Bayezid Paşa of Amasya.