Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Aşık oldum maşukumu bulamam
Dertli sinem her çiçeğe konamam
Bağlı şahin her ceylana salamam
Gelen göçtü konan göçtü gördün mü
Fikir deryâsına saldım kılıcı
Efendim gönüle getirme acı
Cep be cep sevdiğim gürûh u Naci
Naci kavim acı kavmi gördün mü
Naci oldum irizayı beklerim
Kazancımı kalp evinde saklarım
Gelip gidip bu vücudu yoklarım
Akşam mıdır sabah mıdır bildin mi
Bir gün doğar cümle âlem bezetir
Fikri olan bu âlemde kazanır
Ahmak olan Hakkın emrin uzatır
Emir midir ömür müdür bildin mi
Derviş Edna’m irizadır virdimiz
Gelip gidip bu vücuttur yurdumuz
Hakkın emrin bilenlerdir ordumuz
Canım tende gönlüm sende bildin mi

In English

1. I have become a lover but cannot find my beloved; my grieving breast cannot settle on every flower. I cannot loose the tethered falcon upon every gazelle; the one who came has moved on, the one who settled has moved on, did you see.

2. I cast my sword into the sea of thought; my lord, do not bring bitterness to the heart. The one I love is the community of the saved; did you see the saved people and the bitter people.

3. I have become one of the saved, I wait for consent; I keep my earnings in the house of the heart. Coming and going I search this body; is it evening or is it morning, did you know.

4. A day comes that adorns the whole world; whoever has understanding gains in this world. The fool puts off God's command; is it a command or is it a lifetime, did you know.

5. I am Derviş Edna, consent is our litany; the homeland where we come and go is this body. Those who know God's command are our army; my soul is in the body, my heart is with you, did you know.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The redif changes halfway: the last line of the first two quatrains ends "gördün mü" (did you see), that of the last three "bildin mi" (did you know), and the series of questions moves from seeing to knowing. The rhymes are built on "bulamam, konamam, salamam" in the first quatrain and on "kılıcı, acı, Naci", "beklerim, saklarım, yoklarım", "bezetir, kazanır, uzatır", "virdimiz, yurdumuz, ordumuz" in the rest. The five quatrains are in the eleven-syllable syllabic metre. The last quatrain holds the pen name (mahlas) "Derviş Edna'm". The source does not explain the meaning of "cep be cep" in the third line of the second quatrain; in the translation the line is given in its general sense.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poem uses the language of a search for the path. The lover cannot find the beloved, yet his grieving heart "cannot settle on every flower"; the hunter's tethered falcon is not loosed upon every gazelle. These two images say that the heart must be bound not to a chance love but to a single truth. "The one who came has moved on, the one who settled has moved on" recalls the transience of the world.

The "gürûh-ı nâcî" of the second and third quatrains means the community that will be saved, a phrase often used in Alevi-Bektashi poetry for the people of the path; the poet counts himself among them and sets them against the "bitter people". Consent (rıza) is a basic concept of Alevi ethics, meaning both God's good pleasure and mutual reconciliation within the community; Derviş Edna calls it "our litany", the prayer never absent from the tongue. In the fourth quatrain "is it a command or is it a lifetime" is a play on the sound likeness of "emir" and "ömür": while the fool puts off God's command he does not notice that his life is running out. The last line, "my soul is in the body, my heart is with you", closes the poem with a word of devotion turned to the beloved or to God.

Bibliography

Online sources