Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Yine havalandı gönlümün kuşu
Didemden akıttım kan ile yaşı
Şehitler serveri ol imam başı
Bizi güldürmeli İmam Hüseyin
Seni sevenlerin gönlün görüyon
Arayıp özünde göferbuluyon
Murat isteyene murat veriyon
Bizi güldürmeli İmam Hüseyin
Yezid’in ervâhi karataş oldu
Kerbela içinde kanlar coş oldu
Şehitler içinde imam baş oldu
Bizi güldürmeli İmam Hüseyin
Şehitlerin makamı da yücedir
Şehitler içinde imam hocadır
Fadime ana sevdiğin gözetir
Bizi güldürmeli İmam Hüseyin
Fadime anam da gömleğin açtı
Yerinen göğe de zelzele düştü
Sevdiği olanı bir yana seçti
Bizi güldürmeli İmam Hüseyin
Ey Şimir-i melun kastime düştü
Cebrail Mikail müşkülün seçti
Ol İmam-ı Hasan avuyu içti
Bizi güldürmeli İmam Hüseyin
Derviş Edna’m kanım akar ol yana
Dü cihan bekçisi ol bedr-i maha
Kancalar taksalar dönmem billaha
Bizi güldürmeli İmam Hüseyin

In English

1. The bird of my heart has taken wing again; I shed blood and tears from my eyes. Leader of the martyrs, head of the imams, Imam Hüseyin must make us rejoice.

2. You see the hearts of those who love you; you seek and find them in their essence. You grant the wish of one who asks; Imam Hüseyin must make us rejoice.

3. The soul of Yezid has become black stone; at Karbala the blood boiled up. Among the martyrs the imam became the head; Imam Hüseyin must make us rejoice.

4. The station of the martyrs is lofty; among the martyrs the imam is the teacher. Mother Fadime watches over her beloved; Imam Hüseyin must make us rejoice.

5. My Mother Fadime opened her shirt; a quaking fell from earth to sky. She set apart the one she loved; Imam Hüseyin must make us rejoice.

6. O accursed Şimir, he set himself against me; Gabriel and Michael resolved the difficulty. That Imam Hasan too drank the poison; Imam Hüseyin must make us rejoice.

7. I am Derviş Edna, my blood flows to that side; guardian of the two worlds, that full moon. Though they hang me on hooks, by God I will not turn back; Imam Hüseyin must make us rejoice.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The refrain addressed to Imam Hüseyin, "Bizi güldürmeli İmam Hüseyin" (Imam Hüseyin must make us rejoice), closes each of the seven quatrains; the article classes the poem as a lament (mersiye) and a plea for help (medetname). In each quatrain the first three lines rhyme with one another: "kuşu, yaşı, başı", "görüyon, buluyon, veriyon", "karataş oldu, coş oldu, baş oldu", "yücedir, hocadır, gözetir", "açtı, düştü, seçti", "düştü, seçti, içti", "yana, maha, billaha". The metre is the eleven-syllable syllabic measure; the pen name (mahlas) appears in the final quatrain as "Derviş Edna'm". The article glosses "dide" as eye, "dü" as two and "bedr-i mah" as full moon; the word "göferbuluyon" in the second quatrain is not explained in the source.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In Alevi-Bektashi poetry the mersiye is the lament sung for Imam Hüseyin and the Family of the Prophet martyred at Karbala, recited especially in the month of Muharrem. Derviş Edna's poem carries the familiar elements of the genre: the blood boiling at Karbala, the curse turned on Yezid and Şimir, the grief of Fatima, Mother Fadime, the poisoning of Imam Hasan. In the fifth quatrain Mother Fadime opening her shirt and a quaking falling from earth to sky is a hyperbole expressing grief that seizes the whole universe.

What lifts the poem beyond lament is the wish in its refrain. "Imam Hüseyin must make us rejoice" says that the believer who mourns the martyr hopes to reach joy through his intercession; this is why the article also classes the poem as a medetname, a poem asking for help. In the last stanza the poet says that his blood flows "to that side", to Hüseyin's side, and that though hung on hooks he will not turn from his path. These words agree with the Alevi belief in which Imam Hüseyin's uprising is kept alive as an example of devotion and self-sacrifice.

Bibliography

Online sources