Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Gül yüzlü pirimden ayrılmam derdim
Kudret hanundan lokmasın yerdim
Çok şükür pirimin sırrına erdim
Gördüm gözlerimle elhamdülillah
Dostun dosta kavuşması has oldu
Âşık maşukunu arzetti buldu
Açtı kitabını dersimi verdi
Aldım sabakımı elhamdülillah
Sabakım veren âleme hocadır
Hindden Yemenece elin uzatır
Yedi iklim dört köşeyi donatır
Gördüm gözlerimle elhamdülillah
Dostumun bakışı beni yakıyor
İrakip olanlar hançer çekiyor
Sevdiğim ilm-i cavidan okuyor
Dinledim nutkunu elhamdülillah
Derviş Edna’m pirin destinden içtim
Heceyi okudum sayıya geçtim
İlm-i cavidanın kapısın açtım
Girdim içeriye elhamdülillah

In English

1. I used to say I would not part from my rose-faced pir; I ate his morsel from the table of divine power. Thank God, I attained my pir's secret; I saw it with my own eyes, praise be to God.

2. The Friend's union with the friend was pure; the lover sought out his beloved and found him. He opened his book and gave me my lesson; I took my lesson, praise be to God.

3. The one who gives me my lesson is teacher to the world; he stretches his hand from India to Yemen. He provides for the seven climes and the four corners; I saw it with my own eyes, praise be to God.

4. The glance of my friend sets me on fire; those who are rivals draw their daggers. My beloved reads the knowledge of eternity; I listened to his speech, praise be to God.

5. I, Derviş Edna, drank from the pir's hand; I read the syllables and passed on to numbers. I opened the door of the knowledge of eternity; I went inside, praise be to God.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

Each quatrain closes in thanks: the last lines end with the redif "elhamdülillah" (praise be to God), preceded by first-person verbs such as "gördüm, aldım, gördüm, dinledim, girdim" (I saw, I took, I saw, I listened, I entered). The rhymes of the first three lines are: "derdim, yerdim, erdim", "has oldu, buldu, verdi", "hocadır, uzatır, donatır", "yakıyor, çekiyor, okuyor", "içtim, geçtim, açtım". The text runs to five quatrains in the eleven-syllable syllabic metre. The pen name (mahlas) "Derviş Edna'm" is in the last quatrain. The article glosses "sabak" as lesson, "ilm-i cavidan" as the knowledge of eternity and "dest" as hand; it notes that in Çevik's book the second line reads "Kudret lokmasını verdiler yedim" and the last "Açtım kapısını elhamdülillah". Another variant of the nefes has also been published on a website collecting deyiş.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poem describes the disciple's union with his guide and the lesson he receives through the likeness of a school. The pir opens his book and gives a lesson; the dervish reads the syllables and then "passes on to numbers", rising from one stage to the next like a child who learns to read and goes on to arithmetic. The likeness is especially meaningful in the mouth of an unlettered âşık: the lesson he reads is not on paper but in the pir's conversation and in the "knowledge of eternity". The article relates that Derviş Edna's guide was Kul Fakir and that he expressed the joy of meeting him in other deyiş as well.

The phrase "a morsel from the table of divine power" in the first quatrain ties the lokma distributed in the cem to a divine table. In the third quatrain the pir's hand reaching from India to Yemen is a hyperbole expressing the boundlessness of his spiritual influence. In the fourth quatrain the rivals drawing daggers are the familiar obstacle of folk poetry. In the closing quatrain "I drank from the pir's hand" recalls the cup offered from the guide's hand in the cem. Each quatrain ending in "praise be to God" gives the poem the air of a prayer of thanks.

Bibliography

Online sources