Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Şeriat tarikat bir naçar oldu
Marifet ehlinde kemâlin buldu
Ehl-i hakikatlar pünhana girdi
Durmayıp onlara bühtan edenler
Doğrusun söylesek ederler bühtan
Her ne ki söylesek dilimiz haktan
Zulümkârlık eden inecek tahttan
Zalime zulümü tayin ederler
Her ocak bozulur sabır edelim
Hakkın dergâhına doğru gidelim
Düşün amelini eli nidelim
Halınca durana ihsan ederler
Halimizde erenlerin halidir
Yolumuzda şâh-ı merdân yoludur
Dilimizde Hak Muhammed Ali’dir
Candan sevenlere teslim ederler
Derviş Edna’m hakka teslim özümüz
Yâda değil kendimize sözümüz
Otuz üçte açılacak yazımız
Vakit geldi kem aradan giderler

In English

1. The law and the order have been left helpless; perfection is found among the people of gnosis. The people of truth have gone into hiding; there are those who slander them without pause.

2. If we speak the truth they slander us; whatever we say, our tongue is from God. Whoever practises tyranny will come down from the throne; they will mete out to the tyrant the due of his tyranny.

3. Every lineage falls into ruin, let us be patient; let us go straight to God's lodge. Think of your deeds; what can be done; they grant favour to one who keeps to his state.

4. Our state is the state of the saints; our road is the road of Şah-ı Merdan. On our tongue are God, Muhammad and Ali; they give themselves to those who love them with all their soul.

5. I am Derviş Edna, our essence is surrendered to God; our word is not to the stranger but to ourselves. Our fate will open at thirty-three; the time has come, the wicked will depart from among us.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The last quatrain of this nefes turns up in two places: according to a note the article attaches to deyiş no. 23, it also appears, with small differences, in Çevik's book as the closing pen-name stanza of deyiş no. 23. The last lines of the quatrains end with "ederler" or "edenler" ("bühtan edenler, tayin ederler, ihsan ederler, teslim ederler, giderler"); the first three lines rhyme as "oldu, buldu, girdi", "bühtan, haktan, tahttan", "edelim, gidelim, nidelim", "halidir, yoludur, Ali'dir", "özümüz, sözümüz, yazımız". The lines have eleven syllables, and there are five quatrains. The pen name (mahlas) in the final quatrain is "Derviş Edna'm". The article glosses "pünhan" as hidden, "bühtan" as slander, "şâh-ı merdân" as king of the brave, an epithet of Ali, and "yad" as stranger.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

A corrupt age is pictured here. Of the four gates of the Alevi-Bektashi path, the law and the order have been left "naçar", helpless; perfection is found among the people of gnosis; the people of truth have been forced into hiding. Those who speak the truth are slandered. This complaint also agrees with what the article tells of Derviş Edna being scorned and mocked in his own village. Against this the poet counsels an answer not of anger but of patience: though every lineage fall into ruin one must be patient and turn to God's lodge.

The words of the second quatrain, "whoever practises tyranny will come down from the throne", voice the popular belief that the tyrant's end will come. The fourth quatrain states the identity of the community plainly: its state is the state of the saints, its road the road of Şah-ı Merdan Ali, the word on its tongue God, Muhammad and Ali. The phrase in the last stanza, "our fate will open at thirty-three", is not explained in the source; it may be understood as a year, perhaps 1333 (1914-1915), or as an age, but we do not know which. The line "our word is not to the stranger but to ourselves" makes clear that the counsel is directed first at the speaker himself.

Bibliography

Online sources