Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Gül yüzlü pirimden haberin aldım
Nur ile yunrulmuş cemâlin gördüm
Muharrem ayında murada erdim
Muradım verici pirimi gördüm
Eğninde hırkası başında tâcı
Cümle dertlilerin bunda ilâcı
Ervâh-ı pakidür gürûh u Nâci
Kandilde balkıyan nurunu gördüm
Nur nuru görünce nura karıştı
Sındıyı salan da ol güzel biçti
Doksan bin evliya kısmetin saçtı
Nasipler verici elini gördüm
Erenler kısmetin aradı buldu
Verdüğü nasibe hem gail oldu
Yeşil sur içinde halimi sordu
Halimden bilici hünkârı gördün
Derviş Edna’m halim malum pirime
Kurban olayım gittiği yoluna
Kudretten doluyu sundu elime
Kevserin başında Ali’mi gördüm

In English

1. I received news of my rose-faced pir; I saw his face kneaded with light. In the month of Muharrem I attained my wish; I saw my pir, the giver of wishes.

2. On his shoulders was his cloak, on his head his crown; the cure of all who suffer is in him. The pure spirits are the community of the saved; I saw his light shining in the lamp.

3. When light saw light it mingled with light; that beauty who wielded the shears cut the cloth. Ninety thousand saints scattered their portion; I saw the hand that gives out portions.

4. The saints sought their portion and found it; they were content with the share he gave. Within the green wall he asked after my state; I saw the Hünkâr who knows my state.

5. I am Derviş Edna, my state is known to my pir; let me be a sacrifice on the road he went. From divine power he offered the cup into my hand; I saw my Ali at the head of Kevser.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

Each quatrain ends in an act of seeing: the last lines carry the redif "gördüm" (I saw) ("pirimi gördüm, nurunu gördüm, elini gördüm, hünkârı gördün, Ali'mi gördüm"); in the fourth quatrain the source has the form "gördün" (you saw). The first three lines rhyme as "aldım, gördüm, erdim", "tâcı, ilâcı, Nâci", "karıştı, biçti, saçtı", "buldu, oldu, sordu", "pirime, yoluna, elime". The five quatrains are in the eleven-syllable syllabic metre. In the last quatrain the poet says "Derviş Edna'm" (his pen name, or mahlas). The article glosses "yunrulmak" as to knead, "eğin" as shoulder, "sındı" as shears, "balkımak" as to shine and "dolu" as wine.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

A moment of union is described: the dervish sees his pir in the month of Muharrem and attains his wish. Muharrem is the holy month in which the Alevi community keeps the mourning of Karbala with fasting and cem gatherings; that the meeting takes place in this month gives the poem a particular meaning. The second quatrain names the pir's cloak and crown, that is, the dervish garment and headgear; in the Bektashi tradition these are symbols of the pir and of the post. "Gürûh-ı Nâcî" means the community that will be saved; the pure spirits are said to be this community.

In the third quatrain the line "when light saw light it mingled with light" expresses the union of disciple and guide, of man and God, through the image of light. The beauty who wields the shears and cuts the cloth suggests a power that cuts out destiny and portion; the ninety thousand saints scattering their portion carry this abundance further. The "Hünkâr" named in the fourth quatrain is the title given to Hacı Bektaş Velî in the Alevi-Bektashi tradition; the "green wall" may describe the precinct of a holy place, perhaps the lodge, a reading that is ours. In the closing quatrain the cup offered from the pir's hand merges with seeing Ali at the pool of Kevser; the cem on earth and the union in paradise meet in one image.

Bibliography

Online sources