Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Yaz bahar ayının bu gün onbeşi
Şad et gönlümüzü istemem kışı
Cümle erenlerin ser çeşme başı
Geldi sultanım gördüm çok şükür
Oturmuş yurduna nur gibi balkır
Hayali gönlümde dilimde zikir
Al dedi sultanım verildi fikir
Lutfetti sultânım aldım çok şükür
Kaldırdı kaşını gönlümden bildi
Âşık maşukunu arzetti buldu
Çıkardı elmayı dört taksim böldü
Al dedi sultânım sundu çok şükür
Efendim gönlümü yaza döndürdü
Zamane halkını Hakk’a döndürdü
Kara gün ömrünü aza döndürdü
Fark etmezler haktan gelen çok şükür
Derviş Edna’m erilmiyor sırrına
Niyazım var cemâlinin nuruna
Ayrulurken fırkat geldi serime
Gönül gönüldedir erdi çok şükür

In English

1. Today is the fifteenth of the month of spring; gladden our heart, I want no winter. My sultan, the fountain-head of all the saints, has come; I saw him, thank God.

2. Seated in his home he shines like light; his image is in my heart, his remembrance on my tongue. My sultan said "take", and understanding was given me; my sultan showed his grace, I took it, thank God.

3. He raised his brow and knew it from my heart; the lover sought out his beloved and found him. He took out an apple and divided it into four; my sultan said "take" and offered it, thank God.

4. My lord turned my heart to summer; he turned the people of the age towards God. He cut short a life of dark days; they do not discern what comes from God, thank God.

5. I, Derviş Edna, cannot reach his secret; I have a plea to the light of his face. As we parted, the grief of separation came upon my head; the heart is in the heart, he said, thank God.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The last quatrain of the nefes is also quoted in the life section of the article, where the final line reads "Gönül gönüldedir dedi çok şükür". Each quatrain closes on "çok şükür" (thank God), preceded by verbs such as "gördüm, aldım, sundu, gelen, erdi" (I saw, I took, he offered, what comes, it reached). The rhymes of the first three lines are: "onbeşi, kışı, başı", "balkır, zikir, fikir", "bildi, buldu, böldü", "döndürdü" three times in the fourth quatrain, and finally "sırrına, nuruna, serime". The metre of the five quatrains is the eleven-syllable syllabic measure; the pen name (mahlas) appears in the closing quatrain as "Derviş Edna'm". The article glosses "şad" as joyful, "balkımak" as to shine, "taksim" as part, "fırkat" as the grief of separation and "ser" as head.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poem carries into verse a scene known from Derviş Edna's life. According to the account given in the article, one day Derviş Edna did not want to leave his guide Kul Fakir; when it was time to return he mounted his horse and got down again on the other side. Another day Kul Fakir said, "Derviş Edna, the heart is in the heart. Now go back to your country", divided an apple he took from his pocket into four and gave him one piece. The apple divided in four in the third quatrain and the words "the heart is in the heart" in the last match this account exactly; the article too quotes these lines on the hardship of parting immediately after the account.

The poem opens with the joy of spring: on the fifteenth of the spring month the "sultan" has come and winter is over. The image of the season also describes the state of the heart; with the master's coming the heart turns to summer. The pir raising his brow and knowing from the heart reflects the belief that the guide reads his disciple's inner self without words. The apple divided in four may suggest the four gates in Alevi-Bektashi symbolism; the source makes no such interpretation, and this one is ours. In the final quatrain the pain of separation is eased by the saying that though bodies part, hearts do not.

Bibliography

Online sources