Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Ey erenler himmet eylen gidelim
Yaktı şu sinemi yine ayrılık
Dünya ahret bir ikrarı güdelim
Yaktı bu sinemi yine ayrılık
Muhammed Ali’den diledim dilek
Dostları görürsen dayanmaz yürek
Ferhat’ı Şirin’den ayıran felek
Yaktı bu sinemi yine ayrılık
Felek bizi inc’elekten eledi
Bülbülün ötüşü sinemi deldi
Dosttan ayrılması bize zor geldi
Yaktı bu sinemi yine ayrılık
Dostum çıkış yollarıma bakıyor
Nur ile münevver olmuş balkıyor
Bizim nasip usul usul kalkıyor
Yaktı bu sinemi yine ayrılık
Rakiplerin bağrı karataş oldu
Müminlerin gözü yaş ile doldu
Bu ayrılık hepisine baş oldu
Yaktı bu sinemi yine ayrılık
Sağ yar olup aşk atını koşalım
Gedük bekçilerle yollar aşalım
Mümin müslüm kardeş helallaşalım
Yaktı bu sinemi yine ayrılık
Bir faniye yüz süren olmaz mı hacı
Destindedir mümin müslümler bacı
Ey erenler bize olun duacı
Yaktı bu sinemi yine ayrılık
Yolumuz uğratma borana kışa
Taaccüp eyleriz geleni başa
Ben gidiyom yârim ağlama boşa
Yaktı bu sinemi yine ayrılık
Dilerim mecnunlar leylasın bulsun
Gelen gelsin konan nişane kalsın
Balım Sultan bize kılavuz olsun
Yaktı bu sinemi yine ayrılık
Derviş Edna’m der ki ayrılmam sandım
Aşkın bâdesini nuş ettim kandım
Ayrılık elinden şu sinem yandı
Yaktı bu sinemi yine ayrılık

In English

1. O saints, grant your blessing, let us go; separation has burned this breast of mine again. For this world and the next let us keep a single pledge; separation has burned this breast of mine again.

2. I asked a wish of Muhammad and Ali; if you see the friends the heart cannot bear it. The fate that parted Ferhat from Şirin; separation has burned this breast of mine again.

3. Fate has sifted us through a fine sieve; the nightingale's song has pierced my breast. To part from the Friend was hard for us; separation has burned this breast of mine again.

4. My friend watches the roads by which I depart; he is lit with light and shining. Our portion is rising slowly away; separation has burned this breast of mine again.

5. The rivals' hearts have turned to black stone; the believers' eyes have filled with tears. This separation has become the chief of all; separation has burned this breast of mine again.

6. As true companions let us ride the horse of love; let us cross the roads with the guards of the pass. Believer, Muslim, brother, let us forgive one another; separation has burned this breast of mine again.

7. Is not one who lays his face before a mortal a pilgrim; the believing and Muslim sisters are in his hand (the meaning of the line is not entirely clear). O saints, pray for us; separation has burned this breast of mine again.

8. Do not let our road meet the blizzard and the winter; we meet with wonder whatever befalls us. I am going, my love, do not weep in vain; separation has burned this breast of mine again.

9. I wish that the Mecnuns may find their Leyla; let the comer come, let the sign of the one who settled remain. May Balım Sultan be our guide; separation has burned this breast of mine again.

10. Derviş Edna says, I thought I would not part; I drank the wine of love and was sated. At the hand of separation this breast of mine has burned; separation has burned this breast of mine again.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

At ten quatrains this is the longest of Derviş Edna's poems in this collection. According to the article it was collected not from Çevik's compilation but directly from informants. The refrain is heard in two forms in lines two and four of the first quatrain, first "Yaktı şu sinemi yine ayrılık", then "Yaktı bu sinemi yine ayrılık" (separation has burned this breast of mine again); the first three lines of the later quatrains rhyme as "dilek, yürek, felek", "eledi, deldi, geldi", "bakıyor, balkıyor, kalkıyor", "karataş oldu, doldu, baş oldu", "koşalım, aşalım, helallaşalım", "hacı, bacı, duacı", "kışa, başa, boşa", "bulsun, kalsın, olsun", "sandım, kandım, yandı". The metre is the eleven-syllable syllabic measure. The pen name (mahlas) "Derviş Edna'm" is found in the last stanza. The article glosses "münevver" as radiant, "balkımak" as to shine and "taaccüp" as wonder.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

This is a poem of farewell and works the pain of separation from different sides through ten quatrains. Fate is named as the power that parted Ferhat from Şirin; the nightingale's song pierces the breast; the rivals' hearts turn to stone, the believers' eyes fill with tears. In the sixth quatrain the words "let us forgive one another" (helallaşalım) are important: in the Alevi community helalleşme is the mutual release of claims between people before setting out on a journey or when death is near. The line in the eighth quatrain, "I am going, my love, do not weep in vain", also suggests a farewell to a wife or beloved.

The source does not say for which parting the nefes was composed. The lines may describe either setting out on a long journey or death; the words "our portion is rising slowly away" and "let the comer come, let the sign of the one who settled remain" lean towards the second reading, but this is our interpretation. In the ninth quatrain Balım Sultan, the second pir of the Bektashi tradition, is asked to be a guide. In the last quatrain the dervish says "I thought I would not part", that he drank the wine of love and was sated, yet separation burned his breast all the same.

Bibliography

Online sources