Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Yüz yirmi dört bin harften ararısan
Bir Fatiha üç İhlâs-ı şeriftir
Doksan bin kelâmın aslın sorarsan
Bir Fatiha üç İhlâs-ı şeriftir
Elif lamdır bu mânâya dil olan
Şeriattan tarikata yol olan
Marifetten hakikate gül olan
Bir Fatiha üç İhlâs-ı şeriftir
Sırat’el-müstakim sırat’el-enam
Sırat’el-lezine enamte Kur’ân
Seyâ müyesserdir demâne eren
Bir Fatiha üç İhlâs-ı şeriftir
Aleyhim gayrulma doğdu üstüne
Hak bu vasfı hediy(e) etti dostuna
Yeşil hat levha yazılmış destine
Bir Fatiha üç İhlâs-ı şeriftir
Murtaza Mustafa ol şah-ı Hümam
Hutbeyi okudu on iki imam
Yedi ayet Mushaf hatmidir tamam
Bir Fatiha üç İhlâs-ı şeriftir
Edna der ki âhir viran yurdumuz
Umarım dermanlı ola derdimiz
Kalpte Kur’ân’ımız dilde virdimiz
Bir Fatiha üç İhlâs-ı şeriftir

In English

1. If you search among a hundred and twenty-four thousand letters, what you will find is one Fatiha and three of the noble İhlâs. If you ask the root of the ninety thousand words, it too is one Fatiha and three of the noble İhlâs.

2. Elif and lam are the tongue of this meaning. That which is the road from the law to the order, the rose that opens from gnosis to truth, is one Fatiha and three of the noble İhlâs.

3. "The straight path", "the path of those You have blessed" is in the Qur'an. For one who reaches that moment the way is made easy (the form of the line in the source is not fully clear). All of it is one Fatiha and three of the noble İhlâs.

4. The words "not of those who earned Your anger" rose upon him; God gave this quality as a gift to His friend. In his hand is a tablet in green script; it too is one Fatiha and three of the noble İhlâs.

5. Murtaza Ali and Mustafa Muhammad, that noble king; the Twelve Imams read the sermon. Seven verses are a complete reading of the whole Mushaf; one Fatiha and three of the noble İhlâs.

6. Edna says that in the end our home is a ruin; I hope our pain will find its cure. The Qur'an in our heart and the litany on our tongue are one Fatiha and three of the noble İhlâs.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This nefes is not in Çevik's collection. According to the article it was recorded during a gathering from the zakir Musa Yıldız, named among the informants and said to know four thousand deyiş by heart. In the first quatrain the second and fourth lines carry the same refrain, "Bir Fatiha üç İhlâs-ı şeriftir" (it is one Fatiha and three of the noble İhlâs); in the later quatrains the first three lines rhyme ("dil olan, yol olan, gül olan", "enam, Kur'ân, eren", "üstüne, dostuna, destine", "hümam, imam, tamam", "yurdumuz, derdimiz, virdimiz") and the fourth repeats the refrain. The six quatrains are in the eleven-syllable syllabic metre. In the closing quatrain the pen name (mahlas) appears simply as "Edna".

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poem is built on the idea that the whole meaning of the Qur'an is gathered in a few short suras. The number one hundred and twenty-four thousand recalls the traditional number of the prophets; here it is given to the letters. The ninety thousand words are those said in the Ascension (Miraç) narratives to have passed between God and the Prophet. The poet finds the essence of all this multitude in "one Fatiha and three İhlâs". Reciting one Fatiha and three İhlâs is a common prayer among the people, especially for the souls of the dead; the line in the fifth quatrain, "seven verses are a complete reading of the whole Mushaf", expresses the belief that this short recitation stands for a full reading of the Qur'an.

In the third and fourth quatrains fragments of the last verses of the Fatiha are set inside the Turkish lines; the article explains the word "gayrulma" as a shortening of "ğayri'l-mağdubi". In the second quatrain the law, the order, gnosis and truth, the four gates of the Alevi-Bektashi path, are listed and all tied to this short prayer. In the fifth quatrain the Twelve Imams reading the sermon reflects the belief that knowledge of the Qur'an is handed down through the Family of the Prophet.

Bibliography

Online sources