Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Dervişoğlu herdem devam eyliyon
Pirin himmetiyle kelam söylüyon
Hakkın tellallığın ikrar eyliyon
Her daim bu yola çalışmalıdır
Bu yolda çalışan mahrum mu kalır
Efendim cömerttir halimden bilir
Cevahir taşının kıymeti m’olur
Her daim bu yola çalışmalıdır
Bu yola çalışmak erenler işi
Erenler seyrinde gördüler düşü
Hızır Nebi sevenlerin yoldaşı
Her daim bu yola çalışmalıdır
Dostun bahçesinde açılan güller
Bu yol Ali’nindir ne bilsin körler
Hüseyin aşkına öten bülbüller
Her daim bu yola çalışmalıdır
DERVİŞOĞLU herdem yola çalışır
Erenlerin sırasına karışır
Can arzular herdem böyle buluşur
Her daim bu yola çalışmalıdır

In English

1. Dervişoğlu, at every moment you keep to this path; you speak words through the favour (himmet) of the pir. You profess to be God's herald, the one who proclaims His word; one must always labour on this path.

2. Does he who labours on this path go empty-handed? My master is generous, he knows my state. Has a precious stone any value unless someone knows it? One must always labour on this path.

3. To labour on this path is the work of the saints; the saints saw this vision in their contemplation. Khidr the Prophet is the companion of those who love; one must always labour on this path.

4. Roses open in the garden of the Friend; this path is Ali's path, how should the blind know it? Nightingales sing for the love of Hüseyin; one must always labour on this path.

5. Dervişoğlu labours on the path at every moment and joins the ranks of the saints. The soul longs at every moment, and so it meets; one must always labour on this path.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a koşma of five quatrains in the eleven-syllable metre (the syllable count is ours). The first three lines of each quatrain rhyme among themselves ("eyliyon, söylüyon, eyliyon"; "kalır, bilir, olur"; "işi, düşü, yoldaşı"; "güller, körler, bülbüller"; "çalışır, karışır, buluşur"), while the fourth line, "Her daim bu yola çalışmalıdır", is repeated unchanged in every quatrain. A striking feature is that the pen name appears in both the first and the last quatrain: in the first the minstrel addresses himself as "you", in the last he speaks of himself in the third person. Forms such as "eyliyon, söylüyon" carry the mark of the local dialect.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The deyiş is a poem of counsel, and its central idea is "labouring on the path", that is, fulfilling the duties of the path with effort. The minstrel first says this to himself: he is one who speaks through the favour of the pir and has taken on the office of God's herald. A tellal is the crier who announces news aloud in the market; it is an apt image for a minstrel who carries God's word to the people.

The line "Cevahir taşının kıymeti m'olur" in the second quatrain can be read in two ways: that the value of a precious stone is understood only by one who knows it, or that a gem gains no value without labour. In the fourth quatrain the deyiş is tied openly to Alevi belief: the path is Ali's path, nightingales sing for the love of Hüseyin, and "the blind" are those who cannot see this path. Khidr as the companion of those who love reflects the Anatolian folk belief in Khidr who comes to the aid of those in distress.

Bibliography

Academic studies

Books

  • Ali Cem Akbulut, Gazilerovacığı Âşıkları, Istanbul: KaraMavi Yayınları, 2010; text: "Dervişoğlu", Alevi Deyişleri Nefesler Hakk Âşıkları, 21 August 2019, poem no. 3. https://www.deyisler-nefesler.com/dervisoglu/

Online sources