Letters, dots, numbers: this nefes by Virânî reads the secret of the Qur'an in the letters elif and mim, and by ending every quatrain with the refrain word "içeri", within, it takes one more step from the visible towards the hidden. The poem belongs to an Alevi-Bektashi poet who lived in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries; its melody was made in our own day in Merzifon by Âşık Aydın Öztürk. TRT's folk music archive does not know this setting; the score was written down from Öztürk's own singing and catalogued as no. 2088.

Catalogue Data

  • Archive no.: Repertükül Archive 2088 (not a TRT number)
  • Region: Amasya, Merzifon
  • Genre: deyiş
  • Words: Virânî (late 16th-early 17th century)
  • Music: Âşık Aydın Öztürk
  • Source performer: not written; performed by the composer
  • Collected and transcribed by: Erkan Demirtaş, Berkay Gençer
  • Date of collection: not given; under the CultureCIVIC Culture and Arts Support Programme, begun in June 2021
  • Mode: Hüseyni scale; final and closing note La
  • Metre: 4/4
  • Source link: Repertükül Archive 2088 (not in TRT)

Lyrics

The poem belongs to a poet who lived more than four hundred years ago and can therefore be given in full. The text follows the score, with only the capital-letter spelling reduced.

Elif-i Mim'den aldık sırr-ı Kur'an'ı
Mim'i sır eyledik Se'den içeri
İki nokta üç huruf geldi Ba ile
Ba'yı sır eyledik Se'den içeri
Haydar'ın zatına demişiz beli
Göster bana pirim dest-ü damanı
Küfür deryasında bulduk imanı
Hak dedik küfüre dinden içeri
Otuz üç huruftur harfin tamamı
Bir elif mim ile buldu bu ayn'ı
Yetmiş üçten aldık Kaf ile Nun'u
Cana âşık olduk candan içeri
Güruh-u Naci'den bir bacı geldi
Kırklar dolusun eline aldı
Cümlesi bacı'ya bir secde kıldı
Şah dedik bacı'ya Şah'tan içeri
Bacı'nın ismine Fatima dediler
Yeri göğü onda mevcut bildiler
Selman üzüm getirdi engür ezdiler
Gark olduk engüre nurdan içeri
Virani sözünü arifçe söyle
Yükseği neylersin engini boyla
Arif ol da dost bağını sır eyle
Güle âşık olduk gülden içeri

The "Se'den içeri" of the first quatrain is written thus on the score; it may refer to the Arabic letter se, or it may be a corruption in the writing, and the score offers no explanation. Elif, mim and ba belong to the interpretations of letters linked to the basmala and the opening of the Qur'an; Nurettin Albayrak notes that Virânî was connected with Hurufism as well as Bektashism, and the counting of letters in the poem reflects that interest. Saying "beli" alludes to the "yes" given in pre-eternity when the souls were asked, "Am I not your Lord?"; Haydar is an epithet of Ali, and dest-ü daman means taking hold of the master's skirt. When Kaf and Nun come together they make "kün", the command "Be"; seventy-three refers to the hadith that the community will split into seventy-three sects, and Güruh-u Naci is the group among them that will be saved.

The last two quatrains move to the Cem of the Forty as told in Alevi-Bektashi tradition. According to the tradition's account there is a woman, a "bacı" or sister, among the Forty, and she is Fatima; the single grape brought by Selman is crushed into a drink, and all the Forty who drink it are carried out of themselves. The poem ties this scene to a gesture of reverence in the line "Şah dedik bacı'ya". In the closing quatrain Virânî addresses himself: let him speak his word like a gnostic, leave the heights and sound the depths.

Story

Virânî's life is known largely from legend, and nothing shows in which years this nefes was composed. The same holds for the setting: when Öztürk joined the poem to a melody is recorded nowhere.

Musical Features

The setting moves within the five notes of the Hüseyni scale between La and Mi; the metre is 4/4 and the melody comes to rest on La. The long six-quatrain text is sung to the same melody in each stanza within the tune's narrow range; the score shows no instrumental interlude or variation.

Performers and Recordings

The source of the notation is Aydın Öztürk's own performance. In the same collection the composer also set another poem by Virânî, "La Mekân İlinden Geldim Cihana", as well as Sefil Ali's "Dün Gece Kırkların Cemine Girdim". No trace of any other published performance came to light. The fact that Virânî's nefes poems are being set to music again in Merzifon finds its wider setting in the province's song tradition, which The Melody of Yeşilırmak traces as a whole.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Other sources

Online sources