Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Kadri gâyetde a'lâdır Şeyh Abdülkâdirin
Cedd-i pâki Mustafâdır Şeyh Abdülkâdirin
Sen dahi sa'y eyle Emnî anlara kıl ittibâ'
Pîr-i dânî evliyâdır Şeyh Abdülkâdirin

In English

1. Exceedingly high is the rank of Sheikh Abdülkâdir; the pure ancestor of Sheikh Abdülkâdir is Mustafa (the Prophet).

2. You too, Emnî, strive and follow them; Sheikh Abdülkâdir is the wise master (pîr) of the saints.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Three of the quatrain's four lines end with the same long redif, "Şeyh Abdülkâdirin", "of Sheikh Abdülkâdir". The repetition gives the poem the air of a dhikr: the name is recalled in every line and stays in the listener's ear. Müstakimzâde introduces the piece as Emnî's "güfte-zâde-i tab'-ı ruhânî", a song text born of his spiritual nature. A "güfte" is a text written to be set to music; the description suggests that the quatrain may have been sung as a hymn in the dervish lodge. Since the source says nothing of a musical setting, this is only a possibility.

The one praised is Abdülkâdir-i Geylânî (d. 561/1166), founder of the Kadiri order. The first couplet names two of his distinctions: the height of his station, and his descent from the Prophet, here called by the name "Mustafâ". The Kadiri tradition always stresses that Geylânî was of the Prophet's lineage (a seyyid). "A'lâ", "Mustafâ" and "evliyâ" rhyme on a long "-â". In the second couplet the poet addresses himself: "Sen dahi sa'y eyle Emnî", you too strive, and follow them. The phrase "pîr-i dânî" in the last line has been read as "the knowing master"; the title master of the saints recalls epithets used for Geylânî such as "pîrân-ı pîr" (master of masters) and "gavs-ı a'zam" (the greatest helper).

Hüsameddin writes that Emnî joined the Kadiri order after his retirement, that is, after 1099; the quatrain too must belong to these last years. The tahmîs and the date 1110 that Müstakimzâde mentions in the same place could not be connected with this poem because of the obscure form of the quoted sentence. The article in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi notes that Müstakimzâde also records chronogram lines composed by others for calligraphers; since 1110 is the year of Emnî's death, the sentence may refer to such a chronogram of his death; the quoted text does not say so plainly. His life, from divan secretary to chief accountant, is in the article Emnî Süleyman Çelebi (Selîmzâde).

Bibliography

Online sources