Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Mahi Muharremde Mü’min olanlar
Ah Hüseyin deyu zâr eder ağlar
Yasın çekip Bahri ummanına dalanlar
Ah Hüseyin deyu zâr eder ağlar
Aşığı şeydalar figana başlar
Zâr eder iniler dağ ile taşlar
Deryada balıklar havada kuşlar
Ah Hüseyin deyu zâr eder ağlar
Yedi iklim kevn-ü mekân çâr köşe
Cümle alem taaccübdür bu işe
Deryalar mevç urup gelir huruşa
Ah Hüseyin deyu zâr eder ağlar
Cennette huriler donun soyunur
Matem aylarında kara giyinir
Arş’ta Melek feryad edip çağrışur
Ah Hüseyin deyu zâr eder ağlar
FEDAYİ’nin başı Hünkâra bağlı
Kerbelâ ateşinden ciğeri dağlı
Muhammed torunu Ali’nin oğlu
Ah Hüseyin deyu zâr eder ağlar

In English

1. In the month of Muharram those who are believers moan and weep, crying "Ah Hüseyin". Those who keep his mourning and dive into the ocean of grief moan and weep, crying "Ah Hüseyin".

2. Love-crazed lovers begin to lament; the mountains and the stones groan and ache. The fish in the sea, the birds in the air moan and weep, crying "Ah Hüseyin".

3. The seven climes, all being and all space, the four corners of the world, the whole universe stands astonished at this deed. The seas surge in waves and rage; all moan and weep, crying "Ah Hüseyin".

4. In paradise the houris take off their garments and wear black in the months of mourning. On the Throne the angels cry out and call to one another; they moan and weep, crying "Ah Hüseyin".

5. Fedâî's head is bound to the Hünkâr (Hacı Bektaş Velî), his heart is seared by the fire of Karbala. For the grandson of Muhammad, the son of Ali, he moans and weeps, crying "Ah Hüseyin".

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a lament-elegy of five quatrains based on the eleven-syllable metre; in some lines, such as the third line of the first quatrain, the syllable count rises. The line "Ah Hüseyin deyu zâr eder ağlar" is the refrain repeated at the end of every quatrain and also in second position in the first quatrain. The first quatrain sets up an alternating pattern between the rhyme "olanlar, dalanlar" and the refrain; in the following quatrains the first three lines rhyme among themselves ("başlar, taşlar, kuşlar"; "köşe, işe, huruşa"; "soyunur, giyinir, çağrışur"; "bağlı, dağlı, oğlu"). The pen name appears at the beginning of the last quatrain.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poem's basic figure is the personification and hyperbole that make all creation share in the mourning for Hüseyin. First the believers weep, then the lovers, then the mountains, the stones, the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the seven climes, the raging seas, the houris in paradise and the angels on the Throne. The mourning is built like a ring widening from earth to heaven; each ring closes with the same refrain. The houris wearing black in the months of mourning carry into heaven the Alevi-Bektashi form of the Muharram mourning.

"Hünkâr" in the last quatrain is the title used for Hacı Bektaş Velî in the Alevi-Bektashi tradition. The poet thus states his allegiance openly and keeps the mourning for Karbala within this path. Cafer Özdemir records that in his divan Fedâî expresses his belonging to the Bektashi path with the words "Biz güruh-ı nâciyânı tarîk-i Bektaşîyiz" (we are of the saved community, of the Bektashi path), and that Hüseyin, the twelve imams and Karbala are frequently treated in his poems. This elegy is an example of the poet's simple poems with refrains, suited to recitation at Muharram gatherings.

Bibliography

Online sources