Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Biz İslâm-ız dini ba’tıl olanlardan değiliz
Küfrü dalâlet bahrine dalanlardan değiliz
Vahidül gâffar sığınmışız sıtk ile
Özümüzü Hak’tan ayrı bilenlerden değiliz
Alemi serçe miktarı kendiyi Anka gözeten
Gururuna mağlup dan Yunanlılardan değiliz
Aslımız Türk, neslimiz Türk, Türk milleti derler bize
Birimiz bin kâfirden dönenlerden değiliz
Sinemiz siper edip adûya karşı durmuşuz
Şüphesiz Gâziyiz mürdar olanlardan değiliz
Bütün dünya düşman olsa zerre yoktur havfimiz
Cenk taarruzundan geri kalanlardan değiliz
Der FEDAYİ çalışırız aduların fethine
Nefis peşinde ber hava gezenlerden değiliz

In English

1. We are Muslims; we are not among those whose faith is false. We are not among those who dive into the sea of unbelief and error.

2. We have sincerely taken refuge in God, the One and All-Forgiving; we are not among those who think their own selves separate from the Truth.

3. We are not among the Greeks, who, though the size of a sparrow, take themselves for the Anka bird and are defeated by their own pride.

4. Our origin is Turk, our lineage is Turk, they call us the Turkish nation; we are not among those of whom one turns back from a thousand infidels.

5. We have made our breasts a shield and stood against the enemy; without doubt we are warriors of the faith, not among the unclean.

6. Even if the whole world were our enemy we would have not a mote of fear; we are not among those who hang back from the assault in battle.

7. Fedâî says: we strive for the defeat of the enemies; we are not among those who wander after the carnal self, following their whims.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a piece of seven couplets in the pattern of a ghazal. The two lines of the opening couplet and the second lines of the following couplets end with the redif "-lardan/-lerden değiliz" (we are not among those who), and the rhyme rests on the sound "-an/-en" in the words "olan, dalan, bilen, Yunanlı, dönen, olan, kalan, gezen". The syllable count of the lines is not regular. The pen name appears in the last couplet. In the source the poem is the second of three poems given under the heading "Examples of those written for Atatürk, on the World War and on Amasya".

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poem is a declaration of identity built on a negative redif: by saying "we are not among these", the poet defines who they are in reverse. The first two couplets bring religious identity to the fore, the following ones national identity. In the third couplet the Greeks are likened to a creature that, though the size of a sparrow, takes itself for the legendary Anka bird; this is a contrast used in divan and folk poetry to express arrogance. The line "Aslımız Türk, neslimiz Türk, Türk milleti derler bize" in the fourth couplet is where an awareness of Turkishness is voiced openly in the language of an Alevi-Bektashi poet.

His saying in the second couplet "we are not among those who think their own selves separate from the Truth" shows that even in a poem on war and nation the poet does not depart from the idea of divine unity. Cafer Özdemir gives examples of poems in which Fedâî embraces the doctrine of the unity of being and says that he sees God wherever he looks. In the last couplet fighting the enemy and fighting the carnal self are set side by side.

Historical Context

The direct reference to the Greeks and the line "we have made our breasts a shield and stood against the enemy" suggest that the poem was composed during the years of the Turkish War of Independence, during or shortly after the advance of the Greek army in Anatolia. The sources do not give the date of the poem; this dating is an inference based on the content of the text.

Bibliography

Online sources