Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Sâdıkü'l-va'd şefîü'l-müznibîn
Nûr-ı ‘âlem rahmeten li'l-âlemin
Âlim-i esrâr-ı Hakk sıdk u safâ
Sadr-ı bedr-i her dü-'âlem Mustafa
Mazhar-ı Hakk muktedâ-yı enbiyâ
Mesned-i kevneyn tâc-ı evliyâ
Olmadan bu nefha-i rûh Âdeme
Rahmet oldun sen bu cümle ‘âleme
Cümlemiz evlâd-ı Âdem sûretâ
Anamız Havvâdır, Âdemdür ata
Lîk ma'nâda atâdır ol habîb
Andan irer kamûya feyz ü nasîb

In English

1. (He is) true to his promise, the intercessor for sinners, the light of the world and a mercy to the worlds.

2. He is Mustafa, who knows the secrets of God, the possessor of truthfulness and purity of heart, the seat of honour and the full moon of both worlds. (The phrase "Sadr-ı bedr" has been read as "sadr u bedr", seat of honour and full moon; this reading is ours.)

3. He is the place where God is manifested, the leader of the prophets, the support of the two worlds and the crown of the saints.

4. Before this breath of spirit was breathed into Adam, you became a mercy to this whole world.

5. In outward form we are all the children of Adam; our mother is Eve, our father is Adam.

6. But in meaning the father is that beloved (the Prophet); grace and portion reach everyone from him. (The couplet can be read in two ways: since "atâ" is written with the long vowel, it can also be understood as 'atâ, "gift, bounty"; the line then says "in meaning that beloved is a bounty". The reading is ours.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a passage of six couplets in praise of the Prophet (na't); na't is the name given to poems written in praise of the Prophet Muhammad. Hüseyin Hüsameddin quotes these couplets from the verse work called Etvâr-ı Seb'a that he attributes to Habib-i Karamânî, as a passage on "vasf-ı nebî", the qualities of the Prophet. The couplets are in mathnawi form: each couplet rhymes within itself (müznibîn/âlemin, safâ/Mustafa, enbiyâ/evliyâ, Âdeme/âleme, sûretâ/ata, habîb/nasîb). Praise of the Prophet at the beginning of a Sufi mathnawi, or at the head of one of its sections, is common; where the passage stood in the work is not known. The source does not state the metre.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first three couplets name the Prophet with epithets added one to another, and most of the poem is built of genitive compounds: "şefîü'l-müznibîn" (intercessor for sinners), "nûr-ı âlem" (light of the world), "muktedâ-yı enbiyâ" (leader of the prophets), "tâc-ı evliyâ" (crown of the saints). The phrase "rahmeten li'l-âlemin" is taken from the Qur'anic verse addressed to the Prophet, "We have sent you only as a mercy to the worlds"; this is a quotation (iktibas). "Kevneyn" and "her dü-âlem" (the two worlds) mean this world and the next.

The fourth couplet is the intellectual centre of the poem. To say that the Prophet was a mercy to the whole world before the spirit was breathed into Adam rests on the Sufi doctrine of the light of Muhammad (nûr-ı Muhammedî), which holds that the first thing created was the light of Muhammad and that all existence was created from it. The fifth and sixth couplets complete this idea with an antithesis: in outward form (sûret) human beings are the children of Adam and Eve, but in meaning (ma'nâ) they are bound to the Prophet, and grace reaches everyone from him. The pairings of "sûret" and "ma'nâ", "ana" (mother) and "ata" (father) are woven with antithesis (tezat) and congruence of images (tenasüp). There is also a likeness of sound between "ata" in the fifth couplet and "atâ" in the sixth, and if the two words are read differently a paronomasia (cinas) arises.

The word "habîb" in the last couplet recalls the Prophet's epithet "Habîbullah" (the beloved of God). That the same word is also the sheikh's name might suggest a pen-name subtlety; but since no pen name of Habib's is recorded in the sources, this goes no further than an interpretation.

Historical Context

The attribution of the couplets to Habib rests on Hüsameddin's record alone; the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi article on Habib does not mention the Etvâr-ı Seb'a and speaks only of the Kitâbü'n-Nesâyih, whose copy has not been found. It is known from the list Suat Donuk takes from Ramazan Muslu that there is a Manzûme fi'l-etvâri's-seb'a registered under the name "Habîb Ömer Halvânî" in the Süleymaniye Library (Esad Efendi no. 1321); since Habib is said to have descended from the caliph Umar and is called "Şeyh Habîb-i Ömerî" in his endowment deed, this manuscript may be the work Hüsameddin mentions, but it has not been seen. Since the Gülşen-i Tevhîd of Habib's disciple in Amasya, Dâvûd-ı Halvetî, treats the same subject and contains both Habib's sayings and a section on the seven stages, it is clear that the text in Hüsameddin's hands came from this circle; whether it belongs to the master or the disciple has not been settled. For the sheikh's works see Habib-i Karamânî: Writer and Works.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Online sources