Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Gönül arzuladı düştük yollara
Sürdüğümüz Balım Sultan yoludur
Düşürdün sultanım bizi dillere
Durduğumuz Ali Mansur darıdır
Darına dururuz cem-i alada
Göster didarını bize seyramda
Sultan Cemal derler aslı pek-zade
Cemalin görmek de gözün karıdır
Şükür kavuşturdu Pir Balım Sultan
Gezindi bendimi ol Şah-ı Merdan
Kusurum çok imiş, yakamda noksan
Sıtkınan sevenin sadık yaridir
Dertliyim derdime dermana geldim
Ali’m veliyullah fermana geldim
Cömertsin sultanım ihsana geldim
Güzel nutkun kalp evini arıtır
Kul fakır’ım serim kurban yoluna
Sultan olan bakar kulun halına
Lahmike cismike indi şanına
Ruh be ruhumuzu veren velidir

In English

1. The heart desired it and we set out on the road; the path we follow is the path of Balım Sultan. My sultan, you have made us the talk of tongues; the place where we stand is the dâr of Ali and of Mansur.

2. In the exalted cem we stand at your dâr; show us your face in this seyran. They call him Sultan Cemal, his lineage is pure; to behold his face is the eye's gain.

3. Thank God, Pir Balım Sultan has brought us together. The second line is unclear; it can be read as meaning that the Şah-ı Merdan, that is, Ali, has passed through my being and entered my heart. My faults are many, there is lack in my collar; he is the faithful friend of the one who loves sincerely.

4. I am stricken with pain, I have come to seek a cure for my pain; saying that Ali is the friend of God, I have come to his command. My sultan, you are generous, I have come for your grace; your fair words purify the house of the heart.

5. I am Kul Fakır, my head is a sacrifice on his path; one who is a sultan looks to his servant's state. The saying "Your flesh is my flesh, your body is my body" was revealed in his honour; he is the friend of God who gives spirit to our spirit.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The deyiş is a koşma of five quatrains in the eleven-syllable syllabic metre. Its rhyme pattern departs slightly from the usual pattern of the koşma: in the first quatrain the first and third lines ("yollara, dillere") and the second and fourth lines ("yoludur, darıdır") rhyme; in the following quatrains the first three lines rhyme among themselves, while the last lines are linked to one another by the sounds "-ıdır, -idir". The pen name appears in the last quatrain as "Kul fakır'ım". The syllable count is ours.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The deyiş invokes one after another the institutions and holy figures of the Alevi-Bektashi path. Balım Sultan is known as the second pir who ordered the Bektashi rite at the lodge of Hacı Bektaş Velî; the âşık presents the path he follows as his path. The "dâr" is the place in the cem where one bows before the spiritual guide and gives account of oneself; in Alevi tradition it is also associated with the hanging of Hallâc-ı Mansûr on the gallows. The phrase "Ali Mansur darı" joins these two meanings: to stand at the dâr in the cem is to be ready to give one's life on the path of God.

The phrase "Lahmike cismike" in the last quatrain is the shortened popular form of the saying attributed to the Prophet about Ali, "Your flesh is my flesh, your body is my body". This saying is often used in Alevi-Bektashi poetry to express the unity of Muhammad and Ali. The words "Ali'm veliyullah" (my Ali is the friend of God) in the fourth quatrain are likewise a familiar part of the Alevi profession of faith. While invoking these holy names, the âşık also openly confesses his own failings: "Kusurum çok imiş, yakamda noksan."

Historical Context

The "Sultan Cemal" named in the second quatrain is most probably Cemalettin Çelebi (1862-1921), çelebi of the Hacı Bektaş lodge. According to the entry in the Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü, Kul Fakir attached himself to Cemalettin Çelebi after his master Kul Hüseyin, and after his death regarded his son Ali Haydar Efendi as his pir. The words "seyran", "cem-i âlâ" (the exalted cem) and "cemalin görmek" (to behold his face) in the deyiş suggest that it may have been sung in the çelebi's presence during a visit the âşık paid to Hacıbektaş. This is an inference; on which visit and in which year the deyiş was sung is not known. If Sultan Cemal is taken to be Cemalettin Çelebi, the deyiş must have been sung before 1921.

Bibliography

Online sources