Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Ceddi Piri Baba bir bab sultanım
Gönüller evinde aziz mihmanım
Fatiha suresi, ümm-ül Kuranım
Yüzüm dergahına sürmeye geldim
Girdim dergahına yeşil serili
Körler görebilmez perde gerili
Baytullah’ta gören var mı Halil’i
Onun ananesin sormaya geldim
Kalbi Beytullah’tır türbe-i celil
Piri Baba Sultan önümde delil
Sırrı Balım Sultan, Pir Bektaş Velim
Gönülde makamım görmeye geldim
Nerede çağırsam hazır yanımda
Söyleyen ben değil, Hızır yanımda
Muhammed Ali nin vezir yanında
Sahavet hüccetin almaya geldim
Muhabbet Muhammed Ali değil mi
Nasipler verici Veli değil mi
Cümle evliyadan ulu değil mi
Dar-ı Çeç’ de namaz kılmaya geldim
Müminin kıblesi dostun didârı
Muhabbet aşığı neylesin varı
Dilde zikrederim On İki İmamı
Ölmeden evveli ölmeye geldim
Sene bin üç yüz kırk birde geldi
Allah Muhammed’e Cebrail saldı
Cebrail Ali’yi Kandil ‘de buldu
Kubbenin üstüne konmaya geldim
Kubbe muallakta altı suyudu
Gelen geçti, gene dünya buyudu
Hasan -Hüseyin’ in nesli büyüdü
Zeynel’im zindana girmeye geldim
İmam Bâkır idi çöllerde gezen
İmam Cafer idi Buyruk’u yazan
Ebu Cehil idi kuyular kazan
Musa Kazım serim vermeye geldim
Şah Taki ba-Naki dest-i velayet
Hasan-ül Askeri göster sahavet
Mehdi yol içinde yapar adalet
Girip mağaraya kalmaya geldim
Mağarayı muallağa koydular
Orada bileydi üçler, yediler
İmamlar ismine erkân kurdular
Onun icraatın bilmeye geldim
KUL FAKIR ım yol Muhammed- Alinin
Settar eyle sır Muhammed Alinin
Hilaf katma din Muhammed Alinin
Gulâmım kapında durmaya geldim

In English

1. My ancestor Pîrî Baba is a gate, he is my sultan; he is an honoured guest in the house of hearts. The sura Fatiha is the mother of the Qur'an; I have come to rub my face at his lodge.

2. I entered his lodge spread with green; the veil is drawn, the blind cannot see. Is there anyone who has seen Halil, that is, Abraham, at the House of God; I have come to ask about his tradition.

3. The heart is the House of God, an exalted tomb; Pîrî Baba Sultan is my guide before me. His secret is in Balım Sultan, my pir is Hacı Bektaş Velî; I have come to see my station in the heart.

4. Wherever I call, he is present at my side; it is not I who speak, Hızır is beside me. The vizier of Muhammad Ali is at my side; I have come to receive the warrant of generosity.

5. Is not love Muhammad Ali; is not the giver of portions the Saint; is he not greater than all the saints? Where the "Dar-ı Çeç" of the fourth line is could not be determined; he says he has come to pray there.

6. The believer's qibla is the Friend's face; what should the lover of communion do with possessions. On my tongue I invoke the Twelve Imams; I have come to die before dying.

7. He came in the year one thousand three hundred and forty-one; God sent Gabriel to Muhammad. Gabriel found Ali in the Kandil; I have come to alight upon the dome.

8. The dome was suspended, beneath it was water; those who came passed on, the world was ever thus. The line of Hasan and Hüseyin grew; my Zeynelâbidin, I have come to enter the dungeon.

9. The one who roamed the deserts was Imam Bâkır; the one who wrote the Buyruk was Imam Cafer. The one who dug wells was Abu Jahl; Musa Kâzım, I have come to give my head.

10. Şah Taki and Naki are the hand of sainthood; Hasan al-Askari, show your generosity. The Mahdi does justice within the path; I have come to enter the cave and stay.

11. They placed the cave in suspension; there the Three and the Seven were present. They founded the rite in the names of the Imams; I have come to learn their work.

12. I am Kul Fakır, the path is the path of Muhammad Ali; cover and keep the secret of Muhammad Ali. Add no contrariety to the faith of Muhammad Ali; I have come to stand at your door as your servant.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The deyiş is a long koşma of twelve quatrains in the eleven-syllable syllabic metre; two lines depart from this metre by one syllable. The last line of each quatrain ends with the redif "geldim" (I have come); the verbal nouns before the redif, such as "sürmeye, sormaya, görmeye, almaya, kılmaya, ölmeye", form the rhyme and count quatrain by quatrain what the âşık has come for. The number of twelve quatrains accords with the deyiş's naming the Twelve Imams in order between the eighth and tenth quatrains. The pen name appears in the last quatrain. The syllable count is ours. Whether the text in the source from which we take it is complete could not be checked against the compilation of Aktaş and Yücel.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The deyiş is a pilgrimage deyiş. The âşık says that he has come to rub his face at the lodge of Pîrî Baba in Merzifon and mentions the lodge's green coverings and drawn veil. He then lists all the links of the path: Pîrî Baba, Balım Sultan, Hacı Bektaş Velî, Hızır, Muhammad Ali. İsa Çolaker, quoting the lines "Fatiha suresi, ümm-ül Kuranım / Yüzüm dergahına sürmeye geldim", draws attention to how well the unlettered poet knew the Qur'an and Islamic learning. The words "Kalbi Beytullah'tır" (the heart is the House of God) express the Alevi-Bektashi view of the heart as God's house, held higher than the Kaaba.

From the seventh quatrain onwards the deyiş turns to the Alevi narrative of creation and the imamate. The line "Cebrail Ali'yi Kandil'de buldu" rests on the tradition that Ali's light existed inside a lamp before creation. From the eighth to the tenth quatrain the Imams are named in order: Hasan, Hüseyin, Zeynelâbidin, Bâkır, Cafer, Musa Kâzım, Taki, Naki, Hasan al-Askari and the Mahdi. The first Imam, Ali, has been named in the seventh quatrain; the name of the eighth Imam, Ali Rıza, does not appear, and the word "Şah" at the beginning of the tenth quatrain may point to him. The line "Buyruk'u yazan İmam Cafer idi" recalls that the Buyruk, the basic book of the Alevis, is traced back to Imam Cafer. This section gives the deyiş the structure of the düvazimam, the hymns praising the Twelve Imams; Fatih Çelebi also notes that Kul Fakir sang düvazimam.

Historical Context

Pîrî Baba is a saint whose tomb stands in the Nusratiye quarter of Merzifon, and one of the important Alevi ocaks of the Amasya region bears his name. Harun Yıldız presents Kul Fakir as a dede descended from Pîrî Baba; the words "Ceddi Piri Baba" (my ancestor Pîrî Baba) in the first line of the deyiş express the âşık's own tie to this lineage. The line "Sene bin üç yüz kırk birde geldi" in the seventh quatrain gives a date. If this date is hijri it corresponds to 1922-23, if rumi to 1925-26. Whether the line indicates the year in which the deyiş was sung or the âşık visited the lodge, or some other event, is not clear; it can be recorded as an inference. For the tomb, see the article on the Pîrî Baba Tomb on this site.

Bibliography

Academic studies

  • Harun Yıldız, "Amasya Yöresi Alevî Ocakları", Uluslararası Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, vol. 4, no. 19, 2011.

Books

Other sources

Online sources