Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Gine gönül muhabbete düş oldu
Belde kemer el üstünde dest oldu
Yaşlı gözlüm, gözüm şimdi mest oldu
Sefa geldin mihman kardeş sen bize
Arzulayı arzulayı mı geldin
Güle niksar oldu gerek bağbanda
Bu gün hak sendedir hak seni bildim
Sefa geldin mihman kardeş sen bize
Geldiceğin yollar acep nurmola
Durducağın divan mola darmola
Güzel şahtan bize haber varmola
Sefa geldin mihman kardeş sen bize
Güzel şahın yolu gayet düz olur
Bu meydanda avın alan baz olur
Irakipler duyar bu bir söz olur
Sefa geldin mihman kardeş sen bize
Irakipler bu meydanda yurt tutsun
Gönül muhabbetin yolunca gitsin
Söyler güzel şah bizi alsın gitsin
Sefa geldin mihman kardeş sen bize
Sakla bu sırrını nadan duymasın
Dükkânına alıp malın almasın
Gidi münkir hanedana uymasın
Sefa geldin mihman kardeş sen bize
Halim yaman ırakipler elinden
Dönük kalmış sofuların elinden
Kul Hüseyin sefil düşmüş yolundan
Sefa geldin mihman kardeş sen bize

In English

1. Once again the heart has fallen into fellowship; the belt is at the waist, the hands are folded upon the breast. My tearful eye is now drunk; welcome to us, brother guest.

2. Have you come longing and longing; you came like a joy scattered for the gardener's rose (the line reads "Güle niksar oldu gerek bağbanda" in the source and its meaning is not entirely clear). Today the Truth is in you, I knew you as the Truth; welcome to us, brother guest.

3. Are the roads by which you came of light, is the court where you will stand a dar, is there news for us from the fair Shah; welcome to us, brother guest.

4. The road of the fair Shah is very straight; in this square the one who takes his prey becomes a falcon. The rivals hear, and it becomes gossip; welcome to us, brother guest.

5. Let the rivals keep their place in this square; let the heart go along the road of fellowship. The fair Shah says, let him take us and go; welcome to us, brother guest.

6. Keep this secret of yours, let the ignorant not hear it; let him not take you into his shop and take your goods. Let the wicked denier not join this household; welcome to us, brother guest.

7. My state is dire at the hands of the rivals, and at the hands of the turncoat zealots. Kul Hüseyin has fallen wretched from his road; welcome to us, brother guest.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The seven quatrains greet the guest with the same words: the last line of each is the refrain "Sefa geldin mihman kardeş sen bize" (welcome to us, brother guest). The first three lines carry these rhymes: "düş oldu, dest oldu, mest oldu", "geldin, bağbanda, bildim", "nurmola, darmola, varmola", "düz olur, baz olur, söz olur", "tutsun, gitsin, gitsin", "duymasın, almasın, uymasın", "elinden, elinden, yolundan". In the third quatrain the rhyme built on the interrogative "mola" preserves the sound features of local speech; Işık likewise notes that the word "ırakipler" (rivals) is pronounced in this way following local usage and to complete the metre. The metre is the eleven-syllable syllabic measure, and the genre, in Işık's view, the güzelleme. The pen name (mahlas) "Kul Hüseyin" comes in the final quatrain. The only informant is Halil Sezgin.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

It expresses the joy of welcoming a guest. The line "the belt is at the waist, the hands are folded upon the breast" recalls the posture of respect in the Alevi-Bektashi rite, standing with the hands crossed on the breast and the waist girded. Who the guest is, is not said; calling him "brother guest" suggests the welcoming of one counted a brother on the path, perhaps a musahip, perhaps a dervish come from afar. The words of the second quatrain, "today the Truth is in you, I knew you as the Truth", repeat the belief that God is seen in the one who comes.

In the second half of the poem this joy is balanced by warnings about rivals and the secret. The rivals hear of the fellowship and turn it into gossip; the turncoat zealots make the lover's state dire. The counsel in the sixth quatrain, "keep this secret of yours, let the ignorant not hear it", rests on the principle in Alevi-Bektashi ethics that the secret is opened only to those fit for it. Işık writes that Kul Hüseyin always exalted fellowship and friendship against blind zealotry; this deyiş too sets love of the guest against the incomprehension of zealot circles.

Bibliography

Online sources