Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Haydar’ı Sultan’a gönül katanlar
Doğru yollarına gitmez de neyler
Ehli beyt’e ikrar verip el tutan
Hakk’ın emirlerin tutmaz da neyler
Binde bir kalmamış sıtkınan gelen
Asıl mümin özün irfanda bulan
Muhammed Ali’den ikrarı olan
Şahın katarına yetmez de neyler
Leylası Mecnundur boş kalan kapı
Bai bismillahtır yedullah yayı
Otuz altı bin halife sahibi
Gelip bun gününde yetmez de neyler
Hasan Dedem Veli Sultan’a varan
Irmak kenarında kuğuyu gören
Varınca Haydar’ın sırrına eren
Şahın kapısına yatmazda neyler
Birlik olsa ikilikten geçilse
Gönüller bir olsa müşkül seçilse
Ayni cem kurulsa irfan açılsa
Hüseyin küfürü satmaz da neyler

In English

1. Those who have joined their hearts to Haydar the Sultan, who have given their pledge to the Family of the Prophet and taken its hand; what do they do if they do not go their straight road, what do they do if they do not keep God's commands.

2. Not one in a thousand is left who comes in sincerity. The true believer, who finds his essence in wisdom, who holds his pledge from Muhammad and Ali; what does he do if he does not reach the Shah's caravan.

3. The door left empty is Mecnun's Leyla; the letter be of "Bismillah" is the bow of God's hand. What does the master of thirty-six thousand caliphs do if he does not come and arrive on the day of distress.

4. One who reaches Hasan Dede and Veli Sultan, who sees the swan on the riverbank, who on arriving attains the secret of Haydar; what does he do if he does not lie down at the Shah's door.

5. If there were unity, if duality were left behind, if hearts were one, if the difficulty were solved, if the same cem were held, if wisdom opened; what does Hüseyin do if he does not sell off unbelief.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

Each quatrain arrives at a question: the second and fourth lines end on the redif "-maz da neyler, -mez de neyler" (what does he do if he does not) ("gitmez de, tutmaz da, yetmez de, yatmaz da, satmaz da") and ask what follows from the conditions listed in the first lines. The other rhymes of the quatrains are built on "katanlar, tutan", "gelen, bulan, olan", "kapı, yayı, sahibi", "varan, gören, eren", "geçilse, seçilse, açılsa". The metre is the eleven-syllable syllabic measure; Işık counts the five quatrains as a nefes. The pen name (mahlas) shows in the final quatrain simply as "Hüseyin". The accounts of Halil Sezgin and Âşık Hasan Özabdal were used in collecting it; the article glosses "bun gün" as the narrow day of distress.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

Its questions rest on the responsibility of one who has entered the path: what use is one who has given his heart to Haydar, that is, Ali, who has pledged himself to the Family of the Prophet, if he does not follow the straight road and keep God's commands. The line in the second quatrain, "not one in a thousand is left who comes in sincerity", laments that those who come to the path sincerely have grown few. The "Bai bismillah" of the third quatrain points to the letter be, the first letter of the Qur'an; in Alevi-Bektashi interpretation the dot beneath this letter is associated with Ali. The source does not explain the line, and this connection is our interpretation.

In the fourth quatrain the names "Hasan Dede" and "Veli Sultan" appear; the source does not say who they are. These names may suggest an elder of an ocak or a tomb in the region, but we cannot establish this. The last quatrain gives the true counsel of the deyiş: if there is unity, if duality is left behind, if hearts are one and the same cem is held, wisdom opens. Işık writes that Kul Hüseyin called people to love, unity and fellowship and said that this was the true cause of God; this deyiş is a clear example of that call.

Bibliography

Online sources