Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Günah ettim şahım darına durdum
Allah bir Muhammed Ali aşkına
Kırklar eşiğine yüzümü sürdüm
Allah bir Muhammed Ali aşkına
Hamza Rıza’ya, ben ricaya vardım
İmam Hüseyin’i de şefim buldum
Şahım Zeynel aba eyledi yardım
Allah bir Muhammed Ali aşkına
Muhammed Bakır’ın yüzü nuruna
İmamı Cafer’in vardım darına
Kalmış günahımın külli varına
Allah bir Muhammed Ali aşkına
Musa’yı Kazım’dan görünen nurlar
Aliyül Rıza’ya nakş olan nurlar
Kalma günahıma erenler pirler
Allah bir Muhammed Ali aşkına
Muhammed Takı’nın yolu aşkına
Aliyül Naki’nin hali aşkına
Bağışla cürmümü Veli aşkına
Allah bir Muhammed Ali aşkına
Hasan ül Askeri nuru hak için
Erenler semahı devri hak için
Muhammed Mehdi’nin sırrı hak için
Allah bir Muhammed Ali aşkına
Mürşidi bilelim yâre varalım
Kul Hüseyin ile dara varalım
Şerleri defeden hayra varalım
Allah bir Muhammed Ali aşkına

In English

1. I have sinned, my Shah, I have taken my stand at your dar; I have rubbed my face on the threshold of the Forty. For the love of God the One, Muhammad and Ali.

2. I went to Hamza and to Rıza to plead; I found Imam Hüseyin as my intercessor; my Shah Zeynelabidin gave me help. For the love of God the One, Muhammad and Ali.

3. To the light of Muhammad Bakır's face, to the dar of Imam Cafer I came, for all of my sins that remain. For the love of God the One, Muhammad and Ali.

4. The lights seen from Musa-i Kâzım, the lights inscribed upon Ali Rıza; O saints, O pirs, do not leave me with my sin. For the love of God the One, Muhammad and Ali.

5. For the love of Muhammad Taki's road, for the love of Ali Naki's state, for the love of the saint, forgive my fault. For the love of God the One, Muhammad and Ali.

6. For the sake of Hasan Askerî's light, for the sake of the turning of the saints' semah, for the sake of Muhammad Mehdi's secret. For the love of God the One, Muhammad and Ali.

7. Let us know the guide, let us go to the beloved; let us go to the dar with Kul Hüseyin; let us go to the good that drives away evil. For the love of God the One, Muhammad and Ali.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

In the last three quatrains the first three lines say the same word three times over: "aşkına, aşkına, aşkına" (for the love of), "hak için, hak için, hak için" (for God's sake), "varalım, varalım, varalım" (let us go). In the earlier quatrains these lines rhyme on different words ("vardım, buldum, yardım", "nuruna, darına, varına", "nurlar, nurlar, pirler"). The refrain "Allah bir Muhammed Ali aşkına" (for the love of God the One, Muhammad and Ali) takes lines two and four of the first quatrain and the fourth line of the others. Işık classes the seven quatrains, composed in the eleven-syllable syllabic metre, as a düvaz-ı imam. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last stanza as "Kul Hüseyin ile" (with Kul Hüseyin); here the poet names himself within the community. The text was collected from the accounts of four informants, among them Âşık Cafer Aydoğdu, Kul Hüseyin's descendant Erdoğan Koç and Halil Sezgin.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The deyiş opens with the "dar" rite of the cem. The dar is the stance in Alevi cem worship in which a person stands before the community and the dede, surrenders himself, voices his fault and asks pardon. The poet says he has sinned, takes his stand at the Shah's dar and rubs his face on the threshold of the Forty. Then he takes refuge with each of the Twelve Imams in turn: Hüseyin the intercessor, Zeynelabidin the helper, the dar of Cafer, the lights of Kâzım and Rıza, the road of Taki, the state of Naki, the light of Askerî and the secret of the Mahdi. In the second quatrain the name "Hamza" appearing in place of Hasan is striking; the source does not explain it.

The refrain gathers the essence of Alevi-Bektashi belief in a single line: God is one, and prayer is made for the love of Muhammad and Ali. In the sixth quatrain "the turning of the saints' semah" is also named among sacred things; the semah is the turning ritual movement in the cem that expresses the turning towards God. In the last quatrain the poet does not speak for himself alone; saying "let us know the guide, let us go to the dar", he calls the community to stand at the dar together.

Bibliography

Online sources