Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eight-syllable syllabic metre

Ala gözlü güzel şahım
Gelir mihman olur bir gün
Haklıyı haksızı seçer
Herkes suçun bilir bir gün
Kim geçer imam sancağın
Gerçek bilir ne olcağın
Mat eder Urum sancağın
Şah Urumu alır bir gün
Mehdi çıkınca minbere
İsa gökten iner yere
Mümin olan durur dara
Hakk’a secde kılar bir gün
Gör münkirin şu işini
Seyret gözünün yaşını
Yer tutar anın başını
Yüz üstüne kalır bir gün
Mehdinin bir oğlu olur
İsmine Kasım çağrılır
İsrafil sur’u üfürür
Hep vademiz yeter bir gün
Yolcu adımı atamaz
Ağzında lokma yutamaz
Herkes dediğin edemez
Hep sınırlı kalır bir gün
Yüce müce asker çeker
Dabbetül arz yerden çıkar
Ağ üstünden kara kalkar
Halk imansız kalır bir gün
Gör ki ne yazılmış serde
Nazar kılmış iki nurda
Şenlik bulunmaz her yerde
Kırk yıl ıssız kalır bir gün
Aleme bir yıldız doğar
Şulesi cümleye şavkar
Gece gündüz yağmur yağar
Alem su kesilir bir gün
İsrafil suru üfürür
Canlara derman verilir
İnsan hep kalkar dirilir
Hak divanı gelir bir gün
Kaya yel eser cihana
Dağ taş tutulur tufana
Mağrip’de ulu divana
Maşrık’da düzülür bir gün
Hak çıkar kürsü üstüne
Gel deyi çağrır dostuna
Yedi tamunun üstüne
Sırat mizam kurar bir gün
Kaynar katıran kazanı
Atarlar yoldan azanı
Mikail tutar mizamı
Günahlar tartılır bir gün
Kızdırır cehennem damın
Yakarlar münkirin canın
Akrebe sokturur tenin
Azaplar verilir bir gün
Kızgın sacı da kızdırır
Münkire namaz kıldırır
Ottan kamışı yandırır
Günahlar sorulur bir gün
Kul Hüseyn’im güzel şahım
Dağdan taştan çok günahım
Şah der hep elim ayağım
Hak cevabın verir bir gün

In English

1. My fair Shah with hazel eyes will one day come and be a guest. He will separate the just from the unjust; one day everyone will know his fault.

2. Who can pass the imam's banner; the true one knows what will come. He will checkmate the banner of Rum; one day the Shah will take Rum.

3. When the Mahdi mounts the pulpit, Jesus comes down from heaven to earth. The believer takes his stand at the dar; one day he bows down before God.

4. See this deed of the denier, watch the tears of his eye. The earth will hold his head; one day he will lie face down.

5. The Mahdi will have a son, who will be called Kasım. Israfil will blow the trumpet; one day the term of us all will be fulfilled.

6. The traveller cannot take his step, he cannot swallow the morsel in his mouth. No one can do what he says; one day all will be held within bounds.

7. The high and the low will raise armies; the Beast of the Earth will come out of the ground. Black will rise over white; one day the people will be left without faith.

8. See what is written upon the head; he has looked upon two lights. Joy is not found in every place; one day the world will lie desolate for forty years.

9. A star will rise upon the world, its flame will shine upon all. Rain will fall night and day; one day the world will turn to water.

10. Israfil will blow the trumpet, cure will be given to the souls. All mankind will rise and come to life; one day God's court will come.

11. A wind of stones will blow upon the world; mountain and stone will be seized by the flood. The great court, in the west, will one day be set up in the east.

12. God will mount the throne and call "come" to His friend. Above the seven hells He will one day set up the bridge and the scale.

13. The cauldron of tar will boil; they will throw in the one who strayed from the road. Michael will hold the scale; one day sins will be weighed.

14. He will heat the roof of hell, they will burn the soul of the denier; he will have the scorpion sting his body. One day torments will be given.

15. He will heat the burning griddle too and make the denier pray upon it; he will burn the reed from the grass. One day sins will be questioned.

16. I am Kul Hüseyin, my fair Shah; my sins are more than mountains and stones. The Shah says all my hands and feet are witnesses; one day God will give His answer.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

In each of the sixteen quatrains the last line arrives at the redif "bir gün" (one day), preceded by verbs in the aorist: "bilir, alır, kılar, kalır, yeter, verilir, sorulur" (knows, takes, bows, remains, is fulfilled, is given, is questioned). Işık classes the text as a nefes and calls it a "prophecy of the future"; he refers to it by the second line of the first quatrain, "Gelir mihman olur bir gün" (one day he will come and be a guest). The lines have eight syllables. In each quatrain the first three lines make their own rhyme (for example "sancağın, olcağın, sancağın", "minbere, yere, dara", "kazanı, azanı, mizamı"). The pen name (mahlas) in the last stanza is "Kul Hüseyn'im". The text was handed down by Halil Sezgin.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The signs of the Last Day and the end of time are listed here in popular language, in short and flowing lines. The sequence follows familiar elements of Islamic accounts of the Last Day: the Mahdi mounting the pulpit, Jesus coming down from heaven, the creature called the Beast of the Earth emerging from the ground, a star rising in the sky, the world sinking under the waters, Israfil blowing the trumpet and the dead rising, God holding His court, the bridge of Sırat and the scale being set up over hell, sins being weighed. Kul Hüseyin adds to this narrative the expectations of his own community: the fair Shah, the awaited imam, coming as a guest, the banner of Rum being checkmated, the believer standing at the dar.

In the last quatrains the descriptions of torment grow dense: the cauldron of tar, the heated roof of hell, the scorpion, the prayer said on a burning griddle. These images rest on accounts of the hereafter told among the people and aim to warn the listener. The deyiş does not end on a frightening picture; the poet confesses that his sins are more than mountains and stones and leaves the last word again to his "fair Shah". The hands and feet being witnesses rests on the belief that on the Day of Gathering the limbs will bear witness against a person.

Bibliography

Online sources