Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Gözüme göründü dostun bağları
Himmeti erişti Abdal Musa’nın
Üzülsün çürüğü kalsın sağları
Himmeti erişti Abdal Musa’nın
Hindistan ilinden duyuldu sesi
Mümin kullarına düştü hevesi
Yedi babdan içeridir türbesi
Nur doğdu üstüne Abdal Musa’nın
Başındadır nurdan elifi tacı
Eşiğin bekleyen neylesin haccı
Marıptan maşrıka oynar kılıcı
Zahir de batında Abdal Musa’nın
Dedem beni muhabbetin coşturur
Coşturur da yüce dağlar aştırır
Aştırır da Kaygusuz’a düşürür
Himmeti erişti Abdal Musa’nın
Şükür Kul Hüseyin’im murada erdi
Kaygusuz Sultan’ın evine geldi
Kırklar eşiğine yüzünü sürdü
Mest etti kokusu Abdal Musa’nın

In English

1. The vineyards of the Friend have appeared to my eye; the blessing of Abdal Musa has reached us. Let the rotten wither, let the sound remain; the blessing of Abdal Musa has reached us.

2. His voice was heard from the land of India; longing fell upon his believing servants. His tomb lies within seven gates; light has risen upon Abdal Musa.

3. On his head is a crown of light like the letter elif; what need of the pilgrimage has one who waits at his threshold. His sword plays from west to east; in the outward and the inward it is Abdal Musa's.

4. My Dede stirs me up with his fellowship; stirs me and makes me cross high mountains, makes me cross and brings me to Kaygusuz. The blessing of Abdal Musa has reached us.

5. Thank God, Kul Hüseyin has attained his wish; he came to the house of Kaygusuz Sultan and laid his face on the threshold of the Forty. The scent of Abdal Musa has made him drunk.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

According to Işık this is a popular deyiş that owes its fame to Âşık Gülabi, who collected it. The name of Abdal Musa is heard again and again at the ends of the quatrains: in the first quatrain lines two and four carry the refrain "Himmeti erişti Abdal Musa'nın" (the blessing of Abdal Musa has reached us), and the last lines of the later quatrains end on "Abdal Musa'nın" ("Nur doğdu üstüne, Zahir de batında, Himmeti erişti, Mest etti kokusu"). In the first three lines the rhyme runs: "sesi, hevesi, türbesi", "tacı, haccı, kılıcı", "coşturur, aştırır, düşürür", "erdi, geldi, sürdü". The metre of the five quatrains is the eleven-syllable syllabic measure; the genre, according to Işık, is the nefes. The pen name (mahlas) "Kul Hüseyin'im" comes in the closing quatrain. The informants were Halil Sezgin and one other.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

Abdal Musa is one of the saints remembered with reverence in the Bektashi tradition as a continuer of the path of Hacı Bektaş Velî; Kaygusuz Abdal is the poet known as his disciple. The deyiş expresses the joy of attaining Abdal Musa's blessing, his spiritual help. In the second and third quatrains the saint's greatness is conveyed through hyperbolic and sacred images: his voice is heard from India, his tomb lies within seven gates, a crown of light is on his head, his sword plays from west to east. The line "what need of the pilgrimage has one who waits at his threshold" repeats the view, seen in other deyiş of Kul Hüseyin too, that counts the threshold of the pir as equal to the pilgrimage.

The fourth and fifth quatrains tell of a journey: the "dede", the guide, stirs the dervish with his fellowship, makes him cross high mountains and brings him to Kaygusuz; the dervish comes to the house of Kaygusuz Sultan and lays his face on the threshold of the Forty. Whether these lines describe a real visit or a spiritual journey, the source does not explain. That the deyiş reached a wide audience through Âşık Gülabi shows that Kul Hüseyin's deyiş travelled beyond Gaziler Ovacığı as well.

Bibliography

Online sources