Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Leyli nehar sevdasından ayırmaz
İsterim muradım senden ya Ali
Yaratandan bahsedince durulmaz
İsterim muradım senden ya Ali
İsmim kalemlerin şanına düştü
Bunalan kul er meydanına düştü
Mürüvvet eylemek şanına düştü
İsterim muradım senden yana Ali
Ahiri hükmedip gelse gerektir
Aşkla Zülfükarı çekse gerektir
Kulların muradın alsa gerektir
İsterim muradım senden ya Ali
Ervahı ezelden payı bendoldu
Hulki Ahmet hüsni kemalin buldu
Cemalin görenler hayranın kaldı
İsterim muradım senden ya Ali
Kul Hüseyn’im eydür geçelim serden
Gönül vaz mı geçer böyle serverden
Ne mümkün vazgeçmem gül yüzlü yârdan
İsterim muradım senden ya Ali

In English

1. Night and day he does not part from his love for him; O Ali, I seek my wish from you. When the Creator is named one cannot keep still; O Ali, I seek my wish from you.

2. My name has fallen to the glory of the pens; the servant in distress has fallen into the field of the brave. To show generosity befits your glory; O Ali, I seek my wish from your side.

3. In the end he must surely come and rule; he must surely draw Zülfikar with love; he must surely grant the servants their wish. O Ali, I seek my wish from you.

4. The portion of the souls was bound from eternity; the character of Ahmad found the perfection of beauty. Those who saw your face were left in wonder; O Ali, I seek my wish from you.

5. I, Kul Hüseyin, say: let us give up our heads; does the heart give up such a leader. It cannot be, I will not give up the rose-faced beloved; O Ali, I seek my wish from you.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The refrain holds a wish, "İsterim muradım senden ya Ali" (I seek my wish from you, O Ali); it fills the second and fourth lines of the first quatrain, is sung with a small change in the second, "senden yana Ali" (from your side, Ali), and then returns in the fourth line of each quatrain. From the second quatrain on the first three lines rhyme ("düştü, düştü, düştü", "gelse gerektir, çekse gerektir, alsa gerektir", "bendoldu, buldu, kaldı", "serden, serverden, yârdan"). The text runs to five quatrains in the eleven-syllable syllabic metre; Işık counts the text as a nefes. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last stanza as "Kul Hüseyn'im". The sole informant is Âşık Cafer Aydoğdu; the article glosses "leyli nehar" as night and day.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

It is a wish addressed to Ali. The first quatrain says that the lover does not part night and day from his love for Ali and cannot keep still when the Creator is named. In the second quatrain his own name "falling to the glory of the pens", that is, passing into writing, and the servant in distress "falling into the field of the brave" suggest that the poet carries his pain into the field of heroes; to show generosity befits Ali's glory.

The third quatrain voices an expectation: Ali will in the end come ruling, draw Zülfikar with love and grant the servants their wish. This is a thought interwoven in Alevi belief with the expectation of the Mahdi's coming and the establishment of justice. The fourth quatrain says that the portion of the souls was bound from eternity and that the fair character of Ahmad, that is, Muhammad, reached perfection. In the last quatrain the poet says it is impossible to give up such a leader and that he will not turn from the "rose-faced beloved"; the beloved here is Ali himself.

Bibliography

Online sources