Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Bugün sade güzelleri seyrettim
Salınsa karşımda dursa ikisi
Biri sağda biri solda otursa
Muhabbet meylini salsa ikisi
Gülistan zehr olmuş baharın çağı
Eridi kalmadı yüreğim yağı
Dostum bahçesine kurmuş otağı
Muhabbet tuzağın tutsa ikisi
Yeşil giyer ol görünür donları
Hak nasip eylese görsem onları
Şefaat umarız mahşer günleri
Sinede sümbülü derse ikisi
Hep avaz işittim mailim sese
Vadem yetip ömrüm olursa kısa
Birisi su koysa birisi yusa
Dikse kefenimi sarsa ikisi
Hakkında ayet var okunur hece
Derviş olanları kasarlar güce
İsa gökten inse Mehdi gelince
Âleme bir nizam verse ikisi
Kul Hüseyn’im bu divanda göçersin
Utanacak işi nice tutarsın
Günde yüz bin canı azat edersin
Uçmak kapısında dursa ikisi

In English

1. Today I watched only the beauties; if both of them were to sway and stand before me, if one were to sit on the right and one on the left, if both of them were to show the inclination of fellowship.

2. In the season of spring the rose garden has turned to poison; the fat of my heart has melted and none is left. My friend has pitched his tent in his garden; if both of them were to hold the snare of fellowship.

3. They wear green, their garments can be seen; if God allowed it, if I could see them. On the Day of Gathering we hope for intercession; if both of them were to pick the hyacinth in my breast.

4. I have heard every voice, I am drawn to the sound; if my term were fulfilled and my life were short, if one were to pour the water and one to wash me, if both of them were to sew my shroud and wrap me.

5. There is a verse about him, it is read syllable by syllable; they press the dervishes hard. When Jesus comes down from heaven and the Mahdi comes, if both of them were to give the world an order.

6. Kul Hüseyin, you will depart from this court; how can you keep to deeds of shame. A hundred thousand souls a day you set free; if both of them were to stand at the gate of paradise.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The second and fourth lines of the six quatrains all end with a conditional verb and the word "ikisi" (the two of them): "dursa ikisi, salsa ikisi, tutsa ikisi, derse ikisi, sarsa ikisi, verse ikisi". Lines one and three rhyme among themselves ("seyrettim, otursa", "çağı, yağı, otağı", "donları, onları, günleri", "sese, kısa, yusa", "hece, güce, gelince", "göçersin, tutarsın, edersin"). Işık counts the text, in the eleven-syllable syllabic metre, as a güzelleme. The pen name (mahlas) in the last quatrain takes the form "Kul Hüseyn'im". The article glosses "zehr" as the local form of poison. The informant is Halil Sezgin.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poem is built around the word "the two of them", but it does not say plainly who the two are. In the first quatrain two beauties sway before the lover, one sitting on his right and one on his left; the third quatrain says that they wear green and that intercession is hoped for from them on the Day of Gathering. In Alevi poetry Hasan and Hüseyin are often named together as two beauties, and the colour green is associated with the Family of the Prophet; the two beauties may therefore be thought to be Hasan and Hüseyin, but this is our interpretation.

The fourth quatrain passes to the moment of death: the lover wishes that when his term is fulfilled one may pour the water and the other wash him, and both sew and wrap his shroud; holy persons lending a hand to the funeral is a concrete expression of the hope of intercession. In the fifth quatrain "the two of them" are plainly Jesus and the Mahdi: when Jesus comes down from heaven and the Mahdi comes, they will give the world an order. In the closing quatrain the poet addresses himself, recalls that he will depart from this world, and closes the poem with the wish that these two may stand at the gate of paradise.

Bibliography

Online sources