Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Sana derim sana divane âşık
Sen kıble ararsın kıble sendedir.
Mevla cemalini yaratmış nurdan
Din iman ararsın bil ki sendedir
Hak vücudu dört nesneden halk etti
Ervahından ervahına nur kattı
Melekler Adem’e hem secde etti
Sen secde ararsın mihrap sendedir
Beri gel deyince niçin gelmezsin
Okuduğun ilmin aslın bilmezsin
Muhabbet gömleği bir hoş giymezsin
İmam Cafer ilmi erkân sendedir
Diline ders verdi beline kemer
Muhammed Ali’dir ol şemsi kamer
Şah Hasan Hüseyin Şah İmam Zeynel
Bakır’a kan olan irfan sendedir.
Aç gözünü de bak Musa’yı Kazım
İmam İrıza’dan döndürme özün
Mürşit eşiğine sür de gel yüzün
Taki Naki hem Askeri sendedir
Muhipleri haber aldı Mehdi’den
İblistir batıl ilmine hükmeden
Ne gezerim Şam’ı Şerif Mekke’den
Sen Kâbe ararsın Kâbe sendedir
Kul Hüseyin gezmez oldu ırağı
Süreğimiz Şeyh Safi’nin süreği
Muhammed Ali’dir ilmin direği
Vücuduna hoş bak mihman sendedir

In English

1. I tell you, I tell you, mad lover: you seek the qibla, the qibla is in you. The Lord created your face from light; you seek religion and faith, know that they are in you.

2. God created the body from four elements; from His spirit He added light to its spirit. The angels too bowed down before Adam; you seek prostration, the prayer niche is in you.

3. When told "come here", why do you not come; you do not know the root of the knowledge you read. You do not put on the shirt of fellowship gracefully; the knowledge of Imam Cafer, the rite, is in you.

4. He gave a lesson to the tongue and a belt to the waist; that sun and moon are Muhammad and Ali. Şah Hasan, Hüseyin, Şah Imam Zeynel; the wisdom that became blood for Bakır is in you.

5. Open your eyes and look upon Musa-i Kâzım; do not turn your essence away from Imam Rıza. Lay your face upon the guide's threshold and come; Taki, Naki and Askerî too are in you.

6. His lovers have received news from the Mahdi; the one who rules by false knowledge is Iblis. Why should I wander in noble Damascus and in Mecca; you seek the Kaaba, the Kaaba is in you.

7. Kul Hüseyin no longer wanders far; our line is the line of Şeyh Safi. The pillar of knowledge is Muhammad and Ali; look well upon your body, the guest is in you.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The last four quatrains of this deyiş are almost identical to the text published separately as deyiş no. 50. All seven quatrains rest on the redif "sendedir" (is in you): in the first quatrain lines two and four end "kıble sendedir, bil ki sendedir", and the last lines of the later quatrains close on "mihrap sendedir, erkân sendedir, irfan sendedir, Askeri sendedir, Kâbe sendedir, mihman sendedir". The first three lines make rhymes such as "etti, kattı, etti", "gelmezsin, bilmezsin, giymezsin", "kemer, kamer, Zeynel". The metre is the eleven-syllable syllabic measure; Işık classes the text as a düvaz-ı imam. The pen name (mahlas) "Kul Hüseyin" is found in the final quatrain. Three informants contributed to the collection, among them Ali İhsan Aktaş and Halil Sezgin.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first quatrain of the deyiş is the one Işık quotes as an example of Kul Hüseyin's counsel aimed at helping a person understand himself. According to Işık, with these lines the poet points out very important aspects of present-day reality: Kul Hüseyin, as a "gerçek", a true one, embraced the view of finding the truth in his own being, cleansing what he found and making it ready for God to be a guest there, and of becoming a being that beholds itself in itself once God has settled in the heart made ready. The qibla, the prayer niche, religion and faith are not outside a person but within.

In the second quatrain this thought is tied to the account of creation: God created man from four elements and added to him of His own light, and the angels bowed down before Adam; if prostration is sought, the prayer niche is man himself. In the third quatrain the poet reproaches the one who does not know the root of the knowledge he reads and does not put on the shirt of fellowship; the knowledge of Imam Cafer and the rite too are within a person. The following quatrains name the Twelve Imams and tie the secret of each to man, and the deyiş closes with "look well upon your body, the guest is in you", with the thought that God is a guest in man.

Bibliography

Online sources