Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Çoktan beri gözlüyorum yolların
Ariler arifi pir safa geldin
Söyledikçe şekerlenir sözlerin
Arifler arifi pir safa geldin
Şeker dudakların inci dişlerin
Mahitap yüzlerin aydır kaşların
Aşkın deli eder bir bakışların
Arifler arifi pir safa geldin
Ruzi mahşerde sen şefaatkarım
Yoluna fedadır cismile canım
Merhaba hoş geldin aziz mihmanım
Arifler arifi pir safa geldin
Horasan ilinin urum kulpusun
Pirim Hünkâr Hacı Bektaş Veli’sin
Muhammed torunu Ali oğlusun
Arifler arifi pir sefa geldin
Hüseyin kapında günahkâr kulun
Firdevs’i alada öter bülbülün
Müminler üstüne dolanır günün
Arifler arifi pir sefa geldin

In English

1. For a long time I have watched your roads; sage of sages, pir, welcome. The more you speak, the sweeter your words become; sage of sages, pir, welcome.

2. Your lips are sugar, your teeth pearls; your face is the moonlight, your brows are like the moon. A single glance of yours drives one mad with love; sage of sages, pir, welcome.

3. On the Day of Gathering you are my intercessor; my body and soul are a sacrifice on your road. Greetings, welcome, my honoured guest; sage of sages, pir, welcome.

4. You are the arm of the land of Khorasan reaching to Rum; you are my pir, the Hünkâr Hacı Bektaş Velî. You are the grandson of Muhammad, the son of Ali; sage of sages, pir, welcome.

5. Hüseyin is a sinful servant at your door; your nightingale sings in highest Paradise. Your sun circles above the believers; sage of sages, pir, welcome.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The refrain, "Arifler arifi pir safa geldin" (sage of sages, pir, welcome), stands in lines two and four of the first quatrain and in the last line of the quatrains that follow. In the second line of the first quatrain the source reads "Ariler"; elsewhere the refrain has "Arifler". The first three lines of the later quatrains carry these rhymes: "dişlerin, kaşların, bakışların", "şefaatkarım, canım, mihmanım", "kulpusun, Veli'sin, oğlusun", "kulun, bülbülün, günün". The five quatrains are in the eleven-syllable syllabic metre; Işık describes them as a nefes and a eulogy of the pir. In the final quatrain the poet names himself simply "Hüseyin" (his pen name, or mahlas). The deyiş was handed down by Âşık Cafer Aydoğdu and Halil Sezgin.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poem conveys the exaltation of a disciple welcoming a pir whose coming he has long awaited. In the second quatrain the pir's face is described in the patterns of the folk love poem: lips of sugar, teeth of pearl, a face of moonlight, a brow like the moon. That these patterns describe not a beloved but the countenance of a pir is common in Alevi-Bektashi poetry; it is believed that divine beauty is seen in the pir's face.

The fourth quatrain names the one praised plainly: the Hünkâr Hacı Bektaş Velî. The line "Horasan ilinin urum kulpusun" recalls the well-known account of Hacı Bektaş coming from Khorasan to Anatolia, the land of Rum; the word "kulp" seems to be used here in the sense of handle or link, but the reading is ours. "Grandson of Muhammad, son of Ali" reflects the belief that Hacı Bektaş's lineage goes back to the Family of the Prophet. That Hacı Bektaş, who lived centuries earlier, is told "welcome" may be explained by the belief that his spiritual presence is at hand in the cem; it is also possible that this was a welcome composed for the çelebi of the lodge, and the source gives no information on this.

Bibliography

Online sources