Telling of the soul's descent from placelessness into the world and its arrival again at its true source, this poem stands close to the Alevi-Bektashi genre known as devriye: "Lamekân ilinden geldim cihana", from the land of no-place I came into the world. The words are Virânî's; the melody was made by Âşık Aydın Öztürk of Merzifon. TRT's repertoire does not contain this setting; its number in the archive is 2094. It is the second of Öztürk's two settings of poems by Virânî; the other is "Elif-i Mim'den Aldık Sırr-ı Kur'an'ı".

Catalogue Data

  • Archive no.: Repertükül Archive 2094 (not a TRT number)
  • Region: Amasya, Merzifon
  • Genre: deyiş
  • Words: Virânî
  • Music: Âşık Aydın Öztürk
  • Source performer: not stated; recorded from the composer
  • Collected and transcribed by: Erkan Demirtaş, Berkay Gençer
  • Date of collection: not on the score; under the CultureCIVIC Culture and Arts Support Programme, which began in 2021
  • Mode: Uşşak scale; final and closing note La
  • Metre: not written in the catalogue
  • Source link: as it is not in TRT, Repertükül Archive 2094

Lyrics

Since Virânî lived far beyond the limits of copyright, all five quatrains are given as they appear on the score.

Lamekân ilinden geldim cihana
Arar iken ehl-i cana eriştim
Elden ele kaptan kaba süzüldüm
Katarlandım doğru raha eriştim
Bir gerçeğin eleğinde elendim
Beli dedim belisine belendim
Arşı kürsü Yaradan'dan diledim
Âdem olup erkânına eriştim
İhlas kemendini aldım elime
Marifette bir yol geçti önüme
Hakikatte su bağlandı gölüme
Katre idim bir ummana eriştim
Yolcu oldum cenan bula göz aldım
Üstaz olup gerçeklerden söz aldım
Hey gaziler geç eriştim tez aldım
Canım arz ettiği cana eriştim
Virani sözleri gevherler piri
Dost elinden içtim ab-ı kevseri
Evliya enbiya Hakk'ın mürseli
Yüz sürüben Şah-ı Merdan'a eriştim

Lâmekân is the place without place, the divine realm regarded as the source of being. The poet comes from there into the world and "filters from vessel to vessel", that is, continues his journey by passing from one form to another; "katarlanmak" is to join the caravan, and rah is the road. In the second quatrain "beli" again points to the covenant of pre-eternity, the moment when the souls said they recognised their Lord; "belisine belenmek" is to wrap oneself in that answer. In the third quatrain the names marifet and hakikat recall the last two stages of the Sufi doctrine of the four gates, and the section ends with the drop reaching the ocean. In the final quatrain Virânî likens his own words to gems, drinks from Kevser at the hand of the Friend and lays his face before Şah-ı Merdan, Ali. The refrain word "eriştim", I arrived, returning in the second and fourth lines of every quatrain, frames the poem from beginning to end as a story of arrival.

Story

According to the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Virânî's dates of birth and death are unknown; tradition has it that he was born on Euboea (Eğriboz), served at the tomb of Ali in Najaf, travelled through Anatolia and the Balkans, and died at Karlovo near Plovdiv (Filibe) on his way to visit Osman Baba. At which stage of that wandering life the poem was composed, not even the legends tell. Nor has a single line been published on the circumstances in which Öztürk made the setting.

Musical Features

Among the works in the Merzifon collection whose final is given, no other piece has its lowest note below the final. The melody descends to Sol while its final is La; upwards it rises to Re and uses a range of five notes. The scale is Uşşak. The metre field is left empty in the catalogue, so whether the work is sung in measured or free rhythm cannot be said without looking at the score itself.

Performers and Recordings

The performance notated is Aydın Öztürk's. Öztürk's settings here also include Sefil Ali's poem "Dün Gece Kırkların Cemine Girdim". As a sound recording, only the performance behind the notation is known. The place this setting, born in Merzifon from Virânî's lines, holds in the province's stock of songs can be followed through the pages of The Melody of Yeşilırmak.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Other sources

Online sources