Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefāʿilün feʿilātün mefāʿilün feʿilün

Evet ḥaḳīḳat-ı dīniyye, vaḥy-i evvel-i ḥaḳ
Budur ki münṭabiʿ-i ṭabʿ u ʿaḳl-ı kāmildir
Muḥammedī vü Yehūdī vü ʿīsevī cümle
Bu aṣla tābiʿ iken iḫtilāfa māʾildir
Bu aṣla vāḳıf olan ehl-i ḥaḳḳa: islāma
Bigayr-i ḥaḳḳın iki ṭāʿife-i mücādildir
Taʿaddüd eyleyemez birdir aṣl-ı millet ü dīn
Muvaḥḥidīn buña āgāh, ġayrı cāhildir
Esās, vaḥdet-i maʿbūd, refʿ-i şirket iken
Yeḫūd küfre, naṣārā şerīke ḳāʾildir
ʿUmūm-ı ehl-i kitāba ṣalā ider ḳurʾān:
"Geliñ şu bir kelime beynimizde şāmildir"
Ḫudāya ḥaṣr-ı ʿibādetle iḥtirāz idelim
Biribirimizi rabb ittiḫāzı bāṭıldır
Faḳaṭ ḥaḳīḳati kim diñler kim añlar
Beşer ki rāh u reviş bilmeyen ḳavāfildir
Bu üç mücādeli ṣulḥ itmege ḳıyām itdi
Nice dihāt ṣanup bu maḥāli ḳābildi
Evet maḥāldir, edyān bugün menāfiʿdir
Riyā, riyāset o nefʿi fedāya ḥāʾildir
Çi sūd ḥaḳ u ḥaḳīḳatden ehl-i edyāna
Arar mı ḥaḳḳı ki buṭlāda nefʿ ḥāṣıldır

In English

1. Yes, the religious truth, the first revelation of God, is this: that it is imprinted in nature and in perfect reason.

2. Muhammadans, Jews and Christians, all of them, while following this root, incline to disagreement.

3. Against the people of truth who know this root, that is, against Islam, two groups dispute without right.

4. The root of creed and religion cannot be multiplied; it is one; the people of oneness know this, the others are ignorant.

5. While the foundation is the oneness of the One worshipped and the removal of partnership, the Jews hold to unbelief, the Christians to a partner (for God).

6. The Qur'an calls on all the People of the Book: "Come to a word common between us!"

7. "Let us confine our worship to God and keep (from polytheism); to take one another as lords is false."

8. But who listens to the truth, who understands? Men are caravans that know neither road nor way.

9. There were those who rose to make peace among these three disputants; many clever men thought this impossible thing possible (the couplet is not entirely clear).

10. Yes, it is impossible; religions today have become interests; hypocrisy and the lust for leadership stand in the way of sacrificing that interest.

11. What use are right and truth to the people of religions? Do they seek the truth when gain lies in falsehood?

Literary and Historical Commentary

Continuing the poem "Usûl-i İbrâhîmiyye", these eleven couplets draw from Abraham's way of oneness a conclusion about the relation between religions. The first couplets rest on the concept of "fıtrat", primordial nature, in Islamic thought: the essence of religion is imprinted in nature and in perfect reason; Muhammadans, Jews and Christians fall into disagreement though bound to the same root. The poet counts this root as one and in the fifth couplet criticizes Judaism and Christianity in the language of traditional theology.

The sixth and seventh couplets carry into Turkish almost word for word the call addressed to the People of the Book in the sura Âl 'Imrân: "Come to a word common between us and you: that we worship none but God, associate nothing with Him, and take none of us as lords besides God" (3:64). The last part of the poem, however, is pessimistic: there have been those who set out to reconcile these three religions, but for the poet this is impossible, for religions have now become interests, and hypocrisy and the lust for leadership do not allow that interest to be sacrificed. The Persian question "Çi sûd", what use, in the last couplet is addressed to people of religion who seek gain rather than truth. The poem reflects a thought that accepts a common root but has lost hope of the historical religions returning to it. Since the syntax of the ninth couplet is not clear, its translation should be read as a conjecture.

Bibliography

  • Zeynep Adıyahşi, Merzifonlu İbrâhîm Cûdî Dîvânı (İnceleme-Metin-Sözlük) [43b-87b], Master's thesis, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun 2017, pp. 68-69 (poem no. 223; manuscript fol. 62b-63a). http://libra.omu.edu.tr/tezler/116831.pdf

Online sources