Original Text (Mixed Languages)

Metre: Mefʿūlü fāʿilātü mefāʿīlü fāʿilün

Yā münyeteʾl-muṣīb, ve yā ḳaṣde men sehā
Heb lī iṣābeten bike zidnī tevellehā
Ẕātıñ taṣavvurında bidāyet nihāyedir
Sen itmeseñ de nehy, ʿuḳūl eyler intihā
Baṣmaz ḥarīm-i ʿizzetiñe ʿaḳl-ı kül ḳadem
Sedd-i sedīd sed reh aña ḥadd-i müntehā
Oldıñ nihān kemāl-i ẓuhūruñda ey laṭīf
Lā tudrikʿul-baṣāiru lā tükşefuʿn-nühā
Mā fiʾl-vücūdi ġayruke mā ẕā “ kemiŝli”
Sübḥāne men tenezzühe ʿammā teşebbühā
Tebyīn ider kemāliñe her şeyde bir niẓām
Tefsīr ider cemāliñe her yüzde bir behā
Şāmil naʾīmüñ ehl-i şeḳā vü saʾādete
ʿİndeʾl-kerīm yürzaḳu kül bimā iştehā
Maʾrūf u ʿarf maʿrifetiñle muḳayyed it
Cūdīyi eyle münker ü inkārdan rehā

In English

1. (Arabic) O desire of the one who hits the mark and goal of the one who errs! Grant me through you to hit the mark, and increase my bewildered love for you.

2. In conceiving your essence the beginning is the end; even if you did not forbid it, minds would stop there.

3. Even the universal intellect cannot set foot in the sanctuary of your glory; (Arabic) a firm barrier has cut its way, that is the furthest limit.

4. O Subtle One, you became hidden in the perfection of your manifestation; (Arabic) insight cannot perceive you, minds cannot uncover you.

5. (Arabic) There is nothing in being but you; what then is "like Him" (kemislihî)? Glory be to Him who is exalted above all likeness.

6. An order in every thing makes your perfection plain; a beauty in every face interprets your loveliness.

7. Your bounty embraces both the wretched and the blessed; (Arabic) with the Generous, each is provided with what he desires.

8. Bind kindness and knowing (ma'rûf u arf) to knowledge of you; deliver Cûdî from evil (münker) and from denial.

Literary and Historical Commentary

A Tevhid in Two Languages

These eight untitled couplets are a mülemma, a poem in which Arabic and Turkish are used by turns. The first and fifth couplets are wholly Arabic; in the third, fourth and seventh couplets a Turkish line is followed by an Arabic one. In the thesis the Arabic parts are set apart in italics. Set in the pattern "mef'ûlü fâilâtü mefâîlü fâilün", the couplets all come to rest on the same syllable "-hâ": tevellühâ, intihâ, müntehâ, nühâ, teşebbühâ, behâ, iştehâ, rehâ.

The subject of the poem is that God's essence cannot be grasped by reason. The second couplet says this through a paradox: whoever sets out to conceive the essence reaches the end as soon as he begins, for there reason stops. The words "even if you did not forbid it" recall the well-known saying that counsels reflection on God's works rather than on His essence. The Arabic line in the fourth couplet echoes the verse "Eyes cannot perceive Him" (al-An'âm 6:103); the fifth couplet quotes the key word of the verse "Leyse kemislihî şey'", there is nothing like Him (al-Shûrâ 42:11). The idea of the Subtle One who stays hidden in the perfection of His manifestation is the poem's counterpart of the Sufi notion of hiddenness through the very intensity of appearance.

The sixth couplet finds the way to the essence that reason cannot reach in order and beauty: the order in every thing interprets perfection, the beauty in every face interprets loveliness. The last couplet plays with words from one root. "Ma'rûf" (kindness), "arf" (knowing) and "ma'rifet" (knowledge of God) come from the same Arabic root; set against them are "münker" (evil) and "inkâr" (denial). This wordplay binds the prayer into a tight verbal structure by placing kindness and knowing on one side, evil and denial on the other.

Bibliography

  • Havva Tok Yıldız, Merzifonlu İbrâhîm Cûdî Dîvânı (İnceleme-Metin-Sözlük) [1b-43a], Master's thesis, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun 2017, p. 20 (poem no. 7; manuscript fol. 4b). http://libra.omu.edu.tr/tezler/116853.pdf

Online sources