Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâîlün Mefâîlün Mefâîlün Mefâîlün

Fenâ dehrin koyup gitdi Ḫudâ’ya bir velî a‘ẓam
Cihânda bir ‘aẓîm raḥmet idi ger ḫâṣ u güm-râha
İmâm-ı etḳıyâ ġavs̱-ı mu‘aẓẓam mis̱l-i Besṭâmî
Vekîl-i enbiyâ ṣâhib taṣarruf ma‘nevî şâha
O ẕât ḳadar ‘âlî muḥterem Şeyḫ Muṣtafâ ‘İṣmet
Muḥaḳḳaḳ ḳıble’î ‘ulyâ ḳulûb-ı ehl-i âgâha
Ḳoyup mülk-i ḫarâbâtı irişdi ol “ev ednâ” ya
Maḳām-ı ḳābe ḳavseyne varıp ol ‘âlî der-gâha
Çerâġ-ı ehl-i dîn olmuşdu muṭlaḳ hâdi’î ‘âlem
Ḫudâ’ya reh-nümâ erbâb-ı dil uşşâḳ-ı hem-râha
N’ola çend-sâl daḫi ârâm edip mihmânımız olsa
Ḳoyup gitdi bizi feryâd-ı nâle girye vü âha
Taḥassür âteşiyle yaz oḳu Mir’ât-nümâ târiḫ
Bu seyyid ‘İṣmetim şimdi beḳāya uçdu Allâh’a

In English

1. A great saint left the perishing world and went to God; in the world he was a great mercy for both the elect and those who had lost their way.

2. Imam of the God-fearing, a great help like Bestâmî; deputy of the prophets, a king with spiritual power.

3. That man, Sheikh Mustafa İsmet, was so lofty and revered that he was truly the highest qibla of the hearts of those who know.

4. Leaving the realm of the tavern he reached that “ev ednâ” (or nearer still); he came to the station of “two bows' length”, that lofty threshold.

5. He had become the lamp of the people of religion, the absolute guide of the world; a guide to God for the people of the heart and the loving companions.

6. If only he had rested a few years more and been our guest; he left us in cries, moans, tears and sighs.

7. Mir'ât-nümâ, with the fire of longing write and read his chronogram: “This sayyid, my İsmet, has now flown to permanence, to God.”

Literary and Historical Commentary

A Chronogram on the Sheikh's Death

The note “Sene 1289” that the edition places beneath the last couplet matches the date of death Şensöz gives for Mustafa İsmet Efendi, 16 Zilkade 1289 (15 January 1873). Printed under the title “Târiḫ-i Vefât-ı Ḥażret-i Şeyḫ”, the chronogram on the death of the blessed sheikh, the seven couplets form a chronogram poem on his death. At this time the poet was with his master in Istanbul; according to Hüsameddin he would go to Gümüş the following year, in 1290.

Within the four-foot hezec “Mefâîlün” the rhymes fall on the sound “-âha”: güm-râha, şâha, âgâha, der-gâha, hem-râha, âha, Allâh'a. In the second couplet the sheikh is likened to Bâyezîd-i Bistâmî; in the fourth he is said to have reached nearness to God through the expression of the chapter of the Star, “ḳâbe ḳavseyni ev ednâ”, two bows' length or nearer. The sixth couplet carries a disciple's personal grief: “N'ola çend-sâl daḫi ârâm edip mihmânımız olsa”, if only he had stayed a few years more as our guest.

The last line is the chronogram line: “Bu seyyid ‘İṣmetim şimdi beḳāya uçdu Allâh'a”, this sayyid, my İsmet, has now flown to permanence, to God. By the abjad reckoning it should yield 1289, but the edition gives no calculation and no certain count can be drawn from the text given here. One couplet of the poem is among the passages Şensöz uses to document the disciple's attachment to his sheikh.

Bibliography

Online sources