Original Persian Text

Metre: Mefâîlün Mefâîlün Mefâîlün Mefâîlün

Ümîd-gâh-ı cihân-est maḫzen-i feyż-i Ḫudâ ‘İṣmet
Ḳamer-tâb ez-dehed pertev mükâşif pür żiyâ ‘İṣmet
Be kilk-i noḳṭa-i kudret nüvişte der be pîşâneş
Bi-hânend sâlıkân ez der-i rıżâ-yı reh-nümâ ‘İṣmet
Çerâ kez tir u şimşîr-eş be-münkirân gürizân şod
Zened seyf-i Hudâ-yı berûyân-ı murtezâ ‘İṣmet
Resed der deh çe mî-ḫâḥî zi rûy-ı hazret-i mürşid
Dehed mülk-i Süleymân râ künûz-ı kibriyâ ‘İṣmet
Çünîn server-i Cenâb-ı Şeyh Abdullâh zi-hod dâde
Ḫıred-i ‘ilm-i ledün bâ-dil berâ-yi etkıyâ ‘İṣmet
Der-în dergâh-i Şâh-ı Naḳşbendi Hâlid-est mir’ât
Dehed sırrî mea’llâh ez-kulûb-ı enbiyâ ‘İṣmet

In English

1. İsmet is the hope of the world, the treasury of God's grace; like moonlight İsmet gives radiance, unveiling and full of light.

2. With the pen of the point of power it is written on his forehead; travellers read him from the door of pleasure as İsmet the guide.

3. Why have the deniers fled from his arrow and sword? İsmet strikes as the sword of God, the face of Murtazâ (Ali), strikes.

4. Whatever you wish from the face of the blessed master reaches you; İsmet gives to the realm of Süleyman the treasures of majesty.

5. To such a lord Sheikh Abdullah gave of himself the reason of the knowledge from God's presence with the heart; İsmet is for the God-fearing.

6. At this threshold of Shah Nakşibend and Hâlid, İsmet gives as a mirror the secret “Lî me‘allâh” from the hearts of the prophets.

Literary and Historical Commentary

A Persian Eulogy of the Sheikh

Every couplet ends with the sheikh's name: “‘İṣmet” is both a name and a word meaning “protection from sin”, and as a refrain it keeps this double sense alive throughout. The six couplets, headed in the edition “În Medḥıyye der Şân-ı Ḥażret-i Şeyḫ”, this eulogy on the glory of the blessed sheikh, are largely in Persian, praise Mustafa İsmet Efendi and are set in the hezec metre “Mefâîlün”.

The eulogy describes the sheikh through a series of images: hope of the world, treasury of God's grace, moonlight, a guide whose name is written on his forehead with the pen of divine power. In the third couplet the deniers are said to flee from his arrow and sword, and he is said to strike like the “seyf-i Ḫudâ”, the sword of God, and “Murtażâ”, that is, Ali. The “mülk-i Süleymân”, the realm of Süleyman, in the fourth couplet can be read as a double entendre, referring on the one hand to the treasure of the prophet Solomon and on the other to the poet's own name: the sheikh gives Süleyman the treasures of majesty.

The fifth couplet recalls the lineage: “Şeyh Abdullâh”, that is, Abdullah Mekkî, passed to İsmet the ledün, the knowledge that comes from God's own presence; in the last couplet the names “Şâh-ı Naḳşbend” and “Hâlid” are mentioned together, and the pen name enters covertly this time through the word “mir'ât”. Parts of the transcription are obscure (for example “Resed der deh çe mî-ḫâḥî”). The meaning could not be taken from the edition, so the rendering is our own and makes no claim to certainty.

Bibliography

Online sources