Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâ’ilün

Nev-heves bî-çâre ṭâlib dervîşân oldum ṣanır
‘İlm-i esrâr-ı ṭarîḳde ‘ârifân oldum ṣanır
Baḥr-i ‘ummân ẓan eder gördükde feyżiñ ḳatresiñ
Tâ nihâyet feyżine ben vâṣılân oldum ṣanır
Bir iki kez ṣohbet-i pîrânı menḳūş eyleyip
Ḫıżmet-i pîrâne maẓhar-ı kâmilân oldum ṣanır
Cezbe-i aḳdemle itmâm oldu ẓann eyler sülûk
Rütbe-i bâṭınla fevḳ-i âsumân oldum ṣanır
Varṭe-i nefsi geçip maḳbûl dergâh olmadın
Nefse istiḥvâẕ olup Ḥaḳ’da nihân oldum ṣanır
İbtilâ-yı nefse dû-çâr oldıġından bi-ḫaber
İhtimâm oldu sülûkum imtiḥân oldum ṣanır
Mâsivâyı terk edip dilden ġubârı silmeden
Bir muṣaffâ ḳalb-i ṭâhir ṣâfiyân oldum ṣanur
Nev-civân-veş ḳahramanlıḳ iddi‘asın ‘arż eder
Ḳuvvet-i bâzûda Rüstem Pehlivân oldum ṣanır
Olsa elfâẓ-ı ‘ibâretden eger dânâlıġı
‘Âlem içre bir müdbir-i muḫbirân oldum ṣanır
Ḥırḳa ger bir tâc ile olmaz velî Mir’ât-nümâ
Çoḳ kişi ṣûretde böyle mürşidân oldum ṣanır

In English

1. The poor seeker of new desire thinks, “I have become one of the dervishes”; he thinks, “I have become a knower in the science of the secrets of the path.”

2. Seeing a drop of grace he takes it for the ocean; he thinks, “I have reached the furthest end of grace.”

3. Having stamped on himself the company of the masters once or twice, he thinks, “By serving the masters I have become the locus of the perfect.”

4. He supposes the journey completed with the first rapture; he thinks, “By inner rank I have risen above the heavens.”

5. Before passing the abyss of the self and being accepted at the threshold, he thinks, “I have mastered the self and become hidden in God.”

6. Unaware that he has fallen into the trial of the self, he thinks, “My journey is completed, I have passed the test.”

7. Before forsaking all else and wiping the dust from his heart, he thinks, “I have become one of the pure, a cleansed and spotless heart.”

8. Like a raw youth he displays his claim to heroism; he thinks, “In strength of arm I have become Rüstem the champion.”

9. If he has some knowledge of words and phrases, he thinks, “I have become the director of the bearers of news in the world.”

10. Mir'ât-nümâ, one does not become a saint with a cloak and a crown; many, judging by appearance, think, “I have become a master.”

Literary and Historical Commentary

“He Thinks He Has Become”

The book's criticism of novice seekers fits here into a single refrain: “oldum ṣanır”, he thinks I have become. All ten couplets keep to the remel of four feet, and each describes one delusion of the “nev-heves”, the seeker of new desire who thinks he has reached a rank: I have become a dervish, a knower, I have reached the end of grace, become the locus of the perfect, risen above the heavens. The rhyme words “dervîşân, ‘ârifân, vâṣılân, kâmilân, âsumân, nihân, imtiḥân, ṣâfiyân, pehlivân, muḫbirân, mürşidân” are an ordered list of these delusions.

The second couplet carries the ghazal's finest image: the seeker sees a drop of grace and takes it for the ocean. The “cezbe-i aḳdem” of the fourth couplet, the first rapture at the start of the journey, is in Naqshbandi training the beginning of the path, not its whole; the novice seeker takes it for the end. The eighth couplet, naming Rüstem the champion, hero of popular tales, carries these claims to comic exaggeration.

The final couplet ties the ghazal to a principle the book often repeats: one does not become a saint with a cloak and a crown. Coming right after the section saying that no regard is to be paid to miracles and unveilings, the ghazal repeats the same warning for claims to spiritual states.

Bibliography

Online sources