Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün

Ḥamd-i bî-ḥad ey Ḫudâ a‘ẓam penâh
Sensiñ ol a‘ẓam mu‘aẓẓam pâdişâh
Vaḥdet-i ẕâtıñla her ḥikmet nigâh
Kim olur her ḥikmetiñ bir ‘âli râh
Öyle ḳā’imdir ṣıfâtıñ yoḳ fenâ
Tâ seniñ ẕâtındadır sırr-ı beḳā
Hep seniñ ḥükmündedir eşyâ Ḫudâ
Fâ‘il-i muṭlâḳ ki sensiñ kibriyâ
Ḫâk’dan iẓhâr ḳıldıñ ḳudretiñ
Ḳudretiñ bildirdi ṣun‘-ı ḥikmetiñ
Kim olur eşyâda ẓâhir vaḥdetiñ
Fehm olur her ẕerrelerden ḳudretiñ
Ol ne ni‘metdir ki verdiñ ‘âleme
‘Alleme’l-esmâe ta‘lîm Âdem’e
Erdi Âdem’le bu ‘âlem ekreme
Cümle lüṭfuñ oldu tekrîm Âdem’e
Ḳıldıñ Âdem’den ẓuhûr-ı kâ’inât
Eylediñ ol Aḥmedi mir‘ât-ı ẕât
Nûr-ı Aḥmed’den bi-külli mümkinât
Kün ḫiṭâbıyla bulup sırr-ı necât
Hem anıñlâ buldu eşyâ enveri
Kâ’inâtıñ oldu ṣâḥib-serveri
‘Âlemîniñ oldur ancaḳ rehberi
Ẕât-ı ḥaḳḳıñ müctebâ-yı serveri
Eylediñ hem-dem anınla çâr-ı yâr
Ḥazret-i Ṣıddîḳ’ı ḳıldıñ şah-ı gâr
Cümle aṣḥâb içre a‘ẓam çâr-yâr
Her yerinde ṣad hezâr esrâr var
Çün ‘Ömer ‘Os̱mân ‘Alîyyü’l-Murtażâ
Oldular anlar güzîde evliyâ
Bil bu ẕâtlar ‘ârifân-ı Muṣṭafâ
Tâ bu ẕâtlar çeşm-i nûr-ı enbiyâ
Cümle aṣḥâb ḥürmeti-çün yâ İlâh
Aç hidâyet bâbını ver ‘azm-i râh
Sen Kerîm Ekrem Ḫudâsıñ ey penâh
Sen ‘Alîm Erḥam Raḥîmsiñ pâdişâh
Ey Ḫudâ ‘azze celâliñ heybeti
Ol ‘azîmu’ş-şân ḥaḳḳıñ ḳudreti
Ol kemâl-i ḥubb-i ẕâtıñ ‘izzeti
Ol be-ḥaḳḳ-ı nûr-ı ẕâtıñ vaḥdeti
Ver bize sen evvel âḫir ḥüsn-i ḥâl
Dâ’imâ lütf eyle ḳıl terfî‘-i ḥâl
Ḳurb-i ẕâtıñdır ġaraż ancaḳ viṣâl
Ey kerîm-i Kirdgâr-ı ẕü’l-Celâl
Aḥmed-i Muḫtâr’a ḳıl hem-dem bizi
Eyleme andan cüdâ bir dem bizi
Ḳıl Ḫudâ maḳbûl aña maḥrem bizi
Eyleme mehcûr ṣaḳın andan bizi
Ḳıl şerî‘at-len ṭarîḳatde muḳīm
Ḳıl ḥaḳīḳat ma‘rifetde müstaḳīm
Ḫâdim-i bâb-ı şerî‘at ḳıl ḳadîm
Maḥzen-i feyż-i ṭarîḳat ḳıl ‘alîm
Ṣad selâm dâim Resûle âline
Tâ cemi‘ aṣḥâb ehl-i ḥâline
Cümleten evlâdınıñ icmâline
Hem daḫi ezvâcınıñ tekmîline

In English

1. Endless praise to You, O God, greatest refuge; You are that greatest, most exalted sovereign.

2. The oneness of Your essence is the eye that sees every wisdom; every wisdom has a lofty road that comes from You.

3. Your attributes are so abiding that they do not perish, for the secret of permanence lies in Your essence.

4. All things are under Your rule, O God; the absolute agent is You, and majesty is Yours.

5. You brought forth Your power out of dust; the craft of Your making and Your wisdom made Your power known.

6. Your oneness becomes visible in things; Your power is understood from every atom.

7. What a gift it was that You gave the world when You taught Adam all the names (an allusion to Qur'an 2:31).

8. Through Adam this world reached the highest honour; all Your grace became the exalting of Adam.

9. You made the universe appear out of Adam, and You made Ahmed (the Prophet Muhammad) the mirror of Your essence.

10. All contingent beings, from the light of Ahmed, found the secret of salvation through the command “Kün” (Be).

11. Through him things found their brightest light; he became the lord and leader of the universe.

12. He alone is the guide of the worlds, the chosen master of the essence of God.

13. You made him the companion of the four friends (the four caliphs); You made Ebûbekir the Truthful the king of the cave.

14. The greatest among all the Companions are the four friends; in each of them lie a hundred thousand secrets.

15. Ömer, Osman and Ali the Well-Pleasing became chosen saints.

16. Know that these are the ones who truly knew Mustafa; these are the shining eye of the prophets.

17. For the sake of the honour of all the Companions, O God, open the door of guidance and give us resolve to set out.

18. You are the Generous, the Most Generous God, O refuge; You are the All-Knowing, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate, O sovereign.

19. O God, by the awe of Your majesty and the power of Your right, whose glory is great,

20. by the perfection and might of the love of Your essence, by the oneness of the light of Your essence,

21. grant us a good state at the beginning and the end; be gracious always and raise our state.

22. Our only aim is nearness to Your essence and union with it, O generous Creator, Lord of Majesty.

23. Make us companions of Ahmed the Chosen; do not part us from him for a single moment.

24. O God, make us accepted by him and admitted to his intimacy; do not let us be cut off from him.

25. Make us abide in the path with the sacred law, and make us upright in truth and in knowledge of God.

26. Make us old servants at the door of the law, and learned treasuries of the grace of the path.

27. A hundred greetings always to the Messenger and his family, and to all his Companions, the people of spiritual states,

28. to all his descendants together and to all his wives.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The first pages of the work are a mesnevî introduction: after the long title written in red ink and the basmala comes a hymn of praise, a eulogy of the Prophet and a prayer in twenty-eight couplets. This arrangement, which follows the opening of classical mesnevîs, announces from the outset that the book is a treatise of a Sufi order. The metre, the remel pattern “Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün”, resorts to zihaf as early as the first couplet: in the words Şensöz singles out, “bî-ḥad” and “mu‘aẓẓam”, long syllables are read short. The rhymes gather mostly in adjectives and nouns of Arabic origin: penâh/pâdişâh, ‘âleme/Âdem'e, rehberi/serveri.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poet first praises God through His essence and attributes, then passes to the story of creation that begins with Adam. In the ninth couplet he calls the Prophet Muhammad “mir‘ât-ı ẕât”, the mirror of God's essence. This is the first appearance of the mirror image that runs through the book; the poet's pen name Mir'ât-nümâ derives from the same notion. The tenth couplet joins the idea that the universe was created from the light of Muhammad with the Qur'anic command “Kün”, Be.

The listing of the four caliphs after the thirteenth couplet is a deliberate choice. Calling Ebûbekir the “king of the cave”, the Prophet's companion in the cave of Sevr, recalls that the Naqshbandi lineage descends from the Prophet through Ebûbekir. That a sheikh who opposed circles in Amasya that spoke ill of the Companions should open his work with this praise also anticipates the dispute that will be voiced openly in later sections of the book. The last couplets complete this balance by sending greetings together to the Prophet's family, Companions, descendants and wives.

Bibliography

Online sources