Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün

Reh-numun ister cenâb-ı ‘İzzete
Ol seni terfi‘ ede ol vuṣlata
Bî-delîl ermek muḥâl ol ni‘mete
Ol eder vâḳıf o sırr-ı ḥikmete
Bil ‘azîz şâh-ı risâlet serveri
Oldu Cebrâ’îl aña Ḥaḳ rehberi
Dinle hem Mûsâ ‘azîz peygamberi
Ḥıżr olup ‘ilm-i ledünde perveri
Bir su’âliñ olsa tâ şâhâneden
Ṣormaḳ isterseñ ki biẕẕât kendiden
Ṭoġru varsañ bir delil sen bulmadan
Hiç seni ḳorlar mı yâ ol perdeden
Sen deseñ yoḳ şimdi mürşidü’l-cevâb
Sende göz yoḳ var velîler bî-ḥisâb
Sen deseñ görmez gözüm yâhu cevâb
Ben direm varlıḳ olup sende ḥicâb
Var velî ġāyet gözüm et i‘timâd
Sen ṣaḳın nefsiñce etme ictihâd
Çün olup nefsiñden illâ ol fesâd
Ṭurma gel bir kâmile et inḳıyâd
Çün olup kâmil ki şems âyîne yüz
Görmeye ister gözüm ḥaḳḳāni göz
Bilmege lâzım özünden ṭoġru öz
Böyledir muṭlaḳ ḳulaḳ ṭut ṭoġru söz
İḥtiyâcıñ var ‘azîz bir rehbere
Reh-numûn ister ḥużûr-ı pervere
Bî-delîl yol yoḳ cenâb-ı servere
İttiba‘ et sünnet-i Peyġamber’e
Bil olup bî‘at Resûl’üñ sünneti
Gösterip Sıddîḳ’a râh-ı vuṣlatı
Sonra Sıddîḳ’dan ki Selmân ḥazreti
Aldı Selmân’dan çü Kâsım nisbeti

In English

1. Reaching the presence of the Mighty One requires a guide, that he may raise you and bring you to that union.

2. Reaching that blessing without a guide is impossible; he makes you acquainted with that secret of wisdom.

3. Know, my dear, that for the king of prophethood, the lord, Gabriel became the guide on the road of God.

4. Listen also to Moses, the honoured prophet; it was Hızır who nurtured him in the knowledge from God's presence.

5. If you had a question for a king and wished to ask it of him in person,

6. would they ever let you through that curtain if you went straight in without finding an intermediary?

7. If you say, “There is no master now to give the answer”, it is you who have no eye; the saints are beyond counting.

8. If you answer, “Hey, my eye cannot see”, I say that the veil in you is your own selfhood.

9. My dear, there are saints, trust in this; beware of reasoning by your own self.

10. For corruption comes only from your self; do not delay, come and submit to a perfect one.

11. For the perfect one is like a face that is a mirror to the sun; to see him needs an eye that sees God, my dear.

12. To know him a true self is needed from within; it is surely so, lend your ear, this is the right word.

13. My dear, you need a guide; the presence of the Nurturer requires one who shows the way.

14. There is no road to the lord's court without a guide; follow the custom of the Prophet.

15. Know that the pledge of allegiance is the Messenger's custom; he showed Sıddîk (Ebûbekir) the road of union.

16. Then from Sıddîk the blessed Selmân took the spiritual bond, and from Selmân, Kâsım.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Necessity of the Pledge

A pledge of allegiance to a perfect master is a condition, and “ḥâlâ”, still, in those very days, the people of God exist: the poet defends these two claims of the heading with examples over sixteen couplets (236-251). First he recalls that the prophets too had guides: the Prophet Muhammad's guide was Gabriel, Moses' was Hızır in the knowledge from God's presence. Then he passes to an everyday comparison: one who wishes to put a question to the king cannot pass behind the curtain without finding an intermediary.

The seventh and eighth couplets are built like a dialogue. The addressee says, “There is no master now”; the poet answers, “It is you who have no eye, the saints are beyond counting.” When the addressee insists, “My eye cannot see”, the poet says that the veil is his own selfhood. This dialogue is the reply to the seekers who say “there is no master left”, which Şensöz also counts among the themes of the work. In the eleventh couplet the perfect master is likened to a face that is a mirror to the sun; this time the mirror image appears in the person of the master.

The last two couplets give the beginning of the Naqshbandi lineage: the pledge is the Prophet's custom; the path passed from the Prophet to Ebûbekir, from him to Selmân the Persian, and from him to Kâsım b. Muhammed, Ebûbekir's grandson. The whole lineage is given again at the end of the book as a Persian verse.

Bibliography

Online sources