Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün

Ehl-i ‘aşḳ ‘indinde lâ-şey ‘izz u câh
Derdi yoḳ göñlünde illâ ol penâh
Kendi ẕevḳinde olup bir pâdişâh
İstemez şâhânelik bî-iştibâh
Yoḳ aña bir dost yaḳīn Allâh hemân
Bir teselli bulmaz ‘âlemden nihân
Bir ḫayâl dünyâ vü ‘ukbâ lâ-mekân
Olmasa ‘âlem yemez ġam şâdumân
Ger saña tevfîḳ ederse ẕât-ı ḥaḳ
Ḥaḳ için ẓâhir olur bir iştiyâḳ
Dilde ‘aşḳu’llâh idince inḥirâḳ şuna bak
Bî-ḳarâr eyler seni ol iftirâḳ
‘Aşḳ olup ‘aşḳ ehliniñ ser-mâyesi
‘Aşḳ olup ‘aşḳ ehliniñ mey-ḫânesi
‘Aşḳ olup bir şem‘a ḫalḳ pervânesi
‘Aşḳ olup Leylâ bu ḫalḳ dîvânesi
Ger diseñ yoḳ bende ‘aşḳdan bir nişân
Var ki bir mürşide teslîm eyle cân
Var mıdır ya yoḳ mu eyler imtiḥân
Ṣabr edip ṭur eyler elbette ‘ayân
Çün cevâhir düşse murdâr çerkese
Bir zamân anda ḳalır geçmez ele
Ṣoñra vâṣıl olsa üstâd ekmele
Bir ucuz fiyatla vermez her ele
Bir kişi etmişti ġā’ib bir ḥımâr
Bâyezîd der görmeyen ‘aşḳ var mı yâr
‘Aşḳ nedir der var idi bir iḫtiyâr
Söyledi gel al bunu ṣâhib ḥımâr

In English

1. In the eyes of the people of love, honour and rank are nothing; in their hearts they have no care but that refuge (God).

2. In his own delight he is a king; without doubt he does not desire kingship.

3. He has no near friend but God; he finds no consolation in the world, hidden away.

4. This world and the next are to him a placeless dream; even if there were no world, he would not grieve, he is joyful.

5. If the essence of God grants you success, a longing for God will appear in you.

6. When the love of God sets the heart ablaze, see this: that separation makes you restless.

7. Love has become the capital of the people of love; love has become the tavern of the people of love.

8. Love has become a candle, and the people its moths; love has become Leylâ, and these people her madmen.

9. If you say, “I have no trace of love in me”, go and surrender your soul to a master.

10. He tests whether it is there or not; be patient and wait, he will surely bring it to light.

11. If a jewel falls into filthy dung, it stays there a while and is not found.

12. Then if it reaches a most perfect master craftsman, he does not give it into every hand at a cheap price.

13. A man had lost a donkey; Bâyezîd (Bistâmî) said, “Is there anyone, friend, who has never seen love?”

14. When an old man said, “What is love?”, he said, “Come, owner of the donkey, take this one.”

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Tale of Love

After the rule-listing language of the earlier sections comes one of the book's mesnevî pieces that come closest to poetry. Its heading is “Ḥikâyet-i ‘Aşḳ ve Eẕvâḳ-ı ‘Aşḳıñ Dilde Şiddet-i İnḥirâḳı”, on the tale of love and the fierce burning of the delights of love in the heart; Şensöz numbers it 252-265. In the seventh and eighth couplets the formula “‘Aşḳ olup …”, love has become, is repeated four times: love is the capital and the tavern of the people of love, the candle whose moths are the people and the Leylâ whose madmen they are.

After the ninth couplet the subject is tied once more to the master: one who finds no love in himself must surrender his soul to a master, who will bring to light by testing whether love is there. The eleventh and twelfth couplets contain a fine comparison: a jewel fallen into filth goes unnoticed for a while, but once it reaches the hands of a master jeweller it is not sold cheaply. The capacity within the disciple is that jewel, and the master is that craftsman.

The section ends with a short tale. Bâyezîd-i Bistâmî, helping a man who has lost his donkey, asks the gathered crowd, “Is there anyone who has never seen love?”; pointing to the old man who says, “What is love?”, he tells the owner of the donkey, “Come, take this one.” This anecdote, which says that one who does not know love differs not at all from a beast, is told in Sufi literature with various people as its hero; the poet attributes it to Bâyezîd and fits it into two couplets. The tale itself does not occur elsewhere in the book.

Bibliography

Online sources