Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün

Olma münkerlen ṣaḳın hem-dem ebed
Ṣoñra bil eyler seni bir derde bend
Ṭurma bir yerde ‘azîz ṭut nuṣḥ u pend
Hem kelâm etme ṭe‘âmın eyle red
‘Aks-i ḥalinden olur s̱ıḳlet şedîd
Ḳabż eder ḥâli urur ḳalbe kilid
İnḳibâżından olan var çoḳ mürîd
Bil selâmetdir ḳaçıp olmaḳ ba‘îd
Şeyḫ Bahâ’eddîn imâmü’l-‘âşiḳīn
Ṣakınıp ḫalḳdan hemîşe sâlikîn
Birbirinden ḥıfẓ ederdi ḫâliṣīn
Ḳanda ḳaldı münkire olmaḳ ḳarîn
Çünkü sâlik her biri bir başḳa ḥâl
Ba‘żı kere inbisâṭ ba‘żen s̱iḳāl
Birbirinden aḫẕ olur hem intiḳāl
Olmasın çün sâlikân taġyîr-i ḥâl
Var żarar bir dem añın-lan ṭurmadan
Bir cevâb etmek daḫi hem ṣormadan
Hem de aḥbâbıyla aḥbâb olmadan
Çoḳ olur ẓulmet kelâmın añmadan
Bu faḳīr gördüm bir ‘âşıḳ bir zamân
Oldu bir münkirle câlis râḳibân
Tîz hemân bir ḫastalıḳ oldu ‘iyân
Bir teveccüh-ilen selâmet buldu cân
Olsa bir s̱iḳletle müşkil dilde derd
Sen ki ġusl et şarṭı ammâ mâ-i berd
Gitmese pes söyle yâ fe‘âl meded
Ṣoñradan Ḳur’ân tilâvet eyle red
Var ise ‘öẕrüñ olur hem âb-ı germ
Der ‘aḳab gel eyle ecre böyle hem
Def‘i güç bulmaz iseñ bundanda nerm
Tîz ḫaber ver şeyḫiñe sen etme şerm
Ḫalḳ-ilen pek eyleyince iḫtilâṭ
‘Âlemiñ ḥâli ṭutar vermez ṣırâṭ
Ba‘żı kerre ḫasta eyler bi-neşâṭ
Ba‘żı kere ḳalbde ḳalmaz inbisâṭ

In English

1. Beware of ever being the companion of a denier; know that afterwards he binds you to an affliction.

2. My dear, do not stay with him in one place, keep to counsel and advice; do not speak with him either, refuse his food.

3. From the reflection of his state comes a heavy weight; it contracts the state and puts a lock on the heart.

4. Many disciples suffer from the contraction he brings; know that safety lies in fleeing and keeping far away.

5. Sheikh Bahâeddîn, the imam of the lovers, always kept the travellers away from the people.

6. He guarded the sincere even from one another; how much more from being near a denier.

7. For each traveller is in a different state, sometimes expansion, sometimes heaviness.

8. States are taken from one another and pass across; this is so that the travellers' state may not be changed.

9. There is harm even in standing with him for a moment, and in giving an answer without being asked,

10. and in becoming friends with his friends; much darkness comes even from mentioning his words.

11. I, this poor one, once saw a lover who sat down with a denier and became close to him.

12. At once an illness appeared; with a single spiritual turning of attention his soul found safety.

13. If there is a hard affliction with heaviness in the heart, perform the full ablution; the condition is that the water be cold.

14. If it does not pass, say “Yâ Fa‘‘âl, help”; then drive it away by reciting the Qur'an.

15. If you have an excuse, warm water will do; then come and earn your reward in this way.

16. If even so it does not soften and you cannot drive it away, inform your sheikh at once, do not be ashamed.

17. When you mix too much with the people, the state of the world takes hold of you and gives no passage.

18. Sometimes it makes you ill and joyless; sometimes no expansion remains in the heart.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Avoiding the Denier, and a Testimony

One does not stay in the same place with a denier, does not speak with him, does not eat his food: one of the book's most practical sections is built on this rule. Its heading, too, is on the disciples' keeping away from mixing with deniers and from their food and drink; it covers couplets 331-349 in the edition. The reason is the Sufi understanding of states: states pass from person to person, and the denier's “ḳabż”, the contraction of the heart, infects the disciple and puts a lock on his heart.

In the fifth and sixth couplets the poet grounds this rule in Bahâeddîn Nakşibend: he guarded his sincere disciples even from one another. The seventh and eighth couplets explain the reason: each traveller is in a different state, some in “inbisâṭ”, expansion, some in heaviness; states pass across. The eleventh couplet is one of the few personal testimonies in the book: “Bu faḳīr gördüm bir ‘âşıḳ bir zamân”, I, this poor one, once saw a lover. The poet tells of a disciple who sat with a denier, fell ill at once and recovered through a single spiritual turning of the sheikh's attention.

The last part of the section reads like a prescription: if there is heaviness in the heart, a full ablution with cold water; if it does not pass, asking for help with “Yâ Fa‘‘âl” and reciting the Qur'an; warm water for one who has an excuse; and if that is not enough, informing the sheikh without shame. This sequence is the verse form of the practical advice found in Naqshbandi treatises and shows that the book was used as a handbook of the order.

Bibliography

Online sources