Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün

Ẕât-ı Ḥaḳ ẕâtıyla mevcûd ol Ḫudâ
Muttaṣıf ẕâtıyla mevṣûf dâ’imâ
Hem ḳadîm ẕâtı ṣıfâtı yoḳ fenâ
Hem bi-lâ-keyf sırr-ı ẕât-ı kibriyâ
‘Aḳl-ı idrâk ẕâtına ermek muḥâl
Derk-i idrâkden müberrâ ẕü’l-kemâl
Bî-şerîk hem bî-naẓîr ol bî-mis̱âl
Beñzemez maḫlûḳa ẕât-ı ẕü’l-Celâl
Cümle ḫâlḳ ma‘dûm o mevcûd kibriyâ
Sırr-ı ẕâtıyla ḳadîm yoḳ intihâ
Kendi hem ẕâtı ṣıfâtıyla beḳā
Ḫâliḳ-ı ‘arż u semâ taḥte’s̱-s̱erâ
Ḳudret-i ẕâtıyla dâim pâdişâh
Kendi ḥükmüyle gedâ ger cümle şâh
Ḥâkim-i muṭlaḳ odur bi-iştibâh
Cümle ḫalḳ fânî odur bâḳī penâh
Her nuḳūṣatdan ṣıfâtu’llâh berî
Her ḫayâlâtdan münezzeh ol celî
Her küşûfâtdan müberrâ ol ġanî
Yoḳ Ḫudâ’nıñ âḫiri hem evveli
Bil ki ‘ilmu’llâh-lan eşyâ müdâm
Nuṣreti ẕatıyla ‘âlem bi’t-tamâm
Hem muḥîṭ ‘ilmiyle mevcûdâtı tâm
Bil ‘azîz ḫâliḳ aḥad ol ve’s-selâm
Kîn ihânetden müberrâ ẕât-ı Ḥaḳ
Buġż ‘adâvetden müberrâ ẕât-ı Ḥaḳ
Bî-ġaraż erḥam ‘azîzen ẕât-ı Ḥaḳ
İsm-i ẕâtıyla müsemmâ ẕât-ı Ḥaḳ
Vaṣf olunmaz kim Ḫudâ a‘ẕam Ṣamed
Ẕât-ı muṭlaḳ ẕâtına vaṣṣâf aḥad
Bil bi-lâ keyf ẕât-ı muṭlaḳ bî-cesed
Vaṣfına sıġmaz ḥurûf teşdîd u med
“Kün” ḫiṭâbıyla cemi‘ ervâḥ hemân
Ḫalḳ olup tekmîl bütün ‘âlem o ân
Ger kimi hâdî kimisi kâfirân
Var bu ḥikmetde murâdu’llâh inan
Hep murâdı üzre mevcûd her ne var
Yorma bu ḥikmetde ẕihniñ ḳıl güẕâr
Her birin bir yolda ḳılmıştır ḳarâr
Var bu esrârda murâd-ı Kirdgâr
Kimseye ẕulm eylemez Allâh raḥîm
Cümle ‘âlemden Ḫudâ ekrem kerîm
‘İlm u ẕâtıyla Ḫudâ a‘ẕam ‘alîm
Cümleden erḥam raḥîm raḥmân ‘aẕîm
‘İlm-i ẕâtu’llâha yoḳ idrâk yaḳīn
Ẕâtına ma‘lûm o ma‘lûmât hemîn
Kendi ‘ilmi kendine maḫṣûṣ mübîn
Şirk-i ‘iṣyân eyleme gel ol emîn
Ḥaḳḳı ta‘bîrde nuḳūṣât var ḫaṭâ
Bil ‘uḳūl ḳāṣır ‘azîzim añla tâ
Ẕât-ı Ḥaḳ ḫâliḳ biz ‘aciz ḳul aña
Sehv eder şânında maḫlûḳ iş bu ya
Bil odur erḥam raḥîm raḥmân Ḫudâ
Bil odur ekrem kerîm ekrem ‘aṭâ
Bil odur ‘alem ‘alîm ma‘lûm Ḫudâ
‘İlm-i ẕâtıyla bi-lâ-keyf kibriyâ
Ru’yetu’llâh var yarın bu ümmete
Her kişi ẕannıyla nâẕır vaḥdete
Bî-baṣar a‘mâ giren var cennete
Ol değil âgâh cenâb-ı ‘izzete
Ḫâṣ için var ru’yetu’llâh bî-mis̱âl
‘Arż olur vech-i cemâli bâ-kemâl
Bil bi-lâ derk hem bi-lâ keyf ol cemâl
Görünür ‘uşşâḳa ne-çün ẕü’l-Celâl

In English

1. The essence of God is the God who exists through His own essence; He is qualified by His essence and described always by His attributes.

2. Both His essence and His attributes are eternal and do not perish; the secret of the essence of His majesty is beyond any “how”.

3. It is impossible for reason and understanding to reach His essence; the Lord of perfection is beyond the grasp of understanding.

4. He is without partner, without equal, without likeness; the essence of the Lord of Majesty does not resemble the created.

5. All the created are nonexistent; the one who exists is the Majestic; by the secret of His essence He is eternal and has no end.

6. He is everlasting in His essence and in His attributes, the creator of earth and heaven and of what lies beneath the soil.

7. By the power of His essence He is ever the sovereign; before His rule all kings are beggars.

8. Without doubt He is the absolute ruler; all creatures are perishable, He is the lasting refuge.

9. The attributes of God are free of every deficiency; that Manifest One is exalted above every fancy.

10. That Self-Sufficient One is beyond every unveiling; God has neither end nor beginning.

11. Know that things exist always through the knowledge of God, and the whole world stands by the aid of His essence.

12. He encompasses all beings completely with His knowledge; know, dear friend, that the Creator is One, and that is all.

13. The essence of God is free of rancour and betrayal; the essence of God is free of hatred and enmity.

14. The essence of God shows mercy without self-interest, the Mighty One; the essence of God is named by the name of the essence, “Allah”.

15. God, the Greatest, the Eternal Refuge, cannot be described; only His own essence can describe the absolute essence, the One.

16. Know that the absolute essence is beyond “how” and without body; letters with doubling and lengthening signs cannot contain His description.

17. With the command “Kün” (Be) all spirits were created in that instant and the whole world was completed.

18. Some were guided, some became unbelievers; believe that in this wisdom there is the will of God.

19. Everything that exists is according to His will; do not tire your mind over this wisdom, pass on.

20. He has set each one firmly on a road; in these secrets lies the will of the Creator.

21. God the Compassionate wrongs no one; God is more generous and more noble than all the world.

22. In knowledge and essence God is the Greatest and All-Knowing; more merciful than all, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the Mighty.

23. Understanding can never reach the knowledge of God's essence; what is known is known only to His essence.

24. His knowledge is plainly His alone; come, do not fall into the idolatry of rebellion, be safe.

25. In trying to express God there is deficiency and error; know that minds fall short, my dear, understand this.

26. The essence of God is the Creator, and we are His helpless servants; the creature errs concerning His glory, that is how it is.

27. Know that He is the most merciful of the merciful, the Compassionate, the Merciful God; know that He is the most generous, the Noble, abundant in gifts.

28. Know that He is the known, the knower and the knowable God; the Majestic is beyond “how” through the knowledge of His essence.

29. Tomorrow (in the hereafter) this community will see God; everyone will look upon the Oneness according to his own conception.

30. There are those who enter paradise blind and sightless; such a one is unaware of the presence of the Mighty.

31. For the elect there is a vision of God beyond comparison; the face of His beauty is shown to them in its perfection.

32. Know that this beauty appears without being grasped and beyond any “how”; how the Lord of Majesty appears to the lovers cannot be known.

Literary and Historical Commentary

A Mesnevî as a Lesson in Creed

The articles of faith a disciple must know are set out here like a catechism in verse: these thirty-two couplets, headed “Der Beyân-ı ‘Aḳāyid-i Ḥaḳ” (On the Doctrines concerning God), are the book's first didactic section. Şensöz numbers them 29-60; the metre, “Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün”, is carried over from the opening mesnevî. The poet works through the topics of the theological handbooks one by one: the distinction between essence and attributes, God's eternity and permanence, His uniqueness, His knowledge and will. The thesis, too, explains the section among the doctrinal themes of the work through the attributes of Existence, Eternity, Oneness, Permanence, Knowledge and Power.

The most striking feature of the language is repetition. The phrase “Ẕât-ı Ḥaḳ” (the essence of God) recurs four times like a refrain in the thirteenth and fourteenth couplets, and the formula “Bil odur …” (Know that He is …) comes twice in a row in the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth. These repetitions carry the rhythm of short formulas learned by heart in a lesson and suggest that the text was written to be read aloud. The line “Vaṣfına sıġmaz ḥurûf teşdîd u med” in the sixteenth couplet is a fine conceit seen through a scribe's eye: God's description cannot be contained in the letters of writing and the signs that lengthen and double them.

Predestination and the Vision of God

From the eighteenth couplet the poet touches on the question of guidance and error and advises the reader “yorma bu ḥikmetde ẕihniñ”, do not wear out your mind over this wisdom. Tying the most disputed questions of theology to submission without opening them to debate is the attitude of an order's manual addressed to the disciple. The final word is reserved for the belief that God will be seen in the hereafter. The last four couplets say that everyone will see “according to his own conception”, that some enter paradise blind, and that the elect will be granted a vision beyond comparison. This distinction connects with the book's central idea: a servant who has not matured at the hand of a master will remain unaware of the beauty of God.

Bibliography

Online sources