Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün

Olsa bir muḫliṣ mürîd dâḫil saña
Verme bir yüzden ṣaḳın ḥâ’il aña
Bir hediyye istese vermek saña
Yoḳ iẕin mecẕûb ise dönder aña
Var ‘azîz ‘âşıḳ mürîdân şimdide
Cân verir ḳoymaz irâdet kendide
İstemez almaḳ maḳām ceẕbede
Bir muḳābil al olursa sende de
Bir mürîd teslîm olursa aç ya ṭoḳ
Bil ḥaḳīḳatde anıñ bir mâlı yoḳ
Gerçi böyle oldu âdâb-ı ṭuruḳ
Sen ṣaḳın vaḳt-i fesâddır ḳanma çok
Var hediyye almanıñ çok ḫaṣleti
Vermek almaḳdır eñ a‘ẓam sünneti
Ba‘żen icrâ eylemek bu ḥâleti
Giderir muṭlaḳ ‘azîz farżîyyeti
Âsitânda oldu bir dervîş ḳadun
Pek ḳatî muḫliṣe ġāyet bir ḫatun
Şeyḫe altun verdi bir ev al ṣatun
Soñra da‘va etdi biñ altun ḫatun
Bî-ġaraż olmaḳdır evvel şeyḫ kişi
Ekl u şurb etmek degil her âteşi
Kendüye olsa muvâfıḳ dervîşi
Ol zamân sünnetdir icrâ bu işi
Bil mürîdu’llâh emânetdir saña
Sen ġażab etme ‘inâyet ḳıl aña
Bir muḫâlif iş ederse ger saña
İt naṣîḫat ḳıl teraḥḥüm sen ana
Ḥasbeten lillâh teveccüh et yaḳīn
Cehd edip himmetle Ḥaḳḳ’a ḳıl ḳarîn
Bî-ġaraż lillâh anıñ-çün ol hemîn
Var ‘azîz düşmân ṣaḳın iblis la‘în
Yoḳ ise bâṭında sende feyż u nûr
Ver mürîdâna ḫaber tîzrek ṭuyur
Gönderip bir kâmile olsuñ sürûr
Gel gözüm inṣâf edip ruḫṣat buyur
Ba‘żı şeyḫ vardır bilir yoḳ himmeti
Ruḫṣat etmez kim mürîd-ilen şöhreti
Görmemiş seyr ü sülûk yoḳ ḳuvveti
Hep mürîd berzaḫda bulmaz vuṣlatı
Bulmamış himmetiñe ol himmet ede
Görmemiş irşâdıña ol irşâd ede
Ḳaldı berzaḫda özü bilmez nede
Yoḳdur inṣâf kim saña ruḫṣat ede
Ba‘żı şeyḫ maḫbûs maḳām-ı ceżbede
Ḳaldı ol taḫte’l-ḫicâb ol perdede
Ol enâniyyet olupdur kendide
Yoḳ ṣanur kâmil özü bir yerde de
Ẓan eder ‘aklınca kâmil kendisi
Görse bir kâmil ṣanur ol bendesi
Hep mürîd mecẕûb olup yoḳ bilmesi
Kendini giydi mürîdiñ cümlesi

In English

1. If a sincere disciple comes to you, beware of putting any barrier before him.

2. If he wants to give you a present, you have no leave to take it; if he is enraptured, give it back to him.

3. Even now there are dear disciples who are lovers; they give their life and keep no will of their own.

4. In the station of rapture one does not wish to take; if you have something, take it in exchange.

5. If a disciple surrenders, hungry or full, know that in reality he has no property of his own.

6. Though such has been the conduct of the orders, beware, it is a time of corruption, do not be too easily satisfied.

7. There are many merits in accepting a present; to give is to take, the greatest custom.

8. Sometimes carrying out this state surely removes, my dear, the disciple's obligation.

9. In the capital there was a dervish woman, very sincere, an excellent lady.

10. She gave the sheikh gold: “Buy a house,” she said; afterwards the lady sued him for a thousand gold pieces.

11. The sheikh must first of all be free of self-interest; it is not for him to eat and drink every fire.

12. If his dervish is in harmony with him, then it is the custom to do this.

13. Know that God's disciple is entrusted to you; do not be angry, show him grace.

14. If he does something against you, give him counsel and show him compassion.

15. Turn to him with certainty for God's sake alone; strive and with your spiritual power bring him near to God.

16. Be free of self-interest for him, for God's sake; my dear, there is an enemy, beware, the accursed devil.

17. If there is no grace and light within you, tell the disciples at once, let them know quickly.

18. Send them to a perfect one and let them rejoice; come, my dear, be fair and give leave.

19. There are sheikhs who know they have no spiritual power, yet do not give leave, lest the fame that comes with disciples be lost.

20. He has not seen the journey of the path, he has no strength; all the disciples cannot find union in the barrier.

21. Let one who has not found spiritual power in you exert power; let one who has not seen guidance in you guide.

22. The disciple has remained in the barrier and does not know what state he is in; there is no fairness that would give you leave.

23. Some sheikhs are imprisoned in the station of rapture; they have remained beneath the veil, in that curtain.

24. That selfhood has become theirs; they think there is no one perfect like themselves anywhere.

25. By his own reason he thinks himself perfect; if he sees a perfect one he takes him for his servant.

26. All the disciples have become enraptured, with no knowledge; all the disciples have put on his state.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Gifts, Lawsuits and Leave

Whether a sheikh should accept gifts and money from a disciple is one of the most worldly subjects the book takes up, and it stands at the centre of this section, printed as couplets 435-460. The heading draws a wider frame: protecting disciples, counsel to sheikhs, the training of deficient sheikhs. The poet lays down the principle plainly: a gift is not to be taken from an enraptured disciple, and the sheikh must be “bî-ġaraż”, free of self-interest; yet it is not against the custom for a sheikh whose dervish is in harmony with him to accept a gift.

The ninth and tenth couplets illustrate this principle with an incident: in the capital, a dervish woman who seemed very sincere gave her sheikh gold to buy a house, and afterwards sued him for a thousand gold pieces. This short story is one of the rare concrete anecdotes in the book that seem to come from the poet's years in Istanbul; the edition gives no information on who she was.

From the seventeenth couplet the subject passes to the sheikh's honesty. A sheikh without grace in his inner self should send his disciples to a perfect sheikh and give them “ruhsat”, leave. The poet criticises sheikhs who do not give leave lest they lose the fame that comes with disciples, and who, imprisoned in the station of rapture, think themselves perfect; the last couplet says that the disciples of such sheikhs “put on” his state, that is, fall into the same delusion.

Bibliography

Online sources