Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün

Naḳşibendîler sülûk indirse yâr
Keşf olur nûr-ı vilâyet âşikâr
Bunlara ḫâsdır bu fażl-ı Kirdgâr
Bunlarıñ ġayride yoḳ bu iḳtidâr
Eyler istiḫlâṣ sivâdan ḳalb-i cân
Nefse istiḥvâẕ eder tîz-rek hemân
İncilâ eyler göñül şehriñ o ân
Maṭla‘ eyler Ḫudâ’ya bî-gümân
Naḳşibendî’niñ bidâyet ḥâlleri
Sâiriñ oldu nihâyet ḥâlleri
Naḳşî’niñ eñ mübtedî dervîşleri
Sâiriñ olmaz ḳıyâs ekmelleri
Rabṭ-ı ḳalb etse eger muḫliṣ mürîd
Bir teveccühde olur ḳalbi cedîd
Bâ-edeb terḳīb eder Ḥaḳḳ’a şenîd
Tîz hemân maḳṣûdına eyler resîd
Çün bu ân bildiñ ‘azîz yevmu’l beter
Ḥaḳ diyen birden hemân itmâm eder
Ḫaliṣâne sen göñül ṭut bî-keder
Gül olur eshel-i sülûkuñ mu‘teber
Ḫâlidî ikmalleridir dest-gîr
Bunlara lâyıḳ meşîḫat bî-naẓîr
Bir mürîd olsa eger cândan peẕîr
Bil ‘azîz taḥḳīḳ olur Ḥaḳ’dan ḫabîr
Var meşîḫatde muḳallid şimdi nâs
Ḥırḳa tâc dünyâ için uyḳun libâs
Bulmadı bir şeyḫ ekmâl ḥaḳ-şinâs
Şeyḫ ḳıyâs eyler özin göñlünde pes
Ḫâlidîler ‘ilm-i üstâd-ı ledün
Cümlesi erbâb-ı istiḥḳāḳ bütün
Anlara teslîm olup ṭur büsbütün
Sa‘y edip bu ‘ilme sen taḥsîl bugün
Ḫalidîlerde saña çoḳ mürşidân
Sen baḳıp noḳsânıñı ‘arż et hemân
İddi‘â etme göñül ṭut tercümân
Tâ seni eyler bir ânda bî-nişân
Müdde‘îniñ boş bu nâ-ḥaḳ sözleri
Pür-ġaraż bî-ma‘rifetdir özleri
Ḥażret-i Ḥâlid için bu sözleri
Bu sebeb gör ḳaldı bâṭın gözleri
Her velî beñzer mi yâ hû Ḫâlid’e
Hiç ḳıyâs olmaz o ẕât her zahide
‘Ayn-ı raḥmet oldu âḫir fâ’ide
Böyle ni‘met olmadı her ‘âbide
Şeyḫ Ḫâlid beñzemez her ekmele
Böyle üstâd geldi pek az ‘âleme
Olmadı fevḳinde irşâd Âdeme
Yoḳ anıñ mis̱linde nâ’il ekreme
Ḫalid âḫirde müceddid oldu bil
Tâ o yüzden ẓahir oldu feyż-i nîl
Geldi âz Ḫâlid gibi üstâd vekîl
Pek ‘aẓîm bir raḥmet oldu ol cemîl

In English

1. If the Naqshbandis bring one down to the journey, friend, the light of sainthood is plainly unveiled.

2. This bounty of the Creator is theirs alone; others have no such power.

3. He frees the heart and soul from what is other than God; he masters the self quickly at once.

4. In that moment he polishes the city of the heart and makes it, without doubt, a place where God's light rises.

5. The beginning states of the Naqshbandis became the end states of the others.

6. The most novice dervishes of the Naqshis cannot be compared with the most perfect of the others.

7. If a sincere disciple binds his heart, his heart is renewed in a single turning of attention.

8. With good conduct it urges him to let God be heard; at once it brings him quickly to his goal.

9. Since you know, my dear, that this moment is the worst of days, the one who says “God” completes the way at once.

10. Hold your heart sincerely and be free of sorrow; the easiest part of your journey becomes a rose and is esteemed.

11. The perfect ones of the Khalidis are the helpers who take one by the hand; peerless sheikhhood befits them.

12. If a disciple accepts them with his soul, know, my dear, that he truly becomes informed by God.

13. Now there are imitators in sheikhhood; cloak and crown, a garment suited to the world.

14. He has found no perfect sheikh who knows God; then in his heart he measures sheikhhood by himself.

15. The Khalidis are masters of the knowledge from God's presence; all of them are wholly worthy of it.

16. Surrender to them and stand entirely so; strive and acquire this knowledge today.

17. Among the Khalidis there are many masters for you; look at your deficiency and present it at once.

18. Make no claim; keep the heart as your interpreter, so that in an instant he may make you without trace.

19. These unjust words of the claimant are empty; their selves are full of malice and without gnosis.

20. They said these words against Hazret-i Hâlid; see, for this reason their inner eyes stayed blind.

21. Hey, does every saint resemble Hâlid? That man cannot be compared with any ascetic.

22. At the last he became mercy itself, a benefit; such a blessing did not come to every worshipper.

23. Sheikh Hâlid does not resemble every perfect one; such a master has come to the world very rarely.

24. There has been no guidance for mankind above his; none like him has attained such honour.

25. Know that at the last Hâlid became a renewer; from that, grace appeared like the Nile.

26. Few masters and deputies like Hâlid have come; that fair one became a very great mercy.

Literary and Historical Commentary

A Eulogy of Mevlânâ Hâlid

The speed and effect of the Naqshbandi path fill the first half of the section. The heading over couplets 460-486 of the edition speaks more formally of the training and methods of the Naqshbandi masters and of the ignorance of those who object to the “custom of the sheikhs”. The fifth and sixth couplets repeat a saying well known in the literature of the order: the beginning state of the Naqshbandis is the end state of the other orders; Şensöz cites the couplet to show the order regarding itself as superior to other paths. In the seventh couplet the renewal of the heart “in a single turning of attention” points to the change in the disciple's state through the sheikh's spiritual attention.

From the eleventh couplet the section turns to the Khalidi branch and then to its founder, Mevlânâ Hâlid-i Bağdâdî (d. 1827). The poet speaks of the “unjust” words said about “Hazret-i Hâlid”; it is known that because of his deputies, who spread rapidly across the Ottoman lands, and his new methods, Mevlânâ Hâlid met both support and fierce opposition in the nineteenth century. The twentieth couplet says that the inner eyes of those who criticised him remained blind.

The last six couplets are a short eulogy devoted to Mevlânâ Hâlid: he does not resemble every saint or every perfect man; he became “âḫirde müceddid”, the renewer of the last age, and his grace overflowed like the Nile. Since the poet's lineage was linked to Mevlânâ Hâlid through Abdullah Mekkî and Mustafa İsmet Efendi, this praise is also an expression of devotion to his own spiritual descent.

Bibliography

Online sources