Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün

Sende olsa bâṭına bir azz u câh
Bir kemâl yâḫud eger ‘aşḳ-ı ilâh
Ṣânma senden oldu ol iḥsân-ı şâh
Bir gedâsıñ señ hemân ol pâdişâh
Çoḳ velîler bilmedi bu imtiḥân
Ṣandılar bu ‘aşḳ u şevḳ dâ’im hemân
Bir enâniyetle buldu biñ ziyân
Ḳalmadı gitdi velâyet ol zamân
Bir ‘azîm-i iḥsân ederse ol penâh
Etme gel varlıḳ ḫaṭâ ‘isyân günâh
Yol bulur iblîs eder bil sedd-i râh
Bil özüñ ‘abd-i ẕelîl rûy-ı siyâh
Sen ḥaḳīḳatden dilerseñ bir sebaḳ
‘İtibâr olmaz kerâmet keşfe baḳ
Ger ẓuhûr etse saña bir sırr-ı Ḥaḳ
Ol degil maṭlûb u maḳṣûd ẕat-ı Ḥaḳ
Var velî kâmil bu ân ḥâl ṣâḥibi
Keşfe raġbet yoḳ şerî‘at nâibi
Keşf eder bir ânda şarḳ u maġribi
Yine setr etmekde ḥâl-i ġā’ibi
Olsa bir keşf-i ṣaḥîḥ sende ‘iyân
İstemez ḫalḳa anı etmek beyân
Gizlemek farż söylemekde var ziyân
Çok küşûfâtdan ẓuhûr etdi yalan

In English

1. If within you there were honour and rank, a perfection, or the love of God,

2. do not think that royal gift came from you; you are a beggar, He alone is the king.

3. Many saints did not understand this test; they thought this love and longing would last for ever.

4. Through selfhood they met a thousand losses; sainthood did not remain, it was gone at that moment.

5. If that Refuge bestows a great gift, come, do not assert yourself; that is error, rebellion and sin.

6. The devil finds a way, know it, and blocks the road; know yourself a lowly servant with a black face.

7. If you wish a lesson from reality, know this: no regard is to be paid to miracles and unveilings.

8. Even if a secret of God appears to you, that is not what is sought; the aim is the essence of God.

9. At this time there is a perfect saint, master of spiritual states; he has no desire for unveilings, he is the deputy of the law.

10. In an instant he unveils East and West, yet he keeps the state of the unseen covered.

11. Were there a true unveiling plainly in you, he would not wish it told to the people.

12. Concealment is obligatory, there is harm in speaking; from many unveilings lies have appeared.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Worth of Miracles

The poet answers the question of the heading in a single line: “‘İtibâr olmaz kerâmet keşfe baḳ”, no regard is to be paid to miracle and unveiling. The question is posed over these twelve couplets, 487-498 in the edition, as “kerâmet ve keşfe ‘itibâr olunması”, how much regard is to be paid to miracles and unveilings. This attitude is a verse echo of the sayings of the Naqshbandi masters who put uprightness rather than miracles first, and it completes the couplet in the book's third ghazal, “We have known the miracle-worker as one exposed to calamity”.

The first half of the section says that a spiritual state is a test. If honour, perfection or divine love appears within the disciple, he must not ascribe it to himself; many saints thought this love would last for ever and lost their sainthood through selfhood. The sixth couplet says that it is precisely from this point that the devil finds his way.

The second half describes the perfect saint's attitude to unveiling: he can see East and West in an instant, but he covers what he sees. The last couplet is the section's most practical verdict: concealing an unveiling is obligatory and there is harm in speaking of it, for “çoḳ küşûfâtdan ẓuhûr etdi yalan”, from many unveilings lies have appeared. This sentence can also be read as a warning to sheikhs who gained fame through claims of unveiling.

Bibliography

Online sources