Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün

Bu ṭarîḳ-ı Naḳşibendî Ḫâlidî
Hep şerî‘at üzre her bir zâhidi
Eylemez bid‘at ki aṣla ‘âbidi
Bâ-şerî‘atdir ṭarîḳ-ı Ḫâlidî
Hiç ḳabûl etmez biri bid‘at ebed
Ehl-i sünnet bende-gân-ı behre-mend
Elde muḥkemdir şerî‘at bir kemend
Böyle dâ’im Ḫâlidân-ı Naḳşibend
Oldu Ṣıddîḳ’a ḫafî eẕkâr-ı yâr
Böyle emretdi Ḥabîb-i Kirdgâr
Ẕikr-i cehrî yoḳ bizim çün etme kâr
Naḳşîde iḫfâ bu sırrı bil a yâr
Erba‘în etmek mürîde iḳtiżâ
Şarṭ olup muṭlaḳ ṭarîḳde muḳteżâ
Böyle müstaḥsen sülûkuñ ber-rıżâ
‘Âdet et her yılda sen etme ḳażâ
‘Uzlet et ḫalḳdan aḫî bir kûşede
Bî-rûġan et ta‘âmı ḥücrede
Git sükûṭ üzre devâm et mescide
Eyle ẕikru’llâhı tâm seccâdede
Erba‘în âdâbına pek diḳḳat et
Ẕikri fi’llâh ile ṭoġrı ġayret et
Gec cihân endîşesinden ḫalvet et
Ẕevḳ-i vaḥdet ile terk i kes̱ret et
Her ne derse mürşidiñ ṭut emrini
Mürde bil ġassâl elinde sen seni
Bil göñülde veẕkurû’llâh sırrını
Bilme ḫalḳıñ ḫayrını hem şerrini

In English

1. This Naqshbandi-Khalidi path keeps every one of its ascetics always upon the law.

2. It never leads its worshipper into innovation; the Khalidi path is together with the law.

3. None of them ever accepts innovation; they are blessed servants of the people of the Sunna.

4. In their hands the law is a firm noose; so are the Khalidis of Nakşibend always.

5. To Sıddîk (Ebûbekir) the remembrances of the friend were silent; so the Beloved of the Creator commanded.

6. For us there is no loud remembrance, do not make it your practice; friend, know this secret: in the Naqshi way there is concealment.

7. The disciple must keep the forty-day retreat; on the path it has become a strict condition and necessity.

8. So your journey becomes fine and pleasing; make it your habit every year, do not leave it to be made up.

9. Brother, withdraw from the people into a corner; eat your food without fat in the cell.

10. Go and keep to the mosque in silence; perform the remembrance of God fully on the prayer rug.

11. Pay close attention to the rules of the forty days; perform remembrance in God with true zeal.

12. Pass beyond the cares of the world, enter retreat; with the delight of oneness forsake multiplicity.

13. Whatever your master says, keep his command; know yourself as a corpse in the washer's hands.

14. Know in the heart the secret of “Ve'ẕkurû'llâh” (Remember God); do not know the good or the evil of the people.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Silent Remembrance and the Forty-Day Retreat

The Khalidis never accept innovation: the section printed as couplets 538-551 lays down this verdict in its first four couplets, again with an emphasis on the law. Its subject is the Khalidi path's adherence to the Sunna and the rules of the erbain, the forty-day retreat. For Şensöz the work's Naqshbandi-Khalidi identity finds its clearest statement in the first two couplets.

The fifth and sixth couplets defend the most distinctive practice of the Naqshbandis, the hafî, silent remembrance. The reason is the lineage: the Prophet taught remembrance to Ebûbekir in secret, so in the Naqshbandi way there is no loud remembrance. It is also the couplet Şensöz points to as the work's source for the adoption of silent remembrance. The criticism directed in the section on false dervishes at lodges where they whirl with loud remembrance here becomes a positive principle.

After the seventh couplet the rules of the forty-day retreat are listed: it must be done every year; one must withdraw into a corner, eat food without fat in the cell, wait in silence in the mosque, and perform remembrance fully on the prayer rug. So practical are these details that the book shows itself to have been written as a guide for the order. The thirteenth couplet repeats the comparison of the washer and the corpse first met in the section on the perfect master.

Bibliography

Online sources