Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün

Oldu Âdâbü’l-müeddeb çün tamâm
Baḥr-i ‘aşḳıñ-lan vücûd buldu ḫitâm
Mevc edip ‘aşḳıñ göñülde ihtimâm
Hep seniñ feyżiñle naḳl oldu kelâm
Yâ ilâhi ḳıl ḳabûl dergâhıña
Sen refîḳ eyle Ḥabîbu’llâhıña
Sen bizi dost eyle ẕâtu’llâha
Ḳıl hemân da‘vet cemâlu’llâhıña
Çoḳdur ‘iṣyânım yüzüm yoḳdur saña
Etme yâ Rab sen bizi senden cüda
Merḥamet şefḳat buyur ẕât-ı Ḫudâ
Ẕü’l-kerîm ekrem ‘aṭâsın kibrîyâ
Baḥr-i luṭfuñ bî-nihâyet pâdişâh
Sen bizi ġarḳ et Ḫudâ bî-iştibâh
Ḳıl Ḫudâ tevfîḳ hidâyet üzre râh
Hep saña muhtâc gedâ ger cümle şâh
Muṣṭafâ ‘İṣmet benim şeyḫim Ḫudâ
Sen beni ḥaşr et anıñla kibriyâ
Ol vesîledir benim çûn kim saña
Ḳıl aña bî-ḥad tecellîsin sezâ
Bâ-ḫuṣūṣ evlâdı ‘Abdullâh Bahâ
Ver aña ‘âlî maḳām-ı intihâ
Dâ’imâ terfi-‘i ḥâl et sen aña
Ẕâtıña maḳbûl u maḥbûb eyle tâ
‘Affıña muhtâc atam vu anam Kerîm
Merḥamet ḳıl anlara dâ’im Raḥîm
Hep ṣaña müştâḳ idi anlar muḳīm
Eyle sen makbul-i ‘indâ’llâh ‘alîm
Tâ bize tâbî‘ olan iḫvân-ı din
Sen ḳarîn dost et saña yâ Ḥaḳ mu‘în
Eyleme senden uzaḳ bir dem hemîn
Cümlesin ḳıl ‘ârifân-ı vâṣılîn
Bu kitâbıñ bu sebeb te’lîfine
Ḥaḳ diyen sâlik ere Ḥaḳ ẕevkine
Emr olup kemter Amasya şehrine
Ḫalḳı terġîb ede Ḥaḳ teşvîḳine
Okuyan bulsun ḥayât-ı câvidân
Ẕevk-yâb olsun Ḫudâ’ya ṭâlibân
Behre-mend olsun mürîd u sâlikân
Bî-keder bulsun Ḫudâ’yı dervîşân
Ḳoymadım râh-ı ṭarîḳde şüphe-cân
Hep beyân etdim ḥaḳīḳatden ‘iyân
Var naṣīḥat nâdirâtdan der-cihân
Ḥisse-dâr olsun mürîd ü mürşidân
Ḥamdü lillâh bu risâle oldu tâm
Oḳuyan etsin sülûkün ihtimâm
Ṣad selâm olsun ḥabîbine müdâm
Âline asḥâbınâ hem ve’s-selâm

In English

1. When Âdâbü'l-müeddeb was complete, it came into being through the sea of Your love and reached its end.

2. Your love surging in the heart with care, the word was conveyed wholly through Your grace.

3. My God, accept it at Your threshold; make us companions of Your Beloved.

4. Make us friends of the essence of God; call us at once to the beauty of God.

5. My rebellions are many, I have no face before You; O Lord, do not part us from You.

6. O essence of God, command mercy and compassion, O Generous, Most Noble, Majestic in bounty.

7. O King, the sea of Your kindness is endless; my God, drown us in it without doubt.

8. My God, grant us the road upon guidance; beggar and king alike all need You.

9. My God, Mustafa İsmet is my sheikh; O Majestic, raise me together with him.

10. For he is my means to You; make Your boundless manifestation fitting for him.

11. Above all, give his son Abdullah Bahâ a lofty and final station.

12. Raise his state always; make him accepted and beloved by Your essence.

13. O Generous, my father and mother need Your pardon; O Compassionate, have mercy on them always.

14. They stayed in the world always longing for You; O All-Knowing, make them accepted with God.

15. The brothers in religion who follow us, O God, O Helper, make them friends near to You.

16. Do not keep them far from You for a moment; make them all knowers who have arrived.

17. To the reason for composing this book: that the traveller who says “God” may reach the delight of God,

18. this humble one, being appointed to the city of Amasya, to encourage its people to God's call.

19. May whoever reads it find eternal life; may the seekers find delight in God.

20. May disciples and travellers have their share; may dervishes find God without sorrow.

21. I have left nothing doubtful on the road of the path; I have set everything out plainly from reality.

22. In the world there are rare counsels; may disciples and masters have their share of them.

23. Praise be to God, this treatise is complete; may whoever reads it take care of his journey.

24. A hundred greetings always to His Beloved, and to his family and Companions, and that is all.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Reason for Writing and the Close

Only here, in the thirteenth and fourteenth couplets, does the book mention the poet's parents. The last section of the mesnevî, twenty-four couplets (724-747 in the edition), bears the heading “Sebeb-i Te'lîf-i Risâle ve Ḫıtâmuhû Misk”, the reason for composing the treatise and its musk-scented close. The first sixteen couplets are a prayer: for the acceptance of the work, the pardon of the poet's sins, the wish to be raised together with his master Mustafa İsmet, a lofty station for İsmet's son Abdullah Bahâ, and mercy for the poet's parents and for the brothers in religion who follow him.

The expression “Bâ-ḫuṣūṣ evlâdı ‘Abdullâh Bahâ” in the eleventh couplet is important for the identity of Şeyhzâde Abdullah Bahâeddîn: coming right after the ninth and tenth couplets, which speak of Mustafa İsmet, “evlâdı” means his son. Şensöz read this couplet as information about the poet's son; the context points to İsmet Efendi's son.

The seventeenth and eighteenth couplets state the reason the book was written: the poet came to the city of Amasya “emr olup”, being commanded, and wrote this book to encourage its people towards God. Hüsameddin's record that the sheikh came to Amasya on a spiritual sign from his master accords with this expression. The closing couplets announce that the treatise is complete; the two chronogram poems that follow record that the work was finished in 1296.

Bibliography

Online sources