Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün

Eyle on beş kere istiġfâr hemân
Ḥaḳḳ’ı ḥâżır bil seniñle bî-gümân
İste Şâh-ı Pîr’den imdâd ol zamân
Râbıṭa ḳıl şeyḫine ol demde cân
Mümkün ise ḳıl iki rek‘at namâz
Ṭur ḥużûru’llâh’da Ḥaḳḳ’a et niyâz
Oḳu bir Fâtiḥâ üç İḫlâṣ-ı râz
Eyle ihdâ Naḳşibendî pîre sâz
Şeyḫiñe rabṭ eyle ol Allâh-ilen
Ṭut lisânıñ ḳalb-i ẕikru’llâh-ilen
Ḳalbi meşġûl etme ġayru’llâh-ilen
Allâh Allâh söyle lafẕu’llâh-ilen
İsm-i ẕât beş biñ eḳalli yoḳ ‘aded
Bî-‘aded fermân buyurdu ol Ṣamed
Sen ki sa‘y et var ise göñlünde derd
Ol ġanî Allâh azîz eyler meded
Evvela lâzım fenâ fî’ş-şeyḫ ḥuṣûl
Ṣoñra bundan tâ fenâ hem fî’r-resûl
Bu ikidir sâlike ol vuṣûl
Açılır ṣoñra fenâ fî’llâh’a yol
Bil ḥużûru’llâh’da gündeñ bir ẕelil
Cümleden maṭlûb u maḳṣûd ol celîl
Hem odur maḥbûb-ı muṭlak bir cemîl
Reh-nümâ mürşid anıñ-çün bir delîl

In English

1. Ask forgiveness of God fifteen times at once; know God to be present with you without doubt.

2. At that time seek help from the Shah of Masters (Bahâeddîn Nakşibend); in that moment bind yourself heart and soul to your sheikh.

3. If possible, perform two cycles of prayer; stand in the presence of God and supplicate Him.

4. Recite one Fâtiha and three İhlâs; dedicate them as a secret gift to the Naqshbandi master.

5. Bind yourself to your sheikh, and he will bind you to God; keep your tongue with the remembrance of God in the heart.

6. Do not occupy the heart with anything but God; say “Allah, Allah” with the word Allah.

7. The name of the essence is at least five thousand times, and may be without number; that Eternal One commanded it without number.

8. If there is longing in your heart, make the effort; that rich and mighty God will help.

9. First one must attain annihilation in the sheikh; then from this one passes to annihilation in the Messenger.

10. These two are that union for the traveller; afterwards the road to annihilation in God opens.

11. Know that in God's presence you are lowly every day; the one sought and intended by all is that Glorious One.

12. He is the absolute beloved, the beautiful one; that is why the master is a guide who shows the way.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Order of Daily Remembrance

The order of the remembrance the disciple is to perform every day is set out step by step in the twelve couplets headed “Âdâb-ı Şuġul” (153-164). “Şuġul” means occupation, and in the language of the orders it denotes the disciple's daily work of remembrance and contemplation. The section is almost a set of instructions for practice: fifteen requests for forgiveness, asking help from the Shah of Masters, rabıta with the sheikh, two cycles of prayer if possible, reciting one Fâtiha and three İhlâs and offering them to the Naqshbandi master, and then the remembrance “Allah, Allah” from the heart.

The seventh couplet gives a number: the remembrance of the name of the essence is at least five thousand times and may be without number. The line “Şeyḫiñe rabṭ eyle ol Allâh-ilen” in the fifth couplet states the essence of rabıta in a single line: the disciple binds himself to the sheikh, the sheikh binds him to God. The thesis illustrates the counsel to remember God and not to occupy the heart with anything else with this couplet and the next; the repetition “Allâh Allâh” in the sixth couplet also carries the sound of remembrance within the metre.

The ninth and tenth couplets set out the familiar Sufi stages of annihilation: first in the sheikh, then in the Messenger, finally in God. The section closes with the couplet saying that the master is a “delîl”, a guide, on this road; the beloved and the goal are God alone, and the master is the sign of the road leading there.

Bibliography

Online sources