Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün

Ger bulursañ yed-i ṣaḥîḥ bir kâmili
Baş ḳoyup dergâhınıñ ol sâ’ili
Pür irâdet ol Ḫudâ’nıñ nâ’ili
Ref‘ eder dilden ḥicâb vü ḥâ’ili
Ḫâliṣâne teslim ol ḳul ol hemân
Bir cevâb isterse ver şîrîn-i zebân
Bir irâde ḳoyma sende ol zamân
Bil seni ġassâl elinde mürde-cân
Ṣâdıḳāne ḫıdmet eyle dembedem
Ḳande olsa sen ri‘âyet eyle hem
Uyḳuda ol cânibe koyma kadem
Ḫânesin farḳ etme ez beytü’l-ḥarem
Sen yaḳīninden görürseñ bir cefâ
Gel taḥammül eyle olma bî-vefâ
İmtiḥân eyler seni etme ḫaṭâ
Ṣabr edip ḳahr etme lüṭf et bul ṣafâ
Sâde ḫıdmet-ilen ele girmez bu iş
Dâ’imâ evrâd u eẕkârıñ çalış
Ṭut ṣalât-ı işrâk u żuḥâyı a‘ẓam iş
Hem de evvâbîn u teheccüd-ilen gör iş
Bir keder gelse saña ġāyet ḳatı
Sen hemân s̱abr eyleyip yol nî‘meti
Ẓâhirâ ḳuldan görünse ṣûreti
Bil ḥaḳīḳatde Ḫudâ’dan sîreti
Bil ne zaḥmet çekdi bâtın erleri
Pek ezâ gördü ḥaḳīḳat pirleri
Bil hemân peygamberân serveri
Çok cefâ ḳıldı Ḳureyş kâfirleri
Böylece taḥsil olur gel feyż-i nûr
Ḥaḳḳ-ilen ittimâm olur her bir umûr
Her umûruñ melce’i Rabbu’l-ġafûr
Çün odur ḥâliḳ aḥad Rabbu’ş-şekûr
Ḥaḳḳa ṭâlib yoḳ gibidir iş bu ân
Ġaflet içre ḳaldı ḳalb mürde-gân
Fısḳ u ‘isyândan ṭolupdur bu cihân
Ḥaḳ degil maḳṣûd hemân bir pâre nân
Ḳanġı şeyḫiñ ḫoş gelirse meşrebi
Bende ol var ‘aşḳıñ olmaz meẕhebi
Ol küşâde eyler saña bir mektebi
Dönme dervişlik Timûr’dan leblebi

In English

1. If you find a perfect master whose hand is sound (whose authorisation is genuine), lay down your head and become a beggar at his threshold.

2. Be full of devotion and bind yourself to one who has reached God; he lifts the veil and the barrier from the heart.

3. Surrender at once sincerely, be a servant; if he asks for an answer, give it with a sweet tongue.

4. Leave no will of your own at that time; know yourself as a corpse in the hands of the washer of the dead.

5. Serve faithfully at every moment; wherever he may be, show him respect.

6. Even in sleep do not stretch your feet towards him; do not distinguish his house from the Sacred House (the Kaaba).

7. If you plainly suffer harshness from him, come, bear it, do not be faithless.

8. He tests you, do not err; be patient, do not rage, be gracious and find serenity.

9. This work is not achieved by service alone; work always at your litanies and remembrances.

10. Hold the sunrise and forenoon prayers as a great task; attend to the evvâbîn and night prayers as well.

11. If a very hard sorrow comes to you, be patient at once and count it a blessing of the path.

12. Even if outwardly its form comes from the servant (the sheikh), know that in reality its nature is from God.

13. Know what pains the men of the inward suffered; the masters of reality endured much affliction.

14. Know that the unbelievers of Quraysh inflicted much cruelty on the lord of the prophets.

15. Come, this is how the grace of light is gained; every matter is completed with God.

16. The refuge of every matter is the forgiving Lord, for He is the Creator, the One, the Lord who rewards gratitude.

17. At present there is almost no one seeking God; dead-hearted souls have remained in heedlessness.

18. This world is filled with sin and rebellion; the aim is not God but merely a piece of bread.

19. Whichever sheikh's disposition pleases you, go and become his servant; love has no school of law.

20. He will open a school for you; do not turn back thinking dervishhood a trifle like roasted chickpeas from Timur.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Signs of the Perfect Master

The heading promises signs; the text does not list them. In this section headed “Ṭâlibân Mürşide Terġîble Kâmilânıñ ‘Alâmetleri”, on encouraging seekers towards a master and on the signs of the perfect (couplets 165-184), the weight lies on how the disciple is to behave once he has found a perfect master. The expression “yed-i ṣaḥîḥ” in the first couplet, a sound hand, that is, a sheikh whose lineage and authorisation are genuine, is the first sign of the warning against false sheikhs.

The fourth couplet uses one of the best-known comparisons in Sufi literature: in the sheikh's hands the disciple must be like a corpse in the hands of the washer of the dead. The sixth couplet carries this surrender even into sleep: even while sleeping the disciple does not stretch his feet towards the place where the sheikh is, and does not distinguish his house from the Kaaba. In the tenth couplet the sunrise, forenoon, evvâbîn and night prayers are listed, so that a discipline of worship is required alongside service.

The end of the section turns to a complaint about the times: no one is left seeking God, the aim has become a piece of bread. The last two couplets, however, carry an unexpected flexibility: “Ḳanġı şeyḫiñ ḫoş gelirse meşrebi / Bende ol var ‘aşḳıñ olmaz meẕhebi”, whichever sheikh's disposition pleases you, go and become his servant, love has no school of law. This is the couplet Şensöz turns to when he discusses the signs of the perfect sheikh. The idiom “roasted chickpeas from Timur” in the last line brings a folk expression familiar from the Nasreddin Hoca stories into the manual of the order: dervishhood must not be thought an easy matter.

Bibliography

Online sources