Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: given in the edition as “Feûlün Feûlün Feûlün Feûlün”; the lines fit the pattern “Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün Fe‘ûlün”

Bi-ḥamdi’llâh tamâm oldu bu Te’lîfât
Cenâb-ı Ḥaḳ baña kim verdi teshîlât
‘Ulûm-ı ẓâhirîden ben ki âzâdım
Velî yoḳ mürşidimden ġayri üstâdım
Muvaffaḳ olmadım ben ḥüsn-i taḥrîre
Liyâḳat bende yoḳ bir ḫoşca taḳrîre
Çü men taḥṣīl-i ‘ilme etmedim devrân
Müyesser olmadı bir ḫatm-ile Ḳur’ân
Oḳudum pür-ġalaṭ bir iki cüz taḥḳīḳ
Ki ṭoġru tecvîde hem etmedim taṭbîḳ
Kitâbetde eḳallî eyledim taḥṣîl
Kemâliyle anı hem etmedim tekmîl
Aḥibbâya eger yazmış isem nâme
Oḳunmaḳdan müberrâ naḳş olup ḫâme
Ki ya‘nî eylerim ben cehlimi iẓhâr
Ḫaṭâdır eylemek noḳṣânımı inkâr
Ricâdır oḳuyan iḫvân-ı yârânım
Beni ma‘ẕûr ṭutup ‘afv ede noḳṣânım
İlâhî var ḳuṣūrum ḥadd-i bî-pâyân
Saña lâyıḳ ‘amel yoḳ bende hep ‘isyân
Yüzüm ṭutdum saña yâ Rabb’i giryânım
‘İnâyet eyle kim ġāyet perîşânım
Ne müşkildir edem ben ‘âlemi irşâd
Hemân sendendir ancaḳ ey ġanî imdâd
Meşîḫat kim ‘aceb ben kim edem da‘vâ
Ḳamu a‘lâ vü ednâdan benem ednâ
Ġurur hem ‘aceb olursa bende enfüsden
Ṣıġındım ẕâtıña ol şerr-i iblîsden
Ḥaḳīḳatde bilübem bir âvuç ḫâkim
Olup ḳaṭre menîden ben ki nâ-pâkim
Egerçi bende olsa tâ ki bir ḳuvvet
Ḥaḳīḳatde seniñdir ḳuvvet-i ḳudret
‘Aṭâ vü lüṭf vü iḥsânıñla ḳıl tevfîḳ
Cemi‘ taḳlîdimi yâ Rabbi ḳıl taḥḳīḳ
Rıżâ-yı bâbıña bend eyle kim ġaffâr
İki ‘âlemde tâ ki ḳılma şermen-dâr
Habîb’iñ Aḥmed’i râżı ḳılıp ver yol
Anıñ şer‘î şerîfi üzre ḳıl maḳbûl
Anıñ aṣḥâb-ı ezvâcın bize yâr et
Cemi‘ evlâdınıñ elṭâfın iẓhâr et

In English

1. Praise be to God, this composition is complete; the Lord gave me ease.

2. I am free of the outward sciences, having never studied them; but I have no teacher other than my master.

3. I did not succeed in writing a fine hand; I have no merit for elegant expression.

4. I did not spend my years in the pursuit of learning; it was not granted to me to complete the Qur'an even once.

5. I read one or two sections full of mistakes; nor did I apply correct recitation.

6. In writing I acquired the least; and that too I did not complete to perfection.

7. If I have written a letter to my friends, the trace of the pen has been beyond reading.

8. That is, I lay bare my ignorance; it is wrong to deny my deficiency.

9. It is my plea to my brothers and friends who read this: may they hold me excused and forgive my deficiency.

10. My God, my faults have a boundless measure; there is no deed in me worthy of You, all is rebellion.

11. O Lord, weeping I have turned my face to You; show me grace, for I am very wretched.

12. How hard it is to say I shall guide the world; O Rich One, help is from You alone.

13. Sheikhhood? Who am I, how strange, to claim it; of all the high and the low, I am the lowest.

14. If pride and vanity arise in me from myself, I have taken refuge in You from that evil of the devil.

15. In truth I know I am a handful of dust; come from a drop of seed, I am the impure one.

16. Even if there were some strength in me, in truth the strength of power is Yours.

17. By Your gift, kindness and bounty grant me success; O Lord, turn all my imitation into realisation.

18. O All-Forgiving, bind me to the pleasure of Your door, so that You do not put me to shame in the two worlds.

19. Make Your Beloved Ahmed pleased and give me the way; make me accepted upon his noble law.

20. Make his Companions and wives our friends; reveal the kindnesses of all his descendants.

Literary and Historical Commentary

In the Poet's Own Words

Şensöz's main ground for attributing the work to Süleyman Efendi is these twenty couplets, the part that introduces the author, headed in the edition “Bu bâb tercüme-i ḥâl-i mü'ellif-i faḳīr eş-Şeyḫ Süleymân Mir'âtu'llâh beyânındadır”, this section is on the account of the life of the poor author Sheikh Süleymân Mir'âtu'llâh. The heading plainly names the poet and his second pen name: “eş-Şeyh Süleymân Mir'âtu'llâh”. The edition gives the metre as four “Feûlün”; the lines, however, fit the shortened hezec pattern “Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün Fe‘ûlün”, and each couplet rhymes within itself.

Yet this “account of his life” tells no life story; information such as his birthplace, his master or his coming to Amasya is not here. The section is a declaration of humility: the poet says he did not study the exoteric sciences, had no teacher but his master, never completed the Qur'an even once, did not apply proper recitation, and wrote a hand too poor to be read, and he asks the pardon of his brothers who read him. The thirteenth couplet seems to refuse sheikhhood too: “Meşîḫat kim ‘aceb ben kim edem da‘vâ”, sheikhhood? who am I, how strange, to claim it.

This confession clashes with Hüsameddin's description of him as “zî-ilm ü edeb”, a man of learning and refinement. Self-abasement by the author is a common formula in Sufi texts; but the concreteness of the details might also suggest that the poet really had no madrasa education. His defence, in the book's section on knowledge of the heart, that outward knowledge is not a condition of sheikhhood joins these two readings. The close sends greetings to the Prophet, his Companions, his wives and his descendants.

Bibliography

Online sources