Original Arabic Text

Metre: the vāfir metre, mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün fe‘ûlün; the edition gives serî‘, and the pattern has been derived by us from the lines.

القَولُ فِي الأبحاثِ المُتَفَرِّقَة
el-Ḳavlu fi’l-ebḥās̱i’l-müteferriḳa (on miscellaneous questions)

وَنَذْكُرُ كُلَّ أصْحابٍ بِخَيرٍ
وَقَدْحُهُمْ عَنِ الإنصافِ خالِي

Ve neẕkuru külle aṣḥābin bi-ḫayrin
Ve ḳadḥuhüm ‘ani’l-inṣāfi ḫālī

وَنَحْكُمُ بِالتَّنَعُّمِ فِي جِنانٍ
عَلَى عَشَرَةِ أصحابٍ وَآلِ

Ve naḥkumu bi’t-tena‘‘umi fī cinānin
‘Alā ‘aşerati aṣḥābin ve ālī

وَمَسْحُ الخُفِّ مُختارٌ لَدَينا
فَصَدِّقْ ذاكَ وَاعْمَلْ يا أهلَ خالِ

Ve mesḥu’l-ḫuffi muḫtārun ledeynā
Fe-ṣaddıḳ ẕāke ve’‘mel yā ehle ḫālī

وَلَمْ يَحْرُمْ نَبِيذُ جِرارٍ أصلًا
عَلَيهِ أجمَعُوا زُمَرَ الأهالِي

Ve lem yaḥrum nebīẕu cirārin aṣlen
‘Aleyhi ecme‘ū zümera’l-ehālī

وَلا يَصِلُ الوَلِيُّ إلَى مَقامِ
النُّبُوَّةِ فَاسْتَمِعْ يا ذا الأثالِ

Ve lā yaṣılu’l-veliyyu ilā maḳāmi
En-nübüvveti fe’stemi‘ yā ẕe’l-es̱ālī

وَلَمْ يَسْقُطْ مِنَ العُقَلاءِ أمرُ
الإلهِ وَنَهْيُهُ فِي كُلِّ بالِ

Ve lem yesḳuṭ mine’l-‘uḳalā’i emru
El-ilāhi ve nehyuhū fī külli bālī

وَقَدْ حُمِلَ النُّصُوصُ عَلَى الظَّواهِرِ
فَلا تَكُ مِنْ أولِي ظَنٍّ وَخالِ

Ve ḳad ḥumile’n-nuṣūṣu ‘ale’ẓ-ẓavāhir
Fe-lā tekü min ülī ẓannin ve ḫālī

فَمَيلٌ مِنْ مَعانِيها الظَّواهِرْ
إلَى ما يَدَّعِيهِ بَعضُ قالِ

Fe-meylun min me‘ānīhe’ẓ-ẓavāhir
İlā mā yedde‘īhi ba‘żu ḳālī

فَإلحادٌ بِإضلالٍ وَكُفْرٍ
تَحَرَّزُوا وَاجْتَنِبْ مِن ذا المَمالِ

Fe-ilḥādun bi-iżlālin ve küfrin
Teḥarrazū ve’ctenib min ẕe’l-memālī

وَاسْتِحْلالُ كُلِّ الذَّنْبِ كُفْرٌ
كَذا تَحْقِيقُ ذَنْبٍ فِي المَآلِ

Ve’stiḥlālu külli’ẕ-ẕenbi küfrun
Keẕā taḥḳīḳu ẕenbin fi’l-me’ālī

وَاسْتِهزاءُ شَرْعٍ عَينُ كُفْرٍ
مَعاذَ اللهِ مِنْ شَرِّ السَّعالِي

Ve’stihzā’u şer‘in ‘aynu küfrin
Me‘āẕa’llāhi min şerri’s-se‘ālī

وَتَصْدِيقٌ لِكاهِنٍ حِينَ يُنْبِئْ
مِنَ الغَيبِ فَكُفْرٌ يا خِلالِ

Ve taṣdīḳun li-kāhinin ḥīne yünbi’
Mine’l-ġaybi fe-küfrun yā ḫilālī

وَما المَعْدُومُ شَيئًا ذا ثُبُوتٍ
وَقائِلُهُ عَرا مِنْ اعْتِدالِ

Ve me’l-ma‘dūmu şey’en ẕā s̱übūtin
Ve ḳā’iluhū ‘arā mini’‘tidālī

مِنَ الدَّعَواتِ وَالصَّدَقاتِ نَفْعٌ
لِأمْواتٍ بِلا قِيلٍ وَقالِ

Mine’d-da‘avāti ve’ṣ-ṣadaḳāti nef‘un
Li-emvātin bi-lā ḳīlin ve ḳālī

يُجِيبُ اللهُ دَعَواتٍ بِصِدْقٍ
وَيَقْضِي حاجَةً لِذَوِي السُّؤالِ

Yücību’llāhu da‘avātin bi-ṣıdḳın
Ve yaḳżī ḥācete li-ẕevi’s-su’ālī

وَإخْبارُ النَّبِيِّ الحَقِّ حَقٌّ
مِنْ أشْراطِ القِيامَةِ يا ابنَ خالِي

Ve iḫbāru’n-nebiyyi’l-ḥaḳḳı ḥaḳḳun
Min eşrāṭı’l-ḳıyāmeti yā’bne ḫālī

كَدابَّةٍ ثُمَّ يَأجُوجٍ وَمَأجُوجِ
وَدَجّالٍ شَقِيٍّ ذِي خَبالِ

Ke-dābbetin s̱umme Ye’cūcin ve Me’cūci
Ve Deccālin şaḳıyyin ẕī ḫabālī

وَمِنْ تِلْكَ الشُّرُوطِ نُزُولُ عِيسَى
مِنَ الأفلاكِ يا أهْلَ الشِّمالِ

Ve min tilke’ş-şurūṭı nüzūlu ‘Īsā
Mine’l-eflāki yā ehle’ş-şimālī

وَخامِسُها طُلُوعُ الشَّمْسِ غَرْبًا
فَصَدِّقْ ذاكَ وَاتْرُكْ أهْلَ خالِ

Ve ḫāmisuhā ṭulū‘u’ş-şemsi ġarben
Fe-ṣaddıḳ ẕāke ve’truk ehle ḫālī

وَمُجْتَهِدٌ فَقَدْ يُخْطِي اجْتِهادًا
وَطَورًا قَدْ يُصِيبُ بِلا اخْتِلالِ

Ve müctehidun fe-ḳad yuḫṭī’ctihāden
Ve ṭavran ḳad yuṣību bi-lā’ḫtilālī

وَرُسُلُ البَشَرِ أفْضَلُ مِنْ رَسُولِ
المَلائِكِ عِنْدَ رَبِّي ذِي الجَلالِ

Ve rusulu’l-beşeri efżalu min resūli
El-melā’iki ‘inde rabbī ẕi’l-celālī

وَرُسُلُهُمْ أفاضِلُ مِنْ عَوامِ
الخَلائِقِ فَاسْمَعُوا مِنِّي مَقالِي

Ve rusuluhüm efāżılu min ‘avāmi
El-ḫalā’iḳı fe’sme‘ū minnī maḳālī

وَعامُّ البَشَرِ أفْضَلُ مِنْ عَوامِ
المَلائِكِ فَاسْتَمِعْ يا ذا المَعالِي

Ve ‘āmmu’l-beşeri efżalu min ‘avāmi
El-melā’iki fe’stemi‘ yā ẕe’l-me‘ālī

In English

198. We speak well of all the Companions; to disparage them is devoid of fairness.

199. We hold that the ten Companions and the Prophet's family will enjoy bliss in the gardens of paradise.

200. Wiping over leather socks is the chosen view among us; affirm it and act on it, O man of eminence.

201. The date-wine made in jars (nabīdh) is in no way forbidden; the assemblies are agreed on this. (The edition's translation adds "non-intoxicating"; the Arabic line does not say so.)

202. No saint reaches the rank of prophethood; listen, O man of noble lineage.

203. God's command and prohibition never lapse from those who have reason, in any state. (Footnote: "in every state".)

204. The scriptural texts are taken in their outward sense; do not be among the people of conjecture and doubt. (Footnote: "ḫāl", doubt.)

205. To swerve from their outward meanings to what certain enemies of the truth allege

206. is heresy, with misleading and unbelief; beware, and keep away from this leaning. (Footnote: "memāl", inclination.)

207. To deem any sin lawful is unbelief, and so is belittling a sin in the end. (The print reads "taḥḳīḳ"; the edition's translation, "making light of sin by interpretation", fits a reading "taḥḳīr".)

208. Mockery of the sacred law is unbelief itself; God protect us from the evil of the ghouls. (Footnote: "se‘ālī" means wicked human souls.)

209. To believe a soothsayer when he tells of the unseen is unbelief, O my friend.

210. The non-existent is not a thing with real being; whoever says so has strayed from moderation.

211. Prayers and alms bring benefit to the dead, beyond all argument.

212. God answers prayers made in sincerity and fulfils the needs of those who ask.

213. What the true Prophet has told of the signs of the Hour is true, O my cousin:

214. such as the Beast, then Gog and Magog, and the wretched Antichrist, corrupt of mind.

215. Among those signs is the descent of Jesus from the heavens, O people of good character.

216. The fifth is the rising of the sun from the west; affirm it and leave the people of fancy. (The line admits two readings; the edition's translation takes "ehle ḫāl" as an address, "O generous one".)

217. A mujtahid may err in his reasoning, and at times he hits the mark without fault.

218. In the sight of my Lord of majesty the messengers of mankind are superior to the messengers of the angels.

219. And their messengers are superior to the common run of mankind; hear my words from me.

220. And the common run of mankind is superior to the common run of angels; listen, O man of high rank.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Leather Socks and Date-Wine in a Text of Creed

Wiping over leather socks and the ruling on date-wine made in jars do not at first sight seem to belong in a poem on belief; both are subjects for books of law. Yet they appear in the second and third couplets of this section. Wiping over leather socks is "the chosen view among us", and the reader is asked both to affirm it and to act on it; date-wine is in no way forbidden. Ünlüsoy and Asım think that, beyond the doctrines of God's oneness, prophethood and the return, Sa‘dī Çelebi included legal questions of this kind in order to answer problems that probably occupied the minds of Muslims of his day. In the Turkish of the date-wine couplet the word "non-intoxicating" has been added; the Arabic line sets no such condition, and the translation has drawn it from the context of the topic.

The Outward Sense of Scripture and the Bounds of Unbelief

The centre of gravity of the section is the question of how the scriptural texts are to be understood. They are taken in their outward sense; to depart from that sense and slide towards the meanings "certain enemies of the truth" allege is misleading heresy and unbelief. According to the editors, it is the Bāṭinīs who are criticised here indirectly; their name does not appear in the couplet. The attitudes that lead to unbelief are then listed one by one: deeming sin lawful, making light of sin, mocking the sacred law, believing a soothsayer who tells of the unseen. The couplet that mentions mockery of the law ends by seeking God's protection from the evil of the "se‘ālī". In the dictionary the word means ghouls; in a footnote it is interpreted as "wicked human souls". In this way a figure of dread is applied to people who mock religion.

This part is also connected with the earlier sections of the poem. That deeming sin lawful is unbelief was already said in the section on the hereafter; here the same ruling returns in a list alongside other attitudes. The ruling in the two hundred and second couplet that "a saint cannot reach the rank of prophethood" completes the ground laid in the passage on saintly marvels.

The Dead, the Hour, and Man and Angel

In the last part several independent rulings stand side by side. The non-existent is not a thing with real being. Prayers and alms benefit the dead; God accepts prayer made in sincerity. The signs of the Hour of which the Prophet told are true: the Beast, Gog and Magog, the Antichrist, the descent of Jesus from heaven and, fifth, the rising of the sun from the west. A mujtahid may err, and at times he hits the mark. In counting the signs Sa‘dī gives a number; "ve ḫāmisuhā", the fifth of them, marks the limit of the list.

The order of excellence between humans and angels is the final word. The messengers of mankind are superior to the messengers of the angels, the angels' messengers to ordinary humans, and ordinary humans to ordinary angels. Nasafī's treatise too, as Yavuz presents it, ends with the order of excellence between angels and humans. Sa‘dī too has come to the last sentence of his source and ended the topics of belief there; all that remains is his own conclusion.

Bibliography

Academic studies

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