Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eight-syllable syllabic metre

Severim sultan Cemal’i
Eller ne derse desinler
Gönlümden gitmez hayali
Eller ne derse desinler
Bağlanmışım bir Allaha
Nesli hünkar Hamdullah’a
Gönül verdim Feyzullah’a
Eller ne derse desinler
Ali Hadi secdegahım
Bülbül gibi artar ahım
Balım Sultan padişahım
Eller ne derse desinler
Gönlüm bir sultana bağlı
Aşk elinden ciğer dağlı
Lale sümbül bahar çağı
Eller ne derse desinler
Sırrım söylemem naş’a
Demem bu hali kallaşa
Kul oldum nesl-i bektaşa
Eller ne derse desinler
Gönlümü sevdaya saldım
Şükür bir ikrarda kaldım
Muhabbet bahrine daldım
Eller ne derse desinler
Bülbül gibi kılıp ahı
Şükür buldum doğru rahı
Severim bir şahinşahı
Eller ne derse desinler
Yıl bin üç yüz sekiz oldu
Vakit tamam çile doldu
Gönül maksudunu buldu
Eller ne derse desinler
SEFİL SIDKI düştüm zara
Gönül arzu çeker yara
Vasıl oldum bir didara
Eller ne derse desinler

In English

1. I love Sultan Cemal; let people say what they will. His image never leaves my heart; let people say what they will.

2. I am bound to the one God; to Hamdullah of the Hünkâr's line, and I gave my heart to Feyzullah; let people say what they will.

3. Ali Hâdî is the place where I bow; my sighs grow like the nightingale's. Balım Sultan is my sovereign; let people say what they will.

4. My heart is bound to a sultan; my liver is seared by the hand of love. Tulip, hyacinth, the season of spring; let people say what they will.

5. I do not tell my secret to the uninitiated; I do not speak of this state to the treacherous. I have become the servant of the line of Bektaş; let people say what they will.

6. I set my heart loose in love; thanks be, I have kept to one vow. I plunged into the sea of fellowship; let people say what they will.

7. Sighing like a nightingale, thanks be, I have found the right path. I love a king of kings; let people say what they will.

8. The year has come to one thousand three hundred and eight; the time is complete, the çile fulfilled. The heart has reached its desire; let people say what they will.

9. Wretched Sıdkı, I have fallen to moaning; the heart longs for the beloved. I have attained the face of a beloved; let people say what they will.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a semai of nine quatrains in the eight-syllable metre (the syllable count is ours). Every quatrain ends with the line "Eller ne derse desinler" (let people say what they will); in the first quatrain this line also appears as the second line. The first three lines of the quatrains rhyme among themselves ("Allaha, Hamdullah'a, Feyzullah'a"; "secdegahım, ahım, padişahım"; "bağlı, dağlı, çağı"; "naş'a, kallaşa, bektaşa"; "saldım, kaldım, daldım"; "ahı, rahı, şahinşahı"; "oldu, doldu, buldu"; "zara, yara, didara"). The pen name appears in the last quatrain as "Sefil Sıdkı". With its short metre and repeated refrain its form suits communal singing in the cem.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The deyiş is an open declaration of devotion to the çelebis of Hacıbektaş. "Sultan Cemal" is Cemaleddin Çelebi; in the second quatrain Hamdullah and Feyzullah, of the line of the Hünkâr Hacı Bektaş Veli, are named; in the third, Balım Sultan, regarded as the second pir of the Bektashi order, is called sovereign. Hamdullah Çelebi was exiled to Amasya after the Bektashi order was closed in 1826 and died there; the mention of his name shows Sıdkî counting back the line of çelebis to which he was attached. Whom "Ali Hadi" refers to is not certain; "Hâdî" is the epithet of the tenth of the Twelve Imams.

The refrain "let people say what they will" says that the dervish keeps his devotion in spite of criticism from outside. In the fifth quatrain he recalls that the secret is not to be told to the uninitiated, those who are not of the path, nor to the treacherous. The tulip, hyacinth and season of spring in the fourth quatrain describe the joy of union as springtime.

Historical Context

The eighth quatrain sets a date in the deyiş: in the year 1308 of the Hijra (1890-1891) "the time is complete, the çile fulfilled". According to Sıdkî's other deyiş he went to the lodge in 1293 at the age of twelve and received the pen name Sıdkı after fourteen years of service; adding fourteen years to 1293 leads to 1307-1308. The deyiş must therefore have been composed in the year the çile was completed and the pen name changed. According to Necdet Kurt, a few years later, in 1894, Sıdkî would settle in the village of Harız near Merzifon. Hamdullah Çelebi's exile to Amasya and his death there are told in the site's article on the tombs of Amasya.

Bibliography

Online sources