Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Gel beri serseri gezme cihanda
Fark eyle mürşidi var kapısına
Terk eyle benliği kalma gümanda
Özünü teslim et pir kapısına
Teslim et özünü illallah eyle
Hakkı tesbih edip zikrullah eyle
Tecella temanna eyvallah eyle
Asıl Mansur gibi dar kapısına
Dar-ı Mansur olup kıl Hakka kıyam
Erenler ceminde bulasın makam
Dört kapı üzere mürşide selam
Biatını yetir pir kapısına
Kim ki fehmeyledi şahlar şahını
Bunca müminlerin kıblegahını
Cahiller göremez Hak dergahını
Kamiller dizildi er kapısına
İblis ar eyledi sücuttan kaçtı
Lanetin halkası boynuna geçti
Şeytana uyanlar dergahtan düştü
Onları sürdüler nar kapısına
SIDKI bu sözlerim alana öğüt
Gönül kervanını dergaha yürüt
Evladı Hünkardan var bir deman tut
Sakın hizmet etme kör kapısına

In English

1. Come here, do not roam the world aimlessly; discern the guide and go to his door. Leave your selfhood, do not stay in doubt; surrender your self at the door of the pir.

2. Surrender your self and say "illallah"; glorify God and remember Him. Accept His manifestation and say "eyvallah"; stand truly, like Mansur, at the door of the dâr.

3. Taking Mansur's stand at the dâr, rise before God; may you find a station in the cem of the saints. Greet the guide according to the four gates; bring your allegiance to the door of the pir.

4. Whoever has understood the king of kings, the qibla of so many believers... The ignorant cannot see the lodge of God; the perfected have lined up at the door of the true man.

5. Iblis was too proud to prostrate himself and fled; the ring of the curse was put around his neck. Those who follow Satan fell from the lodge; they were driven to the door of fire.

6. Sıdkı says: these words of mine are counsel for whoever takes them; drive the caravan of the heart to the lodge. Hold the skirt of one of the Hünkâr's descendants; beware of serving at the door of the blind.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a koşma of six quatrains in the eleven-syllable metre (the syllable count is ours). The last lines of the quatrains end with the redif "kapısına" (to the door of), and the words before it, "var, pir, dar, pir, er, nar, kör", carry the rhyme; in the first quatrain the second line is also tied to this redif. The first three lines of the quatrains rhyme among themselves ("illallah, zikrullah, eyvallah" with the redif "eyle"; "kıyam, makam, selam"; "şahını, kıblegahını, dergahını"; "kaçtı, geçti, düştü"; "öğüt, yürüt, tut"). The pen name appears in the last quatrain. The first line of the fourth quatrain stands so in the source, passing to the second line before the sentence is completed.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The deyiş is a poem of counsel and invitation that tells one who wishes to enter the path what to do step by step: recognise the guide, leave the self, practise remembrance, stand at the dâr like Mansur, greet according to the four gates and bring one's allegiance to the pir. The dâr is the place in the Alevi-Bektashi cem where the seeker stands when giving his vow or giving account, and it takes its name from the gallows of Hallaj-i Mansur, hanged for saying "I am the Truth". The "four gates" are those of sharia, the order, gnosis and truth.

In the fifth quatrain Iblis, who refused to bow before Adam, is recalled; the end of those driven from the lodge for their pride is the fire. In the last quatrain the deyiş is tied to the çelebis of Hacıbektaş: the line "Hold the skirt of one of the Hünkâr's descendants" counsels attaching oneself to one of the line of Hacı Bektaş. "The door of the blind" is the door of those who cannot see the truth.

Bibliography

Online sources