Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Gel beri sır verme nadana hara
Namert ile esrar söyleşilir mi
Muhabbet istersen sadık dost ara
Cinsi gayri ile huylaşılır mı
Cahil-ü gümrahın düşme izine
Bel bağlama muhanetin sözüne
Varma meclisine bakma yüzüne
Münkirin sohbeti dinleşilir mi
Münkir olan mal buldukça kudurur
Alemde adına ahmak dedirir
Cömert olan bir nan bulsa yedirir
Bahil ile altın paylaşılır mı
Er olanlar hali olmaz çilleden
Aşıklar Hak için geçti kelleden
Celale uğrarsın sakın silleden
Aslan ile oyun oynaşılır mı
Gel ey SIDKI mertler ile sürüşme
Haddini bil anka ile yarışma
Gerçeklerin cümbüşüne karışma
Deryanın dalgası anlaşılır mı

In English

1. Come here, do not give your secret to the ignorant and the base; can secrets be shared with the unmanly? If you want fellowship, seek a faithful friend; can one share a nature with one not of one's kind?

2. Do not follow in the steps of the ignorant and the misguided; do not rely on the word of the cowardly and the treacherous. Do not go to his gathering, do not look at his face; is the talk of the denier worth hearing?

3. The denier runs wild whenever he finds wealth; in the world he gets himself called a fool. The generous man, if he finds a crust of bread, shares it; can gold be shared with a miser?

4. The state of true men does not falter in the çile; lovers gave up their heads for God. Beware the slap, lest you meet His wrath; can one play games with a lion?

5. Come, O Sıdkı, do not rub against the brave; know your limit, do not race the Anka bird. Do not meddle in the revels of the true; can the waves of the sea be fathomed?

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a koşma of five quatrains in the eleven-syllable metre (the syllable count is ours). The last lines of the quatrains are questions ending in the suffix "-şılır mı" ("can one...?"): "söyleşilir, huylaşılır, dinleşilir, paylaşılır, oynaşılır, anlaşılır mı". The first quatrain has cross rhyme ("hara, ara"); in the others the first three lines rhyme among themselves ("izine, sözüne, yüzüne"; "kudurur, dedirir, yedirir"; "çilleden, kelleden, silleden"; "sürüşme, yarışma, karışma"). The pen name appears in the last quatrain.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The deyiş is a poem of counsel on whom to befriend and whom to keep away from. Every quatrain ends with a question whose answer is plain, and these questions come close to proverbs settled in the common tongue: secrets are not shared with the unmanly, gold is not shared with a miser, one does not play games with a lion. Words such as nadan, namert, muhanet, münkir and bahil (the ignorant, the unmanly, the treacherous, the denier and the miser) list the kinds of people from whom those of the path must keep away.

In the fourth quatrain the words turn to the true men: they do not falter in the çile, and lovers give their heads for God. In the last quatrain the minstrel turns the counsel on himself and tells himself to know his limit; racing the legendary Anka bird is the symbol of attempting a task beyond one's strength. The waves of the sea in the last line say that the state of the true men cannot be grasped from outside.

Bibliography

Online sources