Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Bizim biatımız nesli Hünkâr’a
Nasip veren yeşil eli gözleriz
Biz boyun eğmeyiz kalbi kalleşe
Haktan zikreyleyen dili gözleriz
Biz şahlar şahından aldık fermanı
Beyhude gezmeyiz dağı ormanı
Her poyraza savurmayız harmanı
Pir elinden esen yeli gözleriz
Sırrımızı her cahile demeyiz
Ehlibeyt rahından geri dönmeyiz
Karga gibi daldan dala konmayız
Bülbülün konduğu gülü gözleriz
SIDKI ehlibeyte doğru rahımız
Velayet burcundan doğar mahımız
Sırrı Balım Sultan kıblegâhımız
Sulbten sulbe gelen nuru gözleriz

In English

1. Our allegiance is to the line of the Hünkâr; we watch for the green hand that grants one's portion. We do not bow to the treacherous of heart; we watch for the tongue that makes remembrance from God.

2. We received the decree from the king of kings; we do not roam mountain and forest in vain. We do not winnow our harvest in every north wind; we watch for the breeze that blows from the hand of the pir.

3. We do not tell our secret to every ignorant man; we do not turn back from the path of the Ahl al-Bayt. We do not hop from branch to branch like the crow; we watch for the rose on which the nightingale alights.

4. Sıdkı says: our path leads straight to the Ahl al-Bayt; our moon rises from the constellation of sainthood. Our qibla is the secret of Balım Sultan; we watch for the light that passes from loins to loins.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a koşma of four quatrains in the eleven-syllable metre (the syllable count is ours). The last lines of the quatrains end with the redif "gözleriz" (we watch for), and the words before it, "eli, dili, yeli, gülü, nuru", 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 ("fermanı, ormanı, harmanı"; "demeyiz, dönmeyiz, konmayız"; "rahımız, mahımız, kıblegâhımız"); in the first quatrain "Hünkâr'a" and "kalleşe" form a half rhyme. The pen name appears in the last quatrain. According to the compilation site's note, this deyiş was taken not from Muhsin Gül's book, the source of the other deyiş, but from another source, which is not named.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The deyiş is a declaration of the path spoken in the voice of "we", and it openly proclaims devotion to the çelebis of Hacıbektaş: allegiance is to the line of the Hünkâr, the secret comes from Balım Sultan, and the light passes from father to son, "from loins to loins". This last phrase expresses the belief that holiness continues by descent in the line of Hacı Bektaş and shows the ground of devotion to the çelebis. The "green hand" can be read as the hand of the guide who grants one's portion and whose hand is taken in initiation.

The deyiş is built on a series of contrasts: not bowing to the treacherous against watching for the tongue that remembers God, not winnowing one's harvest in every north wind against awaiting the breeze from the pir's hand, not hopping from branch to branch like the crow against the nightingale alighting on the rose. The contrast of crow and nightingale describes the fickle seeker who passes from one guide to another and the lover who stays bound to one path.

Bibliography

Online sources