Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Ey erenler bu meydanda müşkülüm
Seçilmedi gitti bilmem ne haldir
Dosta gidem dedim bağlandı yolum
Açılmadı gitti bilmem ne haldir
Can ah çeker arzu kılar cananı
Dem be dem artmakta zar ü efganı
Hazırlandı amma gönül kervanı
Göçülmedi gitti bilmem ne haldir
Beller duman kış çevirdi yolumu
Balım Sultan sen bilirsin halimi
Dost aşkına doldurdular dolumu
İçilmedi gitti bilmem ne haldir
Bir ziya bulmuşum aşk çerağından
Can bülbülü çıkmaz dostun bağından
Secer bellerinden Yıldız Dağından
Geçilmedi gitti bilmem ne haldir
Sefil SIDKI abdal oldu yürüdü
Açılmadı dağlar duman bürüdü
Aşk derdinden çeşmim yaşı kurudu
Saçılmadı gitti bilmem ne haldir

In English

1. O saints, in this meydan my difficulty was never resolved; I do not know what state this is. I said I would go to the Friend, but my road was blocked; it never opened, I do not know what state this is.

2. The soul sighs and longs for the beloved; its laments and cries grow at every moment. The caravan of the heart was made ready, yet the journey was never made; I do not know what state this is.

3. Mist has wrapped the passes, winter has turned back my road; Balım Sultan, you know my state. For love of the Friend they filled my cup, yet it was never drunk; I do not know what state this is.

4. I have found a light from the lamp of love; the nightingale of the soul does not leave the Friend's garden. The Secer passes of the Yıldız Mountain could not be crossed; I do not know what state this is.

5. Wretched Sıdkı set out as an abdal; the mountains did not clear, mist covered them. From the pain of love the tears of my eyes have dried; they were never shed, I do not know what state this is.

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 end with the words "gitti bilmem ne haldir" (it never..., I do not know what state this is), and the words before them, "açılmadı, göçülmedi, içilmedi, geçilmedi, saçılmadı", carry the rhyme; in the first quatrain the second line, "Seçilmedi gitti bilmem ne haldir", is tied to the same pattern. The first three lines of the quatrains rhyme among themselves ("cananı, efganı, kervanı"; "yolumu, halimi, dolumu"; "çerağından, bağından, Dağından"; "yürüdü, bürüdü, kurudu"). The pen name appears in the last quatrain.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The deyiş tells of the distress of a dervish who wants to go to the Friend and whose road is closed by winter and mist. The caravan of the heart was made ready but the journey was never made, the cup was filled but never drunk; the words "I do not know what state this is" in every quatrain repeat again and again the helplessness of what did not come to pass. The appeal to Balım Sultan suggests that the place he wished to reach may be the Hacıbektaş lodge.

In the fourth quatrain a concrete place name appears: the Secer passes of the Yıldız Mountain. The Yıldız Mountain lies north of Sivas; it is geographically possible for a traveller from Harız to Hacıbektaş to pass near this mountain, but that the road followed this route is our conjecture. It should also be remembered that misty mountains and closed passes are often used in folk poetry as images of nature standing in the way of union. In the last quatrain the drying of the tears says that the grief has reached a state beyond even weeping.

Bibliography

Online sources