Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Ayrılık dolusun aldım destime
Dostlar himmet eylen gidelim bugün
Hasret kaldım yaranıma dostuma
Dostlar himmet eylen gidelim bugün
Vücud yaralandı sağlanmak olmaz
Sair ateşlere dağlanmak olmaz
Gönül cüş eyledi eğlenmek olmaz
Dostlar himmet eylen gidelim bugün
Ayrılık firkatı düştü bu cana
Kavuşmak isterim kaşı kemana
Hasretteyim eşe dosta yarana
Dostlar himmet eylen gidelim bugün
Çekerim firkatı yanarım nara
Genç yaşımda çok hal geldi bu sere
Sekiz aydır hasret kaldım o yara
Dostlar himmet eylen gidelim bugün
Eşinden aynlan aşık del’olur
Akar gözlerimin yaşı sel olur
Böyle ayrılana bir gün gel olur
Dostlar himmet eylen gidelim bugün
Hasretim pek bu aylarda bu yılda
Nice bir gezeyim şu gurbet elde
Bizi unutmayın duada dilde
Dostlar himmet eylen gidelim bugün
Biçare PERVANE gurbette kaldı
Şu aşkın dertleri sinemi deldi
Aylar tamam oldu çileler doldu
Dostlar himmet eylen gidelim bugün

In English

1. I have taken the cup of separation in my hand; friends, grant your blessing, let us go today. I long for my companion, my friend; friends, grant your blessing, let us go today.

2. My body is wounded, it cannot heal now; nor can it be cauterised with other fires. The heart has surged, there is no lingering now; friends, grant your blessing, let us go today.

3. The pain of separation has fallen on this soul; I long to be united with the one whose brows are a bow. I yearn for my kin, my friends, my companions; friends, grant your blessing, let us go today.

4. I bear the pain of separation, I burn in the fire; in my youth many trials have come upon this head. For eight months I have longed for that beloved; friends, grant your blessing, let us go today.

5. A lover parted from his mate goes mad; the tears of my eyes flow and become a flood. One who has parted thus will one day return; friends, grant your blessing, let us go today.

6. These months, this year, my longing has grown great; how long am I to wander in this foreign land? Do not forget us in your prayers and on your lips; friends, grant your blessing, let us go today.

7. Helpless Pervane has stayed on in exile; the pains of love have pierced my breast. The months are complete, the ordeals (çile) are fulfilled; friends, grant your blessing, let us go today.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a koşma of seven quatrains in the eleven-syllable metre (the syllable count is ours). The last line of every quatrain repeats "Dostlar himmet eylen gidelim bugün" (friends, grant your blessing, let us go today); in the first quatrain this line also appears as the second line. The first three lines of the quatrains rhyme among themselves ("sağlanmak, dağlanmak, eğlenmek" with the redif "olmaz"; "cana, kemana, yarana"; "nara, sere, yara"; "del'olur, sel olur, gel olur"; "yılda, elde, dilde"; "kaldı, deldi, doldu"). The pen name appears in the last quatrain as "Pervane", Sıdkî's first pen name.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The deyiş is a poem of exile and of longing to return. The speaker is a young dervish: he says "in my youth many trials have come upon this head", tells that for eight months he has longed for a beloved, and asks his friends for himmet, spiritual support, to set out. The "cup of separation" reverses the image of the cup of fellowship that passes round in the cem; here the cup that is drunk is separation. The line "nor can it be cauterised with other fires" in the second quatrain says that no other sorrow can touch one who burns with the fire of love.

The words "The months are complete, the ordeals are fulfilled" in the last quatrain recall the çile, the period a dervish spends in service on the Alevi-Bektashi path. From whom or from where the speaker has been parted is not said openly; the "beloved" may be a guide, a lodge or a loved one.

Historical Context

Pervane is the pen name Sıdkî used from the time he went to the Hacıbektaş lodge at the age of twelve until, after fourteen years of service, he received the pen name Sıdkı from Cemaleddin Çelebi. The deyiş must therefore date from this early period. According to the life story on the compilation site, two years after going to the lodge Pervane returned home for a short while; whether the exile and eight months of longing in the deyiş are connected with one of these separations is not known, and this connection is our own conjecture.

Bibliography

Online sources