Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Lamekan elinden kan’a getirdin
Ya Rabbena şükür elhamdülillah.
Hayat verdin bu cihana getirdin
Ya Rabbana şükür elhamdülillah
On iki yaşımda aşka düşürdün
Biryan ettin bu sinemi pişirdin
Kanat verdin nice dağlar aşırdın
Ya Rabbena şükür elhamdülillah
Sürdüm yüzlerimi ulu dergaha
Dergahta oturan gül yüzlü şaha
Dönmüşem yönümü ol kıblegaha
Ya Rabbena şükür elhamdülillah
Sene bin iki yüz doksan üçünde
İçirdiler aşk badesin düşümde
Bir güzelin sevdası var başımda
Ya Rabbena şükür elhamdülillah
Ayal verdip, evlat verdin, zat verdin
Kılıç verdin, kalkan verdin, at verdin
Her bir dileğimi iki kat verdin
Ya Rabbena şükür elhamdülillah
Biri üç yüz kırk oldu tarihi hicret
Kırk yedi yıl kıldım mürşide hizmet
Şeyh Sultan Feyzullah eyledi himmet
Ya Rabbena şükür elhamdülillah
Cemaleddin hünkar dil-i şadıma.
İrşad ile SIDKİ dedi adıma
Hasılı yetirdin her muradıma
Ya Rabbena şükür elhamdülillah

In English

1. From the realm of placelessness You brought me into being; O our Lord, thanks be, praise be to God. Giving me life, You brought me into this world; O our Lord, thanks be, praise be to God.

2. In my twelfth year You made me fall in love; You burned this breast and seared it through. You gave me wings and carried me over many mountains; O our Lord, thanks be, praise be to God.

3. I laid my face on the great lodge, before the rose-faced king who sits in the lodge. I turned my face to that qibla; O our Lord, thanks be, praise be to God.

4. In the year one thousand two hundred and ninety-three they gave me the cup of love to drink in my dream; the love of a beauty is in my head. O our Lord, thanks be, praise be to God.

5. You gave me a wife, You gave me children, You gave me lineage; You gave me sword, shield and horse. Every wish of mine You granted twofold; O our Lord, thanks be, praise be to God.

6. The date of the Hijra has come to one thousand three hundred and forty; for forty-seven years I served my guide. Sheikh Sultan Feyzullah bestowed his favour; O our Lord, thanks be, praise be to God.

7. The Hünkâr Cemaleddin, gladdening my heart, gave me guidance and called me by the name Sıdkı. In the end You brought me to every wish; O our Lord, thanks be, praise be to God.

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). Every quatrain ends with the line "Ya Rabbena şükür elhamdülillah" (O our Lord, thanks be, praise be to God); in the first quatrain this line is also repeated as the second line. The first three lines of the quatrains rhyme among themselves ("düşürdün, pişirdin, aşırdın"; "dergaha, şaha, kıblegaha"; "üçünde, düşümde, başımda"; "zat, at, kat" with the redif "verdin"; "hicret, hizmet, himmet"; "şadıma, adıma, muradıma"). The pen name appears in the last quatrain as "Sıdkî", from the mouth of Cemaleddin Çelebi. The word "verdip" in the fifth quatrain stands so in the source and has been read as "verdin". The word "kan'a" in the first line has been read as "kân", meaning being or existence.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The deyiş is a poem of thanksgiving that briefly sums up Sıdkî's life from creation to maturity. Coming from placelessness into being, falling in love at twelve, laying his face at the lodge, drinking the cup in a dream, receiving wife, children, horse and weapons, forty-seven years of service and the bestowal of his pen name follow one another. Drinking the cup of love in a dream in the fourth quatrain is a well-known example of the belief in the "badeli âşık", which ties the minstrel's inspiration to a cup drunk in a dream from the hand of a saint.

The "rose-faced king" in the third quatrain stands for the head of the lodge, and the "qibla" for the true place one turns towards. The listing of sword, shield and horse in the fifth quatrain may be a metaphor tied in Alevi-Bektashi poetry to Ali and to holy warriorship, or it may be read as a folk phrase saying that a dervish has been made whole in the world. The repetition of the refrain of thanks in every quatrain gives the deyiş the air of a prayer.

Historical Context

The deyiş gives two dates. The first is the year 1293 of the Hijra (1876-1877), when the cup of love was drunk. According to the life story on the compilation site, Pervane repeats in his deyiş that he went to the lodge in 1293 at the age of twelve, and his year of birth is therefore taken as 1281 (1865); the words "in my twelfth year" in the second quatrain agree with this reckoning. The second date is the year 1340 of the Hijra (1921-1922), given in the line "The date of the Hijra has come to one thousand three hundred and forty"; counting forty-seven years of service from 1293 leads to the same year. The deyiş must therefore have been composed in the last years of Sıdkî's life, a few years before the date of death, 1928, given by Necdet Kurt. The guides he served are named openly: the heads of the Hacıbektaş lodge Feyzullah Çelebi and his son Cemaleddin Çelebi.

Bibliography

Online sources