Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

İlâhi Mustafa Mürteza hakkı
İnsan-ı Kâmilden ayırma bizi
Yüz-i yirmi dört bin Enbiya hakkı
İnsan-ı Kâmilden ayırma bizi
Desti girimizdir İmam-ı Hasan
Hüseyn-i kerbelâ şah-ı şehid’an
İmam Zeynel, İmam Bakır elaman
İnsan-ı kâmilden ayırma bizi
Caferi Sadık cümlemizin serveri
Musa Kâzım, Rıza yolun rehberi
Medet mürvet Taki, Naki, Askeri
İnsan-ı kâmilden ayırma bizi
Muhammed Mehdi’dir şah-ı velâyet
İşitir cihanı nuru hidayet
Niyazımız budur her dem her saat
İnsan-ı kâmilden ayırma bizi
SIDKI’yam dünyaya eyleme heves
Ruh pervaz edep de kalır bu kafes
Ya ilâhi evvel ahir son nefes
İnsan-ı kâmilden ayırma bizi

In English

1. O God, for the sake of Mustafa and Murtaza Ali, do not part us from the perfect human being. For the sake of the one hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets, do not part us from the perfect human being.

2. He who holds our hand is Imam Hasan; the king of martyrs is Hüseyin of Karbala. Imam Zeynel, Imam Bakır, mercy; do not part us from the perfect human being.

3. Cafer-i Sadık is the leader of us all; Musa Kâzım and Rıza are the guides of the path. Taki, Naki and Askerî, help and grace; do not part us from the perfect human being.

4. Muhammad Mahdi is the king of sainthood; the light of guidance hears the whole world. This is our prayer at every moment, every hour: do not part us from the perfect human being.

5. I am Sıdkı; do not long for the world; the soul flies off and this cage remains. O God, at the first, at the last, at the final breath, do not part us from the perfect human being.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a düvaz-ı imam of five quatrains, composed in koşma form and in the eleven-syllable metre (the syllable count is ours). The compilation site gives the deyiş under the title "Duaz-ı İmam". Every quatrain ends with the line "İnsan-ı Kâmilden ayırma bizi" (do not part us from the perfect human being); in the first quatrain this line also appears as the second line. The first three lines of the quatrains rhyme among themselves ("Hasan, şehid'an, elaman"; "serveri, rehberi, Askeri"; "velâyet, hidayet, saat"; "heves, kafes, nefes"). The pen name appears in the last quatrain.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The düvaz-ı imam or düvazdeh imam is the genre of Alevi-Bektashi poetry that names the Twelve Imams and expresses devotion to them; it is recited by the zakirs in the cem. Sıdkî's düvaz too, after the Prophet Muhammad and Ali, names the imams in order: Hasan, Hüseyin, Zeynelâbidin, Bakır, Cafer-i Sadık, Musa Kâzım, Rıza, Taki, Naki, Askerî and Muhammad Mahdi. All twelve imams are fitted into four quatrains, and the fifth is given to the pen name and to the transience of the world.

The "perfect human being" of the refrain is, in Sufism, the person who has reached the highest degree of maturity; in Alevi-Bektashi belief this degree is seen in the imams and in the guides who continue their path. The prayer asks not to be parted from this perfect human being. The cage and the soul that flies away in the last quatrain are a familiar image of the body as the soul's temporary home.

Bibliography

Online sources