Tags
Gölpınarlı, Kul Himmet, mahlas, Muhlis Akarsu, Nelly Furtado, Pertev Naili Boratav, Ruhi Su, Translation
This song is also known as Allah Allah desem gelsen. My translation is based on the text collected from Ali İzzet Özkan by Pertev Naili Boratav and included in Boratav and Gölpınarlı’s 1943 book on Pir Sultan Abdal. It rather stands out awkwardly as a Pir Sultan piece being in the form of a conversation (söyleşi) on the theme of transformations – folk theme common throughout European folkore (The Two Magicians being the most well known English version). However it does bring in some suggestions of mystical themes, which might be why Ali İzzet attributed it Pir Sultan. We know from İlhan Başgöz that Ali İzzet was readily prepared to attribute deyiş to Pir Sultan if he thought them appropriate. Halil Atılgan in his book Türkülerin İsyanı observes that it was also collected in the eastern Anatolian Iğdır region where the version is attributed to Kul Himmet Üstadım which is also surprising as Kul Himmet Üstadım is generally associated with the Sivas-Divriği region. The attributions at the very least suggest it is a lyric favoured among Alevis. Also, İbrahim Aslanoğlu in his book on Kul Himmet Üstadım (1976) does not include this text. As can be noted from Atılgan’s book, the TRT ‘official’ repertoire version does not include a şah beyit (mahlas) at all and manifests as a somewhat less interesting and simple türkü.
The recorded versions of this song by Muhlis Akarsu and Ruhi Su (who recorded the song in 1971 on his first LP Seferberlik Türküleri) change the opening line from Bülbül olsam varsam gelsen to Allah Allah desem gelsem, which does fit a little more logically with the following line Hakkın divânına dursam to present an opening reading “If I come and repeat Allah Allah/If I stand in the presence of God”. I have given the Turkish text and based my translation, however, on the version as presented in Boratav and Gölpınarlı although it retains is some confusing regionalisms, such as alma for elma, şahan for şahin, yanıl for yanal and çövmem for çöven. The final verses present the most problems however. The line Ben bir Azrail olsam (If I am the Angel of Death) seems corrupt, certainly for a Pir Sultan Abdal lyric! This song is an 8 syllable koşma yet this line only contains 7 syllables. This can be fudged, as Ruhi Su does, by inserting a spurious syllable – not uncommon practice – to make Azrail, Azırail. Muhlis Akarsu’s solution seems more satisfying. Akarsu sings Ben bir can alıcı olsam (If I am a receiver of souls). The second last line containing the mahlas is also problematic. The printed version has bulsa (if he/she finds) which doesn’t make a lot of sense in the context; and other sources, including the recorded versions have bulsan (if you find) which is more consistent and logical. It does put the mahlas into the position of an object rather than the subject, which does happen, but is somewhat uncommon. In this reading the accusative ending (-ı) is lacking, however that is a very common practice in folk lyrics. The use of the form üstadın (your master) in this line suggests this is not part of the mahlas and this form is certainly not associated with Pir Sultan; however it does suggest why the attribution mentioned above may have been made to Kul Himmet Üstadım.
Finally, I should mention the controversy over the use of Muhlis Akarsu’s recording by Nelly Furtado on her song Wait for You. On one level it would be nice to think the likes of Ms Furtado or the song’s producer DJ Timbaland have the curiosity, interest and good taste to investigate the work of master Alevi aşık-s and musicians like Akarsu. It is rather unfortunate however that it appears that such interest does not extend to the good grace and good intent of acknowledging such sources, traditions and artists. It would seem to be a position of arrogance to think that Muhlis Akarsu is just some ‘obscure’ musician and that no one would notice or care about such self-serving use. Besides the generally shabby approach of pop music muscle and identities, the real issue, if I understand correctly, would be the actual sample they used from Muhlis Akarsu’s recording Ya Dost Ya Dost, a selection of recordings issued by Kalan Müzik in 1994 (see the English language report from the Turkish online newspaper Today’s Zaman – only available now since the paper was shut down in July 2016 thanks to the Internet Archive). I believe the original recording of the song was on Akarsu’s album Kalk Gidelim Deli Gönül though I don’t know the date of its release, but judging by the sound I would say some time in the late 1980s, possibly 1987. Ruhi Su recorded the song earlier (1971) with much the same musical phrase; and the song is, or course, essentially traditional and in the public domain.
Pir Sultan Abdal: Bülbül olsam varsam gelsem
Translation: Paul Koerbin
If I am a nightingale if I approach and come
If I stand in the presence of God
If I am a rosy red apple
If I sprout on your branch, what do you say?
If you are a rosy red apple
If you come to sprout on my branch
If I am a silver clad crook staff
If I draw and strike a blow, what do you say?
If you are a sliver clad crook staff
If you come to draw and strike a blow
If I am a handful of maize
If I am scattered on the ground, what do you say?
If you are a handful of maize
If you come to be scattered on the ground
If I am a beautiful grey partridge
If I gather up bit after bit, what do you say?
If you are a beautiful grey partridge
If you come to gather up bit after bit
If I am a young falcon bird
If I seize and steal you off, what do you say?
If you are a young falcon bird
If you come to seize and steal me off
If I am a shower of sleet
If I break your wing, what do you say?
If you are a shower of sleet
If you come to break my wing
If I am a wild nor’easter wind
If I spurn and disperse, what do you say?
If you are a wild nor’easter wind
If you come to spurn and disperse
If I have a great sickness
If I lie down in your way, what do you say?
If you have a great sickness
If you come to lie down in my way
If I am the Angel of Death
If I take your soul, what do you say?
If you are the Angel of Death
If you come to take my soul
If I am a subject destined for heaven
If I enter into heaven, what do you say?
If you are a subject destined for heaven
If you come to enter into heaven
If you find your master Pir Sultan
If we enter in company together, what do you say?
———————————————————————————————————–
Original text from Pir Sultan Abdal by Gölpınarlı and Boratav (1943)
Bülbül olsam varsam gelsem
Hakkın divânına dursam
Ben bir yanıl alma olsam
Dalında bitsem ne dersin
Sen bir yanıl alma olsan
Dalımda bitmeye gelsen
Ben bir gümüş çövmen olsam
Çeksem indirsem ne dersin
Sen bir gümüş çövmen olsan
Çekip indirmeye gelsen
Ben bir avuç darı olsam
Yere saçılsam ne dersin
Sen bir avuç darı olsan
Yere saçılmaya gelsen
Ben bir güzel keklik olsam
Bir bir toplasam ne dersin
Sen bir güzel keklik olsan
Bir bir toplamaya gelsin
Ben bir yavru şahan olsam
Kapsam kaldırsam ne dersin
Sen bir yavru şahan olsan
Kapıp kaldırmaya gelsen
Ben bir sulu sepken olsam
Kanadın kırsam ne dersin
Sen bir sulu sepken olsan
Kanadım kırmaya gelsen
Ben bir deli poyraz olsam
Tepsem dağıtsam ne dersin
Sen bir deli poyraz olsan
Tepip dağıtmaya gelsen
Ben bir ulu hasta olsam
Yoluna yatsam ne dersin
Sen bir ulu hasta olsan
Yoluma yatmaya gelsen
Ben bir Azrâil olsam
Canını alsam ne dersin
Sen bir Azrâil olsan
Canımı almaya gelsen
Ben bir cennetlik kul olsam
Cennete girsem ne dersin
Sen bir cennetlik kul olsan
Cennete girmeye gelsen
Pir Sultan üstadın bulsa(n)
Bilece girsek ne dersin
Muhlis Akarsu was prolific in his composition and recordings (in the pre-CD days) and fortunately many have been subsequently released on CD. The more I listen too these recordings, both solo and as part of the Muhabbet series, the more his brilliance is evident. This deyiş is from his last recording prepared shortly before he was killed in Sivas on 2 July 1993. The album was released after the Sivas events with the title Sivas Ellerinda Ömrüm Çalınır which includes the recording of that re-written version of the Pir Sultan Abdal deyiş performed by Arif Sağ (see 
Have been analysing a performance by Tolga Sağ that I recorded at the 2002 Pir Sultan Abdal Festival in Banaz. The festival that year took place over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd June. Sağ did two performances, the first on the Saturday was an hour long performance and the second on the Sunday was a half hour performance. I am studying the first, longer performance most specifically. The work so far has been trying to identify all the songs performed. The set consisted of the following deyiş and türkü.
Aşık İbreti is someone I would like to have met. His no nonsense plain speaking is so engaging – and, one thinks, quite courageous. His language is simple and his is message clear. İbreti’s real name was Hıdır Gürel and he was born in 1920 in the Sarız region of Kayseri. In 1967 we was caught up in attacks against Alevis in Elbistan. A working man, maker and seller of musical instruments and miner, he died in 1976. Musa Eroğlu, the great singer and bağlama player from Mut – often called the modern Karacaoğlan – is something of a champion of İbreti’s lyrics. He recorded the genuinely magnificent İlme değer verdim (Gördümde geldim) on his recording Yolver Dağlar and recently contributed İbreti’s Aşkın kabesi (İnsanlığa hizmet ibadetimdir) to the remarkable recording initiative by Kalan Music called Kızılbaş. Dertli Divani has also recorded the work of İbreti including Hakikat denildi erkânımıza on his 2000 masterwork Serçeşme. İbreti’s poems were published in 1996 in the book titled İlmer Değer Verdim by Adil Ali Atalay (Vaktidolu) whose publishing house, Can Yayınları, has contributed so much to the dissemination of Alevi culture.
This book, simply titled Pir Sultan Abdal, was the second major work on Pir Sultan. It was published in 1943, 14 years after Ergun’s monograph, by the Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi in Ankara. The book was written and prepared by Abdülbâkî Gölpınarlı and Pertev Naili Boratav and is a major advance on Ergun’s book. Firstly it brings the literary historian (Gölpınarlı) and folklorist (Boratav) together. Most interesting is the work of Boratav who travelled in the Sivas region in 1939, including to Banaz, to undertake field work to collect songs and legends. Much that is in this book remains the foundation for our understanding of Pir Sultan. It includes around 136 song texts, but has a commentary of considerable substance. It also includes an index, glossary (lûgatçe) and some indication of the source of the text. A number of the texts come from Ergun, but there are also the texts collected by the great Sivas aşık Ali İzzet Özkan (1902-1981) mostly from the Şarkışla area from other aşık-s including Aşık Sabri and Aşık Veysel among others. The book is 198 pages in length and is bound in similar plain, soft cardboard to that of the earlier book by Ergun. As with the Ergun book, the printing is excellent. An expanded edition of the book was published nearly half a century later in 1991.
The earliest monograph on Pir Sultan Abdal was the book by Sadettin Nüzhet (Ergun). Ergun’s adopted surname (soyadı) does not appear on the original 1929 edition of the book. It is titled in full: XVIIinci asır Sazşairlerinden Pir Sultan Abdal (Pir Sultan Abdal of the 17th century era minstrels (literally saz poets)) and is published by the Istanbul Evkaf Matbaası in soft brown cardboard covers. It is the 3rd volume in a series edited by Mehmet Köprülü (Köprülüzade Mehmet Fuat) titled Türk Sazşairleri âit metinler ve tetkikler (texts and researches regarding the Turkish saz poets), the first two volumes being devoted to the poets Gevheri and Erzurumlu Emrah. The book is 77 pages and includes the texts of 105 poems along with 6 notated melodies. The introductory matter by Ergun constitutes only about 15 pages, albeit of considerable value. Original price was 60 kuruş.
One of the most evocative of Pir Sultan’s lyrics; especially when sung to the beautiful melody with which it is associated. 
PİR SULTAN ABDAL and me 