This deyiş makes its first appearance in publication in Gölpınarlı and Boratav’s 1943 collection. It is one of the many deyiş collected by Aşık Ali İzzet Özkan, in this case from Hüseyin Efendi from Kale village in Divriği. This is one of the clearest most insistent of the kızılbaş ‘optative’ lyrics recounting the desires and hopes that the triumph of the Şah (Shah) and the coming of the Mehdi will bring. As is common in these lyrics, mention of the Shah evokes both the great Shah Ali (Şah-ı Merdan, although not with that epithet in this case) and the Safavid monarch, unnamed although the reference to Husrev with its connotation of the ‘great monarch’ Cyrus makes this clear. It is indeed a battle cry, mentioning holy war (gaza) and the sword of Ali, Zülfikar. The lyric has an almost ecstatic quality in its repetition the dervish’s cry for victory. The mahlas is slightly odd being in the genitive case although the following line dramatically shifts the lyric to a personal declaration. I have left ‘Rum’ untranslated in this version although it could be translated simply as ‘Anatolia’. Good stuff. This early draft translation leaves some terms untranslated that I will probably consider translations for later: bey (chief, noble), paşa (someone of high rank) and dede (devish leader, from the ehlibeyt line).
Pir Sultan Abdal: Hak’tan inayet olursa
Translation: Paul Koerbin
If by the grace of God
May the Shah come to Rum one day
In holy battle may he strike Zulfikar
Against the unbelievers one day
May all tribes come together
May they be slaves for the Shah
The destitute in the land of Rum
May they rejoice and smile one day
May they raise and bear the banner
May the Shah sit in Istanbul
May he return the captives from the Franks
May he release them to Horasan one day
May he gather together bey and pasha
May he sieze the four exremities
May the monarch march and enjoy
May Ali establish court one day
That the Shah’s rose was born
That abundant mercy rained down
That happy days were born
May such a world rejoice one day
My dede Mahdi must come
Ali must establish the court
He must break down injustice
May he wreak vengeance one day
Pir Sultan’s work is but a sigh
I am in expectation of the beautiful Shah
The administration that is sovereign
May he be its master one day
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Original Turkish text from Gölpınarlı and Boratav (1943)
Hak’tan inayet olursa
Şah Urum’a gele bir gün
Gazâda bu Zülfikarı
Kâfirlere çala bir gün
Hep devşire gele iller
Şah’a ola köle kullar
Urumda ağlıyan sefiller
Şâd ola da güle bir gün
Çeke sancağı götüre
Şah İstanbul’a otura
Firenkten yesir getire
Horasana sala bir gün
Devşire beyi paşayı
Zapteyleye dört köşeyi
Husrev ede temaşayı
Âli divan kura bir gün
Gülü Şah’ın doğdu deyü
Bol ırahmet yağdu deyü
Kutlu günler doğdu deyü
Şu âlem şâd ola bir gün
Mehdi Dedem gelse gerek
Âli divan kursa gerek
Haksızları kırsa gerek
İntikamın ala bir gün
Pir Sultan’ın işi ahtır
İntizarım güzel Şah’tır
Mülk iyesi padişahtır
Mülke sahib ola bir gün
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.
PİR SULTAN ABDAL and me 