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PİR SULTAN ABDAL and me

~ A personal reflection on the great Alevi poet's lyric works and influence – mostly through translation

PİR SULTAN ABDAL and me

Tag Archives: Translation

Dertli Divani ‘Diktiğimiz fidanlar (sana ne bana ne)’

06 Saturday Feb 2010

Posted by koerbin in Translations

≈ 6 Comments

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Dertli Divani, deyiş, Halil Atılgan, Serçeşme, Translation

A. Aykut, P. Koerbin, Dertli Divani, M. Kılçık. V. Ulusoy (Postnişin), Sydney 2007

This is one of the most well known and performed deyiş of Dertli Divani (real name Veli Aykut, born 1962 in Kısas near Şanlıurfa). Divani is arguably the most important living Alevi aşık and a remarkable individual who straddles, with ease, the worlds of the Alevi source culture and that of the modern recording artist. He is also tireless in his efforts to explain and promote an understanding of the true nature and spirit of Alevi culture to as wide an audience as possible. Divani is from dede lineage (his father is the late Aşık Büryani)  and leads cem services in Turkey (Kısas, Nurhak, Banaz) and throughout the world (Europe, North America and in Australia) and is the source and composer of many of the finest Alevi lyrics of the last quarter century. Though clearly he has the ambition to make Alevi culture widely understood his lyrics are still deeply mystical and present challenges for the translator, even more overtly social lyrics such as this one.

This deyiş is somewhat remarkable for the fact that it has a refrain (bağlantı) that introduces new text – many deyiş when sung introduce refrains though more commonly they are repetitions of the words of the verses. Adding to the interesting form is the fact that the verses are in 8 syllable metre while the refrain is in 11 syllable metre. While I generally aim to translate deyiş line by line, in this case it is necessary in some parts to treat two lines together for the purpose of coherence in the translation. Another difficulty was what to do with the “ne … ne” construction particularly in the first refrain. This construction normally means “neither … nor” though the conjuctions are usually placed before the words to which they refer, not after them as in this lyric. For this reason I have read “ne” in this instance as its other meaning of “what” which makes more sense in the theme of the lyric. In the last refrain I was tempted to use the word “wayfarer” for “yolcu” to pick up on the assonance of the Turkish, as in “the wayfarer who does not take the way” – but I did not completely convince myself of the desirability of this. I did, however, for good or ill, fall for the use of “hence”, in its archaic mean of “from here/this” for a translation of “bundan“.

Divani recorded the lyric on his album Serçeşme and in a repeat of the third line of the second verse he replaces “yârin” (beloved) with “pirin” (spiritual guide) as he does also in this live performance of the deyiş.  The text given below is from Kısaslı Aşıklar by Halil Atılgan published in Şanlıurfa in 1992. The text printed in the CD/cassette booklet for Serçeşme is the same. Curiously in a later publication by Atılgan (with Mehmet Acet) titled Harran’da Bir Türkmen Köyü Kısas published by the T.C. Kültür Bakanlığı in 2001, the last line includes an odd reading (or editorial mistake) contracting “Şaha ne” to “şahane” (royal, regal, magnificent).

Update #1: Again my most dedicated reader, Olga, has made some very pertinent and helpful comments (see comments section). She has articulated the theme of the lyric, which I completely agree with. She also, most usefully, notes the misreading in regards to “sana ne bana ne“. As Olga notes this construction means “I/you don’t care” or as I would re-phrase it “what’s it to you, what’s it to me”. And of course this suggests an allusion to the aşık that Divani himself has said is one of his greatest influences, Aşık Daimi and his great lyric titled Bana Ne. Interestingly that lyric includes the mahlas form “Dertli Daimi” – the full line is “Dertli Daimi’yim yardır sevdiğim“. This form of the mahlas is very uncommon in Daimi’s lyrics. Is this a deliberate allusion by Dertli Divani? Also, as Olga notes, the last line of the lyric suggest the famous Pir Sultan Abdal cry  “Gelin canlar bir olalım” though that line can also be attributed to another great and influential Alevi poet Aşık Sıdkı, a poet who is also a strong influence on Dertli Divani. In revising some lines upon Olga’s suggestion, and my reluctance to use her suggestion of “pilgrim” for yolcu, I have given in to my original inclination and used ‘wayfarer’. And I removed my “hence” – a shame about that.

Dertli Divani: Diktiğimiz fidanlar

Translation: Paul Koerbin

We could not eat the fruit

Of the shoots we planted

Whatever was their fault

(Hold on tyrant!) we cannot say

So saying, what’s it to you and what’s it to me?

Thus we’re fodder for lord and master

The doctor caused my wound to smart

Inflamed by my sweet soul

The love of the beloved sets me

To wandering through foreign lands

I have been hurt by the hand of the blind ignorant friend

I have grown tired and disgusted with reproaches

Divani speaks freely of conceit

This ignorance casting us down

Hand to hand, heart to heart

Let us give and be as one

The uncommitted wayfarer is at fault with the way

And so, what concern for the subject one to the Sultan or Shah?

——————————————————————————————–

Original text from Kısalı Aşıklar by Halil Atılgan, Şanlıurfa, 1992

Diktiğimiz fidanların

Meyvasını yiyemedik

Ne suçu vardı onların

Dur be zalim diyemedik

Sana ne bana ne hep diye diye

Böylece yem olduk ağaya beye

Tabip yaramı azdırdı

Tatlı canımdan bezdirdi

Beni bir yârin sevdası

Diyar be diyar gezdirdi

Yanmışam kör cahil dostun elinden

Bıkmış usanmışam acı dilinden

Der Divani senlik benlik

Bizi yıkan bu cahillik

El ele gönül gönüle

Verelim olalım birlik

Yolcu yola gitmez yola bahane

Bundan kula Sultana ne Şaha ne

Pir Sultan Abdal ‘Ey benim dîvane gönlüm’

22 Tuesday Sep 2009

Posted by koerbin in Translations

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Ali Haydar Avcı, deyiş, Erkan Oğur, Sadettin Nüzhet Ergun, Translation, İsmail H. Demircioğlu

dogubeyazit2The text given here and used for this translation is from Ergun’s 1929 publication and I have retained the original orthography which includes some flexibility in the choice of vowel, e.g. gice for gece, aktur for aktır, dir for der. This text is another that seems to have some age to it with strong sufi elements. Erkan Oğur and İsmail H. Demircioğlu recorded a languid, contemplative arrangement (tune written by Demircioğlu) on their 1998 Kalan recording Gülün Kokusu Vardı, which brings out this characteristic. Their recording includes some variations in the text, notably in the last couplet of first verse which they sing as Bu cefayı kendi özüm / Pek mail gördüm yalınız (the accompanying booklet prints cezayı for cefayı but they sing the latter). This verse equates to the text as presented by Ali Haydar Avcı in his work Osmanlı gızlı tarihinde Pir Sultan Abdal ve bütün deyişleri, Noktakitab, 2006 (p. 775).  He also provides another version of these lines: Yüce dağların başında / Kaynadım çoştum yalınız. Both these readings avoid the reference to the three day new moon period of the lunar month mihâk. The singers also discard the 4th verse. The other notable variations to be found refer to the final verse where “the forty” (kırklar) is added to “the three” and “the seven”, replacing Erenler; and Ergun also notes a variant in second line of the third verse, found in mecmua number 40 in the Selim Ağa Kütüphanesi in Üsküdar, which reads: Varsam hayır himmet alsam.

Pir Sultan Abdal: Ey benim dîvane gönlüm

Translation: Paul Koerbin

Hey my foolish heart

I fell upon the mountains alone

This is the reason for this sigh of mine

I saw a time of the new moon alone

There are mountains higher than mountains

Can the soul endure this force

Of my pain for three days and nights

If I speak ceaseless, alone

If I were to reach the foot of the Shah

If I were to take the blessed prayer

If I were to plunge into the Red River

If I were to purl and flow alone

My Shah’s river flows clear

It’s taste more sweet than sugar

There is nothing greater than Allah

God I said and stood alone

I am Pir Sultan those who see tell

Those giving salutation to the saints

The Enlightened by threes and sevens

I came for blessing alone

————————————————————————–

Original text from Sadettin Ergun, Pir Sultan Abdal, 1929

Ey benim dîvane gönlüm

Dağlara düştüm yalınız

Bu benim âhım yüzünden

Bir mihâk gördüm yalınız

Dağlara var dağlardan yüce

Can mı dayanır bu güce

Hâlimi üç gün üç gice

Söylesem bitmez yalınız

Şâh’ın ayağına varsam

Hayırlı gülangin alsam

Kızıl ırmaklarına dalsam

Çaglasam aksam yalınız

Şâh’ımın ırmağı aktur

Lezzeti şekerden çoktur

Bir Allah’tan büyük yoktur

Hak didim durdum yalınız

Pir Sultan’ım dir görenler

Pirlere niyaz idenler

Üçler yediler erenler

Mürvete geldim yalınız

Nimri Dede ‘Özde ben Mevlana oldum da geldim’

29 Saturday Aug 2009

Posted by koerbin in Translations

≈ 2 Comments

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Ahmet Buran, Arif Sağ, Aşık Sarıcakız, deyiş, Mevlana, Nimri Dede, Translation

I have already posted an English version of Nimri Dede’s İnsan Olmaya Geldim as recorded by Arif Sağ which includes some word changes from Nimri Dede’s original and omits two verses. Here then is a translation of the original complete version with the original refrain line ‘…de ben Mevlana oldum da geldim‘ rather than ‘…de ben bir insan olmaya geldim‘, some other relatively small word changes and the two missing verses. The fifth verse (one of the verses omitted by Sağ) does pose some translation challenges, partly because of parataxis and partly because of the deft way Nimri Dede has divided Aşık Sarıcakız’s mahlas over the third and fourth lines.  I am not yet convinced of my rendering of this verse. This verse, perhaps, also gives a clue to the inspiration for this deyiş – was it composed upon hearing Aşık Sarıcakız (real name İlkin Manya), a renowned female ozan/aşık? We are fortunate to finally have a published collection of Nimri Dede’s deyişler prepared by Professor Dr Ahmet Buran published in Elazığ in 2006 by Manas Yayıncılık. However the version of this song included in that book has a small error in the first line of the second verse where ‘meğer‘ should read ‘meğerse‘ in order to fill the syllable count requirement of the koşma form. In a typescript provided to me by Nimri Dede’s grandson, Sercihan Dehmen, the correct form is given (see image below).

Nimri Dede: Özde ben Mevlana oldum da geldim

Translation: Paul Koerbin


I cast out this filthy duality from within me,

In the true self I came to become Master

Since established in the heart of the mystics

In the word I have come to become Master

Whatever love is, it is the essence of the soul;

The direction to it lies between the eyes.

The work of truth is the tint of strength.

In the face I have come to become Master

What all the teachers have described;

The halting place that the true ones have reached;

Where the Prophets and Saints have gone;

In the footsteps I have come to become Master

Those seeking Truth found it in the heart

Truth overflowed the heart and filled the world

All faces became the mirror of me

In you I have come to become Master

I have a garden clean of every thorn

They entered and trampled until rent in half

Her eyes closed, in Aşık Sarıca

Kız  I have come to become Master

At times I have examined and been examined

How many years I have been attached to a noose;

In a manner I have set alight that love and been set alight;

In the ashes I have come to become Master

At last I have come, drinking the wine of love.

Every bit of whiteness I have selected from the darkness.

I pierced the mountains of existence and passed over;

On the level I have come to become Master

See then what Nimri Dede now has done:

Of the true love to every heart he has sung;

He has at last bid farewell to wine and whatever

On the lute I have come to become Master

————————————————————————————————————–

Original version from typscript provided by Sercihan Dehmen

nimri_dede

Pir Sultan Abdal ‘Gel benim sarı tanburam’

23 Sunday Aug 2009

Posted by koerbin in Translations

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Besim Atalay, deyiş, Gölpınarlı, Pertev Naili Boratav, Sadettin Nüzhet Ergun, tanbura, Translation, Yunus Emre

tanburaThis deyiş appears in the all of the earliest collections of Pir Sultan Abdal lyrics, including Besim Atalay’s 1924 publication Bektaşilik ve Edebiyatı (originally in Ottoman Turkish but translated into modern Turkish by Vedat Atila and published by Ant Yayınları in Istanbul in 1991). It also appears in Sadettin Nüzhet Ergun’s 1929 work on Pir Sultan Abdal and in the 1943 publication by Gölpınarlı and Boratav. Comparing these editions is interesting since there are minor variants in the texts – the minor nature of the variants is of itself interesting and perhaps gives a glimpse of how a traditional lyric may be adopted into the Pir Sultan canon. The lyric is not overtly on the central themes associated with Pir Sultan such as the kızılbaş devotion to the Imam Ali (but see below) or subjects associated with his life story; rather it seems closer to Sufi themes and the lyrics of Yunus Emre. The text I have translated is based on that presented in Gölpınarlı and Boratav’s 1943 edition. This seems to be something of composite text, though Gölpınarlı’s method of presenting the texts, while stating sources does not make clear how variants are used. The authors cite the sources as Atalay, Ergun and an undefined number of cönk and mecmua in Gölpınarlı’s possession. The most interesting of the minor variations of text is found in the version presented by Atalay who gives the last line of each stanza as ‘Ali deyu inilerim’ (‘I moan crying Ali’) thus revealing somewhat more overtly the Alevi theme in the lyric. The one line that is different in the three versions cited is the third line of the second stanza which in Gölpınarlı reads ‘Oldum ayn-i cem bülbülü’, in Ergun reads ‘Olmuşam Şah’ın bülbülü’ and in Atalay reads ‘Oldum muhabbet bülbülü’. While the signficance of the line is hardly altered, the approaches ranging from the specific mention of the ritual ceremony (ayn-i cem), to the hoped for Shah and to the general idea of love and unity (muhabbet) is instructive.

The tanbura mentioned is one of the names for the long necked lute played by the aşık-s. Other names commonly encountered in the Alevi deyiş are saz, kopuz and bağlama. Interestingly, in the version of this lyric published by Ergun the word tanbura is used except in the last stanza where it states ‘Bağlamadır benim adım’ (‘My name it is bağlama‘). In organological terms the tanbura (or tambura) is a larger member of the bağlama family with a narrow-ish body tapering into the long neck – a rather beautiful form. The reference to the yellow (sarı) lute may suggest the pale spruce soundboard or the belly, often made of chestnut (kestane) which is of a pale yellow hue.

Pir Sultan Abdal: Gel benim sarı tanburam

Translation: Paul Koerbin

Come my yellow lute

Why do you moan?

I am hollow within, my grief is great

This is the reason I moan

They attached string to my arm

They made me speak countless languages

I was the nightingale in the ceremony

This is the reason I moan

They attached fretting to my arm

They had me meet with countless sorrows

Who settles here and who departs

This is the reason I moan

They lay my chest upon the seat

They stroked me without stop

They opened up my breast as they struck

This is the reason I moan

Come my yellow lute

I shall lay you upon my knee

Again my heart is broken

This is the reason I moan

Yellow lute is my name

My cry rises to the heavens

I am Pir Sultan my master

This is the reason I moan

—————————————————————————————————————

Original text from Gölpınarlı and Boratav Pir Sultan Abdal (1943)

Gel benim sarı tanburam

Sen ne için inilersin

İçim oyuk derdim büyük

Ben anınçin inilerim

Koluma taktılar teli

Söyletirler bin bir dili

Oldum ayn-i cem bülbülü

Ben anınçin inilerim

Koluma taktılar perde

Uğrattılar bin bir derde

Kim konar kin göçer burda

Ben anınçin inilerim

Goğsüme tahta döşerler

Durmayıp beni okşarlar

Vurdukça bağrım deşerler

Ben anınçin inilerim

Gel benim sarı tanburam

Dizler üsünde yatıram

Yine kırıldı hâtıram

Ben anınçin inilerim

Sarı tanburadır adım

Göklere ağar feryadım

Pir Sultan’ımdır üstadım

Ben anınçin inilerim

Pir Sultan Abdal ‘Bülbül olsam varsam gelsem’ (Allah Allah desem gelsem)

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Posted by koerbin in Translations

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Gölpınarlı, Kul Himmet, mahlas, Muhlis Akarsu, Nelly Furtado, Pertev Naili Boratav, Ruhi Su, Translation

Cennet Mağarası near Narlıkuyu

 

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 ‘Demokrasi nerde ise ordayız’

07 Tuesday Jul 2009

Posted by koerbin in Translations

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Arif Sağ, deyiş, Muhlis Akarsu, Translation

akarsuMuhlis 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 my previous post). Akarsu’s voice is extraordinarily rich – singing in the deep baritone he favoured from the time of the Muhabbet recordings in the early 1980s –  and the songs very strong, mostly his own compositions, including the deyiş that became, after his death, so poignant Yine gönlüm hoş değil (Again my heart is not happy). Akarsu also performs the Turna semahı and Pir Sultan’s Bir güzelin aşığım. Interestingly, Arif Sağ begins his 1993 recording called Direniş (‘Resistance’, recorded only a few days before the Sivas massacre and still only ever released on cassette) with this deyiş although he credits the source as Davut Sulari while the music is credited to Akarsu on his recording.

The deyiş translated here however is an unabiguous statement, straightforward, direct. The main complexity in the translation is what to do with the word Hak. It means God, especially in the context used in the song and evokes the Alevi concept of enel-hak (I am God) often considered as an expression of the humanistic qualities of Alevi belief. However, while this translation must prevail, it does lose the other meaning of hak as ‘right’, ‘justice’ or ‘true’. Akarsu does help out however by making a slight change to the repeated last line on verses one and three. Here he uses hak in the sense of human rights, insan hakkı. I have taken the text from the book Muhlis Akarsu, hayatı, yaşamı, sanatı, şiirleri by Süleyman Zaman published by Can Yayınları in 2006. Besides the change to the repeated last line, the only other difference between the printed and sung version is in the 3rd line of verse two where Akarsu sings bilinmez (is not known) rather than görünmez (is not seen).

Demokrasi nerde ise ordayız  (Presently democracy will be with us)

Translation: Paul Koerbin


Friends, what we believe is clear

Presently democracy will be with us

We are not duped by the words of bigots

Presently democracy will be with us

(Presently human rights will be with us)

Our dead don’t come back to life again

Ignorant fatwas are not given against humans

Not among us do class divisions appear

Presently democracy will be with us

Our ways are not reconciled with division

No meddling with the beliefs of humans

No conceit, no competition with anyone

Presently democracy will be with us

(Presently human rights will be with us)

We know mankind is God and God is mankind

Our rose opens within our hearts

I am Akarsu, all of us are sister and brother

Presently democracy will be with us

———————————————————————————————————–

Dostlar bizim inancımız bellidir

Demokrasi nerde ise ordayız

Softaların sözlerine kanmayız

Demokrasi nerde ise ordayız

(İnsan hakkı nerde ise ordayız)

Bizim ölüler’mız geri dirilmez

İnsanlara boş fetvalar verilmez

Bizde sınıf bölücülük görülmez

Demokrasi nerde ise ordayız

Yollarımız ikilikle barışmaz

İnsanların inancına karışmaz

Benlik yoktur kimse ile yarışmaz

Demokrasi nerde ise ordayız

(İnsan hakkı nerde ise ordayız)

İnsan Hak’tır Hak insandır biliriz

Gönüllerde açar bizim gülümüz

Akarsu’yum bacı kardaş hepimiz

Demokrasi nerde ise ordayız

Pir Sultan Abdal ‘Bir nefesçik söyliyelim’

22 Monday Jun 2009

Posted by koerbin in Translations

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Cahit Öztelli, deyiş, Gölpınarlı, nefes, Translation, Vahid Dede (Salcı)

 

Lake Eğirdir, 1996

Lake Eğirdir, 1996

The opening line declares this lyric as a little nefes (hymn) – a song of praise or worship. We may still understand this as an Alevi deyiş in its synonymous sense or course – it is Pir Sultan – but it does fit will with the Bektashi sensibility and indeed there are at least two musical settings of this nefes in the Bektashi tradition. The first is in the gerdaniye makam and is published in the second edition of Gölpınarlı’s Alevi-Bektaşi Nefesler (the piece is sourced from Rauf Yekta’s publication of nefesler in the 1930’s for the Istanbul Konservatuvarı). The other setting is from Vahid (Salcı) Dede and was first published in Cahit Öztelli’s 1971 book on Pir Sultan Abdal and also in the final volume (vol. 5) of İsmail Özmen’s Alevi-Bektaşi Şiirleri Antolojisi. Both settings are in 8/8 time, interestingly, as the lyric itself is in semai form with an eight syllable count (the greater majority of Pir Sultan’s lyrics are in koşma form with an 11 syllable count. The language is simple though it uses some terms with specific meaning in Alevi-Bektaşi culture. In this case I have thought it preferable to attempt translations of these terms rather than leave them in their original form because of the overall simplicity of the language. In the first verse are terms suggesting a watery symbolism – derya (sea) and umman (ocean), but these also have meaning relating to the kamil insan (perfect person), a person of depth, integrity and knowledge. Ideas that the translator needs to try and convey. The Meydan can mean simply an open space, but here it refers to the specific place where the ritual ceremonies (ayin-i cem) are conducted. The Dar here refers to the central place of the Meydan where the main services are conducted and where a person confesses faith to the way.

Pir Sultan Abdal: Bir nefesçık söyliyelim

Translation: Paul Koerbin

Bir nefesçik söyliyelim

Dinlemezsen neyliyelim

Aşk deryasın boylıyalım

Ummana dalmağa geldim

 

Aşk harmanında savruldum

Hem elendim hem yuğruldum

Kazana girdim kavruldum

Meydana yenmeğe geldim

 

Ben Hakkın ednâ kuluyum

Kem damarlardan beriyim

Ayn-i Cem’in bülbülüyüm

Meydana ötmeğe geldim

 

Ben Hak ile oldum aş’na

Kalmadı gönlümde nesne

Pervaneyim ateşine

Şem’ine yanmağa geldim

 

Pir Sultan’ım yer yüzünde

Var mıdır noksan sözümde

Eksiğim kendi özümde

Dârına durmağa geldim

Let us sing a little hymn

If you don’t listen what should we do

Let us traverse the depths of love

I came to plunge into that vast ocean

 

I was winnowed in the harvest of love

I was both sifted and kneaded

I entered the pot and was roasted

I came to attain the Sacred Place

 

I was the lowest of God’s slaves

I was clear of malicious streaks

I was the nightingale in the Ceremony

I came to sing for the Sacred Place

 

I was well acquainted with God

Nothing else reamained in my heart

I am a moth unto your flame

I came to burn at your candle

 

I am Pir Sultan here in the world

Is there anything deficient in my word

Anything lacking in my very self

I came to stand right before you

Pir Sultan Abdal ‘Şu karşı yaylada göç katar katar’

11 Thursday Jun 2009

Posted by koerbin in Translations

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Cahit Öztelli, deyiş, Muazzez Türüng, Translation, İbrahim Aslanoğlu

 

View of Doğubeyazıt

View over Doğubeyazıt from the ancient fortress

This deyiş does not appear in the anthologies of Pir Sultan Abdal poems until Cahit Öztelli’s 1971 publication of the ‘complete poems’ (bütün şiirleri). That collection was indeed a more complete collection than earlier anthologies with 297 songs included. However later editions such as the massive work by Ali Haydar Avcı, now run to around 400 texts. The text was collected by the great Sivas folkorist İbrahim Aslanoğlu and was subsequently published in his 1984 book Pir Sultan Abdallar. Interestingly the song was actually recorded by a popular singer, Muazzez Türüng, for Odeon records in 1962 (and recently made available again by Odeon on its album of archival recordings called Harman).

The poem has more of the folksong quality about it and the theme of love, rather than the batınî mystical esoteric qualities of many of the lyrics attributed to Pir Sultan – and is thus somewhat easier to get an English translation. It is one of the Pir Sultan lyrics that so wonderfully evokes the Anatolian landscape, with the image of the nomads migrating across the high plateau. One of the main problems for tranlation include finding the right feel in English for the word suna which is a type of pheasant bird (or as Mehmet Özbek in his new dictionary of folksong terms Türkülerin Dili says, göl ördeği, lake duck). The bird is addressed personally in the song and I believe it needs to be retained in the translation; but a translation like ‘my duck’ is not going to work in English. I have used ‘pheasant’ which is not much better but have added ‘little’ so as to emphasise the intimacy of the conversation and the estrangement of the singer. The second last line of the last verse is also a little problematic in regard to getting the nuances. The word nimet can mean ‘favour’ or ‘blessing’ but also ‘food’ or ‘bread’. The latter would work very well with the verb used (yemek meaning ‘to eat’) but I’m not convinced this is the sense intended; and yemek can also act as an auxillary verb without its literal meaning of ‘to eat’. The last word in this line, helallaşalım, translates well enough as ‘let us fogive all’ but it implies mutal forgiveness and even has the sense of ‘last rites’ as in someone dying. Though tempted I have chosen not to emphasise that finality in the translation. This song was a favourite of a good friend of mine and confessed it sometimes brought him to tears to hear it or play it.

Şu karşı yaylada göç katar katar

Translation: Paul Koerbin

On the high lands opposite they depart in lines

The love of a beauty fumes in my mind

This separation is worse than death to me

It has passed, the beloved caravan, don’t delay me

The one that I love sits at the head

This pain of that beauty destroys me

This separation brings a cruelty upon me

It has passed, the beloved caravan, don’t delay me

If I disappear, my little pheasant, don’t weep for me

Don’t burn my heart in love’s fire

Don’t take love from me to bind to some other

It has passed, the beloved caravan, don’t delay me

If I go let this land be your home

Let the wolf at the hypocrites among us

If I die let the pain be in that one’s heart

It has passed, the beloved caravan, don’t delay me

I am Pir Sultan Abdal let us pass over mountains

Let us pass and come to the loved one’s land

I have had much of your favour let us forgive all

It has passed, the beloved caravan, don’t delay me

————————————————————————————————–

Original text (from Cahit Öztelli Pir Sultan Abdal Bütün Şiirleri)

 

Şu karşı yaylada göç katar katar

Bir güzel sevdası serimde tüter

Bu ayrılık bana ölümden beter

Geçti dost kervanı eğleme beni

Şu bemin sevdiğim başta oturur

Bir güzelin derdi beni bitirir

Bu ayrılık bana zulüm getirir

Geçti dost kervanı eğleme beni

Ben gidersem sunam bana ağlama

Ciğerimi aşk oduna dağlama

Benden başkasına meyil bağlama

Geçti dost kervanı eğleme beni

Gider isem bu il sana yurt olsun

Munafıklar aramıza kurt olsun

Ben ölürsem yüreğine dert olsun

Geçti dost kervanı eğleme beni

Pir Sultan Abdal’ım dağlar aşalım

Aşalım da dost iline düşelim

Çok nimetin yedim helallaşalım

Geçti dost kervanı eğleme beni

Pir Sultan Abdal ‘Bu yıl bu dağların karı erimez’

01 Monday Jun 2009

Posted by koerbin in Translations

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deyiş, Memet Fuat, Metin Kunt, Translation

img453One of the most evocative of Pir Sultan’s lyrics; especially when sung to the beautiful melody with which it is associated. Tolga Sağ performs the most familar version; while Muharrem Ertaş performs a spine-tingling bozlak version that seems to suggest deeper roots. It illustrates very well the evocation of the Anatolian landscape, Pir Sultan’s world, and how this is reflected in the inner being. The language of this deyiş is somewhat simpler than the earlier ones I have posted, but not without challenges for the translator. While I generally prefer to retain the names of specific places I have translated Kızılırmak as Red River. Firstly, Kızılırmak in its English form “Kizilirmak” is likely to create something of a monstrosity in pronunciation. Secondly, I like the very slight hint to the frontier nature of ‘Red River’.  On the other hand I have left saz untranslated, preferring not to use ‘lute’ as that gives too much of a courtly ‘troubadour’ idea. I have not gone as far as Memet Fuat in his book on Pir Sultan Abdal in associating Zalim Paşa (‘tyrant Pasha) with Hızır Paşa the former follower of Pir Sultan who was later to become a Governor of Sivas and be responsible for Pir Sultan’s execution. Though of course such a connection makes sense and is supportable and indeed both versions of the song I linked to above refer to Hızır (Hıdır) Paşa. Fuat also offers Tanrı (God, lord) as a reading of Dost in the last verse. I have not accepted this and go with Companion as a stronger take on the literal meaning of  ‘friend’. The other word that is somewhat problematic to translate is kul. This literally means slave though as Metin Kunt notes in The Sultan’s Sevants: The Transformation of Ottoman Provincial Government, 1550-1650, the term is possessed of some abiguity meaning not only ‘slave’ but also more generally ‘servant’ as well as the specific meaning of a ‘slave’ reared for an official career in the Ottoman administration. Kul also has specific Alevi-Bektashi meaning: according to Esat Korkmaz in his Alevilik-Bektaşilik Terimleri Sözlüğü it expresses man’s relationship to God (‘Tanrı’ya göre insan‘) or the mürit‘s (disciple, follower) relation to the mürşid (spritual leader). Given the socio-political nature of this deyiş however I have gone with a rendering of kul as ‘mere subject’ that I think best suggests the idea of slave and servant. 

Bu yıl bu dağların karı erimez

Translation: Paul Koerbin

Bu yıl bu dağların karı erimez          

Eser bad-ı saba yel bozuk bozuk

Türkmen kalkıp yaylasına yürümez

Yıkılmiş aşiret il bozuk bozuk

 

Kızılırmak gibi çağladım aktım

El vurdum göğsümün bendini yıktım

Gül yüzlü ceranın bağına çıktım

Girdim bahçesine gül bozuk bozuk

 

Elim tutmaz güllerini dermeye

Dilim tutmaz hasta halin sormaya

Dört cevabın manasını vermeye

Sazım düzen tutmaz tel bozuk bozuk

 

Pir Sultan’ım yaratıldım kul diye

Zalim Paşa elinden mi öl diye

Dostum beni ısmarlamış gel diye

Gideceğim amma yol bozuk bozuk

The snow doesn’t melt on the mountains this year          

The morning breeze blows an ill wind of ruin

The Turkmen don’t start and make for the highlands

The nomads have cleared off and the land is in ruin

 

I purled and flowed like the Red River

I struck out and threw off the barrage within me

I entered the orchard of the rose faced gazelle

I entered its garden of roses all broken and in ruin

 

I cannot hold its roses for the gathering

I cannot speak of my sickness for the asking

Nor to give the meaning of the sacred books

My saz is un-tuned, the strings broken and in ruin

 

I am Pir Sultan I was created a mere subject

To die they say by the hand of the tyrant Pasha

My Companion commanded me, saying come

I will go but the way is broken and in ruin

Pir Sultan Abdal ‘Benim pîrim Şah-ı Merdân Ali’dir’

28 Thursday May 2009

Posted by koerbin in Translations

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Bisâtî, deyiş, Menakıb, Translation

Benim Pirim facimileThis is a very challenging deyiş (nefes in the manuscript) to translate to English, so this must really be a work in progress. An interesting lyric because it comes from the the early 17th manuscript of the  Menâkıbu’l-Esrâr Behcetü’l-Ahrâr of Bisâtî (published in facsimile and modern transcription by Ahmet Taşğın in 2003). Interestingly, I have not found this text in any of the major collections of Pir Sultan Abdal poems. I have reproduced the transcription which does not adhere strictly to modern Turkish orthography. Given that this is one of the oldest recorded texts for a Pir Sultan lyric, we may reasonably look at it as carrying something of the original voice. The lyric, like much mystical poetry, shows a lot or paratactic elements (adding to the difficulty in achieving translation sense) and lacks some of the elements associated with lyrics that have been longer in the oral tradition, such as the repetition of lines (usually the last line in the quatrain). In this case we only get the repeated ‘cümle müşkillere yeter sabahdan’ in two verses. The translation tries to draw the essential character and meaning from the lyric, though may be uncertain in places. I found most difficulty in getting a satisfactory translation of the line ‘felek bir iş bişirmiş diyar gel ha ic‘ and I suspect the line ‘akceyi virirler gene akcesiye‘ may be proverbial, though I have not found a good English equivalent.  I have translated talib as ‘one who seeks’ rather than the simple noun ‘student’ as providing a better sense of the personal in the lyric (and perhaps to avoid other modernday confusions). The word ‘gün‘, the common word for day, also has meanings (particularly in older usage and poetry) of  ‘sun’ and ‘light’. Consequently I have used various aspects of this meaning in the translation. The image, taken from Taşğın’s book, is of the original text in the manuscript.

Benim pîrim Şah-ı Merdân Ali’dir

Translation: Paul Koerbin

My master saint is the Shah Ali

Send your greeting by the moon at dawn

I dare to strive to be as my saint

I pray to my saint with the morning light

Evening time and the sun recedes to the land

The one who is seeking worships his saint

Two in companionship one for each other

Enough for all hardships come the morning

Our eye to the ground  fixes on the coin

They give coin again for the coin itself

The nightingale settles in the garden before

dawn

With the morning the sun sheds it tears

Two pearls grow in the ocean depths

A pearl in part jewel in part shell

We take refuge with our Shah Ali

Enough for all hardships come the morning

A fateful work ripens the land, come and drink

Work a hundred years,  it is little in the end

That world of halting and moving on

I am Pir Sultan, he passed once with the morning

light

Original text from the Şeyh Sâfî Buyruğu (Menâkıbu’l-Esrâr Behcetü’l-Ahrâr) of Bisâtî edited by Ahmet Taşğın, Ankara 2003:

Benim pîrim Şah-ı Merdân Ali’dir

Selâmını göndür bedr-i sabahdan

Ben tâlibim ne haddim var pîr olam

Pîre duâcıyım her gün sabahdan

Ahşam oldı günde gitti yerine

Tâlib olan kulluk eyler pîrine

İki musâhibde biri birine

Cümle müşkillere yeter sabahdan

Bizim yerde göz dikerler akceye

Akceyi virirler gene akcesiye

Seher vakti bilbül konar bakceye

Göz yaşını gün döker sabahdan

Deryalarda biter iki dürdane

Biri gevher biri sedef biri dürdane

Biz de sığınmısız Şah-ı Merdâna

Cümle müşkillere yeter sabahdan

Felek bir iş bişirmiş diyar gel ha ic

Yüz yıl calış aziş ahir sonı hiç

Şu dünya kona kondur göce göc

Pîr Sultanım gecdi bir gün sabahdan

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