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YUNUS EMRE SELECTED POEMS II

 

Hak cihâna doludur
Kimseler Hakk'ı bilmez
Onu sen senden iste
Ol senden ayrı olmaz

Dünyaya inanırsın
Rızka benimdir dersin
Niçün yalan söylersin
Hiç sen dediğin olmaz

Alıret yavlak ırakdır
Doğruluk key yarakdır
Ayrılık sarp firakdır
Hiç giden geri gelmez

Dünyaya gelen göçer
Bir bir şerbetin içer
Bu bir köprüdür geçer
Câhiller onu bilmez

Gelin tanış olalım
İşi kolay kılalım
Sevelim sevilelim
Dünya kimseye kalmaz

Yûnus sözün anlarsan
Mânâsını dinlersen
Sana iyi dirlik gerek
Bunda kimseye kalmaz.

God permeates the whole wide world.
Yet His truth is revealed to none.
You better seek Him in yourself.
You and He aren't apart-you're one.

The other world lies beyond sight.
Here on earth we must live upright.
Exile is torment, pain, and blight.
No one comes back once he is gone.

Come, let us all be friends for once,
Let us make life easy on us,
Let us be lovers and loved ones,
The earth shall be left to no one.

To you, what Yunus says is clear,
Its meaning is in your heart's ear:
We should all live the good life here,
Because nobody will live on.


Yâ İlâhî ger suâl etsen bana
Bu durur anda cevâbım uş sana

Ben bana zulm eyledim ettim günah
N'eyledim n'ettim sana ey pâdişâh

Gelmeden hakkımda benim kem dedin
Doğmadan âsî benî-âdem dedin

Sen ezelde beni âsî yazasın
Doldurasın âleme âvâzesin

Her ne dilersen hakkımda işledin
Ne tuşa durdum ise sen tuşladın

Ben mi düzdüm beni sen düzdün beni
Pür ayıp nişe getirdin ey Ganî

Gözüm açıp gördüğüm zindan içi
Nefs ü hevâ pür dolu şeytân içi

Haps içinde ölmeyeyim deyü aç
Mismil ü murdar yedim bir iki kaç

Nesne eksildi mi mülkünden senin
Geçti mi hükmüm ya hükmünden senin

Rızkını yiyip seni aç mı kodum
Ya yiyip öynünü muhtaç mı kodum

Geçmedi mi intikamın öldürüp
Çü rütüp gözümü toprak doldurup

Kıl gibi köprü yaparsın geç deyü
Sen seni gel dûzahımdan seç deyü

Kıl gibi köprüden âdem mi geçer
Ya düşer ya dayanır yahud uçar

Kulların köprü yaparlar hayr içün
Hayrı budur kim geçeler seyr içün

Tâ gerek bünyâdı muhkem ola ol
Ol geçenler eydeler uş doğru yol .

O God, if you would ever question me,
This would be my outright answer to Thee:

True, I sinned-brutalised my own being,
But what Have I done against you, my King?

Did I make myself? I'm your creation.
Why drench me in sin, Benevolent One?

I saw dungeons when I opened my eyes-
Teeming with devils, temptation and lies.

To shun death by Hunger, many a time,
In prison, I had to eat dirt and grime.

Did your dominion become any less?
Did I usurp any of your prowess?

Are you Hungry? Did I eat your ration?
Did I deprive you, cause your starvation?

Do you still seek revenge though you hilled me,
Since I rotted, since darkest soil filled me.

You built me a bridge to cross, thin as hair;
Out of your traps I'm to choose my own snare.

How can a man pass through a Hair-thin bridge?
He falls or clings on or flies off the ridge.

Your slaves build bridges for the public good,
Those who pass through it head for the Godhead.

I wish its firm foundation will hold sway
So those who cross it know it's the true way.

You set a scale to weigh deeds, for your aim
Is to hurl me into Hell's crackling flame.

A scale is suitable for a grocer,
For a small merchant or a jeweller.

Sin, though, is the vilest, filthiest vice,
The profit of those unworthy of Grace.

You can see everything, you know me-fine;
Then, why must you weigh all these deeds of mine?

No harm ever came from Yunus to you;
Open, secret-all things are in your view.

God Almighty, why all this talk, why must
We prattle about a handful of dust?


Evvel benem âhır benem canlara can olan benem
Azup yolda kalmışlara hâzır meded iren benem

Bir karâra dutdum karâr sırnımı benüm kim tuyar
Gözsüz beni kaçan görür gönülde gizlenen benem

Kün deminde katre uran bir nazarda dünya turan
Kudretinden hon döşeyüp ışk nevbetin uran benem

Düz döşedüm bu yerleri çöksü urdum bu tağları
Sayvan eyledüm gökleri girü dutup duran benem

Dahı aceb âşıklan ıkrâr u din îmân oldum
Halkun gönlinde küfrile islâmıla îman benem

Halk içinde dirlik düzen dört kitabı toğru yazan
Bu üstine kara dizen ol yazılan Kur'an benem

Dostıla birliğe biten buyruğı neyise dutan
Mülk bezeyüp dünyâ düzen ol bağçavan heman benem

Hamza'yı Kaf'dan aşuran elin ayağın deşüren
Simurg-ı Kaf ardındağı oy ağılu ılan benem

Yûnus değül bunı diyen kendüliğidir söyleyen
Kâfir olur inanmayan evvel âhır heman benem

I am before, I am after
The soul for all souls all the way.
I'm the one with a helping hand
Ready for those gone wild, astray.

I made the ground flat where it lies,
On it I had those mountains rise,
I designed the vault of the shies,
For I hold all things in my sway.

To countless lovers I have been
A guide for faith and religion.
I am sacrilege in men's hearts
Also the true faith and Islam's way.

I make men love peace and unite;
Putting down the black words on white,
I wrote the four holy books right
I'm the Koran for those who pray.

It's not Yunus who says all this:
It speaks its own realities:
To doubt this would be blasphemous:
"I'm before-I'm after," I say.


İlim ilim bilmektir
İlim kendin bilmektir
Sen kendini bilmezsin
Ya nice okumaktir

Okumaktan mânâ ne
Kişi Hakk'ı bilmektir
Çün okudun bilmezsin
Ha bir kuru emektir

Okudum bildim deme
Çok tâat kıldım deme

Eri hak bilmez isen
Abes yere yelmektir

Dört kitabın mânâsı
Bellidir bir elifde
Sen elifi bilmezsin
Bu nice okumaktır

Yigirmi dokuz hece
Okusan ucdan uca
Sen elif dersin hoca
Mânâsı ne demektir

Yûnus Emre der hoca
Gerekse var bin hacca
Hepisinden eyice
Bir gönüle girmektir

Knowledge should mean a full grasp of knowledge:
Knowledge means to know yourself, heart and soul.
If you have failed to understand yourself,
Then all of your reading has missed its call.

What is the purpose of reading those books?
So that Man can know the All-Powerful.
If you have read, but failed to understand,
Then your efforts are just a barren toil.

Don't boast of reading, mastering science
Or of all your prayers and obeisance.
If you don't identify Man as God,
All your learning is of no use at all.

The true meaning of the four holy books
Is found in the alphabet's first letter.
You talk about that first letter, preacher;
What is the meaning of that-could you tell?

Yunus Emre says to you, pharisee,
Make the holy pilgrimage if need be
A hundred times-but if you ask me,
The visit to a heart is best of all.


Aşkın aldı benden beni
Bana seni gerek seni
Ben yanarım dün ü günü
Bana seni gerek seni

Ne varlığa sevinirim
Ne yokluğa yerinirim
Aşkın ile avunurum
Bana seni gerek seni

Aşkın âşıklar öldürür
Aşk denizine daldırır
Tecellî ile doldurur
Bana seni gerek seni

Aşkın şarâbından içem
Mecnûn olup dağa düşem
Sensin dün ü gün endîşem
Bana seni gerek seni

Sufilere sohbet gerek
Ahîlere ahret gerek
Mecnunlara Leylâ gerek
Bana seni gerek seni

Eğer beni öldüreler
Külüm göğe savuralar
Toprağım orda çağıra
Bana seni gerek seni

Yûnus'durur benim adım
Gün geçtikçe artar odum
İki cihanda maksûdum
Bana seni gerek seni
Your love has wrested me away from me,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Day and night I burn, gripped by agony,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

I find no great joy in being alive,
If I cease to exist, I would not grieve,
The only solace I have is your love,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

Lovers yearn for you, but your love slays them,
At the bottom of the sea it lays them,
It has God's images-it displays them;
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

Let me drink the wine of love sip by sip,
Like Mecnun, live in the hills in hardship,
Day and night, care for you holds me in its grip,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

Even if, at the end, they make me die
And scatter my ashes up to the shy,
My pit would break into this outcry:
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

"Yunus Emre the mystic" is my name,
Each passing day fans and rouses my flame,
What I desire in both worlds in the same:
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

Ol dost bize gelmezise ben dosta girü varayın
Çekeyin cevr ü cefâyı dost yüzin görüvireyin

Sermâye bir avuç toprak anı dahı aldı bu ışk
Ne sermâye var ne dükkân bazara neye varayın

Kurılmışdur dost dükkânı dost içine girmiş gezer
Günâhum çok gönlüm sizer ben dosta çok yalvarayın

Gönlüm eydür dost benümdür gözüm eydür dost benümdür
Gönlüm eydür göze sabr it bir dem haberin sorayın

Hak nazar kılduğı cana bir gözile bakmak gerek
Ana kim ol nazar kıla ben anı nice yireyin

Tapduğ'um eydür Yûnus'a bu ışk Hakk'a irse gerek
Kamulardan ol yücedür ben ana nice varayın

In case my Friend does not return to me,
The let me return to the Friend's embrace;
I'm willing to suffer pain and torture
If that is how I can see the Friend's face.

A handful of dust was my stock in trade,
And love took even that away from me:
Now I have no capital left nor shop.
What use is going to the market place?

The Friend has His nice shop, neatly set up;
Cheerfully He walks around in that shop.
But my heart cringes, my sins are countless;
Humbly I must go implore the Friend's grace.

My heart declares: 'The Friend belongs to me."
My eye declares: The Friend belongs to me."
My heart urges my eye to have patience,
Yearning to receive news, to keep pace.

We must accept those who have looked at
God As sharing God's life, as one and the same.
If a person has received the blessing
Of God's vision, he is beyond disgrace.

Hiç bilmezem kezek kimün aramuzda gezer ölüm
Halkı bostan idinmişdür diledüğin üzer ölüm

Bir nicenün bilin büker bir nicenün mülkin yıkar
Bir nicenün yaşın döker var gücini üzer ölüm

Birinin alun kardaşın revan döker gözi yaşın
Hiç onarmaz bağn başın habersüzin gelür ölüm

Yiğidi koca olınca komaz kendüyi bilince
Birini koyup gülince gözlerini süzer ölüm

Kanı anun sevdük yan kıl tâatun, an yüri
Miskin Yûnus neye dunır ejderhâlar yudar ölüm 

We have no knowledge of whose turn has come
While Death roams about freely among us:
Dashing through men's lives as His own orchard,
He plucks and strips anyone He chooses.

He crushes people, leaves them with backs bent,
And makes multitudes shed tears of lament.
He plunders estates to His heart's content,
Routs men with all His might till Life oozes.

Before the heroes grow old and decepit,
Death strikes and lowers them into the pit
Without any forewarning about it.
With gleaming eyes, Death enjoys His ruses.


Yer yüzünde gezer idim
Uğradım milketler yatur
Kimi ulu kimi kiçi
Key kuşağı berkler yatur

Kimi yiğit kimi koca
Kimi vezir kimi hoca
Gündüzleri olmuş gece
Bunculayın çoklar yatur

Doğru varırdı yolları
Kalem tutardı elleri
Bülbüle benzer dilleri
Danışman yiğitler yatur

Ulu kiçi ağlaşmışlar
Server yiğitler düşmüşler
Baş ucunda yay sımışlar
Kırıluban oklar yatur

Atlar izi tozulu
Önleri tabıl-bazulu
İle güne hükmü yaz(ı)lı
Şu muhteşem beğler yatur

Gece gündüz oğlancıklar
Söyler iken bülbül gibi
Ayrılmışlar anaları
Sinlerini bekler yatur

Elleridir kınalı hep
Karavaşları şeker-leb
Kargı gibi uzun boylu
Gül yüzlü hatunlar yatur

El bağlamıştır kamusu
Hak Çalab'dandır umusu
Nökerli kızdır kimisi
Alınmadan çoklar yatur

Yûnus bilmez kendi hâlin
Çalab'dır söyletir dilin
Bir nicesi yeni gelin
Ak teleme yüzler yatur

While I was roaming the wide world
I came upon nations in graves:
The mighty and the meek lay there
Among them awe-inspiring braves.

Some were old men, some young heroes:
Viziers, teachers-everyone goes;
Their days now caught in the night's hroes,
Here they lie with death's other slaves.

The path they took was always straight;
Pen in hand, they knew how to write;
Their tongues, like nightingales, sang right;
Buried they lie-sages and braves.

Mighty and low, everyone cried
When these heroic leaders died;
A broken bow at each graveside
Gallant men fell like stray arrows.

Their horses unfurled a dust cloud,
Drummers marched by them, beating loud,
Their might had done land and sea proud;
Noble lords now lie in death's caves.


İşidin ey yârenler
Aşk bir güneşe benzer
Aşkı olmayan gönül
Misâl i taşa benzer

Taş gönülde ne biter
Dilinde ağu tüter
Nice yumşak söylese
Sözü savaşa benzer

Aşkı var gönül yanar
Yumşanur muma döner
Taş gönüller kararmış
Sarp kışa benzer

Ol sultân kapısında
Hazreti tapusunda
Aşıkların yıldızı
Her dem çavuşa benzer

Geç Yûnus endîşeden
Gerekse bu bîşeden
Ere aşk gerek önden
Ondan dervişe benzer

Hear me out, my dear friends,
Love resembles the sun.
The heart that feels no love
Is none other than stone.

What can grow on stone hearts?
Though the tongue softly starts,
Words of venom fume, rage,
And turn into war soon.

When in love, the soul burns,
Melts like wax as it churns.
Stone hearts are like winter
Dark, harsh, with all warmth gone.

Men of God's truth are an ocean,
Lovers must plunge into that sea;
The sages, too. should take a dive
To bring out the best jewellery.

We have turned into the
Wise Men To find pearls in the depths again;
Only the jeweller would know
How valuable those pearls might be.

Mohammed came to perceive God,
And saw God's truth in his selfhood.
Providence exists everywhere
So long as there are eyes to see.

Books are composed by the sages
Who put black words on white pages;
My sacred book's chapters are all
Written in hearts that love truly


Bu dem yüzüm süreduram her dem ayum yeni toğar
Her dem bayramdunır bana yayum kışum yenibahar

Benüm ayum ışığına bulutlar gölge kılmaya
Hiç gedilmez toluluğı nûn yirden göğe ağar

Anun nûn karanuyı sürer gönül hücresinden
Pes karanulık nûnla bir hücreye nite sığar

Ben ayumı yirde gördüm ne isterem gökyüzinde
Benüm yüzüm yirde gerek bana rahmet yirden yağar

Sözüm ay gün içün değül sevenlere bir söz yeter
Sevdüğüm söylemezisem sevmek derdi beni boğar

N'ola Yûnus sevdiyise çokdur Hakk'ı seviciler
Sevenleri köyer didi anunıçun boyun eğer 

If I rub my face on the ground,
My new moon would rise in the skies,
Winter and summer become spring.
To me all days are holidays.

Let no cloud cast a tall shadow
On the gleaming light of my moon
Whose fullness must never grow dim:
From earth to sky its glimmer sprays.

From the heart's solitary cell
Its glitter drives out the darkness.
How could that gloom be squeezed into
The same cell with the piercing rays?

I see my moon right here on earth,
What would I do with all the skies?
Rains of mercy pour down on me
From this ground where I fix my gaze.

What if Yunus is a lover
Many are the lovers of God.
Yunus, too, bows his head, because
The lovers of God are ablaze.


İy dost ışkun denizine girem gark olam yüriyem
İ ki cihıân meydan ola devrânum sürem yüriyem

Girem denize gark olam ne elif ü mim dal olam
Dost bağında bülbül olam güllerin direm yüriyem

Bülbül olubanı ötem gönül olam canlar utam
Başumı elüme alıp yolına varam yüriyem

Bülbül olubanı gidem iy nice gönüller güdem
Yüzüm ışkıla dem-be-dem toprağa sürem yüriyem

Şükür gördüm didârunı aşdum visâlün yârını
Bu benlik senlik şarını terkini uram yüriyem

Yûnus'dur ışk âvâresi bîçâreler biçâresi
Sendedür derdüm çâresi dermânum soram yüriyem

Dear Friend, let me plunge in the sea of love,
Let me sink into that sea and walk on.
Let both worlds become my sphere where I can
Delight in the mystic glee and walk on.

Let me become the nightingale that sings
A soul freed from the dead body's yearnings;
Let me bury my head in my two Hands,
Take the path to unity and walk on.

Thank heaven, I saw the Friend's lovely face
And drank the wine of the lovers embrace.
It severs me from you-it's a disgrace
I'll abandon this city and walk on.

Yunus drifts in the throes of love's torture:
Of all woes, his is the worst to endure.
For my distress only you hold the cure,
I'll ash for that remedy and walk on.


İsteridüm Allâh'ı buldumısa ne oldı
Ağlarıdum dün ü gün güldümise ne oldı

Erenler meydanında yuvarlanur tup idüm
Pâdişâh çevgânında kaldumısa ne oldı

Erenler sohbetinde deste kızıl gül idüm
Açıldum ele geldüm soldumısa nooldı .

Alimler ulemâlar medresede buldıysa
Ben hârâbat içinde buldumısa ne oldı

İşit Yûnus'ı işit uş yine delü oldı
Erenler ma'nîsine taldumısa ne oldı

I used to yearn for God;
If I found Him, what then?
Day and night I shed tears;
If I laugh now, what then?

I was a ball rolling
On the holy men's field;
Now I am a bat on
The sultan's course, what then?

A bunch o f red roses
At the sages' parley,
I bloomed, grew ripe and big;
If I wilted, what then?

Scholars and learned men
Found it in pious schools;
I found the vital truth
In the tavern, what then?


Miskinlikte buldular
Kimde erlik var ise
Merdivenden ittiler
Yüksekten bakar ise

Gönül yüksekte gezer
Dembedem yoldan azar
Taş yüzüne su sızar
İçinde ne var ise

Sağır işitmez sözü
Gece sanır gündüzü
Kördür münkirin gözü
Alem münevver ise

Gönül Çalab'ın tahtı
Gönüle Çalab bakû
İki cihan bedbahtı
Kim gönül yıkar ise

Sen sana ne sanırsan
Ayruğa da onu san
Dört kitabın mânâsı
Budur eğer var ise

Bildik gelenler geçmiş
Konanlar geri göçmüş
Aşk şarabından içmiş
Kim mânâ duyar ise

Yûnus yoldan azuban
Yüksek yerde durmasın
Sinle sırat görmeye
Sevdiği didâr ise

It's the true man who leads the mystic life
Whoever is human, whoever dares.
Those who stand high and look below with scorn
Are bound to fall from the top of the stairs.

Though a gray-bearded old man might look grand,
There is so much he doesn't understand,
Let him not struggle towards the Holy Land
If he causes one heart to burn in tears.

A deaf man cannot hear what people say,
He thinks it's night when it's brightest day,
The atheist's eyes are blind to God's way
Even though the whole world glitters and glares.

The lover's heart is the Creator's throne.
God admires and accepts it as his own,
The man who breaks a heart shall groan and moan
In both worlds, suffering sorrows and cares.

You have a self image in your own eyes,
Be sure to see others in the same guise.
Each of the four holy books clarifies
This truth as it applies to man's affairs.

We have seen it all: Those who came are gone.
Those who once stopped here went back one by one;
He must have gulped love's wine if anyone
Feels the reality that God's truth bares.


Biz kime âşıksavuz âlemler ana âşık
Kime değül diyelüm bir kapudur bir tarîk

Biz neyi seversevüz ma'şûka anı sever
Dostumuzun doshna yad endişe ne lâyık

Sen gerçek âşıkısan dostun doshna dost ol
Bu halde kalurısan dosta değül yaraşık

Kime az bakarsan astı yüce yirdedür
Bun yirinde turana sığını geçer ferik

Yitmiş iki millete kurbân ol âşıkısan
Tâ âşıklar safında tamâm olasın sâdık

Sen Hakk'a âşıkısan Hak sana kapu açar
Ko seni beğenmeği varlık evini bir yık

Hâs u âm muhi âsî dost kulıdur cümlesi
Kime eydibilesin gel evünden taşra çık

Yûnus'un bu danişi genç-i sözidür
Dosta âşık olanlar iki cihandan fârik

All men in the whole wide world adore Him whom we adore;
How could we deny entry, it's a road or open door?

Whatever, whomever we love, our Loved One also loves;
Can the friend of our Friend have something to doubt or abhor?

If you are a true lover, befriend the friend of the Friend;
You would be unfair to your Friend if you stay as you are.

If you truly love, sacrifice yourself to all nations
So that you may be seen as faithful by the lovers' corps.

If you are God's true lover, He will open doors for you;
Give up your pride and tear down your crass selfhood to the core.

Leader and led, meek and rebel, they are all slaves of God;
How can you say to a man: "Leave your house, come out of there."

The fact Yunus knows is a word from a hidden treasure:
The Friend's lovers pay no heed to this world or the other.


Geldi geçti ömrüm benim
Şol yel esip geçmiş gibi
Hele bana şöyle geldi
şol göz yumup açmış gibi

İşbu söze Hak tanıktır
Bu can gövdeye konuktur
Bir gün ola çıka gide
Kafesten kuş uçmuş gibi

Miskin âdem oğlanını
Benzetmişler ekinciye
Kimi biter kimi yiter
Yere tohum saçmış gibi

Bu dünyada bir nesneye
Yanar içim göynür özüm
Yiğid iken ölenlere
Gök ekini biçmiş gibi

Bir hastaya vardın ise
Bir içim su verdin ise
Yarın ordu karşı gele
Hak şarâbın içmiş gibi

Bir miskini gördün ise
Bir eskice verdin ise
Yarın ordu sana gele
Hak libâsın biçmi gibi

Yûnus Emre bu dünyada
İki kişi kalır derler
Meğer Hızır İlyas ola
Ab-ı hayât içmiş gibi

My fleeting life has come and gone
A wind that blows and passes by.
I feel it has been all too brief,
Just like the blinking of an eye.

To this true word God will attest:
The Spirit is the Body's guest,
Some day it will vacate the breast
As birds, freed from their cages, fly.

Life, my good man, can be likened
To the land that the farmer sows:
Lying scattered all over the soil,
Some of the seeds sprout, but some die.

If you visit and give water
To a sick man who needs care,
With God's wine, he shall hail you there
One day when you soar to the sky.


Ben yürürüm yana yana
Aşk boyadı beni kana
Ne âkılem ne dîvâne
Gel gör beni aşk neyledi

Geh eserim yeller gibi
Geh tozarım yollar gibi
Geh akanm seller gibi
Gel gör beni aşk neyledi

Akar sulayın çağlanm
Dertli ciğerim dağlanm
Şeyhim anuban ağlanm
Gel gör beni aşk neyledi

Ya elim al kaldır beni
Ya vaslına erdir beni
Çok ağlattın güldür beni
Gel gör beni aşk neyledi

Mecnûn oluban yürürüm
Ol yân düşte görürüm
Uyanıp melûl olurum
Gel gör beni aşk neyledi

Miskin Yûnus bîçâreyim
Baştan ayağa yâreyim
Dost ilinden âvâreyim
Gel gör beni aşk neyledi

Burning, burning, I drift and tread.
Love spattered my body with blood.
I'm not in my senses nor mad,
Come, see what love has done to me.

Now and then like the winds I blow,
Now and then like the roads I go,
Now and then like the floods I flow,
Come, see what love has done to me.

Hold my hand, lift me from this place
Or take me into your embrace.
You made me weep, make me rejoice,
Come, see what love has done to me.

Searching, I roam from land to land,
In all tongues I ask for the Friend.
Who knows my plight where love is banned?
Come, see what love has done to me.

Lovelorn, I tread; madly I scream.
My loved one is my only dream;
I wake and plunge into deep gloom.
Come, see what love has done to me.

I'm Yunus, mystic of sorrow,
Suffering wounds from top to toe;
In the Friend's hands I writhe in woe.
Come, see what love has done to me.


Yar yüreğüm yar gör ki neler var
Bu halk içinde bize güler yar

Ko gülen gülsün Hak bizüm olsun
Gafil ne bilür Hakk'ı sever var

Bu yol uzakdur menzili çokdur
Geçidi yokdur derin sular var

Girdük bu yola ışkıla bile
Gurbetlik ile bizi salar var

Her kim merdâne gelsün meydâna
Kalmasun cana kimde hüner var

Yûnus sen bunda meydân isteme
Meydân içinde merdâneler var

Split my heart, go on, split;
See all the things in it.
There are those who mock us
Among this populace.

This road is full of traps:
It's too long, with huge laps;
Blocks on it leave no gaps;
It leads to deep waters.

On this road we depart
With true love in each heart,
But they set us apart
Now our exile tortures.

Let those who really dare
Step into the ring where
The champions don't care
If life ends or endures.

Yunus feels no craving
To step into that ring
Where the real heroes bring
Before us their full force.


Aceb şu yerde varm'ola
Şöyle garib bencileyin
Bağrı başlı gözü yaşlı
Şöyle garib bencileyin

Gezerim Rûm ile Şâm'ı
Yukarı illeri kamu
Çok istedim bulamadım
Şöyle garib bencileyin

Kimseler garîb olmasın
Hasret oduna yanmasın
Hocam kimseler olmasın
Şöyle garib bencileyin

Söyler dilim ağlar gözüm
Gariblere göynür özüm
Meğer ki gökte yıldızım
Şöyle garib bencileyin

Nice bu derd ile yanam
Ecel ere bir gün ölem
Meğer ki sinimde bulam
Şöyle garib bencileyin

Bir garîb ölmüş diyeler
Üç günden sonra duyalar
Soğuk su ile yuyalar
Şöyle garib bencileyin

Hey Emrem Yûnus bîçâre
Bulunmaz derdine çâre
Var imdi gez şardan şara
Söyle garib bencileyin

I wonder-is anyone here
A stranger as forlorn as I?
His heart wounded, his eyes tearful
A stranger as forlorn as I?

Let no one be lonesome like me
Or writhe in exile's agony.
Teacher, I hope no one will be
A stranger as forlorn as I.

They'll say, "He's dead. that sad stranger"
Hearing of it three days later,
They'll wash my corpse in cold water
A stranger as forlorn as I.

Yunus gets no help nor pity.
No cure for his calamity,
Drifting from city to city
A stranger as forlorn as I.


Bir kez gönül yıkdın ise
Bu kıldığın namaz değil
Yetmiş iki millet dahi
Elin yüzün yumaz değil

Hani erenler geldi geçdi
Bunlar yardu kaldı göçdü
Pervâz urup Hakk'a uçdu
Hümâ kuşudur kaz değil

Yol oldur ki doğnı vara
Göz oldur ki Hakk'ı göre
Er oldur alçakda dura
Yüceden bakan göz değil

Doğru yola gittin ise
Er eteğin tuttun ise
Bir hayır da ettin ise
Birine bindir az değil

Yûnus bu sözleri çatar
Sanki balı yağa katar
Halka mata'lann satar
Yükü cevherdir tuz değil

If you break a true believer's heart once,
It's no prayer to God-this obeisance,
All of the world's seventy-two nations
Cannot wash the dirt of f your hands and face.

There are the sages-they have come and gone.
Leaving their world behind them, they moved on.
They flapped their wings and flew to the True One,
Not like geese, but as birds of Paradise.

The true road doesn't ever run awry,
The real hero scoffs at clambering high,
The eye that can see God is the true eye,
Not the eye that stares from a lofty place.

If you followed the never-swerving road,
If you held a hero's hand as he strode,
If doing good deeds was your moral code,
You shall get a thousand to one, no less.

These are the moving facts that Yunus tells,
Where his blend of butter and honey jells,
Not salt, but jewelry is what he sells
These goods he hands out to the populace


Haber eylen âşıklara
Aşka gönül veren benem
Aşk bahrîsi olubanı
Denizlere dalan benem

Yer gök dolu bu aşkdurur
Aşkdan yeğreği yokdurur
Aşka bahâ kim yetire
Mâden-i kân olan benem

Deniz yüzünden su alıp
Sunuverirem göklere
Bulutlayanı seyrân edip
Arşa yakın varan benem

Yıldınm olup şakıyan
Gökte melâik dokuyan
Bulutlara hüküm süren
Yağmur olup yağan benem

Gördüm göğün meleklerin
Her biri bir işde imiş
Hak şalab'ın zikrin eder
İncil benem Kur'an benem

Gördüm diyen değil gören
Bildim diyen değil bilen
Bilen oldur gösteren ol
Aşka yesir olan benem

Kalem çalınıcak görgil
Haber böyledürür bilgil
"Kaalıu belâ" kelecisin
Bunda haber veren benem

Deli oldum adım Yûnus
Aşk oldu bana kılavuz
Hazrete değin yalınız
Yüz sürüyü varan benem

Go and let it be known to all lovers:
I am the man who gave his heart to love.
I turn into a wild duck of passion,
I am the one who takes the swiftest dive.

From the waves of the sea I take water
And offer it all the way to the skies.
In adoration, like a cloud, I soar
I am the one who flies to heavens above.

He who says he sees, doesn't, though he vows;
That man doesn't know if he claims he knows.
He alone is the One who knows and shows.
I am the man who has become love's slave.

For true lovers, this land is Paradise;
Those who know find mansions and palaces;
Wonder struck and adoring like Moses,
I remain on Mount Sinai where I thrive.

Yunus is my name, I'm out of my mind.
Love serves as my guide to the very end.
All alone, toward the majestic Friend
I walk kissing the ground-and I arrive.


 

Fragments and Lines From Yunus Emre's Poems

Let us die when we are not dying so that we shall not die again.
Better live the good life here on earth
If faith and religion are what you need.
Your work will not end there tomorrow
Unless it is finished here today.

At one glance, the two worlds are joined in a single flame;
For the upright, today and tomorrow are the same.
Whoever falls in love with you
Will achieve everlasting life
And will spend all his days and nights
Wallowing in his love for you.
We fell in love, we are lovers;
We are loved, we are the loved ones.
Each moment we get born anew:
No one could grow weary of us.
Ever since Yunus fell in love with you
His soul is full of beauty and joy;
Living a lovely new life all the time,
He has escaped the ravages of age.

Many people say to Yunus:
"You have become old, let love loose."
Time never pays love a visit,
Months and years are not part of it.
Look deep into me with divine wisdom
Until I become visible to you:
Because before I appeared in this shape
I had a hundred thousand forms.
Before Adam was created,
Before the soul entered the mold,
Before Satan found damnation,
At! of Heaven was where I roamed.
My tomorrow is today: this is when the might of God  appeared.
O, friends and lovers and brethren,
Go ahead, ask where I had been;
Since you want to know, I'll shed light:
I was in the eternal land.
For a long time I was a star in the sky
Desired by all the heavenly angels.
That was a time of such great bliss:
There was neither grief nor sadness,
My heart had no worry or care;
The homeland of this soul was there.
In this world I have no place of my own,
My way station and my halting place are there.
I am the sovereign, my crown and throne,
My robe and horse of Paradise are there.

For certain a person who has no friends in this world is destitute.
The world get-filled with all the joys of love;
That is why those who love beam with a smile.
If a f lower blooms without love, it wilts;
It is only with love that life has bliss.
My soul has stirred with your fragrance
Yearning to abandon this earth.
I know nothing about your place:
How and where can I seek you out
They bring tidings of you always,
Yet nobody can find your trace.
Take the veil away from your face:
Let me burn with your beauty.
So many people are in a bad way because of poverty;
Some are wealthy, but their heart are never free of anxiety.
What dies is the body; souls cannot die.
True faith is in the head, not in the headgear.
Leave aside all other words, turn on yourself your vision;
Be sure to confront your own self with your own transgression.
I bear malice against no one,
Even strangers are friends of mine.

I would not call him a lover
The man who craves God's Paradise.
Paradise is only a trap
To catch the souls o f foolish men.

When love arrives, all needs and flaws are gone.

With love we used to yearn for it:
Then we discovered that Spirit;
With this face, He took this body,
And like a tunic, he wore it.
Yunus, you are not separate:
You and the Spirit aren't apart.
If you can't find Him in your heart,
Then where can you find that Spirit?

If the Lord has made you cry, He will make you laugh again.
Yunus bears tidings:
those who hear the news revel in joy.

 

 

Reference: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey

 


 

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