Yunus Emre

Ilim ilim bilmektir ilim kendin bilmektir

Sen kendini bilmezsen ya nice okumaktir

Okumaktan ma'ni ne kisi Hakk'i bilmektir

Cun okudun bilmezsin ha bir kuru emektir

Okudum bildim deme cok taat kildim deme

Eri Hak bilmez isen abes yere yelmektir

Dort kitabin ma'nisi tamamdir bir elifte

Sen elif dersin hoca ma'nisi ne demektir

Yunus Emre der hoca gerekse var bin hacca

Hepisinden iyice bir gonule girmektir

Yunus Emre




Yunus Emre

Knowledge is to understand To understand who you are.

If you know not who you are What's the use of learning?

The aim in learning is To understand God's Truth.

Because without knowledge It is wasted hard labor.

Do not say: I know it all, I am obedient to my God.

If you know not who God is That is sheer idle talk.

Twenty-eight syllables You read from end to end.

You name the first `alpha'' What can it possibly mean?

Yunus Emre says also Let me receive what I need.

The best possible thing Is to find perfect peace.

Yunus Emre (?1238-?1320)

YUNUS' PHILOSOPHY & METAPHYSICS IN BRIEF
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.


Tens of books have been written about Yunus Emre's poetry, his metaphysics, his philosophy and other aspects of his works. Here I will quote one his most frequently recited pieces for examination:


A$kIn aldI benden beni
Bana seni gerek seni
Ben yanarIm dUnU gUnU
Bana seni gerek seni

Ne varlIGa sevinirim
Ne yokluGa yerinirim
A$kIn ile avunurum
Bana seni gerek seni

A$kIn a$Iklar OldUrUr
A$k denizine daldIrIr
Tecelli ile doldurur
Bana seni gerek seni

A$kIn $arabIndan iCem
Mecnun olup daGa dU$em
Sensin dUnU gUn endi$em
Bana seni gerek seni

SUfilere sohbet gerek
Ahilere ahret gerek
Mecnunlara Leyla gerek
Bana seni gerek seni

EGer beni OldUrseler
KUlUm gOGe savuralar
TopraGIm ana CagIra
Bana seni gerek seni

Yunus'durur benim adIm
GUn geCtikCe artar odum
Iki cihanda maksudum
Bana seni gerek seni
[1]


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 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

Lover 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

Even if, at the end they make me die
And scatter my ashes up to the sky,
My pit would break into this outcry:
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

'Yunus Emre the mystic' is my name,
Each passing day fans and rouses my flame,
What I desire in both worlds is the same:
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave
[5]

One constant theme in Yunus' poetry is Love, that of God for man and, therefore, of man for God. Yunus' love is the most powerful of everything, it is for the creator of the universe but it is also the creator, it is fierce and burning, consuming Yunus' mere existence. Yunus is like Mecnun, "the mad man of Love" who suffered , appear to have gone mad, and died just for the love of Leyla. Yunus wants to be as drunk, i.e. mad, as Mecnun, for his Love which wounds him terribly. For Yunus external forms of religion are not important and reward and punishment are not of concern; he only cares for God, yearns of his Love. The world is temporary and even when he dies, even when he is killed like the martyr of love Hallaj (Yunus refers to him in various other pieces of poetry), whatever is left of him will be yearning for God. Yunus can argue with God that His Love is killing people, making them suffer enormously, he seems to complain of his unjust treatment, but regardless, his love is so great that he can not help yearning for Him. He believes that he existed with God before there was existence. Ofcourse, he is no different than God:

I was a star for a long time;
in the skies the angels were desirous [of me].
The all-compelling God commanded;
I was There then.


Before I was in this form,
when my name was not Yunus,
I was He, He was I,
I was with the one who offered this love.
[7]


Yunus is hinting at a common Sufi theme of the existence of the Saints during the primordial time. Yunus is a perfect-man himself who was with the Creator before the Creation. He shared the divine knowledge with God. This idea is revealed more clearly in the following verses:

Before the created universe came here,
Before the skies were filled with angels,
Before this realm had a foundation,
I was with the creator of the Domain.
[5]


He is not content to make this shocking statement; he calls everyone else to accept it also:

If you don't identify Man as God,
All your learning is of no use at all.
[6]


Yunus in fact refers to the idea of "vahdet'i vucut" , unity of being, which is a common theme on Sufi mysticism. He adheres to most of the common , dominant ideas of Sufism, as can clearly be seen from these pieces of poetry and his other works. What is different and most striking in Yunus is his use of the simple Turkish of his time - which could still be understood and appreciated quite easily by a modern Turkish speaker, and his outstanding humanism. It is the second aspect which primarily interests us here which certainly is not separate from his use of folk language.

Kaldırımlar - Necip Fazıl Kısak�rek

Sokaktayım, kimsesiz bir sokak ortasında,
Y�r�yorum, arkama bakmadan y�r�yorum.
Yolumun karanlığa karışan noktasında
Sanki beni bekleyen bir hayal g�r�yorum.

Kara g�kler k�l rengi bulutlarla kapanık,
Evlerin bacasını kolluyor yıldırımlar.
Bu gece yarısında iki kişi uyanık:
Biri benim, biri de uzayan kaldırımlar.

�imde damla damla bir korku birikiyor,
Sanıyorum her sokak başını kesmiş devler.
Simsiyah camlarını �zerime dikiyor
G�zleri �ıkarılmış bir ama gibi evler.

Kaldırımlar, ıstırap �ekenlerin annesi,
Kaldırımlar, i�imde yaşamış bir insandır.
Kaldırımlar, duyulur ses kesilince sesi,
Kaldırımlar, i�imde uzayan bir lisandır.

Bana d�şmez can vermek bir kucakta,
Ben bu kaldırımların istediği �ocuğum.
Aman, sabah olmasın bu karanlık sokakta,
Bu karanlık sokakta bitmesin yolculuğum.

Ben gideyim yol gitsin, ben gideyim yol gitsin,
İki yanımdan aksın bir sel gibi fenerler.
Tak... tak... ayak sesimi a� k�pekler işitsin.
Yolumun takı olsun zulmetten taş kemerler.

Ne ışıkta gezeyim, ne g�ze g�r�neyim,
G�nd�zler size kalsın, verin karanlıkları.
Islak bir yorgan gibi iyice b�r�neyim,
�rt�n, �st�me �rt�n, serin karanlıkları.

Uzanıverse g�vdem taşlara boydan boya,
Alsa bu soğuk taşlar alnımdaki ateşi.
Dalıp sokaklar kadar esrarlı bir uykuya
�lse kaldırımların kara sevdalı eşi.



Sidewalks

I'm in the street, in a street all lonely
Walking, walking and never looking back
At the point my path is mingled with the black
I seem to see a phantom wait for me

Ashen clouds overcast the darkling sky
Lightening bolts seek the chimneys of homes
In this midnight only two who sleepless roam
I here am one and there the sidewalks lie

Drop by drop a terror collects in me
At the head of every street the demons wait
The houses fix their gaze, dark black and great,
On me, like blindmen with their eyes ripped free

The sidewalks, mother to the suffering
Sidewalks, the person who has lived in me
Sidewalks, sound heard when all sounds cease to be
Sidewalks, a language within me lingering

I'll not give up life in a soft embrace
I am the child nursed at this sidewalk's breast
Please let no morning on this dark street rest
On this dark street let me ever run my race

Let me go on and the road, let us not stay
Let the lamps flow past me like a flood
Let hungry dogs hear the click-clack of my tread
Let there be an arch, vaulted in gloom, on my way

Let the daytimes be yours, give me darknesses
Let me not walk in light nor to eyes appear
As in a damp quilt let me wrap myself here
Cover me, cover me in their cool darknesses

If my body, full-length on these stones could lie
If these cold stones would draw the fever from my brow
Like these streets plunging into uncanny drowse
If only the sidewalks' melancholy mate would die

Necip Fazıl Kısak�rek
Translated by Walter G. Andrews

thanks for sharing elt .. this one is one of my best)

elt, first welcome.. And thank for sharing.. :smt023

Kuyruklu Şiir

Uyuşamayız sevgilim, yollarımız ayrı;
Sen ciğercinin kedisi ben sokak kedisi.
Senin yiyeceğin kalaylı kapta
Benimki aslan ağzında.
Sen aşk r�yasi g�r�rs�n ben kemik.

Ama seninki de kolay degil, kardeşim;
Kolay değil hani,
B�yle kuyruk sallamak Tanrının g�n�.

Orhan Veli Kanık

---------------------------------------

Tailed Poem

We can’t be together, Our ways are distinct.
You’re the cat of a butcher, but I’m an alley cat.
Your food is served with a tinned plate,
I take mine from the lion’s mouth.
You dream of love; I dream of bone.

But your way isn’t easy either, pal!
It’s not so easy
To wag a tail and fawn over the man!


Orhan Veli Kanık
Translated by elt :smt023

Memleket İsterim

Memleket isterim
G�k mavi, dal yeşil, tarla sarı olsun;
Kuşların �iceklerin diyarı olsun.

Memleket isterim
Ne başta dert ne g�n�lde hasret olsun;
Kardeş kavgasına bir nihayet olsun.

Memleket isterim
Ne zengin fakir ne sen ben farkı olsun;
Kış g�n� herkesin evi barkı olsun.

Memleket isterim
Yaşamak, sevmek gibi g�n�lden olsun;
Olursa bir şikayet �l�mden olsun.

Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı

--------------------------------------

I Want a Country

I want a country
Let the sky be blue, the bough green, the cornfield yellow
Let it be a land of birds and flowers

I want a country
Let there be no pain in the head, no yearning in the heart
Let there be an end to brothers' quarrels

I want a country
Let there be no rich and poor, no you and me
On winter days let everyone have hose and home

I want a country
Let living be like loving from the heart
If there must be complaint, let it be of death

Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı
translated by Bernard Lewis

thanks my friend..