The Musical Composition Called "Beyati-Araban" [Bayâtî-`Arab-ân âyîn-é Sharîf]

[Bayâtî-`Arab-ân âyîn-é Sharîf]

[Mevlevi Composer: Cinuçen TanrIkorur (1938-2000)

FIRST SALâM (Birinci selâm)


from a Persian ghazal:

O Lamp of the Heavens1 and the Mercy of God upon earth!2 Give
ear to my shrill cries (of longing) and look at the pain of my
(inward) state!

Or, from (the verse) "Have We not expanded,"3 make the Four
Rivers4 flow in my chest-- the river of water, the river of wine, and
the river of milk and (of) honey!

ay cherâgh-é âsmân-o raHmat-é Haq bar zamîn
nâla-yé man gôsh dâr-o dard-é Hâl-é man be-bîn

yâ z-"alam nashraH" rawân kon châr-jô dar sîna-am
jôy-é âb-o jôy-é khamr-o jôy-é shîr-o angobîn

[by Jalâluddîn Rûmî, Dîwân-é Kabîr, Ghazal 1974, lines
20859, 20864] [Meter 8]
[(for the 23 meters, see http://www.dar-al-masnavi.org/divan-
meters.html)

a Persian rubâ`î:

What day is it today that the sun is doubled?

Today is distinct and apart from all days.

There are gifts scattered from the heavens to earth-dwellers, and
there is a call:

"O you lovers,5 (there is) good news: this is your day!"

emrôz che rôz-ast ke khworshêd dô-tâ-st
emrôz ze rôz-hâ berûn-ast-o jodâ-st
az charkh ba-khâkiy-ân niSâr-ast-o Sadâ-st
k-ay del-shoda-gân, mozhda ke în rôz-é shomâ-st

[by Jalâluddîn Rûmî, Dîwân-é Kabîr Rubâ`î 130
[Rubâ`î Meter 1: XXoo .XXoo XXoo. X]


from a Persian ghazal:

We have no beloved other than God in this world and the next,6
(and) we have no other occupation except the remembrance of
God.

The yearning of your heart and soul (is) Shams "the Truth" of
Tabrîz. We have no wish in the mirror (of the heart) except (for
his) appearance.

mâ dar dô jahân ghayr-é khodâ yâr na-dâr-êm
joz yâd-é khodâ hêch degar kâr na-dâr-êm

mushtâq-é del-o jân-é tô shamsu 'l-Haq-é tabrîz
dar âyena joz wâya-yé dîdâr na-dâr-êm
[Meter 16]


SECOND SALâM (Ikinci selâm)


from a Persian ghazal:

You are my sultan,7 you are my sultan. In8 my heart and soul, you
are my faith.

(When) you breathe into me, I become alive. What is9 (the worth
of just) one soul? --(since) you are a hundred times10 my soul.

sulTân-é man-î, sulTân-é man-î
andar del-o jân, îmân-é man-î

dar man be-dam-î, man zenda shaw-am
yak jân che bow-ad, sad jân-é man-î

[by Jalâluddîn Rûmî, Dîwân-é Kabîr, ghazal 3137, lines 33573-74]
[From Mixed Meters: XX ooX XX ooX]

THIRD SALâM (üçuncü selâm)


from a Persian ghazal:

Our refuge is with the King of the Saints11--with the one whose
light is (full of) yearning for the Light of God.

See the one who (is) the possessor of an illuminated eye! His body
and soul is the (very) body and soul of (Muhammad) the Chosen
one!12

iltijây-é mâ ba-shâh-é awliyâ-st
z-ân ke nûr-ash mushtâq-é nûr-é khodâ-st

ay ke dâr-é dîda-yé rôshân be-bîn
jism-o jân-ash jism-o jân-é muSTafà-st

[Meter 8 (there appears to be a metric error in the second line that
requires "mushtâq-é" to be misspelled as "mushtaq-é")]


from a Turkish ghazal:

Oh, a thousand praises for a sultan as this! (For) those who are his
slaves become kings and emperors.

Today, whoever trustingly humbles himself before Walad13 will, if
a poor man, become a prince (and) if a prince, will become a
sultan.14

ey ki hezar âferin bu nice sultan olur
kulu olan kiSiler hüsrevü hâkan olur

her ki bugün Velede inanuben yüz süre
yoksul ise bay olur bay ise sultan olur

[by Shamsuddîn AHmad Aflâkî, d. 1353]15


from a Persian ghazal:

O caravan (full) of the merchandise of devotional acts,16 where are
you? Come into the sacred sanctuary of the prayer-direction of
neediness!17

(You are) a fellow-sharer of the same house, shadow and a wall
(next) to a wall,18 (yet) you are confused and wandering in the
desert, you are.

ay qâfila-yé kâla-yé Tâ`ât ko-jây-îd
andar Haram-é qibla-yé Hâjat be-y-ây-îd

ham-khâna-wo ham-sâya-wo dîwâr ba-dêwâr
sar-gashta beyâbân shomây-îd shomây-îd
[Meter 16]


from a Persian ghazal:

(I swear) by the right of the one in whose heart there isn't
(anything) except love for You: I will not become the friend of him
who is not from among Your friends!19

May my soul never be without sorrow if it isn't a sacrifice to You!
May my eye never be bright20 if it is not a carrier (of tears) of
water21 to You!

ba-Haqq-é ân ke dar-în del ba-joz walây-é tô nêst
waliyy-é ô na-shaw-am k-ô ze-awliyây-é tô nêst

ma-bâd jân-am bê-gham agar fidây-é tô nêst
ma-bâd chashm-am rôshân agar saqây-é tô nêst

[by Jalâluddîn Rûmî, Dîwân-é Kabîr, Ghazal 480, lines 5091-92]
[Meter 7]


from a Turkish ghazal:

ey dil bu yeter iki cihanda sana iz'ân
birdir bir iki olmaya yok bilmiS ol imkân
hak söyleyicek sende senin ortada nen var
âlemde heman ben dediGindir sana noksân
sa'y eyle rIzâ gözle ko Itlâk ile kaydI
âlemde "semâî" bu yeter sâlike irfân


FOURTH SALâM (Dördüncü selâm)


from a Persian ghazal:

You are my sultan,22 you are my sultan. In my heart and soul, you
are my faith.

(When) you breathe into me, I become alive. What is (the worth of
just) one soul? --(since) you are a hundred times my soul.

sulTân-é man-î, sulTân-é man-î
w-andar del-o jân, îmân-é man-î

dar man be-dam-î, man zenda shaw-am
yak jân che shaw-ad, sad jân-é man-î

[by Jalâluddîn Rûmî, Dîwân-é Kabîr, ghazal 3137, lines 33573-74]


--translated from Persian, Arabic, and Turkish by Ibrahim Gamard
Ibrahim Gamard (translation, footnotes, & transliteration), 9/04


NOTES
1Lamp of the Heavens: an epithet of the beloved, the spiritual
master of Mawlânâ, Shams-é Tabrîzî.

2Mercy of God on earth: another epithet of the beloved.

3have We not expanded: a direct quote in Arabic from Qur'an
94:1, "Have We not expanded thy breast?" This was an address of
God to the Prophet Muhammad that is generally interpreted to
mean that God filled the Prophet's heart with the Divine
knowledge of Revelation.

4the Four Rivers: a reference to the four rivers of Paradise
mentioned in Qur'an 47:15--symbols of heavenly bliss for the
righteous in the Hereafter "A parable of the Garden promised to
the piously fearing: In it are rivers of water (that are) unspoiled by
time and rivers of milk (that are of) unchanging taste and rivers of
wine (that are) a joy for the drinkers and rivers of honey (that are)
clear of impurities."

5O you lovers: literally, "O heart-deprived ones." An idiom
meaning those who
are bereft of reason, in love, enamored.

6this world and the next: literally, the two worlds. The meaning is
the present life and the world to come.

7You are my sultan: means both Shams-é Tabrîzî, and on a higher
level, God alone, the Only Beloved. It is a characteristic of Persian
sufi poetry to be ambiguous in such a way as to refer both to the
human beloved and the Divine Beloved. "When you breathe into
me" is a reference to when God breathed into Adam of His spirit
(Qur'an 15:29).

8In: this is "And in" [w-andar] in the earliest manuscripts of the
Divan (see Foruzanfar's edition).

9What is [che shaw-ad]: this is "che bow-ad" in the earliest
manuscripts of the Divan (see Foruzanfar's edition).

10a hundred times: an idiom meaning a great many.

11the King of the Saints [shâh-é awliyâ]: means the Pole or Axis
{quTb] of the sufi hierarchy of saintly masters and dervishes. It
probably refers to Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi.

12the Chosen one [muSTafà]: an epithet of the Prophet Muhammad,
meaning the one chosen by God to be the final prophet. This name
is sometimes spelled "Mustafâ."

13Walad: a word play on the name of Rumi's son and successor,
Sultan Walad, or Veled. The literal sense of this line is: "whoever
trustingly rubs his head (on the ground in surrendered obeisance)
to Walad."

14will become a sultan: means a "spiritual king."

15Aflaki: the first and last lines from a ghazal by Shamsuddîn
AHmad Aflâkî. The entire poem occurs at the end of Golpinarli's
book, "Mevlânâ'dan sonra Mevlevilik" in a section called "Samples
of Mevlevi (Turkish) Poetry," where he includes four poems by
Aflaki.

16the merchandise of devotional acts: means the worldly gains from
appearing to be a pious worshipper--such a respect, a good
reputation, business contacts, etc.

17the prayer-direction of neediness: means cultivating and
increasing neediness toward God alone, not neediness toward
worldly help or benefits.

18a wall next to a wall: this verse may mean, "You (all) are in the
vicinity of true and sincere worshippers and lovers of God, yet
within yourselves you are lost and confused as in a desert."

19Your friends [awliyâ]: this term refers to the saints of God who
are in closest spiritual proximity to God, the Only Beloved.

20may my eye never be bright: refers to an ancient belief that the
eyes are able to see by means of an inner light. The meaning here
is: "May my eyes become blind if..."

21a carrier (of tears) of water: means much weeping in yearning to
end separation and return to original nearness to the Beloved.

22You are my Sultan: see notes from the second salâm.