The Musical Composition Called "Suzidilara" [Sôzî-del-ârâ âyîn-é Sharîf]
[Mevlevi Composer: Üçünçü Selim, 1761-1808]1
FIRST SALâM (Birinci selâm)
from a Persian ghazal:
(Having) a beloved and (being) lost of heart (are) the secrets of the
(mystic) drunkard. The work of the work of the (mystic) drunkard
(is to be) like Him who is the Beloved2 of the (mystic) drunkard.
The turn of the sellers of old things has passed; the market of the
(mystic) drunkard (is for) the sellers of the new (whose offer is) of
(Divine) Aid.3
del-barê-wo bê-delî asrâr-é mast
kâr-é kâr-é mast chûn ô yâr-é mast
nawbat-é kohna-farôsh-ân dar goZasht
naw-farôsh-ân-é mu`în bâzâr-é mast
from a Persian ghazal:
The mystical concert4 is tranquillity for the souls of the
(spiritually) alive ones;5 a person knows (this) who is the Soul of
the soul.
Especially (if) they continue to make a circle in the mystical
concert and the Ka`ba is in the center.6
samâ` ârâm-é jân-é zendag-ân-ast
kasê dân-ad ke ô-râ jân-é jân-ast
khuSûS-an Halqa-yé k-andar samâ`-and
hamê gard-and-o ka`ba dar meyân-ast
[by Jalâluddîn Rûmî, Dîwân-é Kabîr, Ghazal 339, lines 3663,
3670]
from a Persian quatrain:
This love is complete, complete, complete.7
(And) this [separate] self8 is imaginary, imaginary, imaginary.
This light is glorious, glorious, glorious.
Today there is union, union, union.9
în `ishq kamâl-ast-o kamâl-ast-o kamâl
în nafs khayâl-ast-o khayâl-ast-o khayâl
în nûr jalâl-ast-o jalâl-ast-o jalâl
emrûz wiSâl-ast, wiSâl-st, wisâl
[by Jalâluddîn Rûmî, Dîwân-é Kabîr, Quatrain 1083]
from a Persian quatrain:
Since you are not a slave, proclaim kingship,
(And) shoot the arrow of (your) gaze in whatever manner you
wish.
Since you have become safe from self and other than self,
Dwell without a self10 and beat the drum of divine [Majesty]!11
chûn banda na'î, nidây-é shâhî mê-zan
tîr-é naZar ân-chon-ân ke khwâh-î mê-zan
chûn az khwod-o ghayr-é khwod musallam gasht-î
bê-khwod be-neshîn, kôs-é ilâhî mê-zan
[by Jalâluddîn Rûmî, Dîwân-é Kabîr, Quatrain 1460]
SECOND SALâM (Ikinci selâm)
from a Persian ghazal:
You are my sultan,12 you are my sultan. And 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 times13 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 bow-ad, sad jân-é man-î
[by Jalâluddîn Rûmî, Dîwân-é Kabîr, Ghazal 3137, lines
33573-74]
THIRD SALâM (üçüncü selâm)
from a Persian ghazal:
O musician, repeat our secrets! Retell soul-expanding stories!
Open up the treasury of (the verse) "Truly We have opened"!14
Repeat the secrets of (Muhammad) the Chosen One!15
muTrib-â, asrâr-é mâ-râ bâz gô
qiSSa-hây-é jân-fazâ-râ bâz gô
makhzan-e "innâ fataH-nâ" bar goshâ
sirr-é jân-é muSTafà-râ bâz gô
[by Jalâluddîn Rûmî, Dîwân-é Kabîr, Ghazal 2227, lines
23624, 23628]
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 Walad16 will,
if a poor man, become a prince (and) if a prince, will become a
sultan.17
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]18
from a Persian ghazal:
I have no work except this work place and He is my work. I am
boasting the boast of boasts because He is my buyer.
My soul and heart are peaceful because He is my heart and soul.
My caravan is safe because He is my caravan leader.
kâr na-dâr-am joz în kâr-gah-o kâr-am ô-st
lâf zan-am lâf-é lâf chûn-ke kharidâr-am ô-st
jân-o del-am sâkin-ast z-ân-ke del-o jân-am ô-st
qâfila-am îman-ast qâfilasâlâr-am ô-st
[by Jalâluddîn Rûmî, Dîwân-é Kabîr, Ghazal 465, lines
4931, 4934]
from a Persian rubâ`î:
Rise up! For today the world belongs to the (mystic) drunkard. The
soul and the world are the wine-servers for the guest of the (mystic) drunkard.
Venus and the moon (are) the joyous drum players for the (mystic)
drunkard. The nightingale of the soul (is) drunk from the
rosegarden of the (mystic) drunkard.
khêz ke emrûz jahân ân-é mast
jân-o jahân sâqi-yé mehmân-é mast
zuhra-wo mah daf-zan-é shâdî-yé mast
bolbol-é jân mast-é gol-estân-é mast
from a Turkish ghazal [to be improved]:
Oh, in his love (and) in his states (is) his beauty!
Love burned the heart by (means of) its heated passions.
By God and by the signs of God,
I am making an oath: I will not love (anything) besides Beauty!
Ah güzelin aSkIna hâlâtIna
YandI yürek aSk harârâtIna
Andiçeyim gayri güzel sevmeyem
TanrI'ya vü TanrI'nIn âyâtIna
a Turkish quatrain [to be improved]:
O revealer of the secrets of God--Mevlana!
(O) sultan of (mystical) passing away and king of (mystical)
remaining--Mevlana!
In his Presence, Love is making such a speech (for you)!
(O) master of the multitude of the saints--Mevlana!
Ey kâSif-i esrâr-I Hüdâ Mevlânâ
Sultân-I fenâ Sâh-I bekâ Mevlânâ
ASk etmededir Hazretine böyle hitâb
Mevlâ-yi gürûh-i evliyâ Mevlânâ
FOURTH SALâM (Dördüncü selâm)
from a Persian ghazal:
You are my sultan,19 you are my sultan. And 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 bow-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),
8/27/05
Translation words and transliterations are based on the best edition
of Rumi's Divan (by Foruzanfar) based on the earliest manuscripts,
so there may be minor differences in wording with what has been
published or musically recorded in Turkey.
NOTES
1The composer of this work was Sultan Selim III, who was a
Mevlevi. He also built the beautiful mosque (named for him)
next to the tomb of Jalâluddîn Rûmî.
2(to be) like Him who is the Beloved of the drunkard: refers both
to the spiritual sufi master of the disciple, as well as to God.
3the sellers of the new (whose offer is) of (Divine) Aid: means the
advanced sufis who are dispensers of Divine help.
4mystical concert [samaa`, or sema]: literally, "audition," and
refers to a sufi gathering in which mystical poetry and music
induce ecstatic feelings and movements.
5the souls of the (spiritually) alive ones [jân-é zendag-ân]: in the
musical composition of Sultan Selim III, this text (which is in the
earliest manuscripts) has been changed to "the souls of the lovers"
[jân-é `âshiq-ân-ân].
6the Ka`ba is in the center: The previous verse is: "For those
persons whose faces are (turned) to the prayer-direction [qibla]
(toward Mecca, the mystical concert [sam’`] is in this world and
the next." When dervishes whirl, they may sometimes visualize
themselves as circling the „Ka`ba of the heart.¾ Here, the reference
is to a group of dervishes in a circle who are doing spontaneous
spiritually-inspired movements with music, who visualize the
Ka`ba in the middle of their circle, feel a spiritual connection with
it, and become the Soul of the soul in a state of blessed nearness to
God, the Divine Beloved.
7complete: can also be translated as "perfect."
8separate self [nafs]: a technical term in Islamic sufism that refers
to the sensual or bodily self or ego, as well as its craving desires. In
the musical composition of Sultan Selim III, this text (which is in
the earliest manuscripts) has been changed to "and this intellect"
[w-în `aql].
9union: although the belief of unification [ittiHâd]with God is not
acceptable in Islam, Muslim sufis have often soken of "union with
the beloved" to symbolize a kind of spiritual union with a sufi
master and to mean a spiritual state of nearness to God, which is
likened to union. In the musical composition of Sultan Selim III,
the text of the second half of this quatrain (which is in the earliest
manuscripts) has been changed to: "(This) vision is beautiful, and
is beautiful, beautiful; (This) is light and it is union, union" [dîdâr
jamâl-ast-o jamâl-ast-o jamâl, nûr-ast-o wiSâl-ast-o wiSâl-ast-o
wiSâl].
10dwell without self: means attain the stage in the mystical journey
in which one is free from bondage to the ego, its identity,
compulsive thinking, and craving desires.
11beat the drum of divine Majesty: may also be translated as "the
drum of divinity." This refers to a state of ecstatic joy of being in
direct awareness of the Divine Presence of God, free from the veil
of self and self-centered awareness.
12You 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).
13a hundred times: an idiom meaning a great many.
14"Truly We have opened": Qur'an, 48:1. This is usually translated
to refer to an important historical event, "Truly We have given you
a clear victory," in regard to a treaty that gave the new Muslim
monotheists an advantage after everal years of defensive warfare
with the polytheistic Arabs who tried to obliterate them. However,
the words literally mean "opened up," which Rumi interprets to
mean a spiritual opening.
15the Chosen One [MuSTafà]: a common title of the Prophet
Muhammad.
16Walad: 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."
17will become a sultan: means a "spiritual king."
18Aflaki: these are 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.
19You are my sultan: please see the explanations for these verses in
the Second Selâm.
