An Eid Rose
A Song of the Heart
You can listen to the ilâhî here:
Gül’dür Gül
Some years ago at home in Fatih, Istanbul, with a dear tanburî friend and a bendir in my hands, we played and sang this beautiful ilâhî together.
I hope you will receive it as a small gift for Eid.
Eid Mubarak!
Eid Greeting Card in the Ottoman Era: İydi saʿîdinizi tebrîk ederim.
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This poem here belongs to a world where the rose is never only a rose.
In the language of Sufi poetry, it becomes the Beloved, the Prophet alayhissalām, the measure of beauty, and the centre around which all longing turns. The nightingale sings not to the flower, but to what it represents. And the heart—restless, searching—finds its voice only in that remembrance.
What follows is a hymn in which everything returns to the rose.
The Rose*
Gül olanın aslı güldür peygamberin nesli güldür
Girdim şâhın bahçesine, cümlesi aşı güldür gül
He who is rose, his root is Rose—
The Prophet’s lineage in the Rose reposes.
I entered the Shah’s hidden close:
All there are lovers of the Rose—O Rose.
Asmasında gül dalları, kovanında gül balları
Ağacında gül hâlleri, servi çınarı güldür gül
Upon His vine, the branches are all Rose,
Within His hive, the honey is Rose.
Upon His tree, each state in Rose is shown—
Cypress and plane alike are Rose—O Rose.
Açıl gel ey gonca gülüm, ağlatma şeydâ bülbülün
Bu inleyen garib dilin, âh-u efgânı güldür gül
Unfold, come forth, my budding Rose,
Do not let the love-struck nightingale weep.
This lonely, sighing heart of mine—
Its cries and its lament are the Rose—O Rose.
Gülden terâzi yaparlar, gül ile gülü tartarlar
Gül alırlar gül satarlar, çarşı pazarı güldür gül
They fashion scales from the Rose alone,
They weigh the Rose against the Rose.
They buy the Rose, they sell the Rose—
The market, the bazaar, is all Rose—O Rose.
Gel hâ gel ey gül Nesîmi, geldi yine gül mevsimi
Bu feryad bülbül sesimi, sesi feryâdı güldür gül
Come, come now—O Nesimi, Rose—
The season of the Rose returns and grows.
This cry, this nightingale-voice of mine—
Its sound, its lament, is the Rose—O Rose.
*Lyrics: Nesîmî | Composer: Özhan Eren
Nesîmî (d. c. 1417) was a Sufi poet of the Hurûfî tradition, known for his bold, ecstatic verse and his martyrdom in Aleppo.
This is so beautiful
Gorgeous performance with a great poem! Sallû alâ nabiyyinâ Muhammad!
Eid mubarak dear Omar.