Nesimi - Haydar Haydar...

Yesterday's little piece on ASOIAF reminded me of the nastiness of that world; one of the nastiest things I read being the act of being flayed ie. being skinned alive. Something that I recall from my time as a medical resident where patients who had had a skin graft almost uniformly complained of more excruciating pain in the area that had had the graft taken from, rather than the grafted area, as the nerve fibres had been severed across the entire surface of the donor site.

This was the fate of a famed mystic of the 14th-15th Centuries, Seyit Nesimi. Being skinned alive in Aleppo for thought crimes. While he never claimed divinity for himself, he certainly expressed viewpoints that allowed for oneness with God; much as many Sufi traditions admit.

One of my favourite Turkish folk melodies centres around a poem attributed to Nesimi. The wordy translation (getting meaning across and not necessarily literal) and any errors therein are mine (in italics).

Ben melamet hırkasını kendim giydim eğnime
Ar namus şişesini taşa çaldım kime ne

I have voluntarily worn this woollen garment (of hair) on myself.
The glass of honourability and social observance, I broke by smashing it against a rock.

Here he is saying that he has taken the Sufi (which is thought to mean "wool") path, indicating he wears voluntarily a type of garment made of wool or hair that followers of this tradition would wear showing their acceptance of discomfort as a way of showing determination. He goes on to say that he has therefore stopped following the behaviours associated with societal norms and breaks the established rules as a result.

Kâh çıkarım gökyüzüne, seyrederim âlemi
Kâh inerim yeryüzüne, seyreder âlem beni

I ascend to the heavens to watch the universe below me
And I descend to the earth so that the universe watches me

A mystical passage alluding to the oneness with the Creator where he is able to perceive the unity and entirety of the creation and to live as one of the created at once.

Sofular haram demişler, bu aşkın şarabına
Ben doldurur, ben içerim, günah benim kime ne

The religious ones say that the wine of this love (for God and oneness with Him) is forbidden
Yet I am the one doing the filling of the glass and I am the drinker; the sin is mine, so what is it to them?

Here he is decrying the established religious order and saying that everyone is responsible for their own salvation and own damnation and that it should not be anyone else's business how he understands his place in the scheme of things, and what he chooses to do. This is couched in the word chosen of "wine" as that is one of the forbidden things of this world which he makes into the love of the Creator he seeks to live.

Kâh giderim medreseye, ders okurum hak için
Kâh giderim meyhaneye, dem çekerim aşk için

I go to the madrassa (a school of religious teaching) and study the lessons there for the love of God
I go to the liquor shop (pub) and drink for that love

Another reference to the wine of love.

Sofular secde eder, mescidin mihrabına
Benim ol dost eşiğidir, secde gâhım kime ne

The religious men prostrate towards the front of the mosque
My focus is towards the threshold of friendship with Him, to whom does it matter towards what I prostrate?

A reference to the difference in the aim of traditional religion and its priests and the mystic. The difference between physical action and the actions of the inner world and thoughts of man. A difference in goal.

Nesimi’ye sorduklarda o yar ilen hoşmusun
Hoş olayım olmayayım, o yar benim kime ne

When they ask Nesimi are you happy with your love(r)?
Whether I am happy or not, that love(r) is mine, what does it matter to anyone else

Aah Haydar Haydar taşa çaldım kime ne.

The chorus between the verses above.

One of the more famous renditions (amongst many) is the one by Neşet Ertaş which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baGNQSBsHaM