The Seven Great Poets (Yedi Ulu Ozan) of the Alevis

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Who are the Seven Great Poets?

1.	Seyyid Nesimi 1345–1417	Hurufi poet; because of his belief in the Unity of Being (Vahdet-i Vücud) he was flayed alive and executed in Aleppo.
2.	Shah Ismail Hatayi 1487–1524	Safavid ruler and one of the greatest poets of the Alevi erkân; his deyiş are the foundation of the Cem ceremonies.
3.	Fuzuli 1494–1556	Great divan poet who wrote of love for the Ehl-i Beyt (the family of the Prophet) and the grief of Karbala.
4.	Yemini 15th–16th century	Author of the Faziletname; he described the virtues of Imam Ali.
5.	Virani 15th–16th century	Lived in the time of Balım Sultan; a poet who combined Hurufi thought with love for Imam Ali.
6.	Pir Sultan Abdal 16th century	From the village of Banaz near Sivas; a symbol of resistance against oppression, hanged in Sivas.
7.	Kul Himmet 16th century	Disciple (mürid) of Pir Sultan Abdal; known for his düvazdeh imam and nefes (religious hymns).

The Erkânname also covers the life and poems of Noksani Baba.

The Author’s Preface

My most esteemed readers, in my view it was a shortcoming that the first and second editions of my book Erkânname did not contain the names of our Seven Great Poets, who are held in great respect and esteem in Alevi mystical (tasavvuf) philosophy. I became aware of this in this third edition. I believe this information will be of benefit to future generations. In the third edition I have tried to write about many subjects that are closely bound up with our faith. My aim! To render a true and useful service for the sake of my faith.

In the Alevi community the “Seven Great Poets” enjoy great fame and the standing of sanctified figures. The beloved and respected Seyit Nesimi, Hatayi, Fuzuli, Yemini, Virani, Pir Sultan and Kul Himmet: so that they are not forgotten in the darkness of history, I wished to make a contribution and to pass on their lives and poems to future generations, briefly and concisely, as far as I was able.

We write according to the sources we have been able to find. Naturally, the information given here may not reflect the truth one hundred per cent, because we cannot know how accurate the sources we found are. Much of the information I give is written on the basis of the book “Yedi Ulu’lar” (The Seven Great Ones) by the late A. Celalettin Ulusoy – may God have mercy on him, may his soul rejoice and may his abode be paradise – and on research in history books on the lives and poems of the other poets and in the works written about them.

Why Are They Called “Great Poets”?

In Alevi literature there are, of course, many poets of the same standing as these Seven. To explain the fact that these seven poets, whose names we commemorate here, are singled out as the “Great Poets” by the sacredness of the number seven is, in my opinion, not a very convincing argument. It is rather due to the fact that the greater part of their poems express and give direction to the faith, the path and the erkân (rites) of the Ehl-i Beyt, and that they are filled with love for Ali and the Ehl-i Beyt. To this day, part of the worship in Alevi Cem ceremonies is performed with their düvazdeh imam and elegies, which are recited like prayers, and this will continue to be so.

Whatever the reason, they are lovers of God (Hak aşıkları) who shaped the Alevi faith and mystical philosophy with great fervour and used their artistic gifts with mastery. These incomparable lovers of God have more than earned the right to be honoured as the “Seven Great Poets”.

In our own time, too, very valuable ozans and âşıks (minstrels) have emerged. For example, Âşık Veysel with “Benim sadık yarım kara toprak” (My faithful beloved is the black earth) and “Gidiyorum gündüz gece” (I am going, day and night); Davut Sulari with “Ağır göl dağının Kağmut yaylası” (The Kağmut pasture of Mount Ağır Göl); Âşık Daimi with “Bu da gelir bu da geçer ağlama” (This too shall come, this too shall pass, do not weep) and “Çünkü ben bir insanım” (Because I am a human being). Feyzullah Çınar, Âşık Mahsuni Şerif and Muhlis Akarsu have more valuable compositions than we can count. However, because their compositions deal with social relations, politics and nature, they are not called “Great Poets” (Ulu Ozan).

Understanding the personal and eternal value of Nesimi, Hatayi, Fuzuli, Yemini, Virani, Pir Sultan and Kul Himmet is not everyone’s task; it is the task of the er (the spiritually mature person). In the different times in which they lived, they expressed the same language, the same faith and the same aim. Those who read their poems will appreciate this best. Although each of them was a representative of the timeless schools of the various ages in which they lived, they show an unbelievable similarity and unity of feeling in language, aim and subject matter. It is plain to see that the inspiration in these poems springs from a divine love. This also shows that our Seven Great Poets passed through the third gate, the gate of tarikat (the mystical path), and became united at the fourth gate, the gate of hakikat (truth).

In fact, measured against the age in which they lived, the language of our Seven Great Poets is extremely simple. However, as a result of the passage of the years and the innovations and changes it brings, a transformation arises between the old and the new language through very different terms. People of our age, especially the younger generation, have difficulty understanding some of the terms and expressions in the poems of the Seven Great Poets.

Alevi-Bektashi Literature

Alevi-Bektashi literature is an inexhaustible source, united both in essence and in faith. For centuries it has flowed into an ocean and added rich links to our folk literature. When folk literature is passed through a historical and impartial filter, it can be seen that our most famous poets were people moulded by the principles of Alevism and Bektashism. Since the first Turkish mystics – Ahmet Yesevi, Hacı Bektaş Veli, Abdal Musa, Tabduk Emre, Yunus Emre, Mevlana – and the erenler such as Sheikh Cüneyt, Sheikh Haydar and Shah Hatayi, the sheikhs of the lodge of Ardabil (Erdebil Dergâhı), the great majority of the folk poets who have lived are monuments of ours that matured in the Alevi faith.

In the Alevi-Bektashi faith the triad Allah – Muhammad – Ali, the Ehl-i Beyt and the Twelve Imams, and tevella and teberra (love for the friends of the Ehl-i Beyt and turning away from its enemies) have an important place. All these values have been shaped with great success by the Alevi poets, in their inner being and on their saz. Anatolian Alevism and Bektashism form a whole that is bound in faith, tradition and thought to the principles of Hacı Bektaş Veli and united around the same pole.

Alevism is a mystical (tasavvufi) faith based on the mystical thought of Islam, whose foundations were laid around 630 CE by the Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali, and on its creed (itikat). The Bektashi order is an order (tarikat) within this faith, founded in the 15th century by Balım Sultan under the name of Hacı Bektaş Veli.

Source: Seyit Derviş Tur, Erkânname – Aleviliğin İslam Yorumu ve Alevi Erkânları (Erkânname – The Alevi Interpretation of Islam and the Alevi Rites), expanded 3rd edition (ISBN 975-6791-52-7).

Translated from the Turkish original by Seyit Derviş Tur.