Seyyid Nesimi – Life, Hurufism and Poems

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Who was Seyyid Nesimi? (1345 – 1417)

His fame is widespread throughout the Islamic world, and he is known above all in the Alevi-Bektashi community as a sacred poet. There is no definite, documented information about the life of Seyit İmamed din Nesimi, who is remembered with love and reverence. He is known to have lived in the second half of the 13th and the first half of the 14th century. Another of his names is Seyit Ali Nesimi. With his melodious, faith-filled and passionate poems he expresses mystical belief with great talent.

His mürşid Fazlullah Naimi and Hurufism

When speaking of Seyit Nesimi, it would be an omission not to speak of his mürşid (spiritual master), Sheikh Feyzullah Neimi. Sheikh Feyzullah Neimi is said to have been a great Azerbaijani scholar. His valuable works such as “Cavidan Name”, “Erşname”, “Dövme name”, “Muhabbet-name” and “Vasiyetname” have survived to the present day.

The sources that give information about the life of this powerful poet are fewer than one might think. It is not known what kind of education Nesimi received in the early years of his life. Nesimi is one of the most enlightened poets of mystical literature and, at the same time, the first poet in literary history to embrace Hurufism. Seyit Nesimi was influenced by Feyzullah Hurufi’s “Cavidan Name” and wrote poems that gave Hurufism a mysterious and philosophical meaning and character.

In these poems the Hurufi doctrine is treated with great fervour, in a direction parallel to Alevi belief and to the philosophy of tasavvuf (Islamic mysticism). According to Nesimi, when God was in the state of “Kunt’u kenz” (the hidden treasure), He made His absolute, infinite beauty visible. Within this world, man, by uniting with God, reflects God’s beauty. What expresses the human heart is sound, and sound is realised in man as word. Therefore, God’s first manifestation became the “Kelam” (the Word), the Quran. Its emergence as Word was defined by letters. Thus he maintains that the 28 letters of the Quran appear in the countenance of the perfect human – another manifestation of God – and that the Light of God is seen in the countenance of the perfect human.

Nesimi did not write his poems in order to spread his faith. He made his belief manifest with a fervour that his thought awakened in his innermost self and that could not be contained. Within an orderly style that expresses his feelings in heartfelt language, Nesimi masterfully used the classical language and the rules of versification of his age. His language is clear, simple and meaningful. For this reason Nesimi’s poems are still widely read today. Nesimi left a divan consisting of Turkish and Persian poems.

In Nesimi’s lifetime the Ahi movement (the Ahi brotherhoods) had spread widely. Sufism played a major role in the wide spread of the Ahi movement. While Nesimi was living in Baku and Shirvan, Miran Shah, the son of Timur, on Timur’s orders, took Nesimi along with him during the attacks on the fortress of Nakhchivan. At that time Sufism and Hurufism spread widely in Azerbaijan and the countries of the Middle East. According to tasavvuf, a belief of thought, gnosis (irfan) and faith, there is no being other than God. The perfect human is a light detached from the Light of God.

The material and spiritual world of man is bound to God. For the Sufis, the tarikat (mystical path) is the way of drawing near to God. Every human being, according to the purity of his heart and unlike all other living beings, attains the world of unity through his own intellect. I am writing here poems that describe Seyit Nesimi.

Daim Enel Hak söylerem, Hakk’dan çü Mansur olmuşam.
Kimdir beni berdar eden, bu şehre meşhur olmuşam.
Bende sığar iki cihan, ben bu cihana sığmazam.
Gevheri la mekân benim, kevnü mekâna sığmazam.

Constantly I say “Enel Hak” (I am the Truth), for through God I have become Mansur.
Who is it that sends me to the gallows? I have become famous in this city.
Both worlds fit within me, but I do not fit into this world.
I am the jewel of the placeless; I do not fit into existence and space.

Birthplace and life

We have no definite information about the birthplace and date of birth of Seyit Ali Nesimi. Some sources write that he was born in the village of Nesimi near Baghdad. Âşık Çelebi’s sources state that he was from Diyarbakır. Bursalı Tahir Bey writes in his book “Osmanlı müellifleri” (Ottoman Authors) that he was born in Nusaybin. Selman Mümtaz’s edition of the Nesimi Divan states that he was born in Shirvan.

It can be seen that there are accounts of Seyit Nesimi’s birthplace that cannot be reconciled with one another. Such claims exist for almost all famous figures in history, especially regarding their place of birth. Wherever Nesimi may have been born, the truth that his poems prove is that he came from the lineage of Muhammad and Ali among the Azerbaijani Turks and was devoted to the faith of the Ehl-i Beyt (Ahl al-Bayt, the family of the Prophet).

It is certain that Nesimi travelled through Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and eastern Anatolia. It appears that he captivated his listeners with his enchanting style. Various books write that his fame spread to all provinces, that those who embraced his ideas grew in number day by day, and that he succeeded in spreading his faith to an extent that his teacher Feyzullah Hurufi had not achieved. Although there is no definite document, among the accounts is the claim that Nesimi came to Konya and Ankara in the time of Murad II and afterwards went to the dergâh (lodge) of Hacı Bektaş.

His execution in Aleppo

It is certain that Nesimi’s views and beliefs were incompatible with the Sunni sharia. In a sense, in their eyes, he was spreading ideas contrary to the rules of Islam. For this reason they accused Nesimi of irreligion and of opposing the injunctions of the Quran and the principles of the sharia. In accordance with the fatwa issued by Şihabeddin, son of Hilal, the ruler of Egypt, Sheikh al-Muayyad, gave a cruel order of execution: “Let him be flayed, and let his corpse be displayed in Aleppo for seven days. Let this be proclaimed everywhere. Then let his limbs be cut to pieces, and let the pieces be sent to the sons of Zülkadir, whom he converted to his belief.” Thus, in 1417 or 1418, he was martyred under unprecedented torture.

Louis Massignon says that Nesimi was a continuation of Hallac-ı Mansur. According to Nesimi, at the centre of creation is the Light of God reflected in man. By attaining perfection and slaying his ego (nefs), man reaches unity with God. Nesimi is a soul devoted to God; a soul that bears all the afflictions and calamities that would befall it solely in order to win God’s pleasure. See what he says:

Gör beni yandırsalar, toprağımı savursalar
Külüm oddan çağırsalar, Settar senden dönmezem

See, even if they burn me and scatter my dust to the winds,
even if they call my ashes out of the fire – O Settar (Concealer of sins), I will not turn away from You.

The perfect human (İnsan-ı Kâmil) and the unity of being (Vahdet-i Vücud) according to Nesimi

According to Nesimi, there are two kinds of people in the world. One is human in appearance and animal in nature (human in physical form, animal in spiritual make-up). “I loathe such people. I loathe two-faced people,” he says. According to Nesimi, the bee of such people is falsehood, their honey is poison, their laughter is a fire that burns a person. The human who has attained perfection can, unlike all other living beings, rise through his own intellect to the station of God, cling to Him and unite with Him. A man of love is he who finds God (Hak) in his own heart; whose nature resembles that of Mustafa and whose character resembles that of Ali; who is deep like the sea, humble like the earth and useful, refining like fire and clear like water. Like Hacı Bektaş Veli, Mevlana (Rumi), Yunus (Emre), Kaygusuz Abdal, Abdal Musa and other erenler (saints), Seyit Nesimi proved, on the basis of Quranic verses, that God is within man and that the perfect human forms a wholeness with God.

As for the unity of being (Vahdet-i Vücud), the central subject of tasavvuf, Seyit Nesimi followed the path of Hallac-ı Mansur. This way of thinking influenced many mystics. He has hundreds of beyits (couplets) based on this form of belief. Since ninety per cent of them are in Persian, they are very difficult for people today to understand. For that reason, as far as I have been able to find them, I will write down a few of those written in Turkish, or translated into Turkish, that we can understand.

Poems of Seyyid Nesimi

Düştü yine deli gönül gözlerinin hayaline
Kim ne bilir bu gönlümün fikri nedir hayali ne
Neylerem ol cenneti içinde didar olmazsa
Koy anı virane kalsın imanla inanç olmazsa

Once more the mad heart has fallen for the vision of your eyes;
who can know what the thought, what the vision of this heart of mine is?
What use is that paradise to me if the beloved’s face is not within it?
Let it stay in ruins if there is no faith and belief in it.

Ya Ali senden medet (O Ali, help me)

Aşk elinden yandı canım ya Ali senden medet
Men garibi biçareyim ya Ali senden medet
Sen mene Lütfü kerem et derdime bir çare kıl
Şah sensin men garibim ya Ali senden medet

At the hand of love my soul has burned – O Ali, help me!
I am a poor, helpless stranger – O Ali, help me!
Show me kindness and grace, find a cure for my pain;
you are the Shah, I am a stranger – O Ali, help me!

Hakk Teâlâ öz nurundan hoş yaratmış şahımı
Kudreti sırrı hüdasın ya Ali senden medet
Kim Muhammed’i, Ali’den ayırtır lanet ona
Lahmike lehmi değil mi ya Ali senden medet

God Most High beautifully created my Shah from His own light;
you are the power and the secret of God – O Ali, help me!
Whoever separates Muhammad from Ali, a curse upon him;
is it not said, “Your flesh is my flesh”? – O Ali, help me!

An interpretation of Surat al-Fatiha

Hoş okursun okuduğun tutmazsan
Elhamdülillaha iman etmezsen
Rabbil Alemi’ne secde kılmazsan
Bismillah arada kalırsın kardaş

You recite beautifully, but if you do not keep what you recite,
if you do not believe in “Elhamdülillah” (Praise be to God),
if you do not prostrate before “Rabbil Alemin” (the Lord of the worlds),
then you remain stuck halfway at “Bismillah”, brother.

İkrar verip ikrarından durmazsan
Er rahmanı rahim nedir bilmezsen
Maliki yevmeddin serden geçmezsen
Iman’ın küfre dönüşür kardaş

If you give the vow (ikrar) and do not keep your vow,
if you do not know what “Er-Rahman er-Rahim” (the Compassionate, the Merciful) is,
if for “Maliki yevmiddin” (the Master of the Day of Judgement) you do not give up your head,
your faith turns into unbelief, brother.

İyyake nabüdü sırrına ermezsen
İyyake nestein’e ikrar vermezsen
İhdinas sıratel mustakimi bilmezsen
Zebani den daha betersin kardaş

If you do not attain the secret of “İyyake na’büdü” (You alone we worship),
if you do not pledge yourself to “İyyake nesteîn” (You alone we ask for help),
if you do not know “İhdinas sıratel müstakim” (Guide us on the straight path),
you are worse than the guardians of hell (zebani), brother.

Sıratellezine bağlı kalmazsan
Enamte aleyhim gönül vermezsen
Gayril mağdubi birlik olmazsan
Tamuda bir od var yanarsın kardaş

If you do not stay faithful to “Sıratallezine” (the path of those),
if you do not give your heart to “en’amte aleyhim” (on whom You have bestowed favour),
if you do not become one in “gayril mağdubi” (not of those who earned Your wrath),
there is a fire in hell, and you will burn, brother.

Hırsını nefsini eğer yenmezsen
Enemte aleyhim serin vermezsen
Veladdalin âmin elin açmazsan
Teberra gömleğin giyersin kardaş

If you do not conquer your greed and your ego (nefs),
if you do not give your head for “en’amte aleyhim”,
if at “veleddallin, âmin” (nor of those who go astray, amen) you do not open your hands,
you will put on the shirt of renunciation (teberra), brother.

Nesimi nefsi emare yedi sıfattır
Kovdur, gıybettir, hırstır hasettir
Benlik, tama, şehvet esfel sıfattır
Riyayla menzile ermezsin kardaş

Nesimi, the ego that commands evil (nefs-i emmare) has seven attributes:
slander, backbiting, greed, envy;
selfishness, avarice and lust are the lowest attributes;
through hypocrisy you will not reach the destination, brother.

Ben yitirdim ben ararım … kime ne (I have lost, I seek … whose business is it?)

Ben yitirdim ben ararım o yar benim kime ne
Gâh girerim öz bağıma gül dererim kime ne
Gâh giderim medreseye ders okurum Hakk için
Gâh giderim meyhaneye dem çekerim kime ne

I have lost, I seek – that beloved is mine, whose business is it?
Now I enter my own garden and pick roses, whose business is it?
Now I go to the madrasa and study for God’s sake,
now I go to the tavern and drink, whose business is it?

Sofular haram etmişler bu aşkın şarabını
Ben doldurur ben içerim günah benim kime ne
Ben Melâmet hırkasını kendim taktım eynime
Ar, namus şişesini taşa çaldım kime ne

The pious have forbidden the wine of this love;
I pour, I drink, the sin is mine, whose business is it?
The cloak of blame (melâmet) I put on myself;
the bottle of shame and honour I smashed on the stone, whose business is it?

Hocalar secde eder mescidin mihrabına
Pir eşiği kıblegahım yüz sürerim kime ne
Gâh çıkarım gökyüzüne hükmederim âleme
Gâh inerim yeryüzüne seyreder âlem beni

The hodjas prostrate before the mihrab of the mosque;
the threshold of the pir is my qibla, I lay my face upon it, whose business is it?
Now I rise up to the sky and rule over the world,
now I descend to the earth, and the world watches me.

Zahitler diyormuş güzel sevmek pek günah
Ben severim sevdiğimi, günah benim kime ne
Nesimi’ye sordular’ki yarın ile hoşmusun
Hoş olayım olmayayım o yar benim kime ne

The ascetics, it seems, say that loving the beautiful is a great sin;
I love whom I love, the sin is mine, whose business is it?
They asked Nesimi: “Are you content with your beloved?”
Whether I am content or not, that beloved is mine, whose business is it?

Canım meydanda, meydanda (My soul lies open in the meydan)

Canım Erenlere kurban
Serim meydanda, meydanda
İkrarım ezelden verdim
Canım meydanda, meydanda

My soul is a sacrifice to the erenler;
my head lies in the meydan (the Cem floor), in the meydan.
I gave my vow from pre-eternity;
my soul lies in the meydan, in the meydan.

Yanarım yoktur dumanım
Gönlümde yoktur gümanım
Hep senin olsun bütün varım
Varım meydanda, meydanda

I burn, yet I have no smoke;
in my heart there is no doubt.
Let all that I have be wholly yours;
all I have lies in the meydan, in the meydan.

Kellem koltuğuma aldım
Kan ettim kapına geldim
Ettiğime pişman oldum
Canım meydanda, meydanda

I took my head under my arm;
I shed blood and came to your door;
I repented of what I had done;
my soul lies in the meydan, in the meydan.

Münkür rakipden kaçın
Müminim ile hülle biçin
Ben bülbülüm bir gül için
Zarım meydanda, meydanda

Flee from the denying rival;
cut robes together with my believer.
I am a nightingale for one rose;
my lament is in the meydan, in the meydan.

Gerçek olan olur gâni
Gâni olan olur Veli
Nesimi’yem yüzün beni
Derim meydanda, meydanda

Whoever is true becomes rich (in God);
whoever is rich becomes a saint (veli).
I am Nesimi – flay me;
my skin lies in the meydan, in the meydan.

… gelirem (… I come)

Ateşi aşkına yaktın özümü
Halil İbrahim’le nardan gelirem
Abı Kevser ile yudun özümü
Kırkların bezminde dar’dan gelirem

In the fire of your love you burned my inmost self;
with Halil İbrahim (Abraham) I come out of the fire.
With the water of the Kevser you washed my inmost self;
from the dar (the place of reckoning) in the gathering of the Forty I come.

Sual eder isen benim sırrımdan
Cümlemizi halk eyledi varından
Yarattı Muhammed Ali nurundan
Hakk ile Hakk olan yerden gelirem

If you ask about my secret:
He created all of us from His own being,
He created us from the light of Muhammad and Ali;
from the place where one is God with God, I come.

Cebrail çırağın almış eline
Muhabbetle gider dostun iline
Hayranım şakıyan dudu diline
Ridvan kapı açmış şardan gelirem

Gabriel has taken his lamp in his hand
and goes with love to the land of the Friend.
I am enchanted by the tongue of the singing parrot;
from the city whose gate Rıdvan (the keeper of paradise) has opened, I come.

Teni sual etme ol kuru tendir
Canımın içinde gevheri Hakk’tır
Bu ilmin deryası bahri ummandır
Yolu kolaylayan sırdan gelirem

Do not ask about the body – it is only a dry body;
within my soul is the jewel of God.
The sea of this knowledge is a boundless ocean;
from the secret that eases the way, I come.

Mansur ile varıp dara çekildim
Yusuf ile kul oluban satıldım
Ham’da İsa ile göğe çekildim
Musa ile dahi Tur’dan gelirem

With Mansur I went and was raised upon the gallows;
with Yusuf (Joseph) I became a slave and was sold;
with İsa (Jesus) I was raised up to heaven;
and with Musa (Moses), too, I come from Mount Tur (Sinai).

Mahkemede sual sordu kadılar
Kitapların orta yere kodular
Sen bu sırrı kimden aldın dediler
Ol ustadan aldım Pir’den gelirem

In court the kadis (judges) put their questions;
they laid their books down in the middle
and said: “From whom did you receive this secret?”
I received it from that master – from the pir I come.

Kandilden balkıyan dostun nurudur
Akıl ermez ona Hakk’ın sırrıdır
Din Muhammed Ali nurudur
Cennete açılan yoldan gelirem

What shines out of the lamp is the light of the Friend;
reason cannot grasp it – it is the secret of God.
Religion is the light of Muhammad and Ali;
from the path that opens onto paradise, I come.

Nesimi’yem ikrarsızdan ayrıyam
Gerçek Erenlerin gerçek kuluyam
Ali havzasının gonca gülüyem
Münkürden uzak, Hakk’dan gelirem

I am Nesimi; I keep apart from those without a vow;
I am the true servant of the true erenler;
I am the rosebud of Ali’s pool;
far from the denier, from God I come.

Hak Teâlâ öz nurundan hoş yaratmış Şahımı (God Most High beautifully created my Shah from His own light)

Hak Teâlâ öz nurundan hoş yaratmış Şahımı
Kudret’ü sırrı hüdasın ya Ali senden medet
Aşk ile yandı vucudum ya Ali senden medet
Bir fakir’i derd- mendim ya Ali senden medet

God Most High beautifully created my Shah from His own light;
you are the power and the secret of God – O Ali, help me!
With love my being has burned – O Ali, help me!
I am a poor and sorrowful man – O Ali, help me!

Sen bana lütfi kerem et derdime bir çare kıl
Şah sensin ben gedâyım ya Ali senden medet
Bendei hulki Hasan oldum ezelden tâ-ebed
Nur’i aynı Mustafa’sın ya Ali senden medet

Show me kindness and grace, find a cure for my pain;
you are the Shah, I am a beggar – O Ali, help me!
From pre-eternity to eternity I have become a servant of the gentle Hasan;
you are the very light of Mustafa – O Ali, help me!

Her Receb ayında, her yıl nice mucize gösterir
Şah Hüseyin’in babası’sın ya Ali senden medet
Bir tavafı kâbeyi Şah’i Horasan sensin böyle bil
Hacer-ül Ekber haç yazıldı ya Ali senden medet

Every month of Rajab, every year, he shows many a miracle;
you are the father of Shah Hüseyin – O Ali, help me!
One circling of the Kaaba – you are the Shah of Khorasan, know it thus;
as Hacer-ül Ekber (the greatest stone) the pilgrimage was recorded – O Ali, help me!

Ey Nesimi sen şirk etme Haktan istersen murad
Cüra-i tevhidi içgil ya Ali senden medet
Şeriatın tarikatın habibine ayni haber kıldi
Muhammed nutkumuz oldu ya Ali senden medet

O Nesimi, do not commit şirk (associating others with God) if you seek fulfilment from God;
drink the draught of tevhid (God’s oneness) – O Ali, help me!
To the beloved of sharia and tarikat He gave the same tidings;
Muhammad became our word – O Ali, help me!

Ya Muhammed ya Ali (O Muhammad, O Ali)

Her dü âlem serverisin ya Muhammed ya Ali
Cümlenin hem mihterisiz ya Muhammed ya Ali
Hadi_i rahman çün sizsiz her dü âlemde bu gün
Zulmetin hem enverisiz ya Muhammed ya Ali

You are the lords of both worlds, O Muhammad, O Ali;
you are the greatest of all, O Muhammad, O Ali.
Since today in both worlds you are the guides of the Merciful,
you are also the brightest light in the darkness, O Muhammad, O Ali.

Şanınıza geldi hem tâhâ ve Yasin hel eta
Ved-duhanın defteri’siz ya Muhammed ya Ali
Emri marufun beyanı sizden oldu aşikâr
Nehy işlerden berisiz ya Muhammed ya Ali

In your honour came down Ta-Ha, Ya-Sin and Hel eta (suras of the Quran);
you are the book of “Ved-duha” (the sura “The Morning Light”), O Muhammad, O Ali.
Through you the proclamation of the command to do right became manifest;
you are free of forbidden deeds, O Muhammad, O Ali.

Dürri şeh-var ile gevher nutkunuzdur bi güman
Lâ- mekânın cevherisiz ya Muhammed ya Ali
Ol zaman kün kıldınız cümleyi ihyâ eden
Kâinatın Padişahı ya Muhammed ya Ali

Without doubt your speech is royal pearl and jewel;
you are the jewel of the placeless, O Muhammad, O Ali.
At that time you said “Be!” (kün), you who bring all to life,
sovereigns of the universe, O Muhammad, O Ali.

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.