Pir Sultan Abdal

Pir Sultan Abdal (ca. 1480 - 1550) was an Alevit poet. Alevits are the members of the Alevitism, a faith community in Islam.

He lived in Turkey and wrote his poems in Turkish. In his poems, he used a direct and clear language. The richness of his thoughts and the beauty of his writing made him very popular to the Turks and Kurds and also the members of the Suni sect of Islam. Pir Sultan Abdal wrote about the social, cultural and religious life of the people. He was a humanist, and wrote about love, peace, death and God. He was also rebellious against Ottoman Empire.

 Poetry 
Turkish EnglishDostun bahçesine bir hoyrat girmiş
Korudur hey benli dilber korudur
Gülünü dererken dalını kırmış
Kurudur hey benli dilber kurudur

Şu meydanda serilidir postumuz
Çok şükür Mevlâ'ya gördük dostumuz
Bir gün kara toprak bürür üstümüz
Çürütür hey benli dilber çürütür

Kendisi okur da kendisi yazar
Hak hilâl kaşına eylemiş nazar
Senin akranların cennette gezer
Hürüdür hey benli dilber hürüdür

Hangi dinde isen ona tapayım
Yarın mahşer günü bile kopayım
Eğil bir yol ak gerdandan öpeyim
Beri dur hey benli dilber beri dur

Pîr Sultan Abdal'ım başından başlar
İyisini yer de kemini taşlar
Bin çiçekten bir kovana bal işler
Arıdır hey benli dilber arıdır To the garden of my love there came an evil louder
The shrubs now lie there, my fair one, shrubs lie
While gathering the roses, he broke their stems to moulder
They are all dry, my fair one, they are all dry.

We've spread our prayer hide all over this place
We saw our dearest one to Holy God in grace
One day, all of us will come into the Earth's embrace
We'll putrefy, my fair one, we'll putrefy.

God Himself reads the fate, Himself he scribes
He closed the crescent lashes of her beautiful eyes
Your peers are walking now with you in Paradise
houris they are, my fair one, houris, fair my.

Whatever your creed be, I will adore it and pray
To be awaken together with you on Judgement Day
Rise up once more to kiss your white throat that I may
Don't pass for one more trice, my fair, don't pass by.

I am Pir Sultan Abdal, the first of the firsts,
I feed my soul with the best and remedy the worst
I'll pool honey from thousand blooms to one comb till it bursts
I am the bee, my fair one, the bee am I.

 References 

Category:1480 births
Category:1550 deaths
Category:Turkish poets
Category:Ottoman writers