yunus emre and others

Yunus Emre (ca. 1238 - 1320)

There is a strong challenge inherent in any attempt to describe a great and influential personality like Yunus Emre in a condensed form such as this. We will, therefore only make an attempt to give an introduction to the man and his philosophy which will tempt you into further reading. Wherever possible we will allow Yunus to speak for himself.

Mystic is what they call me,Hate is my only enemy;

I harbor a grudge against none,To me the whole wide world is one.

Yunus Emre was a great folk poet, a sufi (Islamic mystic), a troubadour and a very influential philosopher who had an effect on the Turkish outlook on life that has stayed alive and vital for 700 years. Above all, and in an age of religious repression, he was a humanist who’s love for God was integral to his love for humanity. His abhorrence for conflict and his dismissive attitude to riches and material assets have been echoed through the ages, not least in the ’flower power’ era of the 1960s and 70s.

I am not here on earth for strifeLove is the mission of my life.

Yunus Emre was more concerned with the reason for living than with the details of how life should be lived. Essentially he thought that people should live modest lives filled with love and friendship, aspiring towards spiritual purity and an indivisible unity with God. He despised the pursuit of fame and riches because none of these could mean anything after death.

Death is a recurring theme in his poetry but without morbid overtones. He wants us to accept that death is inevitable, so that we don’t squander our time on earth, but also to realize that death is not the end of the road. For each of us death will demonstrate the futility both of pursuing riches and of filling life with hatred, war and grudges. Our only worthwhile legacy is the product of a life filled with friendship and love.

Firm hands will lose their grip one dayAnd tonques that talk will soon decay:The wealth you loved and stored away

Will go to some inheritor

Yunus Emre was the epitome of tolerance in a world dominated, from East and West, by fanaticism and by the idea that human beings are born in sin and have to spend their lives trying to rise above their base natures.

See all people as equals,See the humble as heroes.

According to the traditional outlook the only path to redemption is a difficult one, narrow and dangerous, and can only be negotiated with the help of qualified guides, the leaders of organized religions. Most religions, moreover, insist that their path is the only possible route to heaven and that the followers of other paths, no matter how well intentioned, are destined for the other place. Yunus Emre rejected this single path approach.

For those who trully love God and his waysAll the people of the world are brothers.

We regard no one's religion as contrary to ours,True love is born when all faiths are united as a whole.

True faith is in the head, not in the headgear.

His beliefs were rooted in religion, and he was undeniably an Islamic sufi, but his philosophy was independent and he taught that every belief and every idea, religious or otherwise, that leads to the creator is sacred.

You better seek God right in your own heartHe is neither in the Holy Land nor in Mecca

Yunus Emre’s idea of God (the 'Friend' of his poetry) is that God is everywhere and within each of us. The love of humanity and the love of God are therefore indivisible.

We love the createdFor the Creator's sake

In his poems Yunus Emre shows himself to be a humane, sensitive and modest person firmly grounded. His poems were, and remain, great because he uses language beautifully but simply, his images are rich but extremely clear. Yunus Emre wrote in Turkish and his words can be read today in the original with very little difficulty. That is one reason why his influence has remained so strong, his work is accessible to ordinary people, appreciated and kept alive by them. His hymns are still being sung, and his words quoted, by thousands of people in Turkey today while his popularity is growing world wide.

Come, let us all be friends for onceLet us make life easy on us,

Let us be lovers and loved ones,The earth shall be left to no one.

Sample Sufi Music

Yunus Emre is considered by many to be one of the most important Turkish poets. Little can be said for certain of his life other than that he was a Sufi dervish of Anatolia. The love people have for his liberating poetry is reflected in the fact that many villages claim to be his birthplace, and many others claim to hold his tomb. He probably lived in the Karaman area.

His poetry expresses a deep personal mysticism and humanism and love for God.

He was a contemporary of Rumi, who lived in the same region. Rumi composed his collection of stories and songs for a well-educated urban circle of Sufis, writing primarily in the literary language of Persian. Yunus Emre, on the other hand, traveled and taught among the rural poor, singing his songs in the Turkish language of the common people.

A story is told of a meeting between the two great souls: Rumi asked Yunus Emre what he thought of his great work the Mathnawi. Yunus Emre said, "Excellent, excellent! But I would have done it differently." Surprised, Rumi asked how. Yunus replied, "I would have written, 'I came from the eternal, clothed myself in flesh, and took the name Yunus.'" That story perfectly illustrates Yunus Emre's simple, direct approach that has made him so beloved.

Interestingly, the name Yunus means "dolphin" in Turkish.

Yunus Emre - (1241 - 1321 ce). Yunus' poetry made a great impact on Turkish culture.

The drink sent down from Truth, we drank it, glory be to God. And we sailed over the Ocean of Power, glory be to God.

Beyond those hills and oak woods, beyond those vineyards and gardens, we passed in health and joy, glory be to God.

We were dry, but we moistened. We grew wings and became birds, we married one another and flew,

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glory be to God.

To whatever lands we came, in whatever hearts, in all humanity, we planted the meanings Taptuk taught us, glory be to God.

Come here, let's make peace, let's not be strangers to one another. We have saddled the horse and trained it, glory be to God.

We became a trickle that grew into a river. We took flight and drove into the sea, and then we overflowed, glory be to God.

We became servants at Taptuk's door. Poor Yunus, raw and tasteless, finally got cooked, glory be to God.

Yunus Emre, translated by Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan - 'The Drop That Became Sea'

~~

Ask those who know, what's this soul within the flesh? Reality's own power. What blood fills these veins?

Thought is an errand boy,fear a mine of worries. These sighs are love's clothing. Who is the Khan on the throne?

Give thanks for His unity. He created when nothing existed. And since we are actually nothing, what are all of Solomon's riches?

Ask Yunus and Taptuk what the world means to them.. The world won't last. What are You? What am I?

Yunus Emre, translated by Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan - 'The Drop That Became Sea'

~~

We entered the house of realization, we witnessed the body.

The whirling skies, the many-layered earth,the seventy-thousand veils, we found in the body.

The night and the day, the planets, the words inscribed on the Holy Tablets,the hill that Moses climbed, the Temple,and Israfil's trumpet, we observed in the body. Torah, Psalms, Gospel, Quran- what these books have to say, we found in the body.

Everybody says these words of Yunus are true. Truth is wherever you want it.We found it all within the body.

Yunus Emre, yranslated by Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan - 'The Drop That Became Sea'

~~

I am before, I am afterThe soul for all souls all the way.I'm the one with a helping handReady for those gone wild, astray.

I made the ground flat where it lies,On it I had those mountains rise,I designed the vault of the shies,For I hold all things in my sway.

To countless lovers I have beenA guide for faith and religion.I am sacrilege in men's heartsAlso the true faith and Islam's way.

I make men love peace and unite;Putting down the black words on white,I wrote the four holy books rightI'm the Koran for those who pray.

It's not Yunus who says all this:It speaks its own realities:To doubt this would be blasphemous:"I'm before-I'm after," I say

Yunus Emre

~~

Your love has wrested me away from me,You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.Day and night I burn, gripped by agony,You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

I find no great joy in being alive,If I cease to exist, I would not grieve,

The only solace I have is your love,You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

Lovers yearn for you, but your love slays them,At the bottom of the sea it lays them,It has God's images-it displays them;You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

Let me drink the wine of love sip by sip,Like Mecnun, live in the hills in hardship,Day and night, care for you holds me in its grip,You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

Even if, at the end, they make me dieAnd scatter my ashes up to the shy,My pit would break into this outcry:You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

"Yunus Emre the mystic" is my name,Each passing day fans and rouses my flame,What I desire in both worlds in the same:You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

Yunus Emre

Sa'd al-din Mahmud Shabistari(1288 - 1340 ce) is one of the most celebrated authors of Persian Sufism. Because of his gift for expressing the Sufi mystical vision with extraordinary clarity, his Gulshan-i Raz (Secret Rose Garden) rapidly became one of the most popular works of Persian Sufi poetry.

Go sweep out the chamber of your heart. Make it ready to be the dwelling place of the Beloved. When you depart out, He will enter it. In you, void of yourself, will He display His beauties.

Mahmud Shabistari - 'Rose Garden of Mystery'

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'One Light'

What are "I" and "You"?Just latticesIn the niches of a lampThrough which the One Light radiates.

"I" and "You" are the veilBetween heaven and earth;

Lift this veil and you will see How all sects and religions are one.

Lift this veil and you will ask---When "I" and "You" do not existWhat is mosque?What is synagogue?What is fire temple?

Mahmud Shabistari, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'

Sheikh Ansari Jabir ibn 'Abdullah al-Ansari (1006-1088 ce) He was called Sheikh al-Islam and he was also given the title Zayn al- 'Ulama (Ornament of the Scholars) and Nasir al-Sunnah (Supporter of the Prophetic Tradition). Later on in Persian texts he was called Pir-e Herat (the Sheikh of Herat).

Some of Ansari works include Kashf al-Asrar "Unveiling of the Secrets" (Commentary of the Qur'an), Tabaquat al-Sufiyya (The Generations of the Sufis), "Munajat" (Intimate Invocations) which is incorporated into the Kashf al-Asrar and in the Tabaqat.

'The Friend Beside Me'

O GodYou know why I am happy: It is because I seek Your company, not through my own (efforts).

O God,You decided and I did not. I found the Friend beside me when I woke up!

Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 5, p. 407 - 'Munajat - The Intimate Invocations' - A.G. Farhadi

~~

'Where Are You?'

O God,You are the aim of the call of the sincere, You enlighten the souls of the friends, (and) You are the comfort of the hearts of the travellers--- because You are present in the very soul.

I call out, from emotion: "Where are you?"

You are the life of the soul, You are the rule (ayin) of speech, (and) You are Your own interpreter (tarjaman).

For the sake of Your obligation to Yourself, do not enter us into the shade of deception, (but) make us reach union (wisal) with You.

Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 5, p. 598 - 'Munajat - The Intimate Invocations' - A.G. Farhadi

~~

'Pursuit of the Friend'

The heart left, and the Friend is (also) gone.I don't know whether I should go after the Friend or after the heart!A voice spoke to me: "Go in pursuit of the Friend, because the lover needs a heart in order to find union with the Friend. If there was no Friend, what would (the lover) do with (his) heart?"

Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 1, p. 628 - 'Maqulat-o Andarz-ha - Sayings and Advice' - A.G. Farhadi

~~

'The Beauty of Oneness'

Any eye filled with the vision of this world cannot see the attributes of the Hereafter,Any eye filled with the attributes of the Hereafter would be deprived of the Beauty (Jamal) of (Divine) Oneness.


~~

'In Each Breath'

O you who have departed from your own self, and who have not yet reached the Friend: do not be sad, (for) He is accompanying you in each of (your) breaths.


Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya (717 - 801 ce) was born in Basra. As a child, after the death of her parents, Rabi'a was sold into slavery. After years of service to her slavemaster, Rabi'a began to serve only the Beloved with her actions and thoughts. Since she was no longer useful to the slaveowner, Rabi'a was then set free to continue her devotion to the Beloved.

Rabia taught that the true lover, whose consciousness is unwaveringly centered on the Beloved, is unattached to conditions such as pleasure or pain, not from sensory dullness but from ceaseless rapture in Divine Love.

Rabia was once asked, "How did you attain that which you have attained?""By often praying, 'I take refuge in You, O God, from everything that distracts me from You, and from every obstacle that prevents me from reaching You.'"

Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'

~~

In love, nothing exists between heart and heart.Speech is born out of longing,True description from the real taste.The one who tastes, knows;the one who explains, lies.How can you describe the true form of SomethingIn whose presence you are blotted out?And in whose being you still exist?And who lives as a sign for your journey?

Rabia al-Adawiyya

~~

I have two ways of loving You: A selfish one And another way that is worthy of You. In my selfish love, I remember You and You alone. In that other love, You lift the veil And let me feast my eyes on Your Living Face.

Rabi´a al-Adawiyya. Doorkeeper of the heart:versions of Rabia. Trans. Charles Upton

~~

The source of my suffering and loneliness is deep in my heart.This is a disease no doctor can cure.Only Union with the Friend can cure it.


~~

I have made You the Companion of my heart.But my body is available to those who desire its company,And my body is friendly toward its guest,But the Beloved of my heart is the guest of my soul.

Rabi´a al-Adawiyya translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'

~~

Brothers, my peace is in my aloneness.My Beloved is alone with me there, always.I have found nothing in all the worldsThat could match His love,This love that harrows the sands of my desert.If I come to die of desireAnd my Beloved is still not satisfied, I would live in eternal despair.

To abandon all that He has fashionedAnd hold in the palm of my handCertain proof that He loves me---That is the name and the goal of my search.


~~

O Lord,If tomorrow on Judgment DayYou send me to Hell,I will tell such a secretThat Hell will race from meUntil it is a thousand years away.

O Lord,Whatever share of this worldYou could give to me,Give it to Your enemies;Whatever share of the next world You want to give to me,Give it to Your friends.You are enough for me.

O Lord, If I worship YouFrom fear of Hell, burn me in Hell.

O Lord, If I worship YouFrom hope of Paradise, bar me from its gates.

But if I worship You for Yourself aloneThen grace me forever the splendor of Your Face.


Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir (Abu Sa'id ibn Ab'il Khair ) (967 - 1049 ce) referring to himself as "nobody, son of nobody" he expressed the reality that his life had disappeared in the heart of God. This revered Persian Sufi mystic from Khorasan preceded the great poet Jalaluddin Rumi by over two hundred years on the same path of annihilation in Love.

Until you become an unbeliever in your own self,you cannot become a believer in God.

Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir - 'Nobody, Son of Nobody' - Vraje Abramian

~~

If you are seeking closeness to the Beloved,love everyone.Whether in their presence or absence,see only their good.If you want to be as clear and refreshing as the breath of the morning breeze,like the sun, have nothing but warmth and light for everyone.

Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir - 'Nobody, Son of Nobody' - Vraje Abramian

~~

Beloved, show me the way out of this prison.Make me needless of both worlds.Pray, erase from mind allthat is not You.

Have mercy Beloved,though I am nothing but forgetfulness,You are the essence of forgiveness.Make me needless of all but You.

Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian

~~

Piousness and the path of love are two different roads.Love is the fire that burns both beliefand non-belief.

Those who practice Love have neitherreligion nor caste.


~~

Be humble.Only fools take pride in their station here, trapped ina cage of dust, moisture, heat and air.No need to complain of calamities,this illusion of a life lasts but a moment.


~~

Suppose you can recite a thousand holyverses from memory.What are you going to dowith your ego self, the truemark of the heretic?Every time your head touchesthe ground in prayers, remember,this was to teach you toput down that load of egowhich bars you from enteringthe chamber of the Beloved.

To your mind feed understanding,to your heart, tolerance and compassion.The simpler your life, the more meaningful.The less you desire of the world,the more room you will have in itto fill with the Beloved.

The best use of your tongueis to repeat the Beloved's Name in devotion.The best prayers are those inthe solitude of the night.The shortest way to the Friendis through selfless service andgenerosity to His creatures.

Those with no sense of honor and dignity are best avoided.Those who change colors constantlyare best forgotten.The best way to be with thosebereft of the Beloved's qualities,is to forget them in the joy of silence in one's corner of solitude.

Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody"

~~

Drink from this heart now,for all this loving it contains.When you look for it again,it will be dancing in the wind.


~~

Let sorrowful longing dwell in your heart,never give up, never losing hope.The Beloved says, "The broken ones are My darlings."Crush your heart, be broken.


~~

If you do not give up the crowdsyou won't find your way to Oneness.If you do not drop your selfyou won't find your true worth.If you do not offer all you have to the Beloved,you will live this life free of thatpain which makes it worth living.


Sheikh Sultan Bahu (1628 - 1691 ce) belonged to the Qadiri Order of Sufis and is known by the title of Sultan-ul-Arifin (king of the Gnostics). Born in the Soon Valley, he wrote in both Persian and Punjabi, and is regarded as one of the most prominent Sufi poets of the Indo-Pak subcontinent.

Those who have not realized God will wander,homeless in this world, destitute in the next.But watch the lovers dance with ecstasy,as they merge into the oneness of God [Allah].

Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak

~~

The river of oneness has surged,quenching the thirst of the deserts and wastelands.

If you don't nurture God's love in your heart,you will be dry and parched like those deserts.


~~

The Lord is an ocean of onenessin which lovers swim as they please, free of care.In their own turn, they appear in the worldto dive deep into that ocean, to gather pearls.Among the pearls is a gem --unique in value, unmatched in lustre -- that shines like the moon.We are all in the employ of the Lord, O Bahu;let us pay homage to him through our prayers.


~~

Repeat the Name of God,and always contemplate on Himwhile doing your repetition -- keener than a sword is such remembrance [Zikr, Simran].


~~

Repeat the Name of God, O Bahu,and free yourself from the worries of life.


~~

Those who enshrine the Lord in their hearts, O Bahu,have both the worlds at their command.

Lovers remain completely intoxicatedin the ecstasy of their love for the Beloved.They offer their souls to the Belovedwhile still livingand thus immortalize themselvesin this life and the hereafter.


Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya (717 - 801 ce) was born in Basra. As a child, after the death of her parents, Rabi'a was sold into slavery. After years of service to her slavemaster, Rabi'a began

to serve only the Beloved with her actions and thoughts. Since she was no longer useful to the slaveowner, Rabi'a was then set free to continue her devotion to the Beloved.

Rabia taught that the true lover, whose consciousness is unwaveringly centered on the Beloved, is unattached to conditions such as pleasure or pain, not from sensory dullness but from ceaseless rapture in Divine Love.

Rabia was once asked, "How did you attain that which you have attained?""By often praying, 'I take refuge in You, O God, from everything that distracts me from You, and from every obstacle that prevents me from reaching You.'"


~~

In love, nothing exists between heart and heart.Speech is born out of longing,True description from the real taste.The one who tastes, knows;the one who explains, lies.How can you describe the true form of SomethingIn whose presence you are blotted out?And in whose being you still exist?And who lives as a sign for your journey?

Rabia al-Adawiyya

~~

I have two ways of loving You: A selfish one And another way that is worthy of You. In my selfish love, I remember You and You alone. In that other love, You lift the veil And let me feast my eyes on Your Living Face.

Rabi´a al-Adawiyya. Doorkeeper of the heart:versions of Rabia. Trans. Charles Upton

~~

The source of my suffering and loneliness is deep in my heart.This is a disease no doctor can cure.Only Union with the Friend can cure it.


~~

I have made You the Companion of my heart.But my body is available to those who desire its company,And my body is friendly toward its guest,But the Beloved of my heart is the guest of my soul.

Rabi´a al-Adawiyya translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'

~~

Brothers, my peace is in my aloneness.My Beloved is alone with me there, always.I have found nothing in all the worldsThat could match His love,This love that harrows the sands of my desert.If I come to die of desireAnd my Beloved is still not satisfied, I would live in eternal despair.

To abandon all that He has fashionedAnd hold in the palm of my handCertain proof that He loves me---That is the name and the goal of my search.


~~

O Lord,If tomorrow on Judgment DayYou send me to Hell,I will tell such a secretThat Hell will race from meUntil it is a thousand years away.

O Lord,Whatever share of this worldYou could give to me,Give it to Your enemies;Whatever share of the next world You want to give to me,Give it to Your friends.You are enough for me.

O Lord, If I worship YouFrom fear of Hell, burn me in Hell.

O Lord, If I worship YouFrom hope of Paradise, bar me from its gates.

But if I worship You for Yourself aloneThen grace me forever the splendor of Your Face.


Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj known as al-Hallaj (the wool-carder), he was put to death in Baghdad for having uttered ana 'l haqq (I am the Truth):

I am He whom I love, and He whom I love is I: We are two spirits dwelling in one body. If thou seest me, thou seest Him, And if thou seest Him, thou seest us both.

al-Hallaj, Kitab al-Tawasin, in The Mystics of Islam, by Reynold A Nicholson

~~

Thy Spirit is mingled in my spirit even as wine is mingled with pure water.When anything touches Thee, it touches me. Lo, in every case Thou art I!"

al-Hallaj, Kitab al-Tawasin, in The Mystics of Islam, by Reynold A Nicholson

~~

Amir Khusrau (1253 - 1325 ce ) Indian Sufi mystic, musician, poet and scholar. He was a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, and is one of the most beloved poets of the Chishti Sufi lineage.

Love came and spread like blood in my veins and the skin of me,It filled me with the Friend and completely emptied me.The Friend has taken over all parts of my existence,Only my name remains, as all is He.

~~

Muinuddin Chishti (1141 - 1230 ce) born in Khorasan. A widely beloved Persian spiritual leader who carried the Chishti lineage to India.

The noise of the lover is only up to the time when he has not seen his Beloved. Once he sees the Beloved, he becomes calm and quiet,

just as the rivers are boisterous before they join the ocean, but when they do so, there are becalmed forever.

~~

The one who knows becomes perfect only when all else is removed from in-between him and the Friend. Either he remains or the Friend.

~~

Hazret-i Uftade (1490-1580 ce) Mehmed Muhyiddin Uftade was a widely revered Turkish saint, and founder of the Jelveti order of Sufis who emphasized the return into the midst of society after learning to overcome the lower-self.

If you desire the Beloved, my heart,Do not cease to pour out lamentations.Observing His existence, reach annihilation!Say “Oh He and You who is He”.

Let tears of blood pour from your eyesMay they emerge hot from the furnaceSay not that he is one of you or one of usSay “Oh He and You who is He”.

Let love come that you may have a friendYour distresses are a torrentSweeping you along the way to the FriendSay “Oh He and You who is He”.

Take yourself up to the heavensMeet the angelsAnd fulfill your desiresSay “Oh He and You who is He”.

Pass beyond the universe, this [unfurled] carpetBeyond the pedestal and beyond the throneThat the bringers of good tidings may greet youSay “Oh He and You who is He”.

Remove your you from youLeave behind body and soulThat theophanies may appearSay “Oh He and You who is He”.

Pass on, without looking asideWithout your heart pouring forth to anotherThat you may drink the pure watersSay “Oh He and You who is He”.

If you desire union with the BelovedOh Uftade! Find your soul

That the Beloved may appear before youSay “Oh He and You who is He”.

~~

Other Mystical Poetry:

When the soul is plunged in the fire of divine love, like iron, it firstloses its blackness, and then growing to white heat it becomes likeunto the fire itself. And lastly, it grows liquid, and, losing its nature, istransmuted into an utterly different quality of being. And as the differencebetween iron that is cold and iron that is hot, so is the difference betweensoul and soul, between the tepid soul and the soul made incandescent bydivine love.

Richard of St. Victor - de Quattuor Gradibus Violentae Charitatis

God speaks to each of us as he makes us, then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are words we dimly hear:

You, sent out beyond your recall, go to the limits of your longing. Embody me.

Flare up like flame and make big shadows I can move in.

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final. Don't let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call life. You will know it by its seriousness.

Give me your hand.

Rainer Maria Rilke

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