Nesimi

Scholars suggest that he might have been born between 1339 and 1344 and that he died in 1418. His real name was İmadüddin, but later he adopted the pen name Nesimi, coming from the name of his birthplace Nesim. Nesimi was the caliph of Fazlullah Hurufi, the founder of the Hurufilik sect who was later executed in Şirvan in 1393. Like Fazlullah, Nesimi was severely punished by the orthodox Muslims for his "heretical thoughts and poetry." Their method of punishment for Nesimi was skinning. After his execution, Nesimi's poetry became more influential among the sufi and especially the Bektaşi poets. A considerable corpus of hagiographic literature developed around the legend of his sorrowful death. A Turkish and a Persian divan by Nesimi have come down to us. 

MY PICTURE, MY DARLING, MY FRIEND

My picture, my darling, my friend,

My boon companion, my intimate, my soul,

My comrade, my confidant,                                          

My life, my spirit, my remedy for grief,

 

My sovereign, my moon, my sweetheart,

My being, my sustenance, my spirit,

My refuge, my goal, my direction,

My orbit, my thought, my soul,

 

My moon-featured, fairy-faced one,

My merry and wanton charmer,

My jasmine scented, rose fragrant one,

My cypress grown in a rose garden,

 

My delicate, my elegant one, my fair,                              

My dear one, my peerless beloved,

My Hijaz, my Ka'ba, my Sinai,

My paradise, my houri, my Ridvan

 

My rose, my sweet basil, my trees,

My ambergris, my aloe wood,

My pearl, my precious metal,

My ruby, my cornelian, my coral,

 

My heart illuminating, faithful,

Entrail-kindling tormentor,

My sovereign, my world conqueror,

My ruler, my monarch and emperor,

 

My candle, my lamp, my light,

My radiance, my star, my sun,

My nightingale, my bulbul,

My rose, I am sweet toned Nesimi.

 

Translated by Bernard Lewis

 

[From An Anthology of Turkish Literature, Edited by Kemal Silay]