In The Arena of Love Divine
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I Have Become A Friend With The Friend- by Yunus Emre
Translation
I have become a friend with the Friend
No one else is truly a friend of mine.
The deniers look and mock me.
They fail to even greet me.
Let me continue to be a friend to the Friend
Let me sacrifice myself for Him
Let me die before Death itself
Then the eternal world will cease to exist for me.
I am a helpless lover
I need help from head to toe
I am a crazily mad one
Even my mind will not assist me.
You think I am crazy.
I am a nightingale in the garden of the Friend.
I am a humble servant of the Mevla.
Nobody gives any value to me.
Ashik Yunus is at a state,
Where even though he cannot abandon the world,
Burning and burning he will still go to the Truth.
No veil can block me.
Reflections
Verse 1
The attitude of becoming a friend to God is common to many religions. In the Vedic Shree Suktam a line goes “ May I attain friendliness with the devas”. The words dost, bandhu, suggesting kinship with the Divine is found quite often in the Bhakthi songs of India. Here in the first verst ashik Yunus reveals that friendship with the divine is truer than all other friendship. As one evolves spiritually, those who are solely into the material world will look down upon the evolved one. It is very common to see that they often ignore the presence of such a person, especially in group situations.
Verse 2
In maintaining this special friendship, the seeker will find himself giving up or sacrificing attractions that determine the life of others. In doing so, even though he continues to be in this world he is not alive to what others live for. In that sense he is dead before really dying.
Verse 3
His mind with its nature of manifold thoughts that often takes him away from this path, is a source of annoyance for him. He thus feels helpless and crazy at the same time. Ashiks are often said to be in a state of divine madness, “mestane”.
Verse 4
Others look at him as if he is really mad. He knows however that he is the nightingale that finds refuge only in the rose garden, where he can praise the divine. He is also subservient only to the call of the Guide. The nightingale in mysticism stands for the individual and the rose for the divine.
Verse 5
The poet’s determination to stick to this path is clearly revealed here. No obstacle can stop him. The process of yearning in thought word and deed in the pursuit of the divine is considered a process of burning. This is what is called thapogni in Sanskrit, meaning the fire of such exertion. This happens while he continues to be involved with the world and not abandoning it.
Ben dost ile dost olmuÅŸum,
Kimseler dost olmaz bana.
Münkirler bakıp gülüÅŸür
Selâm dahi vermez bana
Ben dost ile dost olayım,
Canımı feda kılayım.
Ölmezden evvel öleyim,
Dünya bâki kalmaz bana.
Ben âşık-ı bîçâreyim,
BaÅŸtan ayaÄŸa yareyim.
Ben bir deli dîvâneyim,
Akıl da yâr olmaz bana.
Sanmanız beni deliyim
Dost bahçesi bülbülüyüm
Mevlâ'nın kemter kuluyum
Kimse bahâ vermez bana
Miskin Yunus nice diyem,
Fâni cihanı terk edem
Yane yane Hakk'a gidem
Perde hicap olmaz bana
(Neva)
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