Born in 1490, Hazret-i Pir-i Üftade was one of the great masters of Ottoman Sufism at the height of that Empire, and founder of the Celvetiyye order. His primary focus was not on writing (this collection of poems is one of the few pieces of his writing that still survives), and most of what we know of him is courtesy of his favourite disciple, 'Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi, who kept a near-daily journal of the spiritual education that he received from his master. 

Üftade was not, strictly speaking, a mystical poet like Yunus Emre or Niyazi Misri, and these poems reflect, above all, his interior state and the advice he imparted to his disciples. Üftade is not connected to the line of Persian mystical poetry, and his simple poems belong in the category of religious songs that accompany ceremonies of collective invocation. 

This important Divan is preceded by Paul Ballanfat's detailed biography, in itself an extremely valuable document and perhaps the best available in English, which will introduce readers to the life, deep insight, and profound knowledge of this great spiritual figure.

About the translators

Paul Ballanfat studied Philosophy and Islamic Studies as well as Arabic, Turkish and Persian. He currently teaches at the Jean Moulin University at Lyon, France. He has concentrated on Sufism in Persian and Turkish culture, and is author of several books in French, including translations of Ruzbehan Baqli Shirazi’s The Spirits’ Procession and The Unveiling of Secrets and Najm al-din Kubra’s The Blossoming of Beauty and the Scents of Majesty.

Angela Culme-Seymour is Honorary President of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society. She lives in Scotland. Her translations from French include Ibn 'Arabi's Fusus al-hikam (published as The Wisdom of the Prophets) and 'Abd al-Karim al-Jili's Al-insan al-kamil (published as Universal Man).

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The Nightingale in the Garden of Love - Table of contents

Contents

The translators

Acknowledgements

Transliteration

Preface

Introduction

The Poems

The invocation of Hu

Saying Hu

Oh He and You who is He

Good news arrived the month he was born

You must love

The way of the Friend

The call to friends
The nightingale’s lament
The nightingale’s praise
May tidings come
Let us love the Real God
May God grant us guidance
May God grant right direction
May He grant us the grace of His Beauty

Let us apply ourselves this day
From my origin was I separated
Free yourself of saying “I”
Shall I ever find the One?
Will I reach the light?
Tell me, where is the way to the country of the Friend?
Guide us to the country of the Friend
Give me tidings of the Friend
The only remedy for separation
The fasting moon has returned
We have reached the fasting moon
The value of fasting
The fasting moon has gone again
May we one day be His
One with the One
One drop
In my rose garden
Cure this pain
The secret hidden within
Come close
Even closer
Let me hear Your Beautiful Name
Do not drive us away from Your door
Come closer
What ails you?
Surrender your spirit
The one who knows his origin
Through Your invocation
There is no other remedy
The remedy for my affliction
Surrender to invocation
Come let us invoke the Real
Let us invoke the Real on this day
Let Your lovers see
If you yearn
An incurable pain
No other wish
Let me …
The state of the dervish

Notes to the poems
Bibliography

An extract from the Introduction

Üftade is the name by which Mehmed is usually known. In fact, it designates a surname which was revealed during a vision, following an episode which was to mark the path of his future life. Üftade is a Persian word meaning “fallen”, “perished”, “ruined”. The story of the way in which he adopted the surname is celebrated. It is told by, amongst others, Ismail Hakki Bursevi, one of the most illustrious Celveti masters, in his work on the spiritual line of the Celvetiyye. In his youth, Mehmet had been chosen to perform the call to prayer in the Great Mosque of Bursa, the Ulucami, and in the mosque of Doganbey, whose name is not specified. His call to prayer was so beautiful that people gathered to hear it and some fell into ecstasy, as he himself records. 

One day he was offered a sum of money to compensate him for his service. But the same night Mehmed had a vision during which it was said to him: “You have fallen (üftade) from your station”; following which he immediately returned the money which he had imprudently accepted. It is thus that after having used the name Muhyiddin, he abandoned it to use the name Üftade. 

This story was to have great importance in the care that he would take in future with money. In contrast to a large number of mystics living on gifts and other revenue taken from landed property granted by the State, as had become customary, Üftade would always refuse such a gift. One story at the end of his life well illustrates this position of principle. The mother of Sultan Murad III, Nur Banu Sultan, had come to visit him and had brought a coffer full of money. Üftade, as ever, would not accept it, but try as he might to turn down the gift, at the lady's insistence, he ended up saying that she might leave the offering in a corner, where it remained untouched. One day, however, Üftade exclaimed to himself: “Since this money arrived in our house, the blessing has gone. May it (the coffer) disappear!” and the coffer vanished at once. Then soon after, Üftade said: “They have driven away our Presence! Let us set off at once on our travels, let us not stay another instant!” 

Üftade also gives advice to his disciples on the subject of money, when describing his attitude towards the salary he received as preacher in the Emir Sultan mosque. “I gave what I earned to the poor who searched for God, and I distributed to each poor person two dirhams, on condition that they would be content and would accept nothing from anyone else. As for those amongst them who are not in need, let them eat only by taking from their own lawful estate once each day and night, and let them add nothing. Those that are in search of God should accept nothing from the exterior, for that gets in the way of handing oneself over in trust [to God]. As for the lovers of God, let them eat what is lawful but twice a day.” 

He himself recounts also how, later on, he came to resign from his office of muezzin. “I became muezzin at a mosque, and for performing the call to prayer I earned three dirhams, with which I paid the rent on the house. One day I found myself flying close to the sky, and saw men such as I had never seen here in this lower world. Some said: ‘look at him, how he flies!' Others said: ‘If he didn't spend sacred money, he would cross the sky.' After that I abandoned even the call to prayer.” This story demonstrates the importance that Üftade gave to the relationship with money. Even lawful money could become a major obstacle in spiritual realisation. There was for him a fundamental incompatibility between religious duty, which can only be done for God alone, and payment, which one expects. Spiritual realisation enabled him to go beyond the apparent lawfulness of the act in order to enter truly into the ethical sphere of freely given service and handing oneself over in trust to God. 

The story of the coffer is emblematic, mirroring in a certain way Üftade's spiritual life. It begins with losing a spiritual station which had been given to him by Divine Generosity, and then recovering it, as demonstrated by the recollection of the fall and the rule which it brought. Then it closes with accidentally breaching this rule, which was also to mark the end of Üftade's life and his return to the world of pure spirits. These two stories frame the whole of Üftade's spiritual life, and demonstrate the discipline which he put himself under. Üftade, then, was one of those masters whose rule meant that one should renounce the good things of this world, and we may recall here the rule of Najm al-din Kubra that one should renounce the two worlds to be counted amongst the men of God. 

Two poems from the Divan 

Saying Hu
Hu is a dervish's rapture 
Hu is a dervish's grandeur 

Hu is a dervish's wealth 
Uttering Hu is a dervish's litany 

With Hu, one ascends every degree 
Saying Hu is a dervish's guide 

The gates of the way to the Friend appear 
Then light surrounds the dervish 

When he is liberated from seeing other than Him 
The eye of the dervish's heart is opened 

Then he will be able to see the beautiful face of the Friend 
And the dervish's secret consciousness will be opened up 

Üftade, if you desire the remedy for pain 
Serve the dervishes by saying Hu. 


Oh He and You who is He
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 eyes 
May they emerge hot from the furnace 
Say not that he is one of you or one of us 
Say “Oh He and You who is He”. 

Let love come that you may have a friend 
Your distresses are a torrent 
Sweeping you along the way to the Friend 
Say “Oh He and You who is He”. 

Take yourself up to the heavens 
Meet the angels 
And fulfil your desires 
Say “Oh He and You who is He”. 

Pass beyond the universe, this [unfurled] carpet 
Beyond the pedestal and beyond the throne 
That the bringers of good tidings may greet you 
Say “Oh He and You who is He”. 

Remove your you from you 
Leave behind body and soul 
That theophanies may appear 
Say “Oh He and You who is He”. 

Pass on, without looking aside 
Without your heart pouring forth to another 
That you may drink the pure waters 
Say “Oh He and You who is He”. 

If you desire union with the Beloved 
Oh Üftade! Find your soul 
That the Beloved may appear before you 
Say “Oh He and You who is He”. 

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