Yunus is my name, I’m out of my mind.
Love serves as my guide to the very end.
All alone, toward the majestic Friend
I walk kissing the ground—and I arrive.
translated by Talat S. Halman
Yunus Emre
from an untitled poem by Yunus Emre
Yunus, leave such fears behind,
Drive all care out of your mind.
Love is what one must first find:
One’s a mystic from then on.
translated by Talat S. Halman
from Yunus Emre whose name graces the building I live in now, here in Maltepe
to find life’s meaning hearts take a hundred paths. . .
translated by Paul Smith
Yunus Emre on religion
For those who truly love God and His ways
All the people of the world are brothers and sisters.
translated by Talat S. Halman
from Yunus Emre on this Bayram holiday
You’re on my mind when I walk, on my tongue when I talk,
if I sit, You’re next to me, otherwise. . .what do I have?
translated by Paul Smith
Yunus Emre on what love does
Now and then like the winds I blow,
Now and then like the roads I go,
Now and then like the floods I flow,
Come, see what love has done to me.
Hold my hand, lift me from this place
Or take me into your embrace. . .
You made me weep, make me rejoice,
Come, see what love has done to me.
translated by Talat S. Halman
Yunus Emre on love’s torment
Lovelorn, I tread; madly I scream.
My loved one is my only dream;
I wake and plunge into deep gloom.
Come, see what love has done to me.
translated by Talat S. Halman
from I love you beyond the depth of my soul by Yunus Emre
Don’t ask me about me: I’m not inside me–
In its robe, my body walks on, all empty.
My love for you has plucked me away from me:
What sweet pain is this? It’s beyond remedy.
translated by Talat S. Halman
My Lord granted me such a heart by Yunus Emre
My Lord granted me such a heart,
At once, it began to adore.
Now, one moment it basks in joy;
Next moment its tears start to pour.
One moment it seems like a bird
In the dead of winter, stranded.
Next moment it revels: gardens
And orchards are born at its core.
One moment it becomes tongue-tied
And leaves all things unclarified.
Next moment, pearls spill from its mouth:
To those who suffer, it gives cure.
One moment it soars to heaven–
It descends into the earth, then.
One moment it seems like a drop,
Then like the ocean whose waves roar.
translated by Talat S. Halman
