The Yellow Crocuses

The Yellow Crocuses (Source: Seasons Journal )

By Pir Sultan Abdal (Turkish, 16th century)

Translated by Abdal Hakim Murad

I asked the yellow crocuses
In wintertime where do you go?
What are you asking, dervish friend?
Under the ground is where we go.

I asked the yellow crocuses
Mother, father, have you none?
What are you asking, dervish friend?
Our mother�s the earth, and our father�s the rain.

I asked the yellow crocuses,
What do you eat beneath the ground?
What are you asking, dervish friend?
God made food beneath the ground.

I asked the yellow crocuses,
What has made your faces pale?
What are you asking, dervish friend?
Fear of God has turned us pale.

I asked the yellow crocuses
With their long staffs in their hands
With the Lord�s truth on their tongues,
In crocuses is dervishness.

Pir Sultan is what I�m called.
With greybeards from the times of old
Their faces heaven�s light enfold
In crocuses is dervishness.

Haqq la ilaha illa�Llah, Allah, la ilaha illa�Llah.