Dark Earth

by Aşık Veysel (Turkish original - Sivas, Turkey)by David Selim Sayers and Evrim Emir-Sayers (English translation - Paris, France)

THIS translation is of the poem “Kara Toprak” by the Alevi folk poet and bard Aşık Veysel (1894-1973).1 You can hear it performed by Aşık Veysel himself at this link.

Believing them friends, I embraced all who cameMy faithful beloved’s the dark earth aloneI wandered until I grew weary in vainMy faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

The beauties I clung to were many in nameAmong them I found neither virtue nor gainNone but the earth could my wishes sustainMy faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

The milk it provided, the lamb and the eweThe bread it provided, the meat and the stewHow faint it provided when not beaten throughMy faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

From Adam, it carried my kin to this dayFruits of all sorts it gave freely awayIt shouldered my weight every step of the wayMy faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

I plowed through its belly with pick and with spadeI tore up its face with my nails like a bladeAnd yet it received me with roses, unswayedMy faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

It smiled at me even as I made it bleedI tell you no lie, that much all must concedeIt gave me four fields when I gave it one seedMy faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

If I tend to the skies, all I’ll get is hot airIf I tend to the ground, I will merit a prayerIf I part with the ground, I’ll go I don’t know whereMy faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

If you have any wish you’d like God to fulfillDon’t stray from the earth and receive it you willThe earth shares its bounty by way of Her willMy faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

If it’s truth that you’re looking for, one thing is clearWe all are in God, to Her creatures She’s nearThe earth holds the treasures that She holds so dearMy faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

My every blemish the earth does concealAnoints me with lotions, my bruises to healBoth arms outstretched, it awaits me with zealMy faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

Whoever it is that deciphers this runeWill leave to this world a perpetual boonIt’ll draw old Veysel to its chest someday soonMy faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

Also by Aşık Veysel:

I’m on a Long and NarrowRoad

Let My Friends Remember Me

The One Who Sees This World Is You

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1. The word aşık (Arabic for “lover”) denotes a wandering bard inspired by mystical love.↑