Let My Friends Remember Me

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 “Dostlar Beni Hatırlasın” by the Alevi folk poet and bard Aşık Veysel (1894-1973).1 You can hear it read and performed by Aşık Veysel himself at this link.

Though I leave, my name will stayLet my friends remember meOn every feast and wedding dayLet my friends remember me

The soul will break this cage and flyThe world’s an inn, we all pass byThe moon will turn, the years will dieLet my friends remember me

Until this form the soul departsNo longer warm the homely hearthI give you all my best regardsLet my friends remember me

Had I not come, I wouldn’t goFrom day to day, my sorrows growStrange the home I used to knowLet my friends remember me

Flowers bloom and flowers wiltLaughter rises and falls stillIn death is truth, a lie your willLet my friends remember me

The night descends, late is the daySee what awaits us down the wayThough Veysel leaves, his name will stayLet my friends remember me

Also by Aşık Veysel:

Dark EarthI’m on a Long and Narrow RoadThe One Who Sees This World Is You

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