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 stay
Let my friends remember me
On every feast and wedding day
Let my friends remember me

The soul will break this cage and fly
The world’s an inn, we all pass by
The moon will turn, the years will die
Let my friends remember me

Until this form the soul departs
No longer warm the homely hearth
I give you all my best regards
Let my friends remember me

Had I not come, I wouldn’t go
From day to day, my sorrows grow
Strange the home I used to know
Let my friends remember me

Flowers bloom and flowers wilt
Laughter rises and falls still
In death is truth, a lie your will
Let my friends remember me

The night descends, late is the day
See what awaits us down the way
Though Veysel leaves, his name will stay
Let my friends remember me

Also by Aşık Veysel:

• Dark Earth
• I’m on a Long and Narrow Road

• The One Who Sees This World Is You

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