Yunus Emre Poems: Eight in Full, in Turkish and English
Eight of his poems in the Turkish of the old manuscripts, with a guide to saying them and our English, plus his favourite words, his legends and his many graves.
Table of Contents
Yunus Emre died around 1320, and his hymns have been sung from Anatolia to the Balkans ever since. Here are eight of his poems in full, in the Turkish of the oldest manuscripts, with a guide to saying every line and our own English. Then the words he kept coming back to, the legends about his life, and the eleven towns that each say his grave is theirs.
The short version
A dervish who wrote in plain Turkish.
- Who: a Sufi poet of central Anatolia who died in 1320–21, by the only dated note about his life. Almost everything else is legend.
- Start with: ‘Işkun aldı benden beni (Only You) and the poem with “come, let us get to know each other”.
- Read them whole: eight poems below, from Mustafa Tatcı’s critical edition, with a reading guide and our English line by line.
- Careful: “Yaratılanı severiz, Yaratandan ötürü” is quoted everywhere as his, but it is not among the 417 poems of that edition.
- His grave: eleven places in Türkiye claim it. The oldest sources point to Sarıköy, now Yunusemre, in Eskişehir.
The poems, in full
Pick a poem by its theme. Each line gives the Turkish as the edition prints it, a reading guide in English sounds and our English. Switch off the layers you don’t need, and press Listen to hear the Turkish if your device has a Turkish voice.
Love · poem 381
‘Işkun aldı benden beni Only You
The best-known of his love poems: every stanza returns to the same line, as in a hymn.
‘Işkun aldı benden beniuhsh-koon ahl-duh ben-den beh-neeYour love has taken me from myself:
Bana seni gerek senibah-nah seh-nee geh-rek seh-neeit’s you I need, only you.
Ben yanaram düni güniben yah-nah-rahm dew-nee gew-neeI burn by night and day:
Bana seni gerek senibah-nah seh-nee geh-rek seh-neeit’s you I need, only you.
Ne varlıga sevinüremneh vahr-luh-gah seh-vee-new-remHaving things does not make me glad,
Ne yokluga yirinüremneh yok-loo-gah yee-ree-new-remhaving nothing does not make me sad;
‘Işkunıla avınuramuhsh-koo-nuh-lah ah-vuh-noo-rahmyour love is all my comfort:
Bana seni gerek senibah-nah seh-nee geh-rek seh-neeit’s you I need, only you.
‘Işkun ‘âşıklar öldürüruhsh-koon ah-shuhk-lahr url-dew-rewrYour love kills those who love,
‘Işk denizine taldururuhshk deh-nee-zee-neh tahl-doo-roorit sinks them in the sea of love
Tecellîyile toldururteh-jel-lee-yee-leh tol-doo-roorand fills them as you show yourself:
Bana seni gerek senibah-nah seh-nee geh-rek seh-neeit’s you I need, only you.
‘Işkun zencîrini üzemuhsh-koon zen-jee-ree-nee ew-zemLet me break the chain of your love,
Delü olam taga düşemdeh-lew oh-lahm tah-gah dew-shemgo mad and take to the mountains;
Sensin dün ü gün endîşemsen-seen dewn ew gewn en-dee-shemnight and day you are my one thought:
Bana seni gerek senibah-nah seh-nee geh-rek seh-neeit’s you I need, only you.
Eger beni öldürelereh-ger beh-nee url-dew-reh-lerIf they kill me
Külüm göge savuralarkew-lewm gur-geh sah-voo-rah-lahrand scatter my ashes to the sky,
Topragum anda çaguratop-rah-goom ahn-dah chah-goo-rahmy dust will cry out up there:
Bana seni gerek senibah-nah seh-nee geh-rek seh-neeit’s you I need, only you.
Sûfîlere sohbet gereksoo-fee-leh-reh soh-bet geh-rekSufis need their gatherings,
Ahîlere âhret gerekah-hee-leh-reh ahh-ret geh-rekAhi brothers need the next world,
Mecnûn'lara Leylâ gerekmej-noon-lah-rah ley-lah geh-rekevery Mecnun needs his Leyla:
Bana seni gerek senibah-nah seh-nee geh-rek seh-neeit’s you I need, only you.
Ne Tamu'da yir eyledümneh tah-moo-dah yeer ey-leh-dewmI have made no home in hell,
Ne Uçmak'da köşk bagladumneh ooch-mahk-dah kurshk bahg-lah-doomI have built no mansion in paradise;
Senün içün çok agladumseh-newn ee-chewn chok ahg-lah-doomI have wept so much for you:
Bana seni gerek senibah-nah seh-nee geh-rek seh-neeit’s you I need, only you.
Cennet Cennet didüklerijen-net jen-net dee-dewk-leh-reeThe paradise they keep talking about
Bir ev ile bir kaç Hûrîbeer ev ee-leh beer kahch hoo-reeis a house and a few houris;
İsteyene virgil anıees-teh-yeh-neh veer-geel ah-nuhgive it to those who want it:
Bana seni gerek senibah-nah seh-nee geh-rek seh-neeit’s you I need, only you.
Yûsuf eger hayâlüniyoo-soof eh-ger hah-yah-lew-neeIf Joseph had seen your image
Düşde göreydi bir gicedewsh-deh gur-rey-dee beer gee-jehin a dream one night,
Terk ideyidi mülklerinterk ee-deh-yee-dee mewlk-leh-reenhe would have left his kingdoms:
Bana seni gerek senibah-nah seh-nee geh-rek seh-neeit’s you I need, only you.
Yûnus çagururlar adumyoo-noos chah-goo-roor-lahr ah-doomThey call me by the name Yunus;
Gün geçdükçe artar odumgewn gech-dewk-cheh ahr-tahr oh-doommy fire grows with every day.
İki cihânda maksûdumee-kee jee-hahn-dah mahk-soo-doomAll I want in both worlds:
Bana seni gerek senibah-nah seh-nee geh-rek seh-neeit’s you I need, only you.
Turkish: Mustafa Tatcı’s critical text, poem 381, with the copies it lists: F. 201b, T. 86b, NO. 186a, HB. 13a, YE. 90a, Ç. 82a, A. 28. Reading guide and English: Turkpidya.
Friendship · poem 103
Hak cihâna toludur kimsene Hakk'ı bilmez God Fills the World
The poem with “come, let us get to know each other”, the line the Yunus Emre Institute took as its motto.
Hak cihâna toludur kimsene Hakk'ı bilmezhahk jee-hah-nah toh-loo-door keem-seh-neh hahk-kuh beel-mezGod fills the world, yet no one knows God.
Anı sen senden iste o senden ayru olmazah-nuh sen sen-den ees-teh oh sen-den ai-roo ol-mahzLook for him within yourself: he is never apart from you.
Dünyâyı inanursın rızka benümdür dirsindewn-yah-yuh ee-nah-noor-suhn ruhz-kah beh-newm-dewr deer-seenYou put your trust in the world and say “this bread is mine”.
Niçün yalan söylersin çün hîç didügün olmaznee-chewn yah-lahn sury-ler-seen chewn heech dee-dew-gewn ol-mahzWhy tell lies, when nothing you say comes true?
Âhret yavlak ırakdur togrulık key yarakdurahh-ret yahv-lahk uh-rahk-door tog-roo-luhk key yah-rahk-doorThe next world is very far; honesty is the provision for the road.
Ayrulık sarp firâkdur hîç giden girü gelmezai-roo-luhk sahrp fee-rahk-door heech gee-den gee-rew gel-mezParting is a hard parting: no one who goes ever comes back.
Dünyâya gelen göçer bir bir şerbetin içerdewn-yah-yah geh-len gur-cher beer beer sher-beh-teen ee-cherAll who come into the world move on; one by one they drink its draught.
Bu bir köpridür geçer câhiller anı bilmezboo beer kurp-ree-dewr geh-cher jah-heel-ler ah-nuh beel-mezIt is a bridge, and it is crossed: the ignorant do not know it.
Gelün tanşuk idelüm işi kolay tutalumgeh-lewn tahn-shook ee-deh-lewm ee-shee koh-lai too-tah-loomCome, let us get to know each other, let us make things easy.
Sevelüm sevilelüm dünyâ kimseye kalmazseh-veh-lewm seh-vee-leh-lewm dewn-yah keem-seh-yeh kahl-mahzLet us love and be loved: the world is left to no one.
Yûnus sözin anlarsan söz ma'nîsin dinlersenyoo-noos sur-zeen ahn-lahr-sahn surz mah-nee-seen deen-ler-senIf you understand what Yunus says, if you listen for the meaning,
Sana bir ‘amel gerek bunda kimsene kalmazsah-nah beer ah-mel geh-rek boon-dah keem-seh-neh kahl-mahzyou need good deeds: no one stays here.
Turkish: Mustafa Tatcı’s critical text, poem 103, with the copies it lists: F. 95b, T. 24b, NO. 192b, A. 9. Reading guide and English: Turkpidya.
Knowledge · poem 91
‘İlim ‘ilim bilmekdür ‘ilim kendin bilmekdür Knowing Yourself
Reading is worth nothing if you do not know yourself; one heart is worth more than a thousand pilgrimages.
‘İlim ‘ilim bilmekdür ‘ilim kendin bilmekdüree-leem ee-leem beel-mek-dewr ee-leem ken-deen beel-mek-dewrKnowledge means knowing; knowledge means knowing yourself.
Sen kendüni bilmezsin yâ niçe okumakdursen ken-dew-nee beel-mez-seen yah nee-cheh oh-koo-mahk-doorIf you do not know yourself, what is all your reading for?
Okumakdan ma'nî ne kişi Hakk'ı bilmekdüroh-koo-mahk-dahn mah-nee neh kee-shee hahk-kuh beel-mek-dewrWhat is the point of reading? To know God.
Çün okudun bilmezsin hâ bir kurı emekdürchewn oh-koo-doon beel-mez-seen hah beer koo-ruh eh-mek-dewrIf you have read and still do not know, it is wasted work.
Okıdum bildüm dime çok tâ‘at kıldum dimeoh-kuh-doom beel-dewm dee-meh chok tah-aht kuhl-doom dee-mehDon’t say “I have read, I know”; don’t say “I have prayed so much”.
Eri Hak bilmezisen ‘abes yire yilmekdüreh-ree hahk beel-meh-zee-sen ah-bes yee-reh yeel-mek-dewrIf you cannot see the true friends of God, you run for nothing.
Dört kitâbun ma'nîsi bellüdür bir elifdedurrt kee-tah-boon mah-nee-see bel-lew-dewr beer eh-leef-dehThe meaning of the four holy books is plain in one letter, alif.
Sen elif dirsün hoca ma‘nîsi ne dimekdürsen eh-leef deer-sewn hoh-jah mah-nee-see neh dee-mek-dewrYou say “alif”, teacher: what does it mean?
Yûnus Emre dir hoca gerekse var bin haccayoo-noos em-reh deer hoh-jah geh-rek-seh vahr been hahj-jahYunus Emre says, teacher: go on a thousand pilgrimages if you like;
Hepisinden eyüce bir gönüle girmekdürheh-pee-seen-den eh-yew-jeh beer gur-new-leh geer-mek-dewrbetter than all of them is to find a way into one heart.
Turkish: Mustafa Tatcı’s critical text, poem 91, with the copies it lists: Rt. 15a. Reading guide and English: Turkpidya.
The heart · poem 166
Bir kez gönül yıkdunısa bu kıldugun namâz degül One Broken Heart
Prayer means nothing if you have broken a heart. One good deed counts as a thousand.
Bir kez gönül yıkdunısa bu kıldugun namâz degülbeer kez gur-newl yuhk-doo-nuh-sah boo kuhl-doo-goon nah-mahz deh-gewlIf you have broken a heart even once, this prayer of yours is no prayer;
Yitmiş iki millet dahı elin yüzin yumaz degülyeet-meesh ee-kee meel-let dah-huh eh-leen yew-zeen yoo-mahz deh-gewlall seventy-two peoples could not wash your hands and face clean.
Erenler gelüp geçdiler dünyâyı koyup göçdilereh-ren-ler geh-lewp gech-dee-ler dewn-yah-yuh koh-yoop gurch-dee-lerThe saints came and went; they left the world behind and moved on.
Havâya agup uçdılar bular hümâdur kaz degülhah-vah-yah ah-goop ooch-duh-lahr boo-lahr hew-mah-door kahz deh-gewlThey rose into the air and flew: they are the bird of fortune, not geese.
Cân odur kim Hak'a ire ayak odur yola girejahn oh-door keem hah-kah ee-reh ah-yahk oh-door yoh-lah gee-rehA soul is one that reaches God; a foot is one that takes the road.
Er oldur alçakda tura yüksekden bakan göz degüler ol-door ahl-chahk-dah too-rah yewk-sek-den bah-kahn gurz deh-gewlA true person stands low, not like an eye that looks down from on high.
Münkir ile müdde'îyi sayma buçuga koyanımewn-keer ee-leh mewd-deh-ee-yee sai-mah boo-choo-gah koh-yah-nuhDo not count the deniers and the pretenders even as half,
Git ahûra tak buları her kim (ki) 'âşık-bâz degülgeet ah-hoo-rah tahk boo-lah-ruh her keem kee ah-shuhk bahz deh-gewlgo and tie them in the stable, all who are not lovers.
Togrı yola gitdünise er etegin tutdunısatog-ruh yoh-lah geet-dew-nee-seh er eh-teh-geen toot-doo-nuh-sahIf you have walked the straight road and held on to a good man’s hem,
Bir hayır da itdünise birine bindür az degülbeer hah-yuhr dah eet-dew-nee-seh bee-ree-neh been-dewr ahz deh-gewland done even one good deed, it counts for a thousand, not a few.
Yûnus bu sözleri çatar sanki balı yaga kataryoo-noos boo surz-leh-ree chah-tahr sahn-kee bah-luh yah-gah kah-tahrYunus strings these words together as if mixing honey with butter;
Halka metâ‘ların satar yüki güherdüz tuz degülhahl-kah meh-tah-lah-ruhn sah-tahr yew-kee gew-her-dewz tooz deh-gewlhe sells his goods to the people, and his load is jewels, not salt.
Turkish: Mustafa Tatcı’s critical text, poem 166, with the copies it lists: YE. 54a, A. 12. Reading guide and English: Turkpidya.
Words · poem 102
Keleci bilen kişinün yüzini ag ide bir söz A Word
Seven couplets on what one word can do: end a war, cost a head, turn poison to honey.
Keleci bilen kişinün yüzini ag ide bir sözkeh-leh-jee bee-len kee-shee-newn yew-zee-nee ahg ee-deh beer surzA word can make the face of a well-spoken man shine;
Sözi bişürüp diyenün işini sag ide bir sözsur-zee bee-shew-rewp dee-yeh-newn ee-shee-nee sahg ee-deh beer surza word can set right the work of one who cooks his words before he speaks.
Söz ola kese savaşı söz ola bitüre başısurz oh-lah keh-seh sah-vah-shuh surz oh-lah bee-tew-reh bah-shuhA word can end a war, a word can cost a head;
Söz ola agulu aşı balıla yag ide bir sözsurz oh-lah ah-goo-loo ah-shuh bah-luh-lah yahg ee-deh beer surza word can turn a poisoned meal into honey and butter.
Kelecilerün bişürgil yaramazunı şeşürgilkeh-leh-jee-leh-rewn bee-shewr-geel yah-rah-mah-zoo-nuh sheh-shewr-geelCook your words, and untie and drop the useless ones;
Sözün usıla düşürgil dimegil çag ide bir sözsur-zewn oo-suh-lah dew-shewr-geel dee-meh-geel chahg ee-deh beer surzweigh your words with reason, and never say a word out of season.
Gel ahî iy şehriyâri sözümüzi dinle bârigel ah-hee eey sheh-ree-yah-ree sur-zew-mew-zee deen-leh bah-reeCome, brother, my prince, at least listen to what we say:
Hezâr gevher ü dînârı kara toprag ide bir sözheh-zahr gev-her ew dee-nah-ruh kah-rah top-rahg ee-deh beer surza word can turn a thousand jewels and gold coins into black earth.
Kişi bile söz demini dimeye sözün keminikee-shee bee-leh surz deh-mee-nee dee-meh-yeh sur-zewn keh-mee-neeLet a man know the moment for a word and never say a mean one;
Bu cihân Cehennem'ini sekiz uçmag ide bir sözboo jee-hahn jeh-hen-neh-mee-nee seh-keez ooch-mahg ee-deh beer surza word can turn the hell of this world into the eight paradises.
Yüri yüri yolunıla gâfil olma bilünileyew-ree yew-ree yoh-loo-nuh-lah gah-feel ol-mah bee-lew-nee-lehWalk on, keep to your road, and guard your body’s desires;
Key sakın key dilünile cânına dâg ide bir sözkey sah-kuhn key dee-lew-nee-leh jah-nuh-nah dahg ee-deh beer surzand guard, above all guard, your tongue: a word can scar your soul.
Yûnus imdi söz yatından söyle sözi gâyetindenyoo-noos eem-dee surz yah-tuhn-dahn sury-leh sur-zee gah-yeh-teen-denYunus, speak now as a word should be spoken, and speak it through to its end;
Key sakın o şeh katından seni ırag ide bir sözkey sah-kuhn oh sheh kah-tuhn-dahn seh-nee uh-rahg ee-deh beer surztake great care: a word can send you far from the presence of that King.
Turkish: Mustafa Tatcı’s critical text, poem 102, with the copies it lists: F. 94b, T. 24a, YE. 42b, DAY. 75. Reading guide and English: Turkpidya.
Longing · poem 270
Taşdun yine deli gönül sular gibi çaglar mısın Mad Heart
A traveller far from home talks to his own heart, his tears, the snowy mountains and the clouds.
Taşdun yine deli gönül sular gibi çaglar mısıntahsh-doon yee-neh deh-lee gur-newl soo-lahr gee-bee chahg-lahr muh-suhnYou have overflowed again, mad heart: will you roar like the rivers?
Akdun yine kanlu yaşum yollarumı baglar mısınahk-doon yee-neh kahn-loo yah-shoom yol-lah-roo-muh bahg-lahr muh-suhnYou are flowing again, my bloody tears: will you block my roads?
N'idem elüm irmez yâre bulınmaz derdüme çârenee-dem eh-lewm eer-mez yah-reh boo-luhn-mahz der-dew-meh chah-rehWhat can I do? My hand cannot reach the beloved, there is no cure for my pain;
Oldum ilümden âvâre beni bunda egler misinol-doom ee-lewm-den ah-vah-reh beh-nee boon-dah eg-ler mee-seenI have become a wanderer far from my land: will you keep me here?
Yavu kıldım ben yoldaşı onulmaz bagrumun başıyah-voo kuhl-duhm ben yol-dah-shuh oh-nool-mahz bahg-roo-moon bah-shuhI have lost my companion, the wound in my heart will not heal;
Gözlerümün kanlu yaşı ırmag olup çaglar mısıngurz-leh-rew-mewn kahn-loo yah-shuh uhr-mahg oh-loop chahg-lahr muh-suhnbloody tears of my eyes, will you become a river and roar?
Ben toprak oldum yoluna sen aşuru gözedürsinben top-rahk ol-doom yoh-loo-nah sen ah-shoo-roo gur-zeh-dewr-seenI have become dust on your road, and you watch from far away;
Şu karşuma gögüs gerüp taş bagırlu taglar mısınshoo kahr-shoo-mah gur-gews geh-rewp tahsh bah-guhr-loo tahg-lahr muh-suhnmountains with hearts of stone, will you stand in my way, chests out?
Harâmî gibi yoluma arkurı inen karlu taghah-rah-mee gee-bee yoh-loo-mah ahr-koo-ruh ee-nen kahr-loo tahgSnowy mountain, lying across my road like a bandit,
Ben yârümden ayru düşdüm sen yolumı baglar mısınben yah-rewm-den ai-roo dewsh-dewm sen yoh-loo-muh bahg-lahr muh-suhnI have been parted from my beloved: will you block my road?
Karlu taglarun başında salkım salkım olan bulutkahr-loo tahg-lah-roon bah-shuhn-dah sahl-kuhm sahl-kuhm oh-lahn boo-lootClouds hanging in clusters on the snowy peaks,
Saçun çözüp benüm içün yaşın yaşın aglar mısınsah-choon chur-zewp beh-newm ee-chewn yah-shuhn yah-shuhn ahg-lahr muh-suhnwill you loosen your hair and weep for me in streams?
Esridi Yûnus'un cânı yoldayım illerüm kanıes-ree-dee yoo-noo-soon jah-nuh yol-dah-yuhm eel-leh-rewm kah-nuhYunus’s soul is in rapture: I am on the road, where is my homeland?
Yûnus düşde gördi seni sayru mısın saglar mısınyoo-noos dewsh-deh gurr-dee seh-nee sai-roo muh-suhn sahg-lahr muh-suhnYunus saw you in a dream: are you ill, are you well?
Turkish: Mustafa Tatcı’s critical text, poem 270, with the copies it lists: RY. (Mecmûa) 46a. Reading guide and English: Turkpidya.
Death · poem 74
Sabâhın sinlere vardum gördüm cümle ölmiş yatur At the Graves at Dawn
He walks among the graves at dawn and looks at the dead: our turn will come.
Sabâhın sinlere vardum gördüm cümle ölmiş yatursah-bah-huhn seen-leh-reh vahr-doom gurr-dewm jewm-leh url-meesh yah-toorAt dawn I went to the graves and saw them all lying dead;
Her biri bî-çâre olup ‘ömrin yavı kılmış yaturher bee-ree bee chah-reh oh-loop urm-reen yah-vuh kuhl-muhsh yah-tooreach one lies there helpless, his life lost.
Vardum bunlarun katına bakdum ecel heybetinevahr-doom boon-lah-roon kah-tuh-nah bahk-doom eh-jel hey-beh-tee-nehI went among them and saw the terrible face of death:
Niçe yigit murâdına irememiş ölmiş yaturnee-cheh yee-geet moo-rah-duh-nah ee-reh-meh-meesh url-meesh yah-toorhow many young men lie dead who never reached what they wished for.
Yimiş kurd kuş bunı keler niçelerün bagrın deleryee-meesh koord koosh boo-nuh keh-ler nee-cheh-leh-rewn bahg-ruhn deh-lerWorms, birds and lizards have eaten them; they pierce the breast of many;
Şol ufacık nâ-resteler gül gibice solmış yaturshol oo-fah-juhk nah res-teh-ler gewl gee-bee-jeh sol-muhsh yah-toorthe little children lie faded like roses.
Topraga düşmiş tenleri Hakk'a ulaşmış cânlarıtop-rah-gah dewsh-meesh ten-leh-ree hahk-kah oo-lahsh-muhsh jahn-lah-ruhTheir bodies have fallen to earth, their souls have gone to God;
Görmez misin sen bunları nevbet bize gelmiş yaturgurr-mez mee-seen sen boon-lah-ruh nev-bet bee-zeh gel-meesh yah-toordo you not see them? They lie there: our turn has come.
Esilmiş incü dişleri dökilmiş saru saçlarıeh-seel-meesh een-jew deesh-leh-ree dur-keel-meesh sah-roo sahch-lah-ruhTheir pearl teeth have fallen out, their fair hair has fallen away;
Bitmiş kamu teşvişleri Hak varlıgın almış yaturbeet-meesh kah-moo tesh-veesh-leh-ree hahk vahr-luh-guhn ahl-muhsh yah-toorall their troubles are over: God has taken back what they were.
Gitmiş gözünün karası hîç işi yokdur turasıgeet-meesh gur-zew-newn kah-rah-suh heech ee-shee yok-door too-rah-suhThe dark of their eyes is gone, nothing is left for them to stay for;
Kefen bizinün pâresi sünüge sarılmış yaturkeh-fen bee-zee-newn pah-reh-see sew-new-geh sah-ruhl-muhsh yah-toora strip of their shroud lies wound around their bones.
Yûnus ‘âkilisen bunda mülke sûret bezemegilyoo-noos ah-kee-lee-sen boon-dah mewl-keh soo-ret beh-zeh-meh-geelYunus, if you are wise, do not decorate your property here:
Mülke sûret bezeyenler kara toprak olmış yaturmewl-keh soo-ret beh-zeh-yen-ler kah-rah top-rahk ol-muhsh yah-toorthose who decorated their property lie here, turned to black earth.
Turkish: Mustafa Tatcı’s critical text, poem 74, with the copies it lists: RY. 16b, YE. 39a, B. 54a, A. 4. Reading guide and English: Turkpidya.
Riddle · poem 407
Çıkdum erik talına anda yidüm üzümi I Climbed a Plum Tree
His famous nonsense poem: a fish up a poplar, a fly that throws an eagle. Sufi teachers wrote whole books on what it means.
Çıkdum erik talına anda yidüm üzümichuhk-doom eh-reek tah-luh-nah ahn-dah yee-dewm ew-zew-meeI climbed a plum tree and ate grapes up there;
Bostân ıssı kakıyup dir ne yirsün kozumıbos-tahn uhs-suh kah-kuh-yoop deer neh yeer-sewn koh-zoo-muhthe orchard’s owner got angry: “Why are you eating my walnuts?”
Kerpîç koydum kazgana poyrazıla kaynatdumker-peech koy-doom kahz-gah-nah poy-rah-zuh-lah kai-naht-doomI put mud bricks in a cauldron and boiled them with the north wind;
Nedür diyü sorana bandum virdüm özinineh-dewr dee-yew soh-rah-nah bahn-doom veer-dewm ur-zee-neeto anyone who asked what it was, I dipped in and gave them the broth.
İplik virdüm Çulhâya sarup yumak itmemişeep-leek veer-dewm chool-hah-yah sah-roop yoo-mahk eet-meh-meeshI gave yarn to the weaver; he has not even wound it into a ball,
Becid becid ısmarlar gelsün alsun bezinibeh-jeed beh-jeed uhs-mahr-lahr gel-sewn ahl-soon beh-zee-neeand he keeps sending word: “Come and collect your cloth.”
Bir serçenün kanadın kırk kanluya yükletdümbeer ser-cheh-newn kah-nah-duhn kuhrk kahn-loo-yah yewk-let-dewmI loaded a sparrow’s wing onto forty carts;
Çifti dahı çekmedi kaldı şöyle yazılıcheef-tee dah-huh chek-meh-dee kahl-duh shury-leh yah-zuh-luhnot even a pair of oxen could pull it, so it stayed out on the plain.
Bir sinek bir kartalı kaldurup urdı yirebeer see-nek beer kahr-tah-luh kahl-doo-roop oor-duh yee-rehA fly lifted an eagle and threw it to the ground;
Yalan degül gerçekdür ben de gördüm tozınıyah-lahn deh-gewl ger-chek-dewr ben deh gurr-dewm toh-zuh-nuhit is no lie, it is true: I saw the dust myself.
Balık kavaga çıkmış zift turşısın yimegebah-luhk kah-vah-gah chuhk-muhsh zeeft toor-shuh-suhn yee-meh-gehA fish has climbed a poplar to eat pickled tar;
Leylek koduk togurmış bak a şunun söziniley-lek koh-dook toh-goor-muhsh bahk ah shoo-noon sur-zee-neea stork has given birth to a donkey foal: just listen to that!
Bir küt ile güreşdüm elsüz ayagum aldıbeer kewt ee-leh gew-resh-dewm el-sewz ah-yah-goom ahl-duhI wrestled a man with no hands or feet: the one without hands took my legs;
Güreşüp basamadum göyündürdi özümigew-reh-shewp bah-sah-mah-doom gur-yewn-dewr-dee ur-zew-meeI wrestled and could not pin him down; he set me burning inside.
Kâf Tagı'ndan bir taşı şöyle atdılar banakahf tah-guhn-dahn beer tah-shuh shury-leh aht-duh-lahr bah-nahFrom Mount Qaf they threw a stone at me;
Öylelik yire düşdi bozayazdı yüzümiury-leh-leek yee-reh dewsh-dee boh-zah-yahz-duh yew-zew-meeit fell to the ground so hard it nearly ruined my face.
Gözsüze fısıldadum sagır sözüm işitmişgurz-sew-zeh fuh-suhl-dah-doom sah-guhr sur-zewm ee-sheet-meeshI whispered to a blind man, and a deaf man heard my words;
Dilsüz çagırup söyler dilümdeki sözümideel-sewz chah-guh-roop sury-ler dee-lewm-deh-kee sur-zew-meea man with no tongue calls out the words that are on my tongue.
Bir öküz bogazladum kakıldum sere kodumbeer ur-kewz boh-gahz-lah-doom kah-kuhl-doom seh-reh koh-doomI slaughtered an ox, dried the meat and spread it out;
Öküz ıssı geldi eydür bogazladun kazumıur-kewz uhs-suh gel-dee ey-dewr boh-gahz-lah-doon kah-zoo-muhthe ox’s owner came and said: “You have slaughtered my goose!”
Ugrulık yapdum ana bühtân eyledi banaoog-roo-luhk yahp-doom ah-nah bewh-tahn ey-leh-dee bah-nahI stole from him, and he slandered me;
Bir çerçi geldi eydür kanı aldun gözgümibeer cher-chee gel-dee ey-dewr kah-nuh ahl-doon gurz-gew-meea pedlar came and said: “Where is the mirror you took from me?”
Tosbagaya ugradum gözsüzsepek yoldaşıtos-bah-gah-yah oog-rah-doom gurz-sewz-seh-pek yol-dah-shuhI met a tortoise, the mole’s travelling companion;
Sordum sefer kancaru Kayserî'ye ‘azimisor-doom seh-fer kahn-jah-roo kai-seh-ree-yeh ah-zee-meeI asked where it was going: it was bound for Kayseri.
Yûnus bir söz söylemiş hîç bir söze benzemezyoo-noos beer surz sury-leh-meesh heech beer sur-zeh ben-zeh-mezYunus has said a word that is like no other word:
Münâfıklar elinden örter ma‘nî yüzinimew-nah-fuhk-lahr eh-leen-den urr-ter mah-nee yew-zee-neeit hides the face of its meaning from the hypocrites.
Turkish: Mustafa Tatcı’s critical text, poem 407, with the copies it lists: NO. 184, Ç. 87a, a. 26, 44, YE. 105, Niyâzî-i Mısrî, Alî Nevrekânî, Şeyhzâde Muhyiddin, İsmâil H. Bursavî, İbrahîm Hâs. Reading guide and English: Turkpidya.
The spelling is the edition’s, taken from the manuscripts: ‘ışk where today’s Turkish writes aşk, and long vowels marked â, î, û. The reading guide follows those letters, so ‘Işkun reads “uhsh-koon”. Our English stays close to the Turkish instead of rhyming, so you can follow one with the other.
The words he kept coming back to
Ten words run through his poems: love, the heart, the soul, the Friend and the rest. Tap a bead to see what each meant to him, in how many of the 417 poems of Tatcı’s edition it appears, and where it turns up in the eight poems above.
‘ışktoday aşk
Say it: ahshk
Love; for him, love of God above all.
‘Işkun aldı benden beni
Your love has taken me from myself:
Poem 381: Only You‘Işkunıla avınuram
your love is all my comfort:
Poem 381: Only You
gönül
Say it: gur-newl
The heart, where God is found.
Hepisinden eyüce bir gönüle girmekdür
better than all of them is to find a way into one heart.
Poem 91: Knowing YourselfBir kez gönül yıkdunısa bu kıldugun namâz degül
If you have broken a heart even once, this prayer of yours is no prayer;
Poem 166: One Broken HeartTaşdun yine deli gönül sular gibi çaglar mısın
You have overflowed again, mad heart: will you roar like the rivers?
Poem 270: Mad Heart
cântoday can
Say it: jahn
Soul, life; also “dear one”.
Cân odur kim Hak'a ire ayak odur yola gire
A soul is one that reaches God; a foot is one that takes the road.
Poem 166: One Broken HeartKey sakın key dilünile cânına dâg ide bir söz
and guard, above all guard, your tongue: a word can scar your soul.
Poem 102: A WordEsridi Yûnus'un cânı yoldayım illerüm kanı
Yunus’s soul is in rapture: I am on the road, where is my homeland?
Poem 270: Mad HeartTopraga düşmiş tenleri Hakk'a ulaşmış cânları
Their bodies have fallen to earth, their souls have gone to God;
Poem 74: At the Graves at Dawn
dost
Say it: dost
Friend; often the Friend, God.
Dosta gidenün yolı gönül içinden geçer
The road of one who goes to the Friend runs through the heart.
Poem 338 of the edition
Hak
Say it: hahk
God, “the Real”.
Hak cihâna toludur kimsene Hakk'ı bilmez
God fills the world, yet no one knows God.
Poem 103: God Fills the WorldOkumakdan ma'nî ne kişi Hakk'ı bilmekdür
What is the point of reading? To know God.
Poem 91: Knowing YourselfCân odur kim Hak'a ire ayak odur yola gire
A soul is one that reaches God; a foot is one that takes the road.
Poem 166: One Broken HeartTopraga düşmiş tenleri Hakk'a ulaşmış cânları
Their bodies have fallen to earth, their souls have gone to God;
Poem 74: At the Graves at Dawn
Çalabtoday Çalap
Say it: chah-lahp
An old Turkish word for God.
Gönül Çalab'un tahtı gönüle Çalap bahdı
The heart is God’s throne; God looks into the heart.
Poem 299 of the edition
dervîştoday derviş
Say it: der-veesh
A dervish, one on the Sufi path.
Dervîşlik didükleri hırkayıla tâc degül
What they call being a dervish is not the cloak and the cap;
Poem 162 of the editionGönlin dervîş eyleyen hırkaya muhtâc degül
whoever has made his heart a dervish has no need of a cloak.
Poem 162 of the edition
söz
Say it: surz
Word, speech.
Yûnus sözin anlarsan söz ma'nîsin dinlersen
If you understand what Yunus says, if you listen for the meaning,
Poem 103: God Fills the WorldYûnus bu sözleri çatar sanki balı yaga katar
Yunus strings these words together as if mixing honey with butter;
Poem 166: One Broken HeartKeleci bilen kişinün yüzini ag ide bir söz
A word can make the face of a well-spoken man shine;
Poem 102: A WordLeylek koduk togurmış bak a şunun sözini
a stork has given birth to a donkey foal: just listen to that!
Poem 407: I Climbed a Plum Tree
dünyâtoday dünya
Say it: dewn-yah
This world, which passes.
Dünyâyı inanursın rızka benümdür dirsin
You put your trust in the world and say “this bread is mine”.
Poem 103: God Fills the WorldErenler gelüp geçdiler dünyâyı koyup göçdiler
The saints came and went; they left the world behind and moved on.
Poem 166: One Broken Heart
öl-today ölüm
Say it: ur-lewm
To die; death.
‘Işkun ‘âşıklar öldürür
Your love kills those who love,
Poem 381: Only YouSabâhın sinlere vardum gördüm cümle ölmiş yatur
At dawn I went to the graves and saw them all lying dead;
Poem 74: At the Graves at Dawn
His own name is one of his words too. In 411 of the 417 poems, “Yûnus” appears in the last stanza, the place where poets of his tradition signed their work. In the eight poems above he signs by talking: to himself (“Yunus, if you are wise…”), to a teacher, or about his own words.
A life told in legends
Almost everything told about his life comes from legends written down about two centuries after he died. Here they are in order, with the two dates the documents give.
- A farmer from SarıköyThe legends start with a book about another saint, the Vilâyetnâme of Hacı Bektaş, thought to be the work of Uzun Firdevsî (died 1512). It makes Yunus a poor farmer of Sarıköy, a village near Sivrihisar.
- Wheat or a blessingPoor as he is, he walks to Hacı Bektaş’s lodge at Karahöyük, today’s Hacıbektaş, to ask for wheat. The saint offers him a nefes, a spiritual blessing, instead. Yunus insists on wheat and gets it, then turns back halfway home: wheat runs out, a blessing does not. Too late, says Hacı Bektaş. That key is now with Tapduk Emre.
- Forty years of straight woodSo Yunus serves Tapduk Emre. For forty years he carries firewood to the lodge, and only straight branches, because nothing crooked belongs in the house of the saints.
- “Yunus, speak!”At a great gathering of dervishes Tapduk calls out “Yunus, speak!” three times to a singer, another Yunus, who does not hear him. Then he turns to our Yunus: the time has come, you speak. And Yunus begins to speak in verse.
- 1307: a book of adviceHis long poem of advice to dervishes, the Risâletü’n-Nushiyye, has about 600 couplets and dates itself: “Târih dahı yedi yüz yedi idi”, the date was seven hundred and seven. That is 707 in the Muslim calendar, 1307 in ours.
- Death in 720A note in a manuscript miscellany in Istanbul’s Beyazıt library gives his death as 720 in the Muslim calendar, 1320–21. It is the only dated record of his life.
Two more records make the picture harder. Old writers disagree on where and when he lived: Mecdî and Âşık Çelebi put him around Bolu, and Taşköprizâde placed him under Sultan Bayezid I, some 70 years after his death. And a Konya land register of 1518 names a Yunus Emre who had bought land at Lârende, today’s Karaman, and left it to his son İsmail. Whether that man was the poet is not known.
The date of his death holds, though. When the historian Adnan Erzi published the Beyazıt note in 1950, most scholars, Fuad Köprülü among them, accepted 1320. How the note gives his birth depends on the reading: Erzi read 648 and a life of 72 years (born 1250–51); the TDV encyclopedia gives 638 and 82 years (born 1240–41).
Eleven graves, one poet
At least eleven places in Türkiye say Yunus Emre is buried there, and Azerbaijan has a shrine to him. Graves like these mostly mark where he was loved and remembered, not where he lies. Pick a place on the map, or step through them.
Sarıköy today the village of Yunusemre, Mihalıççık, Eskişehir
The village of the legends. The Vilâyetnâme makes Yunus a farmer here and puts his grave nearby, and older writers agree: Lâmiî, in the 16th century, put it on the Kütahya river, the Porsuk, near where it meets the Sakarya, which is where the village lies. The grave was opened on 6 May 1946 because the Ankara–Eskişehir railway was to run over it; since 1970 the remains have lain in a new tomb monument. Köprülü, Gölpınarlı and Timurtaş all took this grave to be his.
Emremsultan a village near Nallıhan, Ankara
Tapduk Emre’s lodge is thought to have stood here, near the Sakarya, and this is where scholars place the years Yunus spent as his dervish, the forty years of the firewood legend. The village has a grave said to be his as well.
Bolu a town in the hills of northwest Anatolia
Two 16th-century writers place him around here. Mecdî says Yunus lived near Bolu while his master Tapduk lived by the Sakarya, and the poets’ biographer Âşık Çelebi calls him a man of Bolu.
Hacıbektaş Karahöyük in the legend, Nevşehir
In the legend Yunus walks here, to Hacı Bektaş’s lodge, to ask for wheat, and is offered a blessing instead. The village was then called Sulucakarahöyük; today it is the town of Hacıbektaş.
Konya the city of Mevlânâ Rûmî
Mevlânâ Celâleddîn Rûmî taught here and died here in 1273. A story told for centuries has Yunus meet him and say his long poem, the Mesnevî, was too long: he would have said “I put on flesh and bone and appeared as Yunus”. One of his poems, no. 178, has a line like it. The meeting is a legend, not a record.
Karaman Lârende in old records
A Konya land register of 1518 says that a Yunus Emre bought land called Yerce here from İbrahim Bey of the Karamanids, and that it passed to his children. Whether that Yunus was the poet is not known. Karaman also has a grave said to be his.
Bursa an early Ottoman capital
Bursa has a grave said to be his. It was also the home of another poet who signed his poems Yunus, Âşık Yunus, who died in the early 15th century. Copyists mixed up the two, and editors still sort their poems apart.
Ortaköy Ziyarettepe, Aksaray
A tomb on the hill of Ziyarettepe is named for him.
Kula the village of Emresultan, Manisa
The village of Emresultan in the Kula district has a grave said to be his. The pin marks Kula.
Dutçu also written Düzcü, a village of Erzurum
An open-air tomb in the village is named for him, far to the east of the places in the legends. The pin marks Erzurum.
Keçiborlu Isparta
Keçiborlu has a grave said to be his.
Sandıklı Afyonkarahisar
The tomb here is a makam: a place that keeps his memory, which need not hold his body.
Ünye on the Black Sea coast
Ünye has a grave said to be his.
Sivas central Anatolia
Sivas has a grave said to be his.
Qax Gâh, in Azerbaijan
Not a grave but a makam, a shrine to his memory. Mustafa Tatcı suggests Yunus may have travelled this way, between Anatolia, Tabriz and Nakhchivan.
The case for Sarıköy is the strongest. The legends put him there, writers from the 16th century on agree, and three of the scholars who studied him most, Fuad Köprülü, Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı and Faruk Kadri Timurtaş, accepted it. The grave was opened on 6 May 1946 because the new Ankara–Eskişehir railway line was to run over it. The remains went to a temporary grave, and in 1970 to the tomb monument that stands in the village today.
The one dated note
720 = 1320–21
A note in a manuscript in the Beyazıt library is the only dated record of his life. It gives his death as 720 in the Muslim calendar. Most dates you will see rest on it, and they still differ: UNESCO marked his years as 1241–1321, the central bank’s banknote page gives 1238–1320, and the TDV encyclopedia gives 1240–41 to 1320.
How the poems survived
Yunus left no book in his own hand. His poems travelled by voice: dervishes learned them by heart and sang them, and from the 14th century wandering dervishes carried them west with the Ottoman conquests, into the Balkans.
The copies that did survive start early. The oldest copies of his Divan may go back to the 14th century: the Ritter copy (14th century), the Raif Yelkenci copy (14th or 15th), the Fâtih copy (probably 15th), the Yahyâ Efendi copy (16th) and the Nuruosmaniye copy, dated 1540. His hymns also turn up in poetry notebooks, one of them from 1480 written in Greek letters, and in a Latin book on the Turks by György, a Hungarian held captive in the time of Murad II, which records two hymns signed Yunus.
The poems he burned, the angels read; the ones he drowned, the fish; the rest, we do.
That is how a popular legend ends. Yunus made 3,000 poems, it says, and a zealot called Molla Kasım judged them against religious law. He burned a thousand and threw a thousand into the water, then stopped at a couplet that named him, “a Molla Kasım will come to question you”, and repented. The couplet is not in the edition we use.
Copying brought mistakes: poems split in two, stanzas swapped, and poems by other poets who signed as Yunus crept in. So every edition has to choose. Burhan Toprak printed 355 poems in 1933–34, then decided only 115 could be Yunus Emre’s. Mustafa Tatcı’s critical edition (1990, revised 2008) compares the manuscripts line by line, separates him from Âşık Yunus and keeps 417 poems: 138 in aruz, the long and short syllables of Persian and Arabic verse, the rest in hece, the Turkish count of syllables.
Three claims, checked
Some things said about him are true, some half true, and some are stories. Tap a card to check three you will meet often.
“UNESCO declared 1991 the International Year of Yunus Emre.”
Not in those words. In 1989 UNESCO’s General Conference noted that 1991 would be the 750th anniversary of his birth and invited member states to celebrate it together (resolution 15.232). The resolution speaks of a commemoration, not of a year in his name.
“Every poem signed Yunus is by Yunus Emre.”
No. Other poets used the name, above all Âşık Yunus of Bursa, who died in the early 15th century, and copyists mixed their poems. Burhan Toprak printed 355 poems in 1933–34, then decided only 115 could be Yunus Emre’s. Tatcı’s edition keeps 417.
“He could not read or write.”
That is what the 16th-century biographer Âşık Çelebi said. The scholar Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı noted that Yunus knew enough Persian to translate from Sa‘dî and Rûmî, and his poems speak of the four holy books and the letter alif, as poem 91 above does.
Remembered today
Seven hundred years on, his name is on an institute, a banknote and two UNESCO anniversaries.
750 years since his birth
UNESCO’s General Conference invited member states to mark the anniversary together and asked for the papers of the 1991 symposium to be published (resolution 15.232, 1989).
700 years since his death
On UNESCO’s list of anniversaries for 2020–2021 as “poet and Sufi philosopher (1241–1321)”, proposed by Türkiye with Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Uzbekistan.
The Year of Yunus Emre and Turkish
A presidential circular of 29 January 2021, printed in the Resmî Gazete the next day, made 2021 the Year of Yunus Emre and the Turkish Language.
The Yunus Emre Institute
Set up under law 5653 of May 2007, the Yunus Emre Foundation and its institute run cultural centres abroad and teach Turkish. Their motto, “Gelin tanış olalım”, echoes poem 103: “Come, let us get to know each other.”
The 200-lira note
The 200-lira banknote of the series in circulation since 1 January 2009 features Yunus Emre. The central bank’s page gives his dates as 1238–1320.
A Yunus Emre Year at home
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the governorship of Eskişehir, the province of Sarıköy, named 2013 a Yunus Emre Year, with a play and a novel competition.
For a poet of the 20th century who also wrote of love in plain Turkish, see our guide to Nazım Hikmet’s poems.
Questions readers ask
When did Yunus Emre live?
He died in 720 in the Muslim calendar, 1320 or 1321, according to the only dated note about his life. His birth is less certain: around 1240 or around 1250, depending on how that note is read. Some older writers placed him a century or more later; the dated note, published in 1950, settled that.
Where was he born?
No source settles it. The legends make him a farmer of Sarıköy near Sivrihisar; two 16th-century writers put him around Bolu. Scholars agree that he lived somewhere around the Sakarya river in central Anatolia, and spent his dervish years at Tapduk Emre’s lodge near Nallıhan.
Did he write “Yaratılanı severiz, Yaratandan ötürü”?
We searched all 417 poems of Tatcı’s edition and found no line like it. It is quoted everywhere under his name (“we love what is created for the sake of the Creator”), but it does not come from his Divan as the manuscripts give it.
Which poems should I read first?
Start with ‘Işkun aldı benden beni (Only You), the love poem whose every stanza ends “it’s you I need, only you”, and with poem 103, which has the line “come, let us get to know each other”. Both are in full above.
What language did he write in?
In the Turkish of 13th- and 14th-century Anatolia, at a time when much of the learned poetry written in Anatolia was in Persian, as Rûmî’s was. A Turkish reader today follows much of it, with old forms to get used to: ‘ışk for aşk (love), gelün for gelin (come), idelüm for edelim (let us make).
Where can I read all his poems in Turkish?
In Mustafa Tatcı’s critical edition of the Divan, which prints 417 poems with the manuscripts behind each; the Ministry of Culture and Tourism also published it as an e-book. Earlier editions by Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı and Faruk Kadri Timurtaş (326 poems in his last) differ from it in places.
Sources
The Turkish poems are Mustafa Tatcı’s critical text as the edition prints it, spelling and all; each poem lists the manuscripts behind it. The English translations and the reading guides are our own, made line by line with the edition’s glossary. The word counts are our own count over the edition’s 417 poems. Where sources disagree, on his dates or his grave, we give both and say who says what. This guide does not cover the music of his hymns or his long poem of advice, the Risâletü’n-Nushiyye, beyond its date.
- Yûnus Emre, by Mustafa Tatcı — TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 43 (2013), checked 15 October 2026
- Yunus Emre Divanı, critical text by Mustafa Tatcı (e-book page, archived copy) — Ministry of Culture and Tourism e-book library, checked 15 October 2026
- Adnan Erzi on the dated note of Yunus Emre’s life, Belleten XIV/53 (1950) — Türk Tarih Kurumu, checked 15 October 2026
- Hacı Bektâş-ı Velî — TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, checked 15 October 2026
- Records of the General Conference, 25th session (1989), Resolutions: 15.232 — UNESCO web archive, checked 15 October 2026
- Anniversaries for 2020–2021 recommended by the 206th Executive Board (archived copy) — UNESCO, checked 15 October 2026
- Genelge 2021/1: 2021 Yılının Yunus Emre ve Türkçe Yılı Olarak Kutlanması — Resmî Gazete no. 31380, 30 January 2021, checked 15 October 2026
- Law 5653 on the Yunus Emre Foundation (2007) — mevzuat.gov.tr, checked 15 October 2026
- About the Yunus Emre Institute — Yunus Emre Institute, checked 15 October 2026
- Banknote Characters on E9 Emission Group Turkish Lira Banknotes — Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye, checked 15 October 2026
- Country outlines and rivers (map) — Natural Earth, checked 15 October 2026
- Place positions (map) — OpenStreetMap contributors, checked 15 October 2026
Illustrations drawn for this guide. They do not show Yunus Emre or any real person, and the marks in the manuscript picture are not real writing.
