Time flows on and away, in the reverie of the real
Time is thrown to the ground, in the dream of the truth
How it is measured I do not know, the finger's breadth to the grave
Once born, life stands but a hair's breadth from death
In the light of truth, my heart lies asleep
This pitch-black darkness, in what bottomless well?
A lonely boat am I, sailing a bottomless ocean
Waterless on a pathless path, I thirst for the truth
Is this me, O Lord! My image in the mirror?
My brain has burned in fire; where, where is my inner self?
A traveler from the day he is born, man heads toward death
Is it the instant, or is it time, the thief that steals my life?
Today, too, has now passed, in the darkness of the sun
My one hope is in tomorrow, in the brightness of night
Would you go on fluttering, O fleshly cage of my soul,
If you heard, at the nape of your neck, that breathless breath?
In the pool of the grave, death is the sluice into life
Beyond the beyond, a single step to the truth
The King of Messengers decreed, the truth in coil upon coil:
“Death suffices you, O Umar, as the greatest counsel”
The guide taught the secret of “Die before you die” and departed
I have heard it since pre-eternity; the tidings are no stranger
In what secluded corner, in what endless channel?
Consolation alone remains, in the known beyond
That true anguish comes from being unable to bear it
Deeper even than deep is the torment of this anguish
A word beyond expression… a spark of anguish
If only, by bearing the anguish, I could forget this pain
It is impossible to understand the existence of nonexistence
What scale can weigh the heaviness of nothingness?
Torn by contemplation, my brain! Scorched is my head
From anguish the one aim, return to the Truth my one concern
Within the mother's womb, a step toward this life
Beyond all comprehension, living in order to die
Following his passing
Beşiktaş, 29 May 1983