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Asik Ali Izzet The Path of the BeautifulThe Path of the Beautiful

by Asik Ali Izzet

English version by Jennifer Ferraro & Latif Bolat

Appreciating beauty is said to be a virtue.

To see beauty beautifully

is beautiful.

Those who have a beautiful beloved in Paradise are beautiful.

To travel the path of beauty,

is beautiful.

The sun rises from the beautiful ones eyebrows.

The beautiful ones teeth are just like pearls.

To share beautiful food at Beautys table

is beautiful.

To linger with the beautiful one beautifully

is beautiful

To write the beautiful name:

beautiful

To drink with the beautiful one:

beautiful

To kiss the hand of the beautiful one:

beautiful.

The light drips from the cheeks of the beautiful.

Honey drips from the lips of the beautiful.

Hold the hand of the beautiful beautifully.

To serve the beautiful one

is beautiful.

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The eyes that perceive beauty will never suffer.

Who loves beauty may die but will never decay;

Ali Izzet never shies away from beauty

To love beauty from the depths of ones soul

is beautiful.

from Quarreling with God: Mystic Rebel Poems of the Dervishes of Turkey, Translated by Jennifer Ferraro /

Translated by Latif Bolat

/ Photo bybenleto /

At the end of the year, at the beginning of the new year, a reminder to us all not to get lost

in lifes minutia and bruises beneath it all we can always find beauty.

To see beauty beautifullyis beautiful.

But bearing witness to beauty takes skill: quiet eyes, a calm heart.

To love beauty from the depths of ones soul

is beautiful.

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May this new year be one of healing, deepening insight, opening heart, and renewed

determination. And may we all discover the beauty in the paths we walk!

Asik Ali IzzetTurkey (1902 1981) TimelineMuslim / Sufi

Ive had a difficult time finding much information in English on the life of Asik Ali Izzet,

which is frustrating considering how well-loved his poetry and music are in Turkey. You can,

for example, find many contemporary Turkish recordings of songs composed by Asik Ali

Izzet.

Most of my information below comes from the excellent anthology, Quarreling with God:

Mystic Rebel Poems of the Dervishes of Turkey, by Jennifer Ferraro and Latif Bolat.

At a young age, Ali Izzet became an asik or ashik a wandering minstrel who travels

throughout the country composing and singing songs, accompanied by the stringed saz. He

was both a Sufi and a social activist. Although he didnt have much formal education, his

work came to be widely appreciated in his lifetime and he published his poems in books and

journals, and performed in many of the great halls of Turkey. Later in life he was persecuted

for his leftist politics and he died in relative obscurity in Ankara in 1981. His songs and

poetry, however, have enjoyed a revival and are widely appreciated today.

More poetry by Asik Ali