NECİP FAZIL KISAKÜREK - CANIM İSTANBUL

NECİP FAZIL KISAKÜREK - CANIM İSTANBUL ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Ruhumu eritip de kalıpta dondurmuşlar;
Onu İstanbul diye toprağa kondurmuşlar.
İçimde tüten birşey; hava, renk, eda, iklim;
O benim, zaman, mekan aşıp geçmiş sevgilim.
Çiçeği altın yaldız, suyu telli pulludur;
Ay ve güneş ezelden iki İstanbulludur.
Denizle toprak, yalnız onda ermiş visale,
Ve kavuşmuş rüyalar, onda, onda misale.

Like they melted my soul and frost it in a cast
And placed it on land as İstanbul
Is something fumes in me, air, color, affection, climate
Is my darling that went beyond time and space
Its flowers are golden stars, Its water is shiny
Moon and Sun are two Istanbulian from immemorial times
Sea and soil, achieves a meet only in it
And dreams achieves an example in it, in it

İstanbul benim canim;
Vatanim da vatanim...
İstanbul,
İstanbul...

İstanbul, my precious one
My country, ah my country
İstanbul,
İstanbul….

Tarihin gözleri var, surlarda delik;
Servi, endamlı servi, ahirete perdelik...
Bulutta şaha kalkmış Fatih'ten kalma kır at;
Pırlantadan kubbeler, belki bir milyar kırat...
Şahadet parmağıdır göğe doğru minare;
Her nakısta o mana: Öleceğiz ne çare?
Hayattan canlı ölüm, günahtan baskın rahmet;
Beyoğlu tepinirken ağlar Karaca Ahmet...

History’s eyes there, holes on bulwarks
Redwood, shapely redwood, curtain to afterlife
Curveted on cloud, the greyish horse dating from Fatih (Sultan Mehmed II)
Domes made of diamonds, maybe 1 billion carat
Minaret through skies is index finger
Same meaning in every decoration; We will die, no way?
Death is more alive than life, mercy more dominant than sin
While Beyoğlu*( pera ) stomps, cries Karaca Ahmet*

O manayı bul da bul!
İlle İstanbul’da bul!
İstanbul,
İstanbul...

Find that meaning, ah find !
Only find in İstanbul!
İstanbul,
İstanbul...

Boğaz gümüş bir mangal, kaynatır serinliği;
Çamlıca'da, yerdedir göklerin derinliği.
Oynak sular yalının alt katına misafir;
Yeni dünyadan mahzun, resimde eski sefir.
Her aksam camlarında yangın çıkan Üsküdar,
Perili ahşap konak, koca bir şehir kadar...
Bir ses, bilemem tambur gibi mi, uda gibi mi?
Cumbalı odalarda inletir katibi mi...


Bosphorus is a silver brazier, boils the coolness
In Çamlıca*, lies on floor, the deepness of skies
Playful waters are guests of the ground floor of waterfront
Chrestfallen about new world, old ambassador in Picture
Everynight fire breaks out from windows in Üsküdar*
Haunted hardwood mansion, big as a city…
Some sound, i don’t know if its like tambour or its like lute
Causes my clerk groan in rooms that have a bay window

Kadını keskin bıçak,
Taze kan gibi sıcak.
İstanbul,
İstanbul...

Its woman is like sharp knife
Warm as fresh blood
İstanbul,
İstanbul…

Yedi tepe üstünde zaman bir gergef isler!
Yedi renk, yedi sesten şayisiz belirişler...
Eyüp oksuz, Kadıköy süslü, Moda kurumlu,
Adada rüzgar, ucan eteklerden sorumlu.
Her şafak Hisarlarda oklar çıkar yayından
Hala çığlıklar gelir Topkapı sarayından.
Ana gibi yar olmaz, İstanbul gibi diyar;
Güleni söyle dursun, ağlayanı bahtiyar...

Time makes a gergef*** on seven hills
Seven colours, countless appearances from seven sound
Eyüp* is orphan, Kadıköy* is decorated, Moda* snippy
Wind in island, is cause of flying skirts
Everytime in break of day, arrows darts from bows
Screams still come from Topkapı palace
No lover exists as mother, no land as İstanbul
Not only laughing one even the crying one is fortunate..

Gecesi sümbül kokan
Türkçe’si bülbül kokan,
İstanbul,
İstanbul...

Its night smells lillian
Its Turkish senses nightingale
İstanbul,
İstanbul…


* > names of places in İstanbul
*** gergef > A tool that girls use while decorating clothes, fabrics with colourful fibers, with needle

Translation: IBRA