Urs of Suleyman Hayati Dede, 19th January

Tues 19th January was the annual memorial for the passing of Shaikh Suleyman 'Hayati' Loras of Konya. To honour him in this time of Covid isolation, we invited people who can play an instrument or sing, however imperfectly, to choose a piece of music or a song which touches their heart and to play it on the evening of the Urs for Suleyman Dede.

We received the lovely photo above from Karim Payton in Hawaii, of Suleyman Dede arriving in Honolulu International Airport in 1976. To the right below Dede is the late Yaksan Valdez, who was Dede's representative in Hawaii and who started a Mevlevi community there which has continued to the present.

Come to the Circle of Mevlana.

And see the joy which is there.

See that there, is the remedy

To a thousand kinds of dark sufferings.

You won’t find there,

The tale of slander and hypocrisy,

But there, will be sound of drum, ney, and kanun.

If you are a seeker,

Fall down upon the ground in prostration.

That you may see

What kind of mood there is

In His Pure Grace

There they will give you Incense

And in its fragrance

You will smell the scent of the Archangel

And the secrets of the Giver.

They will give a cup to you

And in the color of it,

You will perceive the light of the Rose.

Drink from the cup of that gathering

And fall into ecstasy,

And within it find that “Joy of Eternity”

The One who sacrificed his head

For the Grace, like you HAYATI.

There are thousands of lovers

But only One Beloved.

poem by Suleyman Dede,

translated by Murat Yagan