Do not ask me who I am, my angel
Listen carefully, let me explain
They call me 'Fikret' a humble name
They talk about the fineness of my poetry
If I have stayed without bread at times
I have never remained without a profession
Like waiting for light in the middle of the night
I waited twelve years in education
Then I emerged, unaware of why
Perhaps it's a trick of fate
I became a regular at the Sublime Gate1
I was marked as a man of honor
Now I am the author of many works
I'm a translator like Ahmed Ihsan
Under the shade of the world's jewel
I am a teacher at the Imperial school
Translated by: Mehmet Barın Erturan
Click for the original text
- Bab-ı Ali or The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte (Ottoman Turkish: باب عالی, romanized: Bāb-ı Ālī ) was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It refers to the Gate behind which the Government institutions were localized. This is in contrast to the Bâb-ı Hümâyûn (The Imperial Gate) behind which lies the Palace and the Sultan. ↩︎