ADAB IN THE MEVLEVI TRADITION

Among the Mevlevis, spiritual courtesy was highly refined. The Mevlevi shaykhand scholar, Golpinarli, described many of these customs which were practicedin the tekkes until they were declared illegal and closed by the Turkishgovernment in 1925.

They would stand in a special posture of humility, called "being sealed"[muhur], with the right big toe over the left, the right arm crossed overthe left and with hands upon the shoulders, and the head lowered slightlytoward the chest. They would wait in this posture until the shaykh enteredthe room, and then the shaykh would bow toward them and they would bow towardhim at the same time. Then the shaykh would sit and kiss the floor and theywould also do so at the same time. This ritual of humble greeting was done,not only during the Whirling Prayer Ceremony [samaa`], but before every communalmeal in the dervish lodge [tekke].

When one Mevlevi would visit another, such as in the other one's dervishcell, he would sit, kiss the floor and be greeted by the other who wouldsay, "May there be love for you" [ashk olsun], meaning, "You are welcome."They would greet each other by taking each other's right hand, or both hands,raise that hands toward their lips, bend forward slightly, and kiss the backof each other's hands at the same time. Similarly, they would kiss any objectgrasped, such as a glass of water, a cup of coffee, their mattress at thetime of sleeping and rising, their cloak [khirqa] and articles of clothing,and the edge of their conical hats [sikke] when putting them on and takingthem off. They considered this kissing of objects also as a form of greeting--as an indication that the Universal Spirit [ruuH-i kull] is flowing ineverything, and also as an expression of certainty that every existent thingis supported by One Absolute Existence.

In accordance with the forms of politeness in the Persian language, the Mevleviswould not use the pronoun "I," but would instead say, "(this) poor one,""(this) humble dervish" [faqiir] or they would say "we." Similarly, theywould not address another individual by the singular pronoun "you," but wouldinstead use the formal plural pronoun "you" (corresponding to "ye" in English).Or else they would use a term meaning "my object of vision" [manZuur-am].

They placed much importance on gazing respectfully at each other, as is doneduring the Sultan Walad Circling [devir-i veled], when the dervishes lookat each other's faces, focussing between the eyebrows at the same time. TheWhirling Prayer Ceremony [samaa`] is also called the ceremony of "standingand facing each other (with respect and reverence)" [muqaabalah].

All Mevlevis addressed each other as brothers. They would answer the soundof another's voice by saying "iyvallah" (or "iyi vallah," meaning "By God,it is good"), which has the meaning of grateful acceptance of the situation.Instead of saying "I am grateful" or "I thank you," they would say, "Maythere be love (for you)!" (which also meant, "May there be joy [for you]").And instead of saying "There isn't," they would say "God may grant (it),"because to say "there isn't" is not a term of acceptance. For example, insteadof saying, "There isn't any money," they would say, "The money is with God."

When greeting each other by name, Mevlevis would add a Persian suffix ofaffection, "jaan" (literally, "soul," but meaning "as dear as the soul"),to the other's name when speaking or writing to each other. For example,someone named Lateef would be addressed as "Lateef-jaan" (in Turkish,"Latif-can") meaning "dear Laateef."

[Perhaps linked to the root meaning of the word "adab" as "festive meal"]the Mevlevis had an all-night ceremony called aayinu 'l-jam` (Arabic), aayiin-ijam` (Persian), ayn-i jem (Turkish) [= "ceremony of gathering together"].They would celebrate together with delicious desserts, singing, whirling,and music. They relaxed hierarchical roles and shared more informal adabas spiritual friends.

The aayiin-i jam was held annually on the shab-i `urs of Mevlana (the nightof his death according to the lunar calendar), as well as on other occasions.After sunset, they would eat, do their prayers, and then (especially duringwinter) go to the ayn-i jem room (which was prepared with candles plus theshaykh's red sheep skin-- "poost"), standing in their places in the "muhur"(sealed) position. They would bow with the shaykh when he appeared, etc.After drinking coffee, the chief nay player would play something from oneof the maqaamaat (modes) of the aayiins (compositions for the samaa`). Theywould then begin a samaa`, but without wearing the "tanuura" and rarely extendingtheir arms. After the completion of the particular aayiin, the shaykh wouldsay a golbaang (loud ceremonial invocation: "By the grace of God---`inaayat-iyazdaan... dam Hazrat-i mevlaanaa... huu diyelim"), all the dervishes wouldsay "Hu" and kiss the floor. They would then sit, eat fruit, and talk witheach other, and also eat desserts. The musicians would play special songsand selections from the aayiins. They would talk and listen to music allnight until the dawn prayer.

-- excerpted and translated by Ibrahim Gamard, from the Persian translation(by Tawfiiq SubhaanOii) of Golpinarli's book in Turkish, "Mevl,na'dan sonraMevlevilik" ("The Mevlevis After Mevlana")