One waits for forty years in front of a window for the wind called reunion to blow. Beautiful Amasya has witnessed such a love. The subject of this article is a beautiful city that has been home to Ferhat and Shirin and their epic lives, a story I have heard since I was a child but did not know.
Before moving on to the love story, I would like to talk about this city that came to the fore during the War of Independence. The first step of the National Struggle, which started in Samsun, continued with Mustafa Kemal’s arrival in Amasya. The plans of the struggle for independence were prepared, the convening of the Erzurum and Sivas Congresses was decided here, and with the Amasya Decree published on June 22, 1919, it was declared in this city that “the Independence of the nation will again be saved by the determination and resolve of the nation”. The mansion where these decisions were taken is today visited as a museum.
If you visit, you should see the mummies section of the Amasya Museum and the statue of the Hittite god Teşup. Yalıboyu houses, which have a unique architectural tradition, should be seen especially at night. The King Rock tombs belonging to the Pontus kings who used the city as a capital during the Hellenistic Period are quite remarkable. II. Please do not return without visiting the Bayezid complex, the Bîmarhâne, where the mentally ill were cured with music and the sound of water, which bears all the characteristics of classical Seljuk buildings and where a cross-legged human figure is engraved on the keystone of the entrance, and of course without eating the fragrant Amasya lime apple.
As for our story, Ferhat is a famous painter who decorates palaces and mansions. While Sultan Mehmene Banu was decorating the mansion built for her sister Şirin, she saw Şirin and they fell in love with each other. They start meeting secretly. Ferhat sends a message to the Sultan to ask for Shirin, but the Sultan refuses to give his sister. According to the story, Sultan also fell in love with Farhad. To stall him, she demands that he pierce Elma Mountain and bring clean water to the city of Amasya. Ferhat is so in love that he starts to pierce the mountains. Mehmene Banu is alarmed when she sees that he is about to pierce the mountain and complete the water, she sends her old nanny to Ferhat and delivers the news that Shirin is dead. With this pain, Farhad throws the ashtray he was holding in his hand into the air, the falling ashtray hits Farhad’s head and he dies. The sculptures in question depict the moment when Farhad throws the ashtray into the air upon receiving the news of Shirin’s death. Upon hearing the sad news, Şirin excitedly comes to the cliff where the incident took place. He cannot bear Ferhat’s death and jumps off the cliffs. They bury the two lovers side by side on the rocks where they perished.
They say that every spring two roses, one red and one white, grow on these two graves. When these two roses were about to meet, a blackthorn would come out from the middle of the graves and prevent the two roses from meeting.
As you know, Âşık Veysel was asked: “What do you think love is?” Veysel smiles and says: “You love, you can’t meet, it becomes love.” If the main idea is love, let’s end with Cemal Safi.
Do any of you recognize me?
I am the secret that cannot be solved until it is lived!
Even if there’s no one left who hasn’t heard of my fame,
It is difficult to describe my identity.
The nightingale sang in my language,
He was on fire for a rose,
An avalanche fell on his heart from the Taurus Mountains,
The snow did not put out my fire.
Many were sultans, kings, kings;
His fortune and fate changed with me;
I destroyed the crown and throne;
I have unbelievable skills.
I made the scholar ignorant when he was perfect,
I turned the oppressor from a savage to a savage,
I made Selim weak when he was Yavuz,
I’m the secret tricky one who spoils every game.
I created tuberculosis on earth;
Lokman Hekim could not find my remedy;
I burned Kerem to ashes for Asli;
I am the ember Abraham was thrown into.
The reason was some Leyla, some Shirin;
High mountains were pierced for my sake;
My wrist strength was known with Farhad;
I am the force, I am the might, I am the power.
I turned Mevlana with my chant,
I soothed their anger with my Yunus,
I have extinguished many hearths with my sin,
I am from Mevlâ; good is mine, evil is mine.
Muhammad was created for me,
That mercy was showered for me,
The love in the words of the awliya,
I am the light on the faces of the Prophets.
I’m an orphan, I have no relatives and no enemies,
I am invisible, I have no body, no picture,
I don’t hurt the tongue, there is only one syllable in my name,
My shelter is a place called the heart.
My name is love!
