Maverick Mist

What that murderous cruel have done
Makes me wretched like the invisible nightingale
Stones fell on me like rain
A flip of a friend tear me into pieces
I learnt who are the friends and enemies on my black day
I had ten troubles now I have fifty
I am put on the death order
Let them hang or shoot me
I am Pir Sultan Abdal, whose soul can’t rise into the air
Only if god commands, the rain shall start
The stones of the strangers never fell on me
But the rose of a friend hurts me

“Pir Sultan Abdal was a Sufi poet and rebel of his time against the Ottoman Sultan. He was sentenced to murder and this poem is said to be his last one. The hearsay is that, the Sultan orders the public to stone him, one of his fellow is afraid to go against the Sultan’s order but throws a rose instead of a stone not to hurt Pir Sultan. However, Pir Sultan hurt more because it comes from a friend but not an enemy.”  It has been said that Ben Harper during a visit to Istanbul, heard this poem sung in a bar/cafe. This may have influenced his writing the song  Roses From My Friends.