# Bir hyli [sic] (→ hayli) demek olup



## rupertbrooke

Would anyone translate for me the following piece of obscure Turkish in reference to 'sürüsüne bereket':-
- 'bır hyli (?? sic.?) demek olup sürüsüne bereket anlamını vermez, dime a dozen yerleşik bir atasözü olup bahsedilen nesnenin istenenden fazla olduğunu belirtir, genç arkadaşlara bilgi kabilinden açıklama yapma gereği hissettim.'  I am totally nonplussed as to what it means!


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## Muchacha Turca

Hi rupertbrooke!

It is a locution that means 'too mucho' but in a good mean but also it can be used sarcasticly. Anyway. I will try to explain it to you a little bit. In the past there was a lots of people that work as sheepman and naturaly they have sheeps and other animals. If you have a lot animals in your herd (herd means sürü ın Turkish) it means there is an abundance, that means bolluk,bereket y etc. So, it is used for explain smt that there is too mucho. It sounds a bit funny but we have a lot of words like that they have relation with the past or traditions. Well, not just in Turkish. In English there is and idiom 'to rain cats and dogs'. You can think by this way.

I have tried to do my best. I hope it would be helpful for you.

Regards.


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## rupertbrooke

Thanks, Muchacha. I'd had that explained to me before on Word Reference forums under sürüsüne bereket. What I was asking for was a translation of the above Turkish sentences. Unfortunately I omitted the English word 'a lot of' at the beginning. I now think the sentences mean:-
'a lot of' signifies a mass & does not give the meaning of sürüsüne bereket. 'A dime a dozen' is an established idiom & expresses a plethora of a stated object & I felt I must give an intelligible meaning to young friends (on the website).

['a lot of' bir hayli demek olup sürüsüne bereket anlamını vermez, dime a dozen yerleşik bir atasözü olup bahsedilen nesnenin istenenden fazla olduğunu belirtir, genç arkadaşlara bilgi kabilinden açıklama yapma gereği hissettim].

These words come from contributor on a professional Turkish website & express disagreement with your contributors' explanations but, as usual, his knowledge of English is severely limited & he never even seems to know his own language's etymology!

As for me, I find your & a previous entry (25th February, under sürüsüne bereket entirely convincing. Incidentally, we have a poem in English which begins thus:-

Abou ben Adhem (*may his tribe increase*!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw — within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich and like a lily in bloom —
An angel, writing in a book of gold.

This idiom 'may his tribe increase' is similar to 'may his herd increase' & is very Turkish/Arabic in its phraseology. You ought to read the poem by James Leigh Hunt. It has an atmosphere that Muslim & Christian can both appreciate.

Here The beginning of it is in Turkish:

EBU BİN ADEM
James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784-1859)

Ebu Bin Adem (*mümkünse arttırılsın onun kabilesi*)
Derin bir rahat uykudan uyandı bir gece,
Ve gördü odasında ayışığında,
Odayı zenginleştiren, ve çiçek açtıran ona bir zambak gibi,
Altından bir kitabın içine yazı yazan bir meleği:

See for the full poem in Turkish & English:-  http://forum.mevsimsiz.net/lofiversion/index.php/t3622-150.html

Thanks for your help.


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## TekYelken

rupertbrooke said:


> ['a lot of' bir hayli demek olup sürüsüne bereket anlamını vermez, dime a dozen yerleşik bir atasözü olup bahsedilen nesnenin istenenden fazla olduğunu belirtir, genç arkadaşlara bilgi kabilinden açıklama yapma gereği hissettim].




Hi rupert,

Here is my translation of the above:

"a lot of" means quite a bit and does not give the same meaning as "sürüsüne bereket", "dime a dozen" is a common maxim and expresses an abundance of the stated object more than desired (in accordance with "sürüsüne bereket"), just a little bit of explanation I felt like making for the benefit of our young friends"


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## TekYelken

rupertbrooke said:


> Abou ben Adhem (*may his tribe increase*!)
> Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
> And saw — within the moonlight in his room,
> Making it rich and like a lily in bloom —
> An angel, writing in a book of gold.



And here is my translation of the poem;

_*
Ebu Bin Adem (kabilesine bereket)

Derin ve rahat bir uykudan uyandı bir gece

Ve gördü ki odaya dolan mehtapta

Filizlenen bir zambak misali güzel

Altından bir deftere yazı yazan meleği



*_I hope you like it. Note that "kabilesine bereket" does not necessarily give an ironic meaning like the one in "sürüsüne bereket".


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## rupertbrooke

This is a truly wonderful rendering! The version I found was hardly good Turkish verse. You might like to translate the second half some time:-

EBU BİN ADEM
James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784-1859)

Ebu Bin Adem (mümkünse arttırılsın onun kabilesi)
Derin bir rahat uykudan uyandı bir gece,
Ve gördü odasında ayışığında,
Odayı zenginleştiren, ve çiçek açtıran ona bir zambak gibi,
Altından bir kitabın içine yazı yazan bir meleği:

Olağanüstü huzur Bin Adem’i gözüpek yapmıştı,
Ve dedi ki Varlığa odadaki,
“Sen ne yazarsın?” Görüntü kaldırdı kafasını,
Ve herşeye ahenk veren tatlı bir bakışla baktı
Cevapladı, “Tanrıyı sevenlerin adlarını.”

“Oradamıdır benimkisi?” dedi Ebu, “Hayır, değildir öyle,”
Diye Melek cevapladı. Ebu alçak sesle konuştu,
Fakat mutlu bir şekilde gene de; ve dedi, “O zaman dua edeyim ben sana,
İnsan kardeşlerini seven biri olarak yaz beni.”

Melek yazdı, ve ortalıktan kayboldu. Ertesi gece
Görkemli bir uyanış ışığıyla yeniden geldi,
Ve Tanrının mübarek kıldıklarının adlarını gösterdi,
Ve, bakın işte! başındaydı hepsinin Bin Adem’in adı!

Çeviren: Vehbi Taşar

This is the English original:-

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said,
"What writest thou?" The Vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord
Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."

"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still; and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one who loves his fellow men."

The Angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest!

It is a truly inspiring poem. Your translation rose to the quality of the original. By the way, Abou ben Adhem really existed (if you didn't know this already!!). See:- http://tr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/İbrahim_ibn_Edhem


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## TekYelken

Wonerful poem! The rest of the translation is not bad at all.  I might try to improve the harmonic flow some time. 
It has a taste, somehow, similar to that of Mevlana (Rumi), which I have translated a little while ago. It's one of my favourites:

*One night I said to my lord

What is the secret of the world

He laughed and said to me

That may be known but can not be told
*
-------------------------------------

Here is the Turkish original:

*Gece üstadıma sordum, kaç kez

Bana bu cihanın sırrını söyle tez

Üstadım cevap verdi gülerek

Bu sır ancak bilinir, söylenemez



*


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## rupertbrooke

Wonderful indeed is the poem and your translation captures the spirit & flavour of the original. I love the Sufis, like al-Hallaj, crucified in Baghdad for speaking like Christ. The Sufis are my inspiration also. But Rallino may cut this for being too cultural; so I must stick to sürüsüne bereket.


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